Collection
Series
Publication
New York : TOR, 2020.
Description
Nino Cipri's Finna is a rambunctious, touching story that blends all the horrors the multiverse has to offer with the everyday awfulness of low-wage work. It explores queer relationships and queer feelings, capitalism and accountability, labor and love, all with a bouncing sense of humor and a commitment to the strange. When an elderly customer at a Swedish big box furniture store-but not that one-slips through a portal to another dimension, it's up to two minimum-wage employees to track her across the multiverse and protect their company's bottom line. Multi-dimensional swashbuckling would be hard enough, but those two unfortunate souls broke up a week ago. To find the missing granny, Ava and Jules will brave carnivorous furniture, swarms of identical furniture spokespeople, and the deep resentment simmering between them. Can friendship blossom from the ashes of their relationship? In infinite dimensions, all things are possible.… (more)
Language
Media reviews
"Their emotional arcs resonate but are frequently overpowered by the introduction of new, seemingly random sets of problems to face. Cipri delivers on a fun premise, but readers will wish for greater depths of feeling."
User reviews
LibraryThing member BrokenTune
Finna was a book I picked up at random because the premise of a SF story set in a Swedish-style furniture store (but not THAT furniture store) somehow appealed to me.
This was a great little read which told the story of what happened after Jules and Ava broke up but still had to work together at the
As if things couldn't be worse, when an old lady disappears in the store, Jules and Ava are sent to find her. This is when they discover that the maze made up different tiny apartments actually leads to another world.
I really liked the inventiveness of this story. I LOVED that this was not a romance but was set after a break-up. I really liked that we don't get told everything about Jules and Ava right from the start but that we need to invest time in the story to get to know them.
I really liked the ending.
However, I felt this was too short. It's a novella, really, but some parts felt rushed and could have done with a bit more fleshing out.
Still, I will probably read the sequel to this.
This was a great little read which told the story of what happened after Jules and Ava broke up but still had to work together at the
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same furniture store in jobs they both hate.As if things couldn't be worse, when an old lady disappears in the store, Jules and Ava are sent to find her. This is when they discover that the maze made up different tiny apartments actually leads to another world.
I really liked the inventiveness of this story. I LOVED that this was not a romance but was set after a break-up. I really liked that we don't get told everything about Jules and Ava right from the start but that we need to invest time in the story to get to know them.
I really liked the ending.
However, I felt this was too short. It's a novella, really, but some parts felt rushed and could have done with a bit more fleshing out.
Still, I will probably read the sequel to this.
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LibraryThing member fred_mouse
This manages to be both a romp from start to finish, and sad and tragic at various times. Starting in a knock-off IKEA, the story forces exes Ava and Jules together -- there is a lot of unfinished business that starts getting sorted out in this slight book, and yet that is somehow the B plot.
The
Highly recommended.
The
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world building is exquisite - from the very start, with Ava getting off the bus, then through the various alternate worlds that our protagonists get thrown through. The characters are equally well written, being unhappy and broken but entirely sympathetically written. Unlike other very depressed and anxious characters, Ava does not seem over wrought, nor unbelievable. And on top of all this, the author has managed to fit in a biting commentary on big box stores, corporate culture, and the evils of capitalism. Highly recommended.
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LibraryThing member Tsana
FINNA by Nino Cipri is an amusing novella set in a thinly veiled Ikea store in the US. It features wormholes to parallel universes, and two employees who recently broke up and have not yet worked through the awkward post-breakup period.
I really enjoyed FINNA. As is my habit, I had forgotten what it
Since this is a relatively short read, I'm not sure there's very much more I can say without skirting spoilers, so I will leave you with one final opinion. I really liked that this wasn't a romance story. Ava and Jules were a couple, now they're not and the story arc is absolutely not about them getting back together. I'm not sure I've come across this as a central focus of a spec fic book before. I highly approve of the depiction of healthy non-romantic relationships in books.
I highly recommend FINNA if you enjoy universe hopping and/or slightly absurd science fiction. Or if you hate Ikea (personally, I don't get the Ikea hate, but whatever). I will certainly be keeping an eye on other books and stories I come across by Cipri.
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
I really enjoyed FINNA. As is my habit, I had forgotten what it
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was about (aside from thinking that it was vaguely Scandinavian which it was, emphasis on the vaguely). The opening of the book sets the scene with a focus on the protagonist’s general misery from her retail job and more specific misery from her recent breakup. It gave me just enough time to wonder what the speculative fiction element was going to be before introducing the wormholes. Then it turned into a fun and slightly absurd adventure story as Ava and Jules are forced to go on a rescue mission.Since this is a relatively short read, I'm not sure there's very much more I can say without skirting spoilers, so I will leave you with one final opinion. I really liked that this wasn't a romance story. Ava and Jules were a couple, now they're not and the story arc is absolutely not about them getting back together. I'm not sure I've come across this as a central focus of a spec fic book before. I highly approve of the depiction of healthy non-romantic relationships in books.
I highly recommend FINNA if you enjoy universe hopping and/or slightly absurd science fiction. Or if you hate Ikea (personally, I don't get the Ikea hate, but whatever). I will certainly be keeping an eye on other books and stories I come across by Cipri.
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
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LibraryThing member Familiar_Diversions
Ava and Jules recently had a painful breakup, which is made worse by the fact that they both work at the same LitenVärld, an IKEA knockoff store. When a coworker calls in sick, Ava reluctantly agrees to come in only to discover that Jules is also working that day. Then a customer's grandmother
I checked this out for multiple reasons. First, I needed an audiobook that could get me through the ride to and from the airport, and this was almost exactly the length I needed. Second, the description made me think "Horrorstör but sci-fi." I still haven't been inside an actual IKEA, but I seem to be drawn to stories set in IKEA knockoffs.
Sadly, this didn't really work for me, and I might not have finished it if it hadn't been for the whole "captive audience in need of something to listen to" airport trip. It started off okay (I really liked Ava's names for the various LitenVärld display rooms, like the "Nihilist Bachelor cube"), but I felt like it wasted its parallel universe LitenVärld potential. Ava and Jules traveled to, if I remember correctly, maybe three different parallel universe LitenVärlds, but only one of them was recognizable as a store. I was really hoping for more skewed big-box store moments, although I did like the chair in the first one.
Ava and Jules' relationship issues were a drag to listen to. Ava was the one who'd initiated the breakup, in large part due to the strain her own anxiety plus Jules' more adventurous and risk-taking personality put her under. Jules (a nonbinary character) had their own baggage, and as a result the two of them never really sat down and talked any of it through, so it was hurt feelings and strain all around. Meanwhile, I just wanted freaky LitenVärld variations.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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goes missing, and Ava and Jules are suddenly forced to work together to find the woman, a task that will involve traveling through multiple wormholes to multiple LitenVärld variations. I checked this out for multiple reasons. First, I needed an audiobook that could get me through the ride to and from the airport, and this was almost exactly the length I needed. Second, the description made me think "Horrorstör but sci-fi." I still haven't been inside an actual IKEA, but I seem to be drawn to stories set in IKEA knockoffs.
Sadly, this didn't really work for me, and I might not have finished it if it hadn't been for the whole "captive audience in need of something to listen to" airport trip. It started off okay (I really liked Ava's names for the various LitenVärld display rooms, like the "Nihilist Bachelor cube"), but I felt like it wasted its parallel universe LitenVärld potential. Ava and Jules traveled to, if I remember correctly, maybe three different parallel universe LitenVärlds, but only one of them was recognizable as a store. I was really hoping for more skewed big-box store moments, although I did like the chair in the first one.
Ava and Jules' relationship issues were a drag to listen to. Ava was the one who'd initiated the breakup, in large part due to the strain her own anxiety plus Jules' more adventurous and risk-taking personality put her under. Jules (a nonbinary character) had their own baggage, and as a result the two of them never really sat down and talked any of it through, so it was hurt feelings and strain all around. Meanwhile, I just wanted freaky LitenVärld variations.
(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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LibraryThing member LisCarey
Ava and Jules work at a big box furniture store. They're also in the immediate aftermath of a really painful breakup a few days ago.
This chain, LitenVärld, has a little problem with wormholes occasionally opening up and swallowing customers. They don't make a point of telling employees that,
In this store, on this day, that's Ava and Jules, who are currently having difficulty even speaking to each other. But these are the only jobs they have, and the alternative to accepting the assignment is termination.
Into the wormhole they go.
The Finna device they've been given points them toward the missing customer, or that best available substitute, but it's neither quick, nor easy, nor safe. They find a world of carnivorous furniture, a world where LitenVärld is a hive, and they aren't members of the local hive...
And a world where they're dumped into the sea, but a submarine surfaces just in time to save them. It's here that they start to get some answers, and may have found that "best available substitute"--if the woman thinks she has any reason to go with them. Except they went through that hive, and they've brought danger chasing after them. Will they even survive?
Along the way, Ava and Jules learn an awful lot about themselves, each other, the multiverse they live in, and the life choices they've made.
It's a bit crazy, exciting, really interesting. Recommended.
I bought this book.
This chain, LitenVärld, has a little problem with wormholes occasionally opening up and swallowing customers. They don't make a point of telling employees that,
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especially not new employees. It cold be bad for the bottom line. They used to have a division, Finna, whose job was to go through the wormhole and retrieve the customer--or the nearest available substitute. The Finna division was disbanded for budgetary reasons, so now the policy is to send the two lowest-paid employees after the customer.In this store, on this day, that's Ava and Jules, who are currently having difficulty even speaking to each other. But these are the only jobs they have, and the alternative to accepting the assignment is termination.
Into the wormhole they go.
The Finna device they've been given points them toward the missing customer, or that best available substitute, but it's neither quick, nor easy, nor safe. They find a world of carnivorous furniture, a world where LitenVärld is a hive, and they aren't members of the local hive...
And a world where they're dumped into the sea, but a submarine surfaces just in time to save them. It's here that they start to get some answers, and may have found that "best available substitute"--if the woman thinks she has any reason to go with them. Except they went through that hive, and they've brought danger chasing after them. Will they even survive?
Along the way, Ava and Jules learn an awful lot about themselves, each other, the multiverse they live in, and the life choices they've made.
It's a bit crazy, exciting, really interesting. Recommended.
I bought this book.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
This was a really fun quick read, with a great blend of action, cosmic horror, and super relatable characters.
LibraryThing member humouress
{First of 2(?) LitenVerse series; urban fantasy, parallel universes, adventure} (2020)
This was an intriguing concept where two workers (just-broken-up partners) work in ho-hum jobs at a furniture store (with a sky blue and sunflower yellow logo, so not one you'd know) and discover a dimensional
Since the original wormhole does collapse, they have to work their way back to our Earth via other worlds, each with their own unique version of LitenVärld. And their own unique dangers.
Told from Ava's point of view, the book also deals with the relationship between the two protagonists. I found the different versions of the world interesting but the book was quite short and didn't really have time to explore the worlds nor for me to establish a rapport with the characters; there were some instances where I thought I should have been shocked but I was still processing the different worlds and so they just felt like part of the narrative.
I also found the use of 'them', 'they' etc in referring to Jules quite confusing, especially when the words were used in both the singular and plural (referring to both Jules and Ava together) in the same paragraph although I appreciate that both Jules and the author don't want to be assigned a gender.
I did enjoy the story, short as it was, and look forward to reading the sequel.
August 2021
3 stars
This was an intriguing concept where two workers (just-broken-up partners) work in ho-hum jobs at a furniture store (with a sky blue and sunflower yellow logo, so not one you'd know) and discover a dimensional
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wormhole. Apparently this is a not unheard of occurrence and connects our world's version of LitenVärld with LitenVärlds in other universes, some of which may be inimical. Since staff cutbacks have dispensed with the division that deals with such wormholes, Ava and her ex, Jules (who is genderless and very touchy about being assigned a gender by customers), are - as the two newest employees - volunteered to find the elderly customer who has wandered across the divide with only the 'FINNA' device and a quick viewing of a video (as in on a VHS cassette) to help them. The FINNA can locate the missing customer and then point the way back to our universe in case the original wormhole collapses.Since the original wormhole does collapse, they have to work their way back to our Earth via other worlds, each with their own unique version of LitenVärld. And their own unique dangers.
Told from Ava's point of view, the book also deals with the relationship between the two protagonists. I found the different versions of the world interesting but the book was quite short and didn't really have time to explore the worlds nor for me to establish a rapport with the characters; there were some instances where I thought I should have been shocked but I was still processing the different worlds and so they just felt like part of the narrative.
I also found the use of 'them', 'they' etc in referring to Jules quite confusing, especially when the words were used in both the singular and plural (referring to both Jules and Ava together) in the same paragraph although I appreciate that both Jules and the author don't want to be assigned a gender.
I did enjoy the story, short as it was, and look forward to reading the sequel.
August 2021
3 stars
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Weird and good. There's a lot about a broken relationship, and one character is...agender? They use they/them, anyway. Both of these are major points, but they're integrated into the story, not the distractions such things mostly are. The concept is really cool and interesting (especially the part
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about the wormholes popping up anywhere someone gets lost and disoriented!), and all together it makes a really good story. I'd love to see these characters again, maybe as secondaries in some else's story. Show Less
LibraryThing member jzacsh
Fun, super fast, funny adventure through "only my second job". I got a good laugh and related to a lot of this.
LibraryThing member Shrike58
One has here a novella about exasperating couples, portals between worlds, big-box stores as centers of cosmic horror, and the notion that the pursuit of meaning might be more important than meaning itself. I enjoyed it but I can see where some folks might find it a one gag throwaway.
LibraryThing member Evelyn.B
There were plenty of things I did enjoy about this book: A gender fluid main character with they/them pronouns, and the love interest representing LGBTQIA was awesome, the premise was also very interesting with a rift in the multi-verse, and the realistic characters. However, It felt like there
All in all I am glad I read this book, but I wouldnt recommend it if you are looking for good Sci-fi, or a good LGBTQIA relationship book, which were the two things I personally was looking for.
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were things missing. I didnt feel like there was very much character development, the details weren't always enough to really pull me into the scenery no matter how weird they got, and the book left me feeling like there were 100 pages missing to build out the story, characters, and plot even more. All in all I am glad I read this book, but I wouldnt recommend it if you are looking for good Sci-fi, or a good LGBTQIA relationship book, which were the two things I personally was looking for.
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LibraryThing member ladycato
I read this novella as part of my Nebula finalist packet.
The concept of this snared me from the start: workers from a store blatantly based off IKEA, dealing with worm hole shenanigans in their store. As a night stocker who served time in Walmart lo many years ago, I think I had such close scrapes
The concept of this snared me from the start: workers from a store blatantly based off IKEA, dealing with worm hole shenanigans in their store. As a night stocker who served time in Walmart lo many years ago, I think I had such close scrapes
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myself. The relationship drama between the two main characters grated on me for a while, as they verged on Too Stupid to Live Territory, but they soon found new priorities (i.e. staying alive in alternate dimension IKEAs where 'mother' is not exactly a loving figure toward presumed interlopers). The ending was full of delightful surprises, and left me with a big smile. In all, an incredibly fun novella, and I'd love to read more in the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
The concept was more interesting than the execution, which was competent but didn't engage me.
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
Ava works at an IKEA knock-off store. She has just broken up with Jules, and dreads seeing them at work. Then a wormhole opens up in the store and swallows a customer, and Ava and Jules are sent into the wormhole to retrieve the customer. The book is a scathing commentary on how big corporations
The book is too short to really have any message other than "capitalism sucks" and "friendship is important," which is too bad because I think this could have been fleshed out and expanded into something more than just a quick adventure. There was a lot of character development, but it was crammed into a such a short story that it felt trite and predictable - if the characters had had more time to explore their feelings, the development would have felt more genuine.
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force their underpaid employees to do scary and dangerous things, and the employees don't really have much choice if they want to continue to survive. That message has become much more relevant in the past few months as grocery store workers and delivery drivers have been forced to risk their lives to work in minimum wage jobs during a pandemic, with nothing more than signs saying "you're a hero!" to acknowledge what we're putting them through.The book is too short to really have any message other than "capitalism sucks" and "friendship is important," which is too bad because I think this could have been fleshed out and expanded into something more than just a quick adventure. There was a lot of character development, but it was crammed into a such a short story that it felt trite and predictable - if the characters had had more time to explore their feelings, the development would have felt more genuine.
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LibraryThing member SESchend
Fascinating book of multiversal reality linked into an IKEA pastiche/parody. Great characters with an intriguing nonbinary character
LibraryThing member greeniezona
Listen. I have convinced more people to go out and buy a copy of this book, read it and LOVE it than any other book, excepting the two I have published myself. This is a fun, weird, messy multi-verse portal fantasy (sort of) with a queer relationship falling apart and made up of critiquing the
I loved this book fiercely and I have spent a lot of time screaming at people about how much.
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inhuman economics of corporate big-box chain stores. It's got spectacularly weird world-building and the way our bullshit capitalist systems exacerbate mental illness, and finding yourself in the face of absurdity.I loved this book fiercely and I have spent a lot of time screaming at people about how much.
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LibraryThing member Stevil2001
“You don’t need written instructions, the diagrams are made to be universally understandable.”
The premise of this book is fun: an assemble-it-yourself-furniture-chain-store-that-is-clearly-IKEA is so confusing and twisty to navigate that occasionally you can wander into a different universe;
The premise of this book is fun: an assemble-it-yourself-furniture-chain-store-that-is-clearly-IKEA is so confusing and twisty to navigate that occasionally you can wander into a different universe;
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as a result, the staff have a device they can put together to follow, find, and retrieve customers who get lost. But once the basic premise is communicated, the corporate satire vanishes and it becomes a pretty dull adventure story; plus it contained several leaps that I found pretty unlikely. Show Less
LibraryThing member renbedell
A science fiction novella about two people going into a portal of a furniture store that leads to other dimensions to find a lost person. The story is interesting mainly just due to its gimmick. There wasn't much of an actual, interesting storyline. It does have commentary of capitalism and work
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environment. Show Less
LibraryThing member psalva
This was a cute sci-fi/fantasy romp. I like the multiverse premise and enjoyed some of the humor. I saw somewhere that this was compared to the Hitchhiker's Guide series, and I think that comparison is apt. However, the characters weren't super compelling to me. I wanted them to be developed more
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separate from watching them react to their environment. Nonetheless, I will probably read more in this series as they come out. I think there is great potential for the series. Show Less
LibraryThing member tuusannuuska
The setting, premise, concept and characters were good. The plot was okay, the relationship I didn't care about, and the attitude towards the capitalist machine just read juvenile. I think this would have been better as a fully fleshed out novel. As it is, it just didn't make me care about anything.
LibraryThing member tornadox
Hilarious novella involving disgruntled customer service workers (at an IKEA-like store), liminal spaces, wormholes, and carnivorous furniture. Ava and Jules, who broke up very recently, must go on an adventure together.
Very queer.
OMG there is a sequel.
Very queer.
OMG there is a sequel.
LibraryThing member zeborah
I hadn't realised (or at least hadn't remembered) from reviews that this was a novella so its brevity took me by surprise. It was a fun read while it lasted though! The point-of-view character and her enby ex work in Totally-Not-Ikea, a furniture store so labyrinthine that periodically wormholes
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form leading to its counterpart in other parallel universes. They get voluntold to rescue a lost customer from one of these universes, and between the carnivorous furniture, hivemind foodcourt, and their personal and relationship baggage, much drama ensues. While the angst is real and complex, the dangers they face are mostly on the level of the absurd, so ultimately it's a fun and easy read. Show Less
LibraryThing member zjakkelien
Weird little story that was quite enjoyable.
The gender identity of the characters did feel a little forced. Maybe it would have worked better in a longer story, now it felt a little tagged on.
The gender identity of the characters did feel a little forced. Maybe it would have worked better in a longer story, now it felt a little tagged on.
LibraryThing member SESchend
Fascinating book of multiversal reality linked into an IKEA pastiche/parody. Great characters with an intriguing nonbinary character
LibraryThing member wdwilson3
Clever idea, but the bitchy protagonists wore out their welcome.