Sanitaria Springs Sanitaria Springs

If you believe in polygamy then this series is for you. If not the stay away. Characters are great, but I wish I knew. I’m a hopeless romantic.

I first read this particular…chapter? Episode? Story? Part? Of the SS universe via the author’s website. It’s well-written and I was intrigued by the premise. I like that Alec and Sasha are very different people but still managed to come together. Who Alec is, someone that won’t back down, maybe as a way to impress Sasha, but also his personality that drove him to do what he did. We are all teenagers once and some of us never had the fortune to meet someone who would stick up for us or be there for us through thick and thin. 
 

That is the review for this particular part (chapter?) of the series. 
 

Moving to the series itself, I do say I quite enjoy the characters overall and they are all complicated and multidimensional - with various degrees of issues being dealt with when coming to terms with being an awkward teenager and/or being gay. With that said, the author also explored multiple issues/subjects including, what I believe is the correct term, polyamory. I have heard about it, I have came across fiction that explored it but I never would choose to get out of my way to read them. While some may be uncomfortable with the concept, as I was (and still am), I don’t think it’s fair to ding someone’s creativity because of lack of a trigger warning. I was surprised to read the throuple and development between the four original characters, I forced (not in a bad way) myself to go through with it to try to understand how that can work and what that means. Those parts of the series forced me to think and get into an area that I never thought to enter. With that said, I still don’t understand it nor will ever entertain the idea of being in any polyamorous relationships (which btw, is not the same as polygamy relationships) but it’s definitely something to know and learn to accept that we live in a very diverse world and that is a reality for many people. 
 

The one thing that tickles me is these teenagers are a whole lot more mature than when I was at that age or anyone I knew at that age. If they were a lot older (mid to late 20s) I would think the complexities would have made sense (heck, I’m still trying to figure myself out at the ripe old age of old enough to be their parent). But it’s fiction and its creativity, so who am I to judge. 
 

I actually stopped the series at about 70-80 chapters in (last I checked it was at 135 or something) and needed a break - maybe not a good idea to power through in one go  but great series though. Not sure when I will pick it back up…(I did spoiled myself with the family tree). 

The jester / clown exists to entertain the world while busy hiding their own anger and sadness. It takes attraction, kindness, tenacity to penetrate that mask and reach the real person underneath. I actually took the time to read more episodes of the Alec - Sasha saga before reviewing this. I may be partial to the setting of the story, having spent some time in the Great Lakes region (which I would like to extend to upstate New York) & found myself drawn to the landscape, climate (yes, that!) and general outlook of its people. I like these 'average' and troubled characters in the world of SS, down to some of their families' Southeastern European heritage. But one thing I want to single out to counter the point of the other reviewer ('polygamy') is that Alec and Sasha are honest about their feelings and desires. And the idea that a truly romantic relationship has to be confined to 2 people at all times is not applicable to many truly romantic relationships in real life.

And a good writer, like Dabeagle for example, shows us the potentials and possibilities of relationships. Humans do not get to decide who they are attracted to. Attractions happen even without us noticing. In fact, what Dabeagles does exceptionally well is to lay out the many forms and shades of attraction and how people become aware of them & work on them. First loves like Alec & Sasha's may survive life's many vicissitudes and become permanent, but more likely than not, humans go through different stages of life & different forms of romantic entanglement, some clearly defined & others very messy. Alec & Sasha talk about their feelings and attractions, negotiate the rules and boundaries, and I find their approach very adult. All characters in the world of SS are trying to live their lives to the full, and they're caught in a constant state of 'becoming' themselves. I find it totally relatable that some characters fall in love with just about everything and everyone, and it is how they work through their complex psychological processes that I find captivating.