Title: Hyacinth
Author: Elle Porter
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 76 Pages
Category: Fantasy, Trans M/M Romance, Mythology
Rating: 5 Stars
At a Glance: Hyacinth casts its spell effortlessly, aiming for the heart and finding its mark, so much so that I read it twice to be sure I absorbed it all, and I’m glad I did because I found myself loving the story even more the second time.
Reviewed By: Lisa
Blurb: In this mythology reimagining of Hyacinthus and Apollo, a lighthouse keeper is afflicted with grisly nightmares after a mysterious yet charming shopkeeper arrives in a secluded coastal village.
Review: The myth of Apollo and Hyacinthus wasn’t familiar to me before I picked up Elle Porter’s haunting and beautiful Hyacinth and was drawn into a world that feels timeless, ancient, and yet not so far removed from our own. This story exudes a sense of the ethereal while focusing on the rather prosaic life of an all but reclusive lighthouse keeper in a small, unnamed village by the sea.
Leon’s life is deeply intertwined with the village and its people despite him removing himself from the day-to-day social interactions and avoiding everything that connects him and ensures his place in history there. When, upon a necessary trip to the village to replenish his food supplies, he is surprised by a stranger, the new shopkeeper, Finn, Leon is not particularly warm and welcoming. There is no doubt Leon is intrigued, however, as Finn not so subtly insinuates himself in Leon’s life, showing up at the lighthouse uninvited, asking Leon to dinner, having him in for a cup of tea despite Leon’s protests. His attempts at resistance are futile, though, as, undaunted, Finn persists.
And Leon can’t help but be curious about and captivated by the man who so recently began haunting his nightmares.
The blurb for this utterly sublime story is vague, and necessarily so, so I won’t go into further detail for fear of spoiling its secrets and exposing too much of the otherworldliness that surprised and captivated me. So much so that I read it twice to be sure I absorbed it all, and I’m glad I did because I found myself loving the story even more the second time. With the benefit of knowledge, it was, of course, easier to recognize the subtle details I missed the first time, which made me appreciate the author’s storytelling prowess and gorgeous prose all the more. It is an homage to the old gods and rites that draw two men together time and time again in a love story that seeks to break free from its restraints. Hyacinth casts its spell effortlessly, aiming for the heart and finding its mark.
You can buy Hyacinth here:
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