The Light Fantastic is on last year’s Cybil shortlist is NOT on last year’s Cybil shortlist (I just discovered this when I went to link it to last year’s list. I’m so annoyed that I read this for no good reason. haha.) and I started it at the very end of December. I almost quit it at the end of December, too — when I figured out this was going to be about school shootings and when I figured out there was a Mastermind who was attempting to mastermind a … thing. (No spoilers.)
Instead of quitting it, I put it down til after the new year and tried again. The writing is wonderful. The ties between characters and the use of “the light fantastic” works rather than feeling like a gimmick. What didn’t work was the rest of the darn book.
I didn’t hate this. I won’t tell you not to read it. But, I did not love it either.