Limbo Jubilee is a raw novella steeped in magical realism Neala s surreal story begins in the backwoods of St Roscoe West Virginia Neala s hero is her Aunt Betsy who saves the day in a pair of red cowgirl boots Neala s life is forever changed as she witnesses the death of her Aunt Betsy Neala longs for a love that will heal her wounds so when she meets Brick she is tempted to cross the imaginary line but she finds herself in a dangerous limbo Neala s spooky voyage transports her to the fringes of reality where she flirts with some creepy crawly surprises While a macabre sickness hunts Neala down she experiments with what it means to be human Neala s panic escalates with every page but could her paranoia be grounded in wisdom Limbo JubileeI received a copy of Limbo Jubilee book from the author in exchange for my honest review All opinions are of course my own To try to sum up Limbo Jubilee would be impossible And that s not a bad thing at all Soleil has a way with words that makes you sit back and think Damn I wish I could write like this This novella is not only beautifully written but it s incredibly unique Written as a fictional memoir based on Neala s life loss love mental illness attachment abandonment and The characters in this story are raw intimate vulnerable and human And this is before you even add in the magical realism and fantasy elements which only makes it that much magical and mysterious. I was drawn to the story and Neala s experiences The beginning seems innocuous enough but as we move further into the book we realize that perhaps Neala isn t totally grounded in reality Or perhaps there is to the story than even she knows I am still not really sure if Neala is delusional or if she truly is of another world and a being called a spryling As I read the story it seemed like she was a spryling but as it came closer to the end and we learn about her anorexia and other psychological issues was it a mental break or not We learn a lot about Neala s life and the abandonment she felt as a child her love for her Aunt Betsy and the feelings she has for Brick that she has never felt for anyone else The culmination of many events brings her to this point and we can only wonder if the events made her a better person or not. This novella was beautifully written Ms Soleil had a marvellous way with words especially when it came to capturing small moments in life that could easily be forgotten either purposefully due to how difficult they were or accidentally due to how quickly they passed by Based on my first impression of her writing style I m going to be keeping an eye out for anything she writes in the future. I adored how realistic the storyline felt Obviously the science fiction elements couldn t happen in our world but everything else genuinely felt like it was being recounted by Neala herself There was a time about twenty pages into it that I stopped reading and googled it to see if any of the characters or plot twists were based on things that truly happened That was how convincing it was One thing I did need to adjust to when I first began reading this tale was how much it jumped around from past to present and from one topic to the next While it did require a little bit of patience in the beginning as I grew used to it there were excellent reasons why it was written that way I m glad I relaxed into the flow of the scenes and allowed them to take me where they wanted to go. Neala was a loveable and relatable protagonist Her social anxiety and tendency to put herself down for making the smallest errors in life gave me the urge to hug her If only she could have seen what a kind and wonderful person she was She was so much harder on herself than anyone else would ever be More than anything I wanted her to realize that and not worry so much Honestly she was miles ahead of where she thought she was in her personal development. Limbo Jubilee was truly delightful I can t recommend it highly enough 9781704323176