Review for "A Slice of Quietude" by Sharon Cho

Review for “A Slice of Quietude” by Sharon Cho

“A Slice of Quietude” is what I consider to be a pretty unique book. Cho made it clear in the beginning blurb of her book that this is for people like her, especially young people who are LGBTQ who are woefully underrepresented in literature. In this fantasy world guilds are very important, and the assassin’s guild, called Slicers, are some of the most feared for their abilities. Kat is one of the most renowned Slicers and her latest job puts her in direct contact with Tristien, a fallen member of a God cult who is as scarred on the inside as she is on the outside. The attraction is instant, and causes a whole host of problems for the motley crew they form.

I want to be clear, this book involves lesbian relationships, and that was incredibly refreshing to see. The various lesbian relationships the reader encounters are so normal and realistic and portrayed to exhibit the variety of relationships that exist in the world, and its something that is sorely needed. While I didn’t have the struggle of having nothing in media to look up to and represented me, I can totally understand how a young LGBTQ person would struggle to find media content that represented them, and that related to their experiences. So, I must give big kudos to Cho for filling that deficiency. The main group we see in this book is the definition of ‘mixed bag.’ We have a bard, a warrior, a healer and an assassin, again reminding me of a Dungeons and Dragons game cast. The backgrounds of our hero’s, in particular Kat and Tristien, has such potential and is amazingly well developed. The way Cho dishes out Tristien’s history was masterful, and the snippets we know so far of Kat left me excited to learn more, and even more excited for Tristien to hear about it.

Having said that the story borrowed heavily from most fantasy genres centered around Dungeons and Dragons-style worlds, and besides the elements of Lesbian relationships didn’t really push any other boundaries. Sometimes the story line didn’t make sense, and the situation with Kat and Tristien beyond their feelings for one another was unclear, and unspoken among the group, which made me feel like there was an understanding there that the reader was supposed to get, but which I couldn’t.

But as much as there were things left unspoken, the cliffhanger ending simultaneously left me frustrated and elated; frustrated that I couldn’t find out more about Kat and Tristien’s story, but happy that Cho chose a bold way to end this book. Don’t worry readers, Cho has made this into a series so there promises to be more adventure to come. 

To learn more about the author, Sharon Cho, click here. 

To purchase "A Slice of Quietude" click here.