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Fforde is a worldbuilding wizard. This dystopian, outlandish novel oozes quirkiness, humor, and hierarchical nonsense while painting a vibrant picture of the Chromatasia. The protagonist, Eddie Russet, begins a life-altering adventure in the Outer Fringes, a place he believed drab or otherwise below his middle-hued status. He meets abrasive Yellows, a feisty Grey, snobbish Purples, and untrustworthy Reds. But what's most exciting is the journey Fforde creates for Eddie. Even when nothing but set building and historical significance seems to unfold, it's hard not to be sucked into the prose.

Shades of Grey is perfect for fantasy lovers and fans of the absurd alike.

Really enjoyed this book, Ash is just the grumpy hermit trans woman I might become one day if all goes... "well". Really enjoyed the trans folks and sex workers fighting the good fight in this dystopian book, and the wisdom sprinkled in. Also really personally hated some of the characters, which doesn't happen that often and makes for some good writing if it does, I think. Real tense read that absolutely didn't pull punches regarding some pretty graphic depictions of bad stuff, but I personally was able to deal with that pretty good in the context of the whole book.

Got a little confused from time to time by the side-by-side storytelling being so omnipresent, it made for some interesting contrasts and "oh fuck" moments during the reading but it got a but much for my personal taste. The nameless, faceless dystopia had it's charms but felt a little too flat and on the nose to me from time to time, compared to some other works in a similar space. My complaining is on a really high level though, and I'll absolutely be buying this book (or the whole trilogy, knowing myself) as a paperback to efficiently bug my friends to read them, and maybe you, whoever's reading this, should too!

Two books rolled into one and then, a third book plays a decisive role. I loved the poetic excerpts from "Rusted Robots" and its reflections about friendship and enemies, how immediate existing conflicts keep the robots from fighting an existential threat in an echo of what happened to humanity. The main framing story takes place in the near future and sometimes appears a bit meandering but I felt contained a lot of observations about storytelling and family relationships. There's a big twist towards the end which give the whole book another meta layer. I plan to re-read it at some point.

...read this! Very cute, mostly fluffy. I only really have three mild complaints. First: you think it's gonna get spicier eventually, and it does, but that happens totally off-screen unfortunately lol. It's a fairly long book, and you can tell they're building up to it. But when it finally happens it's one of those "...and then suddenly it's the next morning" type scenes. Second: the transfemme MC is taller than average and flat chested. I get it, that's not exactly super uncommon, but we do come in other shapes you know! Third: the MCs are like polymaths to an obscene level. How are you an expert at hockey, cow wrangling, math, Rubik's cubes, AND obscure trivia?? So minus half a star for those things, but I'd still recommend it anyway.