Book Review: Self-Portrait With Nothing

A Two-Minute Book Review

Self-Portrait With Nothing by Aimee Pokwatka

I hate surprises except when I read. When I read, I love to have NO GODLY IDEA where the book is heading.

I will check out a book to see if people whose taste match mine like it, but then once I decide, I go in blind. I don’t read the blurb, avoid all reviews and posts, and just read. I want to see the story unfold as the author intended, not as the community experienced it.

I had no idea where SELF-PORTRAIT WITH NOTHING was headed. Similar to MY DIRTY CALIFORNIA, it could have been sci-fi (parallel universes) or unreliable narrator (mental illness).

I’m delighted to say it worked. I enjoyed the unique story about Pepper, an adopted daughter searching for her famous mother, who has mysteriously disappeared. Complicating matters are a couple of powerful henchmen who want to find her, too. You see, Ula Frost isn’t just a painter. Rumor is when she paints a subject, she pulls their double to this universe from an alternate one.

Or does she?

I read an Advanced Listening Copy of the audiobook courtesy of @NetGalley and MacMillan Audio and a Digital Review Copy of the e-book from @tordotcompub. Thanks!