Spire has spent an eternity running from what she is. An ancient muse severed from her own divinity, she's built a life around outrunning the Haze — the fractured, unclaimed part of herself she can't quite bury and can't quite face.
Then Eli finds her.
A musician who won’t let Spire settle for good enough. Eli doesn't try to fix Spire or explain her to herself. He just stays. And staying is enough to crack something open.
Beneath the surface of Spire's world lives another story — Glory, holding grief she's never let herself feel. Cosmo, running away with pleasure because searching for purpose hasn’t worked yet. Hugo, trying to work himself out of existence. And Poppy, chasing and attracting every enjoyable thing known to man. All of them waiting to be captivated by the right thing.
Spire's Cosmic Glory is a debut novel six years in the making — a spiritually autobiographical allegory that’s for anyone who has ever run from their own reflection.
The journey isn't pretty, nor is it easy — but it might just be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Spire has spent an eternity running from what she is. An ancient muse severed from her own divinity, she's built a life around outrunning the Haze — the fractured, unclaimed part of herself she can't quite bury and can't quite face.
Then Eli finds her.
A musician who won’t let Spire settle for good enough. Eli doesn't try to fix Spire or explain her to herself. He just stays. And staying is enough to crack something open.
Beneath the surface of Spire's world lives another story — Glory, holding grief she's never let herself feel. Cosmo, running away with pleasure because searching for purpose hasn’t worked yet. Hugo, trying to work himself out of existence. And Poppy, chasing and attracting every enjoyable thing known to man. All of them waiting to be captivated by the right thing.
Spire's Cosmic Glory is a debut novel six years in the making — a spiritually autobiographical allegory that’s for anyone who has ever run from their own reflection.
The journey isn't pretty, nor is it easy — but it might just be the best thing that ever happened to you.
After his last breath, Spire wastes no time in tearing at the hem of her stola. Face streaked with dirt, tears, and snot, she rips at the fabric in a frenzy, spitting nonsense and cursing herself and everything else she can think of. She doesn’t know the words, doesn’t know what they mean or why they’re coming out now, but they feel right. They are from somewhere beneath language, beneath thought, and they fill the cave the way smoke fills a room.
She’s hysterical thinking of how many opportunities she missed to prevent this, but when it’s time to bind him, her mind quiets. She’s slower, careful, the way you handle something irreplaceable. The words still fall from her lips at the same pace as her tears while she works.
When Spire’s done, it’s still too soon; she’s still not ready. She sniffs as she gingerly takes hold, then releases the cold, frail hand, laying it gently across the shriveled corpse that once held so much life. Slowly she lowers her head onto the crumbling chest of her lost love, listening for something—an inhale or exhale that is no longer there.
The Haze manifests while she sleeps. It doesn’t announce itself; it moves in the way grief moves, all-consuming, pooling in the corners of the cave, climbing the walls, softening the dark until it’s just a deep, bruised purple.
It has no name yet. It has no idea what it is. Neither do they.
Because somewhere else—somewhere that did not exist until this very moment—two people sit next to each other for the first time and do not think to wonder why. All while a third person goes unacknowledged.
For now.
Spire is an inspirational consultant renowned for helping artists advance their work beyond something special to something... well, divine. Accompanied by an intoxicating Haze, Spire is not just a guru; she is the ultimate muse: a goddess in hiding. She has her rotation down to an art: create an icon, then disappear before the intensity of her being burns out another mortal. Repeat. But she didn't count on someone like Eli.
Eli, her most recent project, isn't so easily outmaneuvered. He pursues Spire with the same passion that created his music—and the same tenderness. Eli believes in what Spire knows to be impossible. Spire knows only heartache can await a mortal and a goddess who fall for each other.
Running deep within Spire's wrestling with the forbidden is another story: that of Glory and Cosmo, two best friends who become immersed in an otherworldly experience. Pulled apart by two strangers, Poppy & Hugo, whom they are somehow tethered to, the duo are subjected to an ever-changing landscape and increasingly uncanny experiences. It is up to Glory to find some way to escape their Sisyphean cycle.
A good yearn, Spire and Eli's story is a slow, yet extremely intense, burn, filled with the struggle between forbidden desires and tragic pasts, immersing the reader's senses. This contrasts with Glory and Cosmo, who go on a mythopoetic journey delving deep into the psyche. It is in this undercurrent of a second story that Smith's use of metaphors shines. The names of characters and places are apropos, signalling to readers the function they fulfill. The metaphorical elements begin as brilliant nods to Greek mythology, drawing on to create rich characters and worlds, but as the journey progresses they broaden and become reminiscent of a secular Pilgrim's Progress.
Every chapter switches the narrative between Spire, Glory, and Cosmo. While I enjoy multiple POVs, the frequency produced a frustrating pace for me. Some storylines switched within chapters, which I believe would have been better as separate chapters. The chapter titles did not serve the story well, often serving as an unnecessary synopsis, therefore curtailing anticipation. But chapter titles can be forgiven by readers who enjoy the magic produced by artfully cast prose.
Simone Smith's writing offers a delectable feast of words. Her ability to transport readers and evoke sensations will have readers who seek the thrill of emotions begging for her next work. Her tale harkens to Greek mythology yet incorporates modern themes of identity, focusing her commentary on how a woman must make herself smaller...and what happens when she allows herself to fill the space she was made to occupy.
Who is the ideal reader for this book? Anyone who loves a yearning love story lavish on sensory descriptions, and who also has a healthy dose of appreciation for Greek mythology and parables.