Review of Pierside By Bookplayer

Hey, folks!

So as you might be aware, bookplayer—who you should all know is awesome and you should be reading her already if you’re not—has a novel coming out this Monday. She was nice enough to give me an advanced review copy of it and asked me to give my thoughts on it, and I jumped at the chance.

This review is spoiler-free for the most part, though it will get into some info that’s revealed on the back blurb or in the first chapter or so, so if you’re wanting to go in with completely fresh eyes, just read this part before the break.

I enjoyed the book, and feel it’s worth reading.

Also, it probably doesn’t strictly need to be said, but just for complete transparency’s sake, I was given a copy for free for review purposes, I was not offered any compensation for either the review or my opinion on the book, and yes, bookplayer is a friend of mine and you may feel that there is a conflict of interest there that I can’t get rid of no matter what I do. Take from that what you will.

Okay, that out of the way, let’s get into it.

Pierside by bookplayer (Or Emily Spahn, if you’re looking at the actual cover ) is a story of darkness, hope, magic, and the scope and limits of power, both personal and supernatural. The novel follows Ezzy, a clinic worker with a mysterious past, and her best friend, clinic assistant, and love interest Maddy as they find themselves drawn into a conflict involving the Elevati, a group of immortal humans with magical powers who were thought wiped out, a religious cult, and a colorful cast of characters, all revolving around an old collector’s item that’s one of the few things in the world with the power to kill an Elevatus.

It’s bookplayer’s debut novel and, as a point of interest, was written before she joined the pony fandom, which puts it in an odd place for people here who have followed along with her pony projects. It’s a time-capsule of sorts, and there’s an interesting mental gymnastics game to play reading it as a new book when it was written years ago and being familiar with her pony words.

As debut novels go, Pierside is an incredibly promising piece. While it has a complex plot full of twists and turns that takes the characters in unpredictable directions, it’s those characters themselves who shine the brightest in the book. Ezzy is a closed off and neurotic workaholic who just does not have the patience for half of the trouble she’s thrown into. Maddy is brash, blunt, and a consummate shit-talker. Half of the fun of the book is reading Ezzy and Maddy, especially their interactions together, and the book wisely starts off on them and keeps them front and center for most of the length. But the rest of the cast also shines, with each main player doing their best to steal the show, though the only one that really manages it is The Angel, a cabaret singer who is used to getting what she wants.

Bookplayer’s command of character and voice that she’s well known for in pony is evident immediately in the book, and it’s easy to become engrossed in Pierside just following these characters, several of whom are reminiscent of MLP characters despite when it was written. Even if the plot were lackluster, a cast this strong would likely be able to overcome it.

Fortunately, they don’t have to try, as the plot is another highlight of the book. Alliances form and fall apart while different characters come in and out of play. Structurally, Pierside plays out like a noir detective story, with many forces all in pursuit of a MacGuffin, and plays with the idiosyncrasies of the genre to good effect, keeping things unpredictable. Part of the plot’s success is driven by the strength of the characters. Were they less defined, the story presented might have felt haphazard or contrived, but with everyone’s motivations and personality so clear, the twists don’t strike a reader as random or unbelievable. A reader understands why everything is happening as it occurs, even if they were still left guessing right up until the moment it happened. It’s an exciting read that keeps its audience on their toes.

That said, the book stumbles in actually executing that plot. The prose is serviceable and sparse, which at times helps keep things moving along at a good clip, but at other times moves things along too quickly. Some of the more important reveals and twists don’t feel very weighty in the text. Big character moments happen, and by all accounts should feel substantial, but are not given any time to breathe. It doesn’t strain believability, but a reader could suffer whiplash. The impact of those moments gets blunted without any time for recovery.

A lot of the time similar problems in other books happen because the twists and turns feel contrived, or you don’t care about what’s going on, which is fortunately not the case in Pierside. Really, they feel like they should work, but there are beats missing to them. Ever hear a joke that’s funny on paper, but the person telling it just ruined it in their delivery? A moment in the book drops a bomb and you want to react to it, but the text has already sped off towards the next thing. You don’t have time to react to it, and seemingly the characters didn’t need to react to it either, so you’re left questioning whether it was really all that important in the first place. It’s a joke with an abrupt punchline followed immediately by something else.

This isn’t a chronic problem in the book, as other reveals are given time to sink in. Overall that’s a good thing for the book’s readability, but it makes it that much more jarring when a mishandled delivery does happen. The end result is a work that feels uneven at times, with portions that are too brief inside an otherwise well-paced book.

Despite the occasional rough patches, Pierside never suffers too much, and its story and themes are left intact, which is fortunate because they’re pretty gut-punching. For as fun as a lot of it is, and as enjoyable as the characters are, it’s a serious book that doesn’t shy away from some uncomfortable topics. It can be difficult, and even genuinely upsetting to read at times. It doesn’t revel in darkness, but it does go there, and where it goes isn’t sugar-coated. If you’re looking for something light-hearted and feel-good, you’re not strictly in the wrong place, but you’re going to have to deal with a lot of the opposite to get there.

Mechanically, the prose is sparse and utilitarian. It works for the most part, as the majority of the book is paced well and progresses quickly, with no need to get mired in heavy description or be deeply evocative, though it does exacerbate the occasional pacing problems. Most of it is in service to the characters and their dialogue, letting them do the heavier lifting, which should sound familiar for bookplayer. It’s not beautiful prose, but it is unnoticeable, and being unnoticeable, the book is easy to breeze through. At 65,000 words, there isn’t a lot of room for bloat, anyway, and it’s easy to find yourself reading through a quarter, or even half of the book without really noticing—I actually finished it in two or three sittings over the course of one day. It might not be dense, but it is a heady experience, and as debut novels go, it’s really strong, and anyone who’s a fan of bookplayer should definitely give it a read. Even if you’re not familiar with her, you’ll likely get something out of it, though I’ll caution that the squeamish might have a rough time through parts, but I think that most people should be fine.

So those are my basic thoughts on the book. As some of you might know, I have a book review youtube channel, and I have a more structured and in-depth review of Pierside in the works, the first part of which I’m posting this Wednesday (I’ll blog about it again then with a link). To completely throw away any sort of ‘journalistic integrity’ now, I hope the book does well, and I encourage everyone to check it out once it’s available to buy. It really is an enjoyable read despite its flaws, and I know bookplayer’s got other stuff in the works with these characters. Count me in as a fan already.

That’s all I got for this one. TTFN.

Comments

[Georg]

Cool.

[journcy]

Aughghghghgh I need to GET MINE