Cinnamon Soul

Ah, this was wonderful. Admittedly, the start bored me a bit, but once Cinna and Hokuren, the two main characters from the cover, have met up and introduced their work to the reader, it had me hooked. I couldn't put it down afterwards, taking my phone out whenever I got some spare time, for example during cooking or even on the toilet. I'm a slow reader, so having it finished in 3 days is quite fast for me.

I didn’t expect it to be queer with no romance, yet without any queer-baiting either. Those books are rare af. Cinna's and Hokuren's platonic partnership was just perfect, chosen family trope with a deep emotional bond that is much better than and transcends any rose-relationship. I couldn't ask for more between them, except that maybe it's a little too short (– no, it's not, I just crave more of them). I can't wait for a sequel or even a spin-off, anything from Velles, their world and them.

Quinn Lawrence mentioned the first draft was the result of a DnD campaign with her peers, and that's pretty much what it reads like. Although never having played DnD myself, I did engage in many freeform RPGs, most being Fantasy, so I know a bit of the RPGverse genre.
It's not your typical fantasy book, but in a splendid way. Distancing itself from the mainstream fantasy, but not being all too different, simply by being more diverse and unique. You'll see a lot of recurring tropes and elements that are found in many medieval fantasy settings, but also a bunch of new spins on them, blasting with creativity that refuses to be confined within the chains of TikTok popularity.
As someone who dislikes basic/kitsch cliches a lot and avoids mainstream or trendy media a little too extremely than necessary, I know quite some about uniqueness. This book does not embody the ‘I'm not like other girls/guys’ trope – it’s genuine diversity, “just being myself for myself”, or as Cinna puts it, “I’m no one’s girlfriend”.

The switching dual pov from a godly (3rd person) but limited perspective I‘ve only read once before, and that was from a story I've written myself. It's cool to have found another author who did this pov style, and finally experienced how it's read as a reader. I've gotten the feedback that it sounds complicated, and in theory I'd agree, but this proves, at least for me, that it's actually not that difficult. One just has to be a bit more attentive to know when the pov is switching while the two characters are together.

I really love the art style of the cover, but I agree that it kind of lures a more younger audience in. I imagined a slice of life, perhaps even an idle or iyashikei-like life of them, maybe living on a farm or on the countryside, going about with their peaceful life and reading books all day or so. Fairytale-like. Similar to Heidi, perhaps, with more magic. A shepherd and a mercenary or librarian.
Didn't expect it to be detective-like, playing inside a city with the youngest active characters being around 25. The image of Hokuren and Cinna in their office, which is featured on Quinn's website, that's what would've fit the vibe of this volume more, I believe. Hokuren also looks much older in that drawing – on the cover they look the same age, maybe 5 years apart. Also, Cinna's skin tone is written to be light brown, which, on the cover, looks more white to me. (It was a neat surprise though. Having 2 non-white protagonists in a high fantasy setting is rare.)
But the art style does fit the world as well as Quinn's gripping writing style. I may have not expected the story, but it wasn't a disappointment. Quite the opposite. A crime fantasy book that technically reads like a youngster’s adventure, yet the themes and language are definitely for adults. Recommended age starts at 20s. I loved the crime aspect too – thinking of theories and all that is what I’m into anyways, so investigating alongside with them was super fun.
At least the two women's friendship is portrayed wonderfully on the cover. <3

A minor critique is the distance from nature. It’s no secret that elves are naturally more connected to nature than humans, regardless of which universe, therefore no spoilers here; yet Quinn didn’t let her characters treat nature very well. They occasionally got help by non-humanoid beings, and yet didn’t thank them much or cared about nature well enough to deserve that help, to be honest. Apart from Cinna’s hatred towards shoes, there ain’t much a difference between the two species.
As a vegan environmentalist, that did hurt a bit. (As it hurt the elven goddess, presumably.) It’s just quite ironic. Idk, maybe that was the point, to show that elves shouldn’t mingle with humans, otherwise they’re gonna become like them …

Another criticism is that there should've been more disability rep – the characters do get injured or are hindered by minor things, especially during the final battle, but with Cinna's magical healing ability and Hokuren being the mind rather than the fist, there aren't many injuries that last long.
Although Cinna has some subtext of being autistic or having ADHD, or both. I could relate to her a lot. But as Quinn hasn't confirmed anything, I don't want to label any character, and it's not like it disables her much. Perhaps she could have a learning disability, though, which did make things a bit more difficult in some plot points, but also given her backstory, it could simply be a lack of brain muscle training.
Well, either way, labels aren't always necessary; point is, there could’ve been more physical disabilities – especially for the era it plays in and the fact that there is barely any magic anymore. Autistics/ADHDs may connect with Cinna, though.

Overall very recommended. 5/5 stars, I loved every bit, almost didn’t want it to end. Almost – because the characters deserve some rest. XP
Also, the humor is amusing. It’s queernormative, feminist, and surprisingly (but thankfully) not racist. Only speciesist.

All characters felt real and in-depth, which was also supported by random remarks or conversations between them; the types that are usually deleted in the final draft because beta readers or editors claim it to be “not relevant to the plot”. Well, a lot of the info was very irrelevant to their goal, true, but not so much to show they aren’t NPCs whose life has begun the moment the reader open the first page. (Vibes a lot of books give.)
And Cinna teaches the reader how it’s not so bad to be yourself sometimes, even when it doesn’t fit with societal norms.

Ps. The fact that “lightpens”, an ‘invention’/concept of mine from about 5-6 years ago, and blueberries, my favorite fruit, had quite a role (more or less, respectively) in it, surely was a lovely surprise.