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[STARRED REVIEW] DEBUT “A trans woman confronts her past along with the person she might have been in this queer, noir technothriller set in a near-future, dystopian Kansas City. Dora’s ex-girlfriend is dead, and her old commune expects her to return and solve the crime. But it’s not merely a murder, and it’s not a result of any of the standard motives, nor is the perpetrator any of the usual suspects. Instead, Dora finds a scientist operating an illegal cloning facility, trying to create easily programmable, disposable lab rats and super soldiers while also creating additional versions of Dora the way he wants her to be: obedient, worshipful, and unequivocally male. Dora has to literally plumb the depths of her city, her past relationships, and her present psyche in order to eliminate a threat she never imagined. The murder case is the best kind of technothriller, getting deeper into the guts of the tech and the skulls in the corporate skullduggery while putting the reader into the heart and soul of an investigator who can’t stop trying to save the day for everybody else. VERDICT Recommended for SF readers who love a good mystery, can’t resist a queer romance, and adore seeing a corporate conspiracy unraveled and undone.” —Library Journal

“Wasserstein makes clever use of genre tropes, including clones, snappy noir-style dialogue, and the damaged, insomniac detective archetype. With a complex and enjoyably flawed trans protagonist and a portrayal of queer life that goes deeper than casual representation, this marks Wasserstein as a voice to watch out for in LGBTQ science fiction.” —Publishers Weekly

“Within a twisted conspiracy thriller is a compelling slice-of-queer-life, uninterested in simple representation. An irresistible afterword will leave readers eager for more from Wasserstein. This book is perfect for anyone interested in community politics, body politics, the craft of writing, or a page-turning thriller.” —Kirkus

“This fast-paced novella blends a pitch-perfect noir voice with all the excitement and grit of an action movie, but at its core, it is ultimately a tale of community, identity, and connection. Izzy Wasserstein is a true and tender storyteller with a head for twisty plots and a heart for complex love.” —Emma Törzs, author of Ink Blood Sister Scribe

“These Fragile Graces is at once a stylish noir and an exploration of identity, gender, selfhood, control, consent, and intimacy. Wasserstein more than pulls it off.” —Esquire

“This book is incredible . . . I love seeing trans people writing trans stories. It has a drastically different feel. I feel safer. I fall for the characters so much harder.” —MI Book Reviews

“Just like all of Izzy Wasserstein’s work, this story is complex, well-written, heartfelt.” —Natalia Theodoridou, World Fantasy Award winner and Nebula finalist

“At one level, These Fragile Places, This Fugitive Heart works just fine as an efficient and fast-moving thriller in a gritty urban setting, but just as efficient is the manner in which Wasserstein layers in issues of trans acceptance.” —Locus

“From anarchist decision making to the difficulties of self-definition to clone sex, this small book has it all.” —Bogi Takács, editor of Transcendent

“With an anarchist’s eye for flipping all the old tropes, Wasserstein makes her propulsive, stylish cyberpunk murder mystery sing on every page.” —Karen Osborne, author of Architects of Memory

“Izzy Wasserstein is a gifted writer, and this is a wonderful debut.” —Josh Rountree, author of The Legend of Charlie Fish

“If you like queer dystopian thrillers, don't miss These Fragile Places, This Fugitive Heart.” —Reviews that Burn

“This is a murder mystery, yes; but mostly it is a story about how we can live together and love one another without using force or doing violence to those we love in the name of creating a better world. —Interzone

“Some books feel like they were written as a special treat just for me. This trans, queer techno-noir follows an unlikely detective after she learns her ex-girlfriend was murdered in the radical commune where they met. It asks the kinds of questions that queer SF excels at, like ‘what are the ethical considerations of fucking a clone?’ and ‘what happens when our well-earned paranoia butts up against collective liberatory praxes?'” —Nino Cipri, Astoria Bookshop

“Through succinct writing, Izzy Wasserstein beautifully explores what a clone of a trans woman may be like, the choices they could make, the people they could become, and in an extreme citation, how they might come to be, and a relationship that may spark between them.” —Armed with a Book

“I was gripped from start to finish.”
—Book Lover’s Boudoir