Let Us Descend is heartbreaking and also beautiful. I loved the imagery of birds and bees throughout and the element of magical realism with Annis’ ability to communicate with the spirits. 

Some of my favorite quotes: 
“It’s so beautiful I feel a turning in my chest, my heart a small bird stirring in its nest. For a moment, I don’t feel bound. I forget what holds me. But the ache of me, through wrist and hip and thigh, tunnels me back down into my body, along with this rope. I yank when we stop, pull the wire of it with my arms, just so it can beat back that beauty. I want it to turn my awe to bitter.”
“To feel the bees that I have come to think of as my own descend in the night to land on my wrists, my feet, and then alight back to their hive; this makes me wonder what bitter nectar they collect from me. This makes me wonder where they taking my sorrow. This makes me wonder if my sobbing is a soothing call to them, and why they the only witness to my grief.”