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A review by tej_reads
Shoestring Theory by Mariana Costa
5.0
I had so much fun reading Shoestring Theory, it was definitly a right place right time kind of book, I was coming off reading two books that weren't really for me and I need a light (ish) pick me up. Shoestring Theory does deal with dark themes like war, unaliving and animal passing but I don't think it detracts from the fun, whimsy, fantasy vibes that Costa creates. There exists a fine balance between all the themes which in my opinion, alongside, the goods vibes I had reading Shoestring Theory made this book a five star read.
We start the story with Cyril our male protagonist unaliving himself, the death of his cat familliar Shoestring and time travel, so from the start I would say this book may be a trigger for some and to completely avoid it if that is case. Cyril, a powerful mage, travels back several years in times to undo the past, as his husband has in the future or past depending on how you look at it become a tyrant.
I'm not sure who my favourite character was, okay I lie, it was Tigris, she was the only one who had her stuff together. I apologies to Cyril and Eufrates but they were both total idiots half the time. I was rooting for Cyril, It was very odd because normally I detest whiny characters, a part of me always wants to slap them across the face with a newspaper and say "pull yourself together" but I think with Cyril it worked. A lot of Cyril's journey was confidence based, he's self-loathing and self-deprecating and it was interesting to see how that impacted a man that was almost fifty but also how in the presence of a friend it's almost as if no time has past and you can revert to your younger self.
I enjoyed Shoestring Theory and I'm very excited to read what Mariana Costa writes in the future, I think I've found another auto-buy author.
Thank you Angry Robot, Netgally and Mariana Costa.
We start the story with Cyril our male protagonist unaliving himself, the death of his cat familliar Shoestring and time travel, so from the start I would say this book may be a trigger for some and to completely avoid it if that is case. Cyril, a powerful mage, travels back several years in times to undo the past, as his husband has in the future or past depending on how you look at it become a tyrant.
I'm not sure who my favourite character was, okay I lie, it was Tigris, she was the only one who had her stuff together. I apologies to Cyril and Eufrates but they were both total idiots half the time. I was rooting for Cyril, It was very odd because normally I detest whiny characters, a part of me always wants to slap them across the face with a newspaper and say "pull yourself together" but I think with Cyril it worked. A lot of Cyril's journey was confidence based, he's self-loathing and self-deprecating and it was interesting to see how that impacted a man that was almost fifty but also how in the presence of a friend it's almost as if no time has past and you can revert to your younger self.
I enjoyed Shoestring Theory and I'm very excited to read what Mariana Costa writes in the future, I think I've found another auto-buy author.
Thank you Angry Robot, Netgally and Mariana Costa.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Gaslighting, and War