I recently read this short story and I want to say that this is one of the few works that I at the same time love and hate. I have a certain weakness for Yuri, because from Eroge-tupe novels, in Yuri we can see best relation's development. It is the most pleasant to read, thanks to a good style of writing, a good story, beautiful graphics and music. Aesthetically somehow.
Reading the "Salome's Kiss", I just fell in love. A rather pleasant drawing style thanks to the artist working on "Night Cascades". At first, I even thought that the same author, because in the cascades we have Diana, here is Dina. Their characters and look are similar. "Salome's Kiss" have a pleasant music, I especially like the track "Working Together". Unrealistically attractive externally and by the nature of Genevieve, all the characters from the point of view of the character development and charisma - are simply beautiful (with the exception of the townspeople, but that was the author’s idea). It seemed to me that this is another simple and pleasant short story about forbidden female love, with a defective plot without any twists. But what I saw in the ending - killed all pleasant emotions from 10 hours of passage. 5 minutes killed 10 hours...
SPOILERS ALERT BELOW!
I read the afterword from author, i saw your opinion and thoughts, but you were very mistaken in building this kind of plot. Have you watched the "Shutter Island"? There, too, at first they tell one story, hint at something, and in the end it turns out that the story is completely different. You are reviewing the film, notice all the details that you did not notice or did not give attention and already enjoy not the result of deception of you as a spectator, but a process of deception. And there is no negativity, because it's you did not notice all the details and did not understand anything. They were under the nose and surprise from the twist - the guilt of the viewer. That's why this is a wonderful movie.
"Salome's Kiss" also had many hints to the ending, but the key difference from the film described above, was their failure. We were hinted many times at the two-faced Genevieve, the decency of Arthur, etc. But all these hints are immediately justified by the author, or by characters.
One of the indicative examples: Genevieve blaming on Abigail and this makes a sharp contrast between her usual pretty and cruel b**** in this situation. But immediately we see an excuses from Genevieve and Letitia, and Abigail’s answer in the style of the text and filling, directly shouts that: "yes, Arthur really like me, and he called me to himself to pass the time." That is, two hints that Arthur is decent, and Genevieve is not the same as she wants to seem - immediately broken by the wall of logical excuses and an intentionally suspicious answer of Abigail. And such logical excuses are everywhere, in every suspicious words or situations.
Reading the ending, seeing caricature style of this ending was very...strange. I did not believe that this was not a dream of Letitia, I thought that everything would be fine now, but alas ...
The ending killed a game for me. And yes, I love bad ends, but writing a plot with such a strong final twist that cannot be guessed due to the instant excuses of the author of any suspicious behavior of characters - is a terrible mistake, that kills such kind of stories.
Moreover, okay, you can still skip hints to Genevieve, she is a very good actress, but Dina... After supposedly rape, she fell ill, in a dialogue with Letitia her behavior is incredibly natural for the victims of violence, and in the future there is no suspicion about her. But she is just an ordinary girl, obsessed with love, where she took such skills of deception and acting? I'm sorry, Ebi, but I can recommend this good story only on condition, that the reader will not read the ending.