If Found, Return to Hell – by Em X. Liu

If Found, Return to Hell came with a quirky premise and glaring reviews, so I had to give it a go.

Synopsys

Wen is an intern at One Wizard, an agency that provides magical services; their days are filled with bureaucracy, endless call centre duties, bossy superiors and insufferable clients. When they get a frantic call from a young man who has just found a disquieting talisman on his bedroom’s wall, Wen decides to take care of it personally; the case, however, ends up being much more complicated than they had envisioned at first: as it turns out, their client has been possessed by a runaway Prince of Hell, who has no intention to go back home.

Analysis

Style – The book is written in second person, present tense – an option that some may find too gimmicky, but that I personally enjoy when well executed, as is in fact the case here. While there is no in-universe reason for such a stylistic choice, it still fits the bizarre-yet-mundane concept of the story; of a world that, for all its magic, is not so different from what you, reader, are experiencing in your daily life. The writing is witty and quippy, with a carefully crafted casual tone, and precisely the amount of cursing you’d expect from a frustrated intern.

Plot Structure – The narration is straightforward and well-paced for its length, with a good mixture of slice-of-life scenes and fairly entertaining – if not exceedingly surprising – plot twists.

Setting – The story is set in a world where magic is widespread, but that is otherwise remindful of our own: there may be talismans and demons, but call centres and obstructive bureaucracy are equally part of the landscape, and one’s magical career may not necessarily be any more exciting than its real-life counterpart.

The nature and specific qualities of magical powers, as well as of supernatural creatures, is not explored beyond what the plot demands, and it’s quite clear the author wasn’t interested in crafting a detailed worldbuilding, but rather in evoking a specific vibe: one that lies at the intersection between magical enchantment and relatability.

The setting is casually Asian-coded, and from the way gender, names, relationship, and habits are depicted, we can assume it’s also a queernorm world. None of these characteristics are particularly explored or explained – and they needn’t be (I mean, we don’t need a specific reason for a story not to be set in Ersatz Conservative USA, right?).

Characters – As every cosy novella worth its name, If Found, Return to Hell revolves around a small bunch of quirky main characters, with a side serving of equally quaint extras. Their characterisation isn’t particularly complex, but what little we know about them is enough to make them unique and likeable.

Wen, the main character, is a bored intern who, despite the daily grind, is still looking for some purpose in their job, not having really given up in the idea that magic should feel, well, you know, magical. Their gender is never explicitly addressed – the second person narration keeps things vague enough from that point of view – however they are casually referred to in both masculine and feminine (bro, jiejie – which is Chinese for “older sister”), so it just feels natural to assume they’re nonbinary.

Their interactions with their snarky, but ultimately friendly, colleague Nathaniel are both entertaining and a good introduction to the world of the story. But what really shines (pun absolutely intended) is their warmth and care for their client, a meek young student called Shine, as well as their growing attachment to Wang Ran, exiled demon prince who’s not evil, just misunderstood.

Themes – The novella can be read as a very light satire of the corporate world. I say it’s a very light one because, for all that it dwells on the frustration of working a soul-sucking job, it doesn’t explore the truly darkest sides of living under late-stage capitalism: our characters may be struggling with boredom and personal motivation, but despite their lowly status they aren’t struggling to meet their essential needs, nor they lack the time to pursue their personal goals.

More in general, while the setting is flawed enough to provide some source of conflict, it also comes with some rather aspirational features – and I am not so much talking about magic, as much as about the fact that queer identities are promptly and naturally accepted. The author may not be taking us to an ideal world, but they’re still offering us respite from at least some of our real-life concerns.

Besides, while the magical corporation provides a nice frame to the story, the focus is very much on the creation of a very unique found family, whose members find a way to support each other despite the decidedly peculiar situation they’re stuck with. For this reason, even more that for anyone’s gender identity or expression, I’d say this novella is very queer in its vibes and themes: it is an ode to acceptance and to unusual relationships, and to whatever joy and affection we can carve out in a very imperfect world.

Overall Thoughts – If Found, Return to Hell is a cosy story that comes packed with an original premise and a whimsical style, managing to be at once comforting and clever.