Book Review: ARGENT

It's good!

Argent is the debut novel by Siwon Kim; and I am excited to talk about this one as I was friends with the author during college. Thankfully, I don't have to exaggerate any for them; this is a good book! There's nothing groundbreaking here, but it was an absolute joy to read and I am looking forward to what other stories this author chooses to tell in the future.

 

Argent is an urban fantasy story about Carol, a grey-skinned, sharp-toothed 'argent' living secretly amongst humans, and how her life changes as she goes off to college and meets a new friend named Lily. The story is fairly plot-light, but what draws the audience in is some fantastic character building and excellent pacing. The two central characters, Carol and Lily, have good chemistry and vibrant personalities. Their burgeoning friendship and the ways in which they navigate the world make them endearing, compelling, and just downright cute. The plot is a bare-bones mystery, but it could almost have been about nothing and I still would have found these characters delightful, so clearly are they realized in the writing.

The best comparison I can make is that the writing between Carol and Lily feels at the same level as that between characters in Deltarune or Undertale (though the Deltarune influences are strongest). It's all the small details of personality and friendship that Kim brings to life in both dialogue and narration. The exchanges between Carol and Lily feel genuine; sometimes awkward, sometimes blunt, and each always has a distinct voice. Even in text exchanges their voices shine through; Lily's penchant for using expressive emotes ( \(-.-)/ ; (~‾▿‾)~; etc.) is a fantastic use of the medium-with-medium and modern text vernacular that I haven't really seen much of (though I also haven't been reading many modern novels lately). It conveys emotion efficiently and authentically, and builds upon her characterization.

The tone of the novel is fairly light, and it has a great sense of pacing for comedic beats. It also keeps a good pace in its plot reveals and story beats; there is not much complexity in this mystery, and the book feels no need to drag out its revelations after they become obvious. This keeps the story engaging along with the characters.

However, outside of the dynamic between Carol and Lily (which is most of the book), few other characters have substantial personality or purpose in the book. Carol's father and a second friend named Charles are the 'secondary' characters, but are several under-developed compared to the two stars. Charles is a frat bro used for a few comedic cameos, and Carol's father simply doesn't seem as developed as he should be for the dramatic moments he gets with Carol. This is partially due to some clunky exposition at the start of the book, and what I would call 'basic' book-ending at the end. It reads more like checking a box or as prompts to get to later chapters, and less like the genuine results of characters interacting in that situation. It's just not as strong as the Carol/Lily dynamic. 

There are a few technical oddities as well; for example there are some unusual perspective shifts away from Carol then back despite the narration ostensibly always being from her perspective; a few sentences of clunky exposition, as I mentioned, and what appears to be a missed edit on page 142. The narration reads as if Carol and Lily get on a motorcycle and head to Carol's house twice in a row, both before and after the page-break. But these are the minutia of writing.

Overall, I loved this book and these two dumb lesbians. I was smiling throughout my reading, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants some thing short and sweet. A wonderful debut; definitely worth your time.

 Argent is available through Amazon