40. Once For Yes

 

40. Once for Yes. Allie Millington. 2025. 272 pages. [Source: Library] [magic realism, mg fiction, 3 stars]

First sentence: My beginning began with a brick. Might not sound like much, but hey. We've all got to start somewhere. Brick by brick by brick, until I became a big enough box to fit people inside. Wouldn't have been my first choice. Too bad no one asked me. Almost fifty years later, and I was still full of them.

Premise/plot: Once For Yes is narrated by several characters, one of which is the apartment building itself, The Odenburgh. Primarily the narration is between the building (The Odenburgh) and Prue (from apartment 4C) with only occasional additional perspectives. Two major stories essentially collide in this one: a) Prue is mourning the loss of her sister, Lina, who died about a year before--hit by a car; b) The Odenburgh (the building) is facing demolition. The tenants have been put on notice to move within a month. The building is going down, down, and nothing can save it. The building--of course--being magical tries to communicate with Prue--more receptive than the others in the building. The problem? Prue is convinced that it is the dead Lina reaching out from beyond the grave. Can the building be saved? Should the building be saved?

My thoughts: This one is from the author of Olivetti--a novel from the perspective of a typewriter. This one had all of the same magical realism elements as Olivetti. However, the themes and tones are different. I don't know why the building impersonating a dead Lina bothers me. But it does. For better or worse. I didn't dislike this one. I just didn't love it. There's nothing wrong with merely liking something.

 

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