The book “I Fell in Love With Hope” by Lancali, which is a pen name that the author writes under, is about learning to hope once more in a world of doubt and despondency. It is a work of realistic fiction with elements of magical realism woven throughout. In some ways, the book itself is a representation of many different types of people, including non-binary, LGBT, and disabled people.
The five main characters are either frequently in and out of hospitals or have spent most of their life there. They all suffer from various chronic conditions that have an impact on their way of life, but by working together, they are able to find the strength to go through truly challenging times. Sam, Neo, Sony, Hikari, and Coeur are their names, and because of their distinct personalities, many readers can identify with various characters.
The plot of the book is largely unaffected by climactic events because it is heavily character-driven. As a result, the words must be arranged on the page in a way that draws the reader in. The lines themselves are brilliantly crafted, as evidenced by the statement, “Our words fold over each other, dance together as our hands mimic them, act them out, that comfortable, ruinous distance the only thing keeping her mine, ghostly, unreal” (Lancali 64). A line like this should have had more power, but almost every sentence is constructed in this manner, which inevitably lessens its force.
Additionally, one might anticipate that the characters would be simple to relate to given how character-driven the plot is. I misjudged that, as it turned out. The novel’s characters were all difficult for me to relate to, which made the story go by very slowly at times. The personalities of the characters are not fully developed, assuming they have any depth at all.
Next, for the most part, the novel does a good job of portraying its subjects. The quality of life of four of the main characters is impacted by disability, and Lancali writes about both the happy and terrible days. Nothing that shouldn’t be sugar-coated is attempted to be done by the author. Other relationships include those between two male characters and a female character as well as a non-binary character.
The non-binary component is the only thing missing from the novel’s representation. It wasn’t until the latter quarter of the novel that I realized the narrator was non-binary because it wasn’t really mentioned. Up until that time, they have never been discussed in the third person. I believe that aspect of the book might have been handled better because it is heavily promoted as being a representation of non-binary individuals.
I give “I Fell in Love With Hope” a total of 3 out of 5 stars. The storyline twist at the end of the book is pretty unexpected, and the work has a great concept, however, it could have been written with a different format to make it easier and more interesting to read. In my opinion, the language may have occasionally been less ornate and it tended to decrease the impact of the well-written statements. But I do think you should give this book a shot if you value representation in literature and like character-driven storytelling.