Release Date: October 11th, 2022

Genre(s): Adult fiction, Science-fiction, Literary fiction

Publisher: Tordotcom

Pages: 304

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.5

Thank you to Tordotcom and Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

If a picture paints a thousand worlds…

Abandoned as an infant on the local veterinarian’s front porch, Pepper Rafferty was raised by two loving mothers, and now at thirty-six is married to the stable, supportive Ike. She’s never told anyone that at fifteen she discovered the identity of her biological mother.

That’s because her birth mother is Ula Frost, a reclusive painter famous for the outrageous claims that her portraits summon their subjects’ doppelgangers from parallel universes.

Researching the rumors, Pepper couldn’t help but wonder:
Was there a parallel universe in which she was more confident, more accomplished, better able to accept love?
A universe in which Ula decided she was worth keeping?
A universe in which Ula’s rejection didn’t still hurt too much to share?

Sometimes living our best life means embracing the imperfect one we already have…

Review

Self-Portrait with Nothing certainly presents a unique concept – mystery meets science fiction meets the arts. Many stories explore the dynamics of characters searching to understand their families’ pasts, which is something I really enjoy reading from time to time. Self-Portrait With Nothing does just that, but with a sci-fi twist.

While this book has a slower buildup towards the beginning, I enjoyed being able to put the pieces together of Ula’s life and the mysteries that surrounded her. This part of the story really plays into finding the answers to those questions while slowly building up all of the characters’ backstories and intentions.

The 60% mark is when the pace really begins to shift and turns to that sci-fi element, which, despite the backstory presented, really takes you for a surprise as you learn what’s really going on with Ula.

While I enjoyed this book overall, I think this book was slightly too segmented once you hit the halfway mark. The change in pace was a bit sudden for me, and the emphasis on the sci-fi aspect compared to the second half felt like more of a jump than I was expecting. Regardless, I really liked the integration of sci-fi and the arts that made up this story, as it is two subjects that are usually viewed as opposites, rather than ones that can exist together. I’d recommend Self-Portrait With Nothing to those that typically enjoy literary fiction but are looking for something not strictly contemporary. 

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