A review by deathmetalheron
The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager

adventurous challenging emotional reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This is an excellent book that wasn't written for me. There are a lot of really interesting concepts at play here. It's written in nonlinear order, with all timelines being marked by the arrival in Earth's orbit of Halley's Comet. This framing device is just really profound and interesting way to write multiversal stuff. The concept itself is electrifying enough to propel you through reading it. The second major framing device is the story of Hansel & Gretel, which is related to us in multiple ways--first as the actual story taking place in the 14th century, then as the brothers Grimm hear the tale in the 19th century, and a few times in allegorical form in the future. The additional added context is reimagining the story as a tale against parental abuse--that Hansel is potentially gay, and his mother and father send him away for this reason. 
My issues with this book are that there are a lot references to breadcrumbs contained throughout the story (a la Hansel and Gretel), the insistence of their existence is a little tedious. The middle of this book is a big slog, with a lot of setup for the ending quarter of the story. The ending is definitely worth it but I was not so high in the middle of this story. There is a lot of setup chapters where we sort of wait for details to be fleshed out. Due to this it's hard to recommend as an overall excellent book but there is certainly payoff. I went to sleep on this much harsher on it, and woke up with a more positive overall take.
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