A review by emendelowitz
Prophet by Sin Blaché, Helen Macdonald

adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

My brain is now swiss cheese because these tragic little gay men are worms crawling around in there [affectionate].

Yes yes sci fi aspects and plot are all well and good but the true beauty of this book and the real propulsion of it all at the end of the day is the relationship between the main characters, Rao and Adam. Rao has an uncanny and unexplained ability to tell what the truth is when someone speaks or whether or not something is real or a fake. This power works on everything. Except Adam Rubenstein. Adam is a soldier who’s very stoic and, well, soldier-y. Rao has been used by various governments to help with various sketchy assignments and Adam is his partner/babysitter. And Rao looooves to push his buttons and flirt like the disaster he is. This dynamic is simply unmatched. The dialogue and banter they have is next level and the last chapter of this book will simply leave you feeling like the rock scene in everything everywhere all at once. 

Now for the sci fi element and plot. This book follows Rao and Adam as they investigate this mysterious substance called Prophet that uses the power of nostalgia to create various effects including creating constructs made by people exposed to it from their minds and memories. The sci fi aspect of it is a little more of a “soft science” I’d say, but this works because at the end of the day the book is about Rao and Adam, they are the endgame they are the end all he all soul consuming element of this book.

The authors, Helen MacDonald and Sin Blaché, met on Twitter and bonded over fandom; they have talked extensively (in the Washington post even) about how fanfiction has influenced this book and it definitely shows. I mean this in a good way. The relationship feels like 400 pages of the best slowburn fanfic you’ve ever read. And if you’re not a fanfic aficionado, don’t be deterred because the writing is also amazing, there are some amazing, soul-crushing lines in here. 

PS I need this book to find it’s right audience (because I know it’s out there) so people will make fanart or I’ll explode.