Curious Minds by Rachel Gold is a new adult, literary mystery with a secret prize at the end.
Maze and Lys are first year students at the university, and thus eligible to compete in the yearly queer literature scavenger hunt on campus. If any of the two person teams can decipher the clues and find the six famous queer novels that will lead them to the hidden lockbox, they may find something valuable inside.
Disappointed to not be on the same team, the two still become closer as they work toward the prize. Being pitted against the other teams is tough enough, but there is a mystery competitor making everyone’s life more difficult.
Writing
Parallels between Maze and Lys’ budding relationship, themes and clues from the books, and social pressures and expectations create a deep well of issues. There are more than a couple profound discussions about family, dealing with nurodivergence, campus politics and other topics that made me nostalgic for my college years.
The heavy reliance on queer literature spanning centuries guiding the students gives the book a DaVinci Code feel, and also made me feel like a real part of the hunt. The characters are really smart, and the author doesn’t dumb anything down for the reader.
For a wonder I didn’t get confused over character pov. All of the characters are very intelligent, but the author gives everyone a distinctive voice. Their conversations, even the argument, were entertaining and enlightening. The pacing was so well done that I never felt the story was dragging, even during those involved debates and strategy sessions.
Pros And My Favourite Parts
It made me very happy that the author doesn’t dumb down the conversation on a lot of issues. That kind of respect is always welcome. My favorite were the truly fascinating discussions on how creativity works and feels organically.
Despite the very large age difference between me and the characters, I really related to them, especially Maze’s social awkwardness and Lys’s injury as a rugby player, plus other issues like dealing with a dorm roommate and problem professors. These are two smart, decent young women and I liked them so much I would love to read more about their lives after college, even if they get boring jobs.
Heads Up
I can’t think of any negatives.
The Conclusion
Maze and Lys are first year students at the university, making them eligible to participate in the queer literature scavenger hunt. As they look for clues in classic books while maintaining their grades, they find each other and grow ever closer. As the hunt gets closer to the finish illicit intrigues appear, from players eager to claim the supposedly rich prize.
There are a lot of involved discussions on the classic queer literature involved in the clues, as well as thoughts on the nature of creativity, how to deal with neurodiversity, physical limitations, and dealing with family. The pacing is so even and the discussions so intelligent, I never felt a drag on the story.
Excerpt from Curious Minds by Rachel Gold
“I didn’t know if you meant me to come here to sleep or something else. When you moved my hand closer last night I figured something else, but probably not the whole thing where we verb the noun.”
“What?” I laugh and clap a hand over my mouth to keep in other sounds of surprise.
She grins sideways up at me. She’s still on the floor and I’m looming over her from the bed. Should she come up here or I go down there? She’s practically in the laundry pile at this point.
She says, “You know: do the deed, butter the biscuit, feed the kitty, sweep the chimney – as I say these, I realize they’re both heteronormative and, in some cases, awful.”
Wow, so many sex euphemisms take the structure verb, plus “the”, plus noun – and her euphemism is the meta structure “verb the noun” – and now my entire body is desperate to move closer to her entire body. Even if that means sitting in my laundry pile.
“Does it always work?” I ask and try a verb with a noun. “Maintain the wetlands? Actually that’s not bad.”
“Deliver the assignment?” she suggests with a low chuckle. ‘
“Offer the poem?”
“Are you offering?” she asks. “Not the whole poem, maybe a few lines?”
“Yeah, if you mean – ?”
She climbs into the bed and puts her mouth on mine.
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Bits and Bobs
ISBN number: 978-1-64247-449-7
Publisher: Bella Books
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