Description
Aching with longing and sadness, “Love As Soft As a Distant Star” is a love story that explores the quiet moments of marriage, friendship, and duty.
Leading Characters
Set in a world where magic coexists with the mundane, this story is about:
Book Reviews
Virginia Duan's Love As Soft as a Distant Star is the perfect example of a "cozy yet steamy fantasy novella." Remi and Isaiah's chemistry keep things warm and spicy like a good cup of chai tea, and I could have read a hundred more pages about them long after I put down the book. I also very much appreciated the Korean, bisexual, and open relationship representation in the novella, which I don't see a lot of in romance.
There were a whole lot of things I loved about this novella. The characters are richly drawn and seem much more alive than in many novellas. The relationship too, is richly drawn and given room to breathe rather than rushed along. I was left feeling like I had read an entire novel's worth of content which was a welcome surprise - too often novellas leave me unsatisfied and wishing for more depth, more time with the characters.
I LOVE how the love between Isaiah and Remi is shown in all the quiet moments of how they care for each other. There is lust there, but it comes only after the realization of the quiet depth of their affections. That really highlights Remi's asexuality and mirrors her own experience of their relationship. I also really appreciate Isaiah's bisexuality. As someone who is biromantic asexual, their relationship and attraction felt very authentic, especially Remi's experience.
"She does not wish her cracks to be temporal, tempered, or temperate," and so begins Virginia Duan's newest novella, Love as Soft as a Distant Star. I read the entirety of this book in a single sitting, gripped by the unfolding world we find Remi and Isaiah in. Duan has the ability to peel back the complex layers of emotions that her characters inhabit, never making light of them, but giving them space to breathe. The world building of the Witches Council is rich and diverse, and explores the necessity of community to survive. I felt my heart ache with Remi, as she navigates her budding feelings and struggles to articulate the changes she feels within her. Remi and Isaiah's relationship, both in friendship and more, is a palpable exploration of the slow burn, with dizzying results. With the building love story and looming ritual, the novella unfolds into an introspective understanding of what it means to refuse to let our emotions be temporal, tempered or temperate.
