Shopalopa

An exquisitely cerebral, transgendered Lolita, sortof

Reviewed: 09-17-20

While the are plenty of differences between Nabokov’s famous novel and Tish Mellon’s novelette, the theme of a seemingly exploited, sexually nascent subject beginning to own their power is nearly identical between the two. In addition, Mellon takes her time to develop each scene, situation and supporting character with the same, thorough flourish. The story is so well told that, if you came in search of explicit, fappably sexual content (of which there is little to none), it is very easy to forget that goal, zip up your pants and enjoy the narrative.

Invariably, this story is a set-up for up-and-cumming content, and I look forward to her subsequent chapters. All in all, it is a tale of transition from male-minded person into feminized sex kitten, and, in spite of the absence of a hot-and-heavy payoff at the end, it is a tale that feels complete.

My only critique is for what feels like brevity. Transitioning comes with many milestones that each feel like a point of no return. With firsts like trying on panties, applying lipstick and self-exploration of previously forbidden erogenous zones, the bulk of these firsts usually occur prior to making actual physical contact with someone else. In Mellon’s telling, they seem time-compressed and under-leveraged. Her protagonist moves through these firsts either without significance, or simultaneously.

Of course, as an older reader, my estimation of this could be more related to the abundance of social stigma from my time applied to Mellon’s more modern experience, so take it with a grain of salt.

The voice narrator does a great job of striking a balance between inflection that adds to but doesn’t upstage it source materials. Her tone is femme enough to sell the experience but not so girly that it seems out of place.

For the money, I would recommend enjoying this book immediately that it might sink in awhile before Mellon releases the next evolution. To wait and binge would be a waste of her fine authoring. If her follow on is a good as this set up, it’s worth the suspense.

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