Red Shoes

By: Satyros Phil Brucato

Narrated by: Ivy Tara Blair

When a young dancer burns to death on stage, her friend Génet Shilling wants to know why. That puzzle leads Génet through strange underworlds, upending everything she thought was real.

An urban faerie tale from the author behind Mage, Deliria, and Powerchords, Red Shoes explores a realm where music becomes magic; love, death, and energy converge; and time is just a state of sound.

©2021 Phil Brucato (P)2022 Phil Brucato / Ivy Tara Blair

Magic, mystery, and trauma, but in a good way

So first things first. I was given a copy by the author in a trade but I did purchase the audiobook on my own.
With that out of the way...
I was not prepared for this book. I had been a Mage: the Ascension player for a long while and saw much of the influence of his previous work on this. At first it reads like a well crafted Mage origin story as someone slowly awakening to magic. His characters are relatable and reminded me of people I know or used to know in various communities so there was some comfort in that. I was enjoying the ride and completely forgot about the Trigger Warning he puts in the beginning of the book. The terror that he brought to the page through realism actually terrified me. By the end, it's a magical, spiritual mindset that radiates through the work.

The performance was great and who ever did the engineering needs an award. There are times when the performer is whispering as the character does where it doesn't sound very clear if you have any ambient noises to contest with, but over all, very well done.

This was well worth the credit. I hope to see more from the author!

Very interesting alt fiction

I really enjoyed the narration and the music which really added to the feel of the story. The storyline was interesting but somewhat flawed. Still very good but I felt that it left a few strings unraveled that I would have preferred to be tied up. overall very enjoyable and reminded me a lot of when I was a teenager in the 90s and my own explorations of mysticism and alternative reality.