Mallory Pearson’s newest release, Voice Like a Hyacinth, follows five best friends, Jo, Amrita, Saz, Caroline, and Finch, throughout their senior year at a prestigious art school. Senior painting students like our five main characters are expected to compete for the opportunity to have a solo gallery dedicated to their art. Jo, Amrita, Saz, Caroline, and Finch all want to earn the soloist position, but they also can’t stand the idea of someone from their group not getting the spot. In order to boost their creativity and productivity, the friends decide to perform a mysterious ritual that ends up asking for a bigger price than any of them were prepared to pay.
“…we promised to do it again, the next day and the next, until ‘together’ was an assumption instead of a hope.”
First of all, I want to thank Mallory Pearson for sending me a NetGalley link for an ARC of Voice Like a Hyacinth. I was so honored to be able to read it before the official release date and it has already become one of my new favorite books. The first few pages of this novel might be the best opening to a book that I’ve ever read. Mallory Pearson perfectly captured the feeling of finding your chosen family and never wanting to let them go that I feel like so many queer people will be able to relate to. The friendship between the five main characters is at the heart of this novel and their (often very toxic) love for each other carries you through the story.
“‘You shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.’
‘We’re not speaking ill, we’re talking shit.’”
In addition to the relationships built between the characters, I also loved the fact that we had Jo as an unreliable narrator. One of my favorite aspects of this book is that we never truly knew what was real and what wasn’t, which was able to build so much tension. If you are looking for a gorgeously written, dark academia book filled with sapphics and suspense, I would definitely recommend Voice Like a Hyacinth! To end this review, I want to leave you all with a line from the acknowledgements of the novel:
“…to all the queer girls. You’re the most important thing in this world. Make art and make magic and love each other beyond words.”
