A review by kfriend
Fables & Other Lies by Claire Contreras
4.0
I’ve always found Claire Contreras to bring a different spin to romance. She’s always infused a variety of creative influences and thematic elements in ways that are novel and interesting. Fable and Other Lies, though, is in a league of its own. In a sea of tired tropes and repurposed plots, this is a story that stands out for its uniqueness.
Set on a mysteriously cursed island, our story starts with a funeral and a carnival with a cast of characters who are somehow familiar but strangers, characters reconciling fact with fiction, history and myth. Those contrasts set the tone- and tone plays a heavy hand in this Gothically-infused mystery, that dark, melancholy, foreboding quality that draws you in and grasps tight well beyond the final page.
Articulating plot details too much beyond that, dear readers, would be a betrayal of your experience. But know this- this is not your normal romance. This is not a story about characters, about chemistry, about a relationship. This is not a story with a traditionally constructed plot. And despite its Gothic roots, this isn’t really even a story about solving a mystery. Though- we have all those things. This is not a story about the people who love, rather this is a story about love itself. This story, the very personification of it.
This won’t be the type of story all romance readers are used to- nor what anyone expects. But, that is what makes this book feel fresh. Claire excels in the marriage of Gothic sentimentality and the moralistic fable-like allegory. Because like the fables it is inspired by, the moral, the creative meaning, behind Fables and Other Lies transcends the story itself. We may not know all there is to know, we don’t even know much about our characters, and we might not even have all the mythical elements fully unraveled- but again, this isn’t your traditional romance. What matters aren’t the details of the story, what matters are the insights we glean from its heart. What matters is the clarity that metaphorically lies beyond the mysterious clouds of Dolos island. The myth itself, whether truth or lies, matters not- but the message about selfless, generous love does. A love that means sacrifice, a love that requires forgiving, a love that requires intuition. Underneath it all, that’s this story’s truth.
Fables and Other Lies is certainly creatively inspired- and I love nothing more than authors taking creative risks, exploring new facets of their writing, and finding new ways to tell us stories about love. Kudos to Claire for doing just that.
Set on a mysteriously cursed island, our story starts with a funeral and a carnival with a cast of characters who are somehow familiar but strangers, characters reconciling fact with fiction, history and myth. Those contrasts set the tone- and tone plays a heavy hand in this Gothically-infused mystery, that dark, melancholy, foreboding quality that draws you in and grasps tight well beyond the final page.
Articulating plot details too much beyond that, dear readers, would be a betrayal of your experience. But know this- this is not your normal romance. This is not a story about characters, about chemistry, about a relationship. This is not a story with a traditionally constructed plot. And despite its Gothic roots, this isn’t really even a story about solving a mystery. Though- we have all those things. This is not a story about the people who love, rather this is a story about love itself. This story, the very personification of it.
This won’t be the type of story all romance readers are used to- nor what anyone expects. But, that is what makes this book feel fresh. Claire excels in the marriage of Gothic sentimentality and the moralistic fable-like allegory. Because like the fables it is inspired by, the moral, the creative meaning, behind Fables and Other Lies transcends the story itself. We may not know all there is to know, we don’t even know much about our characters, and we might not even have all the mythical elements fully unraveled- but again, this isn’t your traditional romance. What matters aren’t the details of the story, what matters are the insights we glean from its heart. What matters is the clarity that metaphorically lies beyond the mysterious clouds of Dolos island. The myth itself, whether truth or lies, matters not- but the message about selfless, generous love does. A love that means sacrifice, a love that requires forgiving, a love that requires intuition. Underneath it all, that’s this story’s truth.
Fables and Other Lies is certainly creatively inspired- and I love nothing more than authors taking creative risks, exploring new facets of their writing, and finding new ways to tell us stories about love. Kudos to Claire for doing just that.