Siavahda's Blog, page 60

Intersectional Witchy Feminism: The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual Black MC, lesbian secondary character, F/F
Published on: 9th August 2022
ISBN: 0063117029
Goodreads

Reminiscent of the works of Margaret Atwood, Shirley Jackson, and Octavia Butler, a biting social commentary from the acclaimed author of Lakewood that speaks to our times--a piercing dystopian novel about the unbreakable bond between a young woman and her mysterious mother, set in a world in which witches are real and single women are closely monitored.

Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother's disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behavior raises suspicions and a woman--especially a Black woman--can find herself on trial for witchcraft.

But fourteen years have passed since her mother's disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by the age of 30--or enroll in a registry that allows them to be monitored, effectively forfeiting their autonomy. At 28, Jo is ambivalent about marriage. With her ability to control her life on the line, she feels as if she has her never understood her mother more. When she's offered the opportunity to honor one last request from her mother's will, Jo leaves her regular life to feel connected to her one last time.

In this powerful and timely novel, Megan Giddings explores the limits women face--and the powers they have to transgress and transcend them.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~one of the best takes on magic I have ever seen
~these spirits slap
~what if it was the law for women to marry by 30?
~absolutely ALL the Feels
~The Handmaid’s Tale < THIS BOOK

Writing this review is going to be difficult for a number of reasons – I have a lot of Feels that are going to be hard to put into words; The Women Could Fly deals with a number of difficult themes that deserve to be commented upon thoughtfully; and of course, it’s a book about a Black queer woman experiencing that combination of racism and misogyny and queerphobia that I, the whitest of white snowflakes, have only an academic understanding of.

But also, I have almost no notes for this review. Because after the first chapter, I couldn’t put the book down long enough to write any!

That should give you an immediate idea of how compulsively readable The Women Could Fly is.

Jo lives in a USA where witches exist, and to be convicted of witchcraft often still means being burnt at the stake. Witches are evil; witches are powerful; and witches are women. Witches are especially often BIPOC women, because the ‘baser natures’ of non-whites makes them more susceptible to the call of the Devil. Or something.

(I don’t say ‘or something’ with the implication that Giddings hasn’t done her worldbuilding; I mean that it’s the kind of crap that racists and misogynists always spout, the kind of thing that is full of holes and falls apart the moment you apply critical thinking to it. It’s baseless and awful and rage-inducing, and hi, no, this book is not going to be good for your blood pressure.)

This is a USA in which sex ed consists of young men being told it’s their holy duty to keep the women in their lives away from the path of evil, and where young women are encouraged to spy on each other, to keep a watchful eye out for any signs that one of their peers might be a witch. It’s a USA in which women must be married by 30 to retain any form of independence – which, of course, isn’t real independence, because it all hinges on a (cishet) man who could take it away from you in an instant. And if you’re not married by the big three-oh, the government very much wants to know why, and you will be registered, and it just gets uglier from there.

Jo is 28, the point at which unmarried women have to start doing quarterly check-ins with the Bureau of Witchcraft. Coworkers are starting to give her weird looks; her family keeps dropping heavy-handed hints. Sure, she has Preston, but that’s really more a friends-with-benefits relationship – and anyway, how the hell is she supposed to love anybody enough to marry them when she has to? Doesn’t that kind of pressure make it impossible? If you need to marry someone to retain your basic human rights, how can you tell if you love them at all – or if you’re just giving in because you need them? How can you love someone you need that badly, for those reasons? And even if you do – how can that love not turn into seriously toxic resentment?

Jo is struggling with all of this when the most up-to-date version of her missing – presumed dead – mother’s will is finally found. It turns out that she left Jo a lot of money. But to claim it, Jo needs to visit a small island in Lake Superior on a specific date – and if she misses it, she’ll have to wait seven years for another chance.

Also, she needs to take a specific old doll with her when she goes.

It’s extremely weird, but Jo’s mom was known for being ‘different’ – which here just means, having her own interests and being passionate and outspoken about them. Being her own person within herself, rather than defining herself in relation to her husband and daughter.

But all of that made it very easy, when she then disappeared, for people to accuse her of being a witch. As her daughter (and, let’s be real, as a Black girl) kid!Jo was dragged into the Bureau and interrogated for days with questions that would be hilarious if they weren’t so sickening: did your mother eat babies, did she make you eat a baby, did she lead you to make a pact with the Devil? It’s kind of ironic – Jo’s mom thought witches were a hoax, that the whole system was just set up to control women – but reading the scenes were Jo remembers those days of interrogation was viscerally horrifying.

And then there’s the island.

But we can’t talk about the island. You’re going to have to read the book yourself, to learn about the island.

The Women Could Fly was an interesting book in so many ways for me, but the most immediately obvious one was: this doesn’t read like a fantasy novel. It has witches and witchcraft, sure, and it’s set in a lookalike of our modern world, but there’s no way you could shelve it under Urban Fantasy. It reads like literary fiction – when I requested it on Netgalley, it was categorised as General Fiction (Adult) and Multicultural Interest, not Sci Fi & Fantasy like the rest of my reads. And I admit, I was worried about that – I’m a SFF not-girl all the way; General Fiction is not my wheelhouse.

But this would not have worked – not as well, not in the ways that it did, not nearly so powerfully – had it been written like a SFF novel. The Women Could Fly needed to be General Fiction, and folx, I have never said that before and do not expect to ever say it again. I am not nearly well-versed enough in general/literary fiction to be able to put this into words, to explain it in technical terms, but the gen-fic style was exactly what this story needed, and the execution is – pun fully intended – magical.

I LOVED this book. Loved it. Loved it loved it LOVED IT. It’s clever and incisive and demands answers, it’s frank and open and surprising, it is inherently curious and angry and passionate, gods is it passionate. The Women Could Fly is one of those books that makes you FEEL things – so much frustration and outright rage on behalf of the protagonist and people like her; delight and awe and wonder at what her mother’s will leads her to. I can understand the comparisons to The Handmaid’s Tale, but personally, I think that’s unfair – to Handmaid, because it can’t possibly measure up. The Women Could Fly is in a league of its own, objectively better than Handmaid in every way. #sorrynotsorry. It’s more relevant to a modern reader, more up-to-date on the ongoing conversations about race and sex, privilege and prejudice; it’s more intersectional; and it has a LOT more witches.

And it’s queer as fuck, which is always better than not.

Let’s put it this way: The Women Could Fly is to the 2020s what The Handmaid’s Tale was to the 80s.

I can already predict that this book will not be everyone’s cup of tea. Some people are going to accuse it of being too social-justice-y. To which I say: fuck off. I’m not going to pretend I know what being Black is like, but Jo’s feelings and experiences on being a woman (or perceived as one, in my case) and queer? Are absolutely on-point. This book does not preach and it does not whine; it’s just honest about what it’s like to live in a society that still won’t accept those things as normal, that is still suspicious of them. The confusion, the contradictions, the anger, the fear, the worry, the joy: all of it is just…true.

That’s why it hits so hard.

And lest Giddings be accused of conflating sex and gender in the case of witches are women; no, my friends. No. Pretty much the first thing The Women Could Fly does is ask why witchcraft is tied to cis women; to point out that gender is a spectrum and, in Jo’s world, witchcraft is used as a stick with which to beat queer cis men and nonbinary people too. Witchcraft is tied to cis womanhood only because The Man refuses to acknowledge that the rest of us even exist, but woe betide us if we do come to his attention. Many states in Jo’s America have laws that tie gay men to witchcraft too…even while insisting that only women can do magic.

It’s the kind of nonsense that we’re all used to hearing from the fundamentalist Right, are we not?

I don’t know if Giddings intended it, but this aspect of The Women Could Fly reads – to me, at least – as a much-needed critique of real-world witchcraft, which to this day still puts cis women on a plinth in way too many spaces that, coincidentally I’m sure, have no room for nonbinary folx. (Wicca, I am looking at you.) Making it clear that magic does not belong solely to cis women is majorly important to me, and I’m massively grateful that Giddings made it extra-clear that anyone who wants to be a witch can – although I’ll grant you, with the Bureau of Witchcraft to deal with, you’d have to want it very badly.

Speaking of: I absolutely adored the magic in this book, the way Giddings conceived of it and the way in which it works. I love that magic is fundamentally tied to community, that it needs to be worked collectively rather than by the individual. Honestly, I’d really love to write an essay about all the ways in which that single fact – magic means people working together – can be interpreted; the meaning in it, the symbolism, the metaphor of it. Working together, we can change worlds: YES! Hells yes, that is so much cooler than one single badass sorceress character; that is so much more meaningful, so much more beautiful.

Gah, I have so many FEELS!

But yes: even aside from the communal aspect, the magic Giddings has created is simply perfect. I cannot stand ‘hard’ magic systems, where magic is more like Maths; I want magic that feels magical, strange and breathtaking and gorgeous, weird and wonderful, and Giddings more than delivers. Everything about the witches, witchcraft, and magic sent me into paroxysms of delight, okay?

Okay.

I will reiterate: I loved this book. No: I LOVE this book, present-tense.

And you absolutely, positively, simply MUST read it for yourself.

The post Intersectional Witchy Feminism: The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Withdrawing from the SCKoAs

I’m not sure how many regular readers of this blog were invested in my taking part in the Subjective Chaos Kind-of Awards this year, but: I have officially withdrawn as a judge.

Not because of any problems! There was no drama; all my fellow judges were pretty awesome. I absolutely loved getting to have really thoughtful (and sometimes hilarious) conversations about the books we were reading; I love talking literary critique and dissecting different aspects of a story or writing style, and that’s the kind of conversation I don’t get to have very often. (You can see it in my reviews, sometimes, but I don’t always have the energy to write out all my Thinky Thoughts for the internet void.)

No, the issue was…I am an outlier and should not be counted.

What I mean by that is: my reading preferences did not (imo) gel very well with everyone else’s. I remember right at the beginning, seeing the nominations coming in and feeling anxious and nervous because very few of them were books I was interested in; many were books I’d tried and DNF-ed. But that was sort of the point – reading outside of your comfort zone, your own personal echo-chamber – and everyone was so kind when I expressed those nerves, and I was still seriously flattered at being invited to take part.

So I stayed, and I don’t regret it – like I said, interacting with the rest of the group? A++ awesome.

But the thought of withdrawing was building for months before Round One of voting (this past weekend). Reading the nominees was a necessary evil, a chore I resented more and more. I did not like these books. It’s – kind of that simple. I didn’t align with the tastes of the group. I knew way before the vote that none of my nominees were going to get through – and I want to be clear that I didn’t sulk about that. This is not a middle finger to the SCKoAs or this year’s judges. It’s just…

I’m an extra-special snowflake, I guess. I like very particular stuff, and it really doesn’t matter how much I want to like what everyone else likes: I simply don’t, 99 times out of 100.

It’s pretty lonely.

So there was nothing for me to contribute, really. I didn’t want to be the one standing in a corner going ‘thanks, I hate it’ for every nominee that wasn’t mine. What a miserable downer that would be for all involved! And like I said earlier – I was an outlier. There was no reason to count me, my tastes, or my votes, when they were so drastically different from everyone else’s.

Does that make sense? I don’t know if I’m explaining it well, but I also don’t want to go in circles and keep repeating the same points.

So yeah. C’est la vie. I’m a little sad, because I hoped I’d found a group that loved the same kind of books I do, and that’s not what happened. I’m glad to have bowed out after Round One – everything in me says that was the right decision for me. But I still got to meet some very cool people, and have some really epic conversations, so I’m not sorry I accepted the invite.

The post Withdrawing from the SCKoAs appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Bride Hunt of Elk Mountain by Lumen Reese

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Bride Hunt of Elk Mountain by Lumen Reese!

The Bride Hunt of Elk Mountain by Lumen Reese
Genres: Horror, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Deaf MC, sapphic MC
Published on: 30th September 2022
Goodreads

Every five years the girls of Elk Mountain wake up in the woods, where the simple farm boys they grew up with become predators and hunt them for brides.

Dan Lightman returns to the mountain to help the Marlow sisters. Lizzie is twenty, deaf since childhood and worried that she could end up married to a man who won't learn to communicate with her, that she won't have a voice in her own home. Beck is seventeen, exchanging secret letters with a girl from the other side of the mountain, and she'll kill or die before she'll marry anyone else. Nellie is only fourteen, and all she wants is a few more years, to grow up on her own terms.

All three girls live in the shadow of their beautiful eldest sister, Julia. Five years ago - at the last Bride Hunt - she refused the man who caught her, and she was killed for it. The barbaric ritual is a sacred rite of passage to a fringe sect of Catholicism in post-apocalyptic, small-town Appalachia. Dan is one of the hunt's only critics. He was once too afraid to fight for the girl he loved, but now he’s back with a hired cutthroat and a plan to save the remaining Marlow sisters from their gruesome fate...

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This is the sort of book that’s basically guaranteed to make me rage at the patriarchy, so I’m going to need to be in the right headspace when I try to read it – but damn, that description has not left me alone since I first saw it. Everything about this sounds… horrifiyingly compelling? I think that’s what I mean.

It doesn’t matter how many dystopia-type things I read, I can never imagine what it would feel like to live in that kind of horror show.

Bride Hunt probably wouldn’t be a can’t-wait-for book for me, though, if not for these particular characters – Lizzie, who’s Deaf; Beck, who’s queer; and Nellie, who is way to young to be marrying anybody under any circumstances. That shifts the perspective quite a lot – it’s not just a dystopia (can you describe it as a dystopia when the setting is so localised?) it’s one that isn’t putting blandly pretty, able-bodied cishet women and girls front and centre, and I massively appreciate that.

Like – dystopic fringe churches are always bad. But they’re worse if you’re AFAB, generally, and a lot worse if you’re AFAB and young/queer/disabled, or some mix thereof.

That applies to real-world fringe and not-so-fringe churches as well, ofc. Which may be Reese’s point.

Either way, I’m definitely going to be reading this one.

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Bride Hunt of Elk Mountain by Lumen Reese appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #95

We have ALIENS, we have UNICORNS, we have KIDS ON HOLIDAY FROM HELL amongst this week’s NINE new releases!

A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queernorm world, Jewish sapphic MC, Jewish trans spouse, F/F, major character with prosthetic limb, major trans character, multiple neogenders
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm--and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force.

The watershed networks aren't ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they've started to heal the wounded planet.

But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens' offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy's effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species.

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I called this one of the best books of the decade in my review, and I stand by that. If you have any interest in futuristic scifi at all, you have to read it!

A Strange and Stubborn Endurance by Foz Meadows
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Brown cast, gay MCs, M/M, major mute character, secondary nonbinary character, secondary trans character, queernorm culture
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

“Stolen me? As soon to say a caged bird can be stolen by the sky.”

Velasin vin Aaro never planned to marry at all, let alone a girl from neighboring Tithena. When an ugly confrontation reveals his preference for men, Vel fears he’s ruined the diplomatic union before it can even begin. But while his family is ready to disown him, the Tithenai envoy has a different solution: for Vel to marry his former intended’s brother instead.

Caethari Aeduria always knew he might end up in a political marriage, but his sudden betrothal to a man from Ralia, where such relationships are forbidden, comes as a shock.

With an unknown faction willing to kill to end their new alliance, Vel and Cae have no choice but to trust each other. Survival is one thing, but love—as both will learn—is quite another.

Byzantine politics, lush sexual energy, and a queer love story that is by turns sweet and sultry. A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is an exploration of gender, identity, and self-worth. It is a book that will live in your heart long after you turn the last page.

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This is another incredible book – very different from Half-Built Garden, but one I loved just as dearly! It’s a queer romantic fantasy, with political intrigue, great worldbuilding, and a fabulous cast, and although it does deal with some darker themes, it’s actually enormously escapist.

You can read my review here!

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

INCLUDES A NEW INTRODUCTION BY PATRICK ROTHFUSS

Experience one of the most enduring classics of the twentieth century and the book that The Atlantic has called “one of the best fantasy novels ever.”

The unicorn lived in a lilac wood, and she lived all alone...

...so she ventured out from the safety of the enchanted forest on a quest for others of her kind. Joined along the way by the bumbling magician Schmendrick and the indomitable Molly Grue, the unicorn learns all about the joys and sorrows of life and love before meeting her destiny in the castle of a despondent monarch—and confronting the creature that would drive her kind to extinction....

In The Last Unicorn, renowned and beloved novelist Peter S. Beagle spins a poignant tale of love, loss, and wonder that has resonated with millions of readers around the world.

“Peter S. Beagle illuminates with his own particular magic.”—Ursula K. Le Guin

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The Last Unicorn, originally published in the 60s, is getting a new edition with the author’s preferred text! This is a slightly less-big-deal in the US, where The Last Unicorn has never been out of print, but next month it’s also being republished in the UK, where it’s been out of print for decades. And in both the US and UK, it’s finally getting an ebook edition!

ABOUT TIME!

All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away from by Izzy Wasserstein
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MCs
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

In her debut collection, Izzy Wasserstein pries the lid off fourteen different worlds from an already impressive short fiction career. In these pages, you'll meet ne'er-do-wells and orphans, investigators and revolutionaries, diplomats and doctoral students. Wasserstein has a gift for putting her finger on the meaty parts of grief, the catalysts of change, and the pain points of community.

This collection contains fourteen stories, two of which have never been seen before! Case of the Soane Museum Thefts unveils a crime of magical curation for its protagonist to puzzle over, while Blades, Stones, and the Weight of Centuries brings us the heir to an empire poised at the threshold of change.

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Any book published by Neon Hemlock is worth a closer look, and All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From has garnered some seriously impressive praise from some names I very much respect. Definitely pouncing on this one when it arrives!

The Truthspoken Heir: The Stars and Green Magics Season One by Novae Caelum
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

Two shapeshifting heirs, one interstellar kingdom. When royals can be anyone else including each other, who will rule?

Arianna can impersonate anyone in her star kingdom, keeping nobles in check as the Truthspoken Heir. But Arianna's shapeshifting powers fail her when she's attacked at her betrothal to a rival prince, her title torn away.

Dressa never wanted to be the Heir, but she has a crush on the beautiful prince, and someone needs to hold the kingdom against plotting nobles.

One sibling cast out, one sister in the fray, and enemies all around. Can they steer their kingdom from the coming storm?

Fans of Ancillary Justice and Winter's Orbit will enjoy The Stars and Green Magics, an ongoing space opera serial with diverse main characters, epic worldbuilding, and strong romantic undertones. The Truthspoken Heir collects episodes 1-36, the complete first season, as well as three extra beginning episodes.

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As hard as I looked, I couldn’t find details on what kind of representation is included in the ‘diverse cast’, but I love the premise of a royal heir who keeps nobles on their toes with their shapeshifting ability!

The Witchery by S. Isabelle
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer and BIPOC MCs
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

A bewitching debut by S. Isabelle, perfect for fans of Maggie Stiefvater, Zoraida Córdova, and Leigh Bardugo!

THE HAUNTING SEASON IS HERE AND THE WOLVES ARE AWAKE.

Haelsford, Florida is a Hellmouth. Or at least, that’s what Logan, a baby witch struggling to control her powers, thinks as she arrives to the witchtown to begin the new school year at Mesmortes Coven Academy. She is immediately taken under the wing of the infamous Red Three. Iris is a deathwitch who wants nothing more than to break the town’s curse; Jailah is one of the most powerful witches at the academy but her thirst for power may lead her down a dark path; and Thalia, the talented greenwitch, is on the run from her religious family and a past that still haunts her.

Fear and prejudice still fuel the uneasy truce between humans and witches who are forced to work together when the Haunting Season begins and Wolves rise from the swamp to feed. With this approaching, two Hammersmitt boys prepare to make their first sacrifices to the witches in exchange for protection. But as they become involved with the Mesmortes witches’ plan to end the Wolves’ reign of terror once and for all, old dangers lie in wait.

The cost to break the curse may be greater than any witch or human could ever know.

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I’ve seen nothing but praise for this book, and I’m eager to give it a go. IT’S NOT POSSIBLE TO HAVE TOO MANY QUEER WITCH STORIES!

(Also I had to include both covers – UK on the left, US on the right – because they’re both freaking gorgeous!)

Grounded for All Eternity by Darcy Marks
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC
Published on: 26th July 2022
Goodreads

A group of kids from hell come to Earth on one of the craziest nights of the year—Halloween—in this snarky, witty middle grade adventure about teamwork, friendship, shattering expectations, and understanding the world (or otherworld) around us.

Mal and his friends are just your regular average kids from hell. The suburbs that is, not the fiery pit part. But when Hell’s Bells ring out—signaling that a soul has escaped from one of the eternal circles, Mal and his friends can’t help but take the opportunity for a little adventure.

Before they know it, they’ve somehow slipped through the veil and found themselves in the middle of Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night. And what’s even worse, they’ve managed to bring the escaped soul with them! As the essence of one of history’s greatest manipulators gains power by shifting the balance on Earth, Mal and his squad-mates—along with some new friends that they meet along the way—work desperately to trap the escapee, save the people of Earth from the forces of evil, and find the portal back to their own dimension.

If they can’t manage it before their parents realize they’re gone, they’ll be grounded for an eternity. And an eternity in hell is a very, very long time.

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This sounds super cute and adorable??? Omg??? I need it immediately???

Stolen Token (Divine Envoys, #1) by Felix J. Léon
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 27th July 2022
Goodreads

Thibault's life is good. He has friends, family, and a hopeless crush on the most brilliant guy in class. At least he thought so until he meets Osten, the fabulous Allegory—a divine envoy walking the Earth on behalf of the gods—who opens up a whole new life to him. One that could be so much more than he'd once believed.

However, Osten needs help—the kind that could either ruin Thibault's career or let corruption spread to the city. He is at a crossroads: continue living his suddenly monotonous life, or plunge feet first into a world of glitter and mirrors that he does not yet undestand.

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Supposedly this features some kind of peacock shapeshifter? Or humanoid peacock, or something? I’m unclear on the specifics, but I like the premise and I’m hoping for really gorgeous prose to match the vibe of the cover!

Unicorn Shifter Academy by J.R. Thorn
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

There are three rules at Unicorn Shifter Academy.

1. Keep unicorns a secret.
2. Never compare horn sizes.
3. No girls allowed.

Whoopsie. I broke all three.

You’d think that unicorn shifters would be chicks, right? Yeah, me too, but turns out unicorns are always males.

Until me, that is.

I’ve never shown a drop of magic in my life, even though I’m from a family of powerful witches. Well, my parents had the grand idea of performing an awakening ceremony courtesy of Fortune Academy’s best and brightest… and I think it worked a bit too well. Imagine their surprise when I sprouted a horn. A FREAKING HORN.

Not. Cool.

Turns out there was some serious rainbow hanky-panky in my family history and now the unicorn shifters are pissed off I’m in on their secret community.

Seriously, spilling the magic beans is the least of my worries.

Being a unicorn means bonding with seven other shifters for life—a life I never asked for. And since I’m the first girl in a male-only tradition, I expect this could cause some serious problems, especially because these guys are obsessed with me right off the bat. Like overly protective to the extreme. A girl can take care of herself, you know?

Thing is, we better get our act together because this Academy isn’t just for show. Unicorns are the only creatures who stand between good and evil on a cosmic scale. A monster lurks in a terrifying pit in the center of the Enchanted Forest.
And it looks like somebody let it out.

The clock starts now to trap the beast before it eats my home realm as a snack. I’ve got my big girl panties on—even if they are rainbow-colored.

Unicorn Shifter Academy is a Paranormal Shifter Romance novel with mature scenes and all the rainbow glitter unicorn shifter, uh… horns… a girl could possibly want—no choosing required. Since this is a series, book one ends in a cliffhanger.

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I included this in a previous Must-Have post, but the pub date was changed and it’s out this week instead! Is it the kind of book I usually read??? Not even a little, but there are so few unicorn books for adults that I’m determined to give it a go – and I unashamedly love that rainbow cover!

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #95 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

An Insomnia Cure: Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector

Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Bisexual MC, disabled secondary character, secondary M/M
PoV: First-person, past-tense
Published on: 9th August 2022
ISBN: B09HK15F26
Goodreads

Kalyna’s family has had the Gift for generations: the ability to see and predict the future. For decades, they have traveled around the four connected kingdoms of the Tetrarchia—one country with four monarchs—selling their services as soothsayers. The Gift is their calling and what defines them. Every child of their family has the Gift.

Except Kalyna. Born without the Gift, for years, she’s supported her father—who is losing sight of reality under the weight of his confused visions of the future—and her cruel grandmother on the strength of her wits, using informants and trickery to fake prophecies and scrounge a living. But it’s getting harder every year.

And poverty turns to danger when, on the strength of her reputation, Kalyna is “hired” (kidnapped, she would call it) by Lenz, the spymaster to the prince of Rotfelsen. Lenz wants Kalyna to use her talent for prophecy to uncover threats against Rotfelsen’s king, and he’s willing to hold her family hostage against her good behavior. But Rotfelsenisch politics are devious; the King’s enemies abound; and Kalyna’s skills for investigation and deception are tested to the limit. Worse, the conspiracy she begins to uncover points to a threat not only to the King of Rotfelsen but to all four monarchs of the Tetrarchia, when they meet for their annual governing “Council of Barbarians.” A Council that happens to fall at precisely the same time that Kalyna’s father has prophesied the catastrophic downfall of the Tetrarchia.

Kalyna is determined to protect her family (even Grandmother!), and her newfound friends—and to save the Tetrarchia too. But as she is drawn deeper into palace intrigue, she’s not sure if her manipulations are helping prevent the Tetrarchia’s destruction—or if her lies will bring it about.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~a seer who can’t See
~a literally underground nation
~one seriously awful grandmother
~a very distressing eye

Thank the gods that’s over!

I am not kidding: after a pretty solid start, Soothsayer rapidly became my ‘knockout’ read – the book I read to cure my insomnia. It worked excellently, and even when it didn’t put me to sleep, it made me put my ereader away and close my eyes just to escape it.

It’s not that Soothsayer is an actively bad book, like, say, Silk Fire. Spector knows how to put sentences together, has a pretty engaging protagonist, and does not shove excess worldbuilding down our throats.

But it’s so freaking heavy. 464 pages felt like twice that, and for the majority of them I was bored out of my mind.

Which I will grant is odd, because Soothsayer isn’t packed full of long stretches of nothing. Something was always happening. It’s just that they tended to be meandering things, or pretty plot-irrelevant things, or things that went in circles. And I fundamentally just didn’t care about any of it. Something about this book never clicked for me, leaving me passively watching instead of actively engaged in the story.

I really, really just wanted it to be over.

I think a huge part of this was due to the setting. The Tetrarchia – four kingdoms pretending to be one – really made no sense, and Spector didn’t try to justify it – I loved Kalyna’s disgust and ambivalence about royals and nobles and the rich, but her shrugging at the stupidity of her ‘betters’ wasn’t really enough for me. I tried to think of it as being like US states calling themselves one country, but the cultures Kalyna described were so wildly different they made Texas and New York look indistinguishable. I just didn’t buy it.

But even if I accepted the Tetrarchia, I actively resented the majority of the book being set in Rotfelsen. Rotfelsen should have been incredibly weird and interesting – it’s a country that exists almost entirely underground! But Kalyna is stuck on the surface for most of the book, because that’s where all the important people live.

…Why on Earth would you create a setting as cool as an underground nation – and then barely let your protagonist into it?! We get occasional mention/speculation of giant monsters that first carved out the tunnels that later turned into Rotfelsen – which, again, so cool – but that was another detail that went nowhere, shared as historical trivia rather than leading to a reveal that these monsters are still around, or something. And the glimpses we did get of the proper underground Rotfelsen were minimal, with very little visual description and no real worldbuilding – it’s just handwaved that people live down there pretending like everything’s aboveground, rather than going into the myriad ways a culture would have to adapt to, and be shaped by, living underground.

I wanted to tear my hair out over it.

And then the other kingdoms of the Tetrarchia sounded so much more interesting that I spent the rest of the book wishing the story had been set in one of them instead.

I love political intrigue fantasy, but this just dragged on and on with minimal progress made. It wasn’t interesting to read. The factions involved seemed hugely simplistic and stupid – there are literally four armies described by their uniform colours; the Reds, Yellows, Greens, and Purples, all of whom owe allegiance to a different part of the royal court. The prince who ordered Kalyna’s kidnapping is an idiot – this is acknowledged by Kalyna and everyone around her, but it was frustrating to read, not entertaining. Everything just became more and more convoluted, not in a political-spiderweb way, but in a ‘this is ridiculous’ way, and having your main character acknowledge or call it out as ridiculous doesn’t change the reading experience.

I liked that the big bads were driven by toxic nationalism and xenophobia – more acknowledgement that these things are terrible, please – but really hated that, after so much investigation and politcking, we were told the villains’ plan, a summary of the conversation Kalyna had, rather than getting the conversation itself. And the Surprise Thing behind the visions of Rotfelsen physically falling and crumbling? …Yeah, no. You don’t get to drop something that huge in at the last second and then do nothing with it.

I reiterate: it’s not a terrible book. Kalyna was a great protagonist – I loved how brutally honest she was with herself, and how ruthless in protecting herself and her family – and the worldbuilding around languages in particular was pretty excellent. But I did not enjoy reading this, and was so, so relieved when it was finally over.

I literally had to take a nap afterwards, I was so exhausted by it.

Don’t judge this one by its cover, folx.

The post An Insomnia Cure: Kalyna the Soothsayer by Elijah Kinch Spector appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

A Future I Want to Live In: A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys

A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queernorm world, Jewish sapphic MC, Jewish trans spouse, F/F, major character with prosthetic limb, major trans character, multiple neogenders
PoV: First-person, past-tense
Published on: 26th July 2022
ISBN: B09CNDZSYK
Goodreads

On a warm March night in 2083, Judy Wallach-Stevens wakes to a warning of unknown pollutants in the Chesapeake Bay. She heads out to check what she expects to be a false alarm--and stumbles upon the first alien visitors to Earth. These aliens have crossed the galaxy to save humanity, convinced that the people of Earth must leave their ecologically-ravaged planet behind and join them among the stars. And if humanity doesn't agree, they may need to be saved by force.

The watershed networks aren't ready to give up on Earth. Decades ago, they rose up to exile the last corporations to a few artificial islands, escape the dominance of nation-states, and reorganize humanity around the hope of keeping their world liveable. By sharing the burden of decision-making, they've started to heal the wounded planet.

But now corporations, nation-states, and networks all vie to represent humanity to these powerful new beings, and if any one accepts the aliens' offer, Earth may be lost. With everyone’s eyes turned skyward, everything hinges on the success of Judy's effort to create understanding, both within and beyond her own species.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~aliens that absolutely do not look like spiders
~corporations stuck in cages
~optimistic environmental sci-fi
~never underestimate a dandelion
~can we have this future??? please???

I have been staring blankly at my screen for over a week now, every time I sit down to try and talk about this book. It. It’s just. I have no idea how to be coherent about it. It’s brilliant and beautiful and breathlessly compelling, thoughtful and hopeful and wildly imaginative, revolutionary in so many ways. Reading it feels like the galaxy-brain meme; you can feel your mind expanding as all these new ideas and concepts come rushing in, redefining things you took for granted, making you really look at your own core beliefs, challenging precepts you thought were foundational.

Judy lives in a future in which climate collapse was just barely averted; a future in which people align themselves with watersheds rather than nations – instead of arbitrary lines drawn on a map, you belong to the eco-system you’re a part of. It’s a huge shift from how most of us think of ourselves today, but it’s also incredibly simple; the kind of thing that feels so obvious and correct once someone suggests it or points it out. Once I’d grasped the idea, I immediately wondered how is this not something we do already? It makes so much sense!

The watersheds honestly look pretty utopic from where I’m sitting, and that is in huge part due to the algorithms that govern their private network: ones that balance and moderate discussion, giving greater weight to people whose history and specialities are relevant, ‘downvoting’ those who don’t know what they’re talking about, collating information from different places and marking or even removing unsubstantiated facts and opinions. I mean. !!! Imagine if we had those now! Just the idea of them were enough to bring me to tears, but also seeing how they allow consensus to form, how everyone gets to weigh in on every decision made by the whole…gods. This. This. And how community grows out of this, the natural effect it has on those who live by it; there are no presidents or prime ministers, because they’re not needed. There’s no parliament, because everyone gets a say. When for whatever reason a spokesperson is needed, the watersheds send someone who specialises in the thing – but that person is still plugged into the network, and can convey the voice of their entire community. They’re not representing the group, they’re an avatar of the group, and that’s just. Mindblowing.

Which is one reason Judy is so uncomfortable when she becomes the de-facto representative of the watersheds – not just her own, but all of them! – to the aliens. Especially since it happens by accident. But the real problem is that due to her situation, she has to make decisions on her own, and try her best to figure out the right questions to ask, when typically she would be directed by the concensus of her whole community. From a reader’s perspective, this makes her incredibly interesting – someone who could usually expect to be somewhat passive in a task like this has to be active, even proactive instead, and we get to see how difficult that is for her, and the problems it causes for herself and those around her.

It doesn’t hurt that she’s surrounded by a marvelous cast: her wife Carol, and the co-parents who are the other half of their household, Dinar and Athëo, all of whom have very different backgrounds, interests, and specialisations, but all of whom come together as a non-traditional family that I really loved. (Speaking of which, I was delighted to see a future sci-fi with Judaism front-and-centre – there’s a Passover Seder that’s not just wonderful to read, but immensely plot-relevant!)

And of course, there’s the aliens themselves, primarily Cystosine, the First Mother of the vanguard ship, and Rhamnetin, whose job is to ask awkward questions. The premise of aliens who want to save humanity by removing them from Earth is an idea I’ve never seen before; I loved it for being such an original take, and for how easy it was to follow the aliens’ reasoning (even if I didn’t agree with it any more than Judy did). I thought Emrys did an excellent job straddling the line between making her aliens incomprehensibly Other and having them be recognisable as people, and although I’m always eager for more worldbuilding, I think she made the right call not to overwhelm us with all the intricacies of alien culture. We get more than enough to make our eyebrows shoot up and our jaws drop, but not so much that it distracts from the story – pretty much everything we learn about them is directly plot-relevant.

Honestly, I could type for weeks, and I still wouldn’t come close to doing this book justice. A Half-Built Garden is something really special, and painfully timely. Reading it was a joy, but it also hurt, because it’s so full of hope and I want that so badly. For me, this was much less a book about first-contact than it was about humans who have embraced the planet that made us; who are dedicated to being, and doing, better than previous generations; who are united in their passion to heal and protect and celebrate. It’s riveting, captivating, gloriously strange and unique and thought-provoking. I couldn’t put it down and never once wanted to.

A Half-Built Garden is literally flawless. There’s not one thing about it that isn’t polished to perfection. The prose gleams, the characters breathe, the story runs like a river. The worldbuilding is a gorgeous mosaic, every piece fitting together perfectly to create, not just a future I can believe in, but one I want to live in.

This is not one of the best books of the year; it’s one of the best books of the decade. Don’t miss it.

The post A Future I Want to Live In: A Half-Built Garden by Ruthanna Emrys appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…The Queen’s Price by Anne Bishop

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is The Queen’s Price by Anne Bishop!

The Queen’s Price by Anne Bishop
Genres: Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 7th March 2023
Goodreads

Enter the dark and sensual realms of the Black Jewels in this sweeping story in the New York Times bestselling fantasy saga of three young women who must navigate life within the powerful SaDiablo family--and come to terms with Witch, the Queen who is still the heart and will of that family.

The Queen's price is to stand against what you know is wrong. To stand and fight, no matter the cost to your court or to yourself. Especially to yourself.

Zoey, a young Queen-in-training at SaDiablo Hall, is wounded...and vulnerable to taunts and criticism. When an opportunity arises to befriend a stranger seeking sanctuary at the Hall, she puts herself and others in danger by ignoring Daemonar Yaslana's warning to back off.

Meanwhile, the witch Jillian's family prepares for her Virgin Night, the rite of passage that assures a woman will retain her power and her Jewels. The trouble is Jillian secretly went through the ceremony already. Now she has to explain the omission of that detail to her powerful and lethal family. And the High Lord of Hell's daughter, Saetien, travels to Scelt to find out about Jaenelle Angelline's sister--and perhaps to discover truths about herself.

With some guidance from Witch, these three young women will learn when to yield because it is right--and when to take a stand, even if they must pay the Queen's price.

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The Black Jewels series has been one of my best-beloveds for most of my life – and I thought the previous book, The Queen’s Weapons, was going to be the last one ever!

SO YOU CANNOT BEGIN TO COMPREHEND MY EXCITEMENT WHEN I LEARNED WE’RE GETTING ANOTHER BOOK AFTER ALL!!!

Bishop’s books are always published in early March, right around my birthday, so they always feel like the best of birthday presents! And this one honestly sounds especially epic – I love the concept and message of the Queen’s Price, and can’t wait to get to explore it!

The Queen’s price is to stand against what you know is wrong. To stand and fight, no matter the cost to your court or to yourself. Especially to yourself.

I mean. !!! That’s a precept (code? rule? tenet? not quite sure what the right term is) I can seriously get behind.

And on another note – I’m SO happy we have a gorgeous brown woman on the cover! The three long-lived races in the Black Jewels ‘verse are all brown-skinned, but they haven’t made it onto the covers very often – the skin colour of the model on the Tangled Webs cover is a bit ambiguous, and we got a brown model on the cover of The Queen’s Weapons, but there the lighting/filter downplayed it a bit. Whereas there’s nothing the slightest bit ambiguous about this cover, and I adore it!

(I will admit the flower petals took me aback a bit, but Queen’s Price is probably going to be much less dark than some of the earlier books. I just hope new readers don’t pick this up thinking it’s going to be something it’s not. Light flowery romance is really not Bishop’s style.)

You’d better believe I slammed the preorder button! Now to wait with bated breath till March…

The post I Can’t Wait For…The Queen’s Price by Anne Bishop appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #94

SIX new SFF releases on my radar this week!

The Moonday Letters by Emmi Itäranta
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary spouse, F/NB
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

A gripping sci-fi mystery wrapped in an LGBTQIA love story that bends space, time, myth and science.

Lumi is an Earth-born healer whose Mars-born spouse Sol disappears unexpectedly on a work trip. As Lumi begins her quest to find Sol, she delves gradually deeper into Sol’s secrets – and her own.

While recalling her own path to becoming a healer under the guidance of her mysterious teacher Vivian, she discovers an underground environmental group called Stoneturners, which may have something to do with Sol’s disappearance. Lumi’s search takes her from the wealthy colonies of Mars to Earth that has been left a shadow of its former self due to vast environmental destruction. Gradually, she begins to understand that Sol’s fate may have been connected to her own for much longer than she thought.

Part space-age epistolary, part eco-thriller, The Moonday Letters is also a love story between two individuals from very different worlds.

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Originally published in Finnish but now being released in English, The Moonday Letters is a surprising but beautiful combination of far-future sci-fi and Finnish shamanism. I loved it, and suspect a lot of others will too!

You can read my review here!

The Daughter of Doctor Moreau by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Genres: Sci Fi
Representation: Mexican cast
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

Carlota Moreau: a young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatán peninsula. The only daughter of either a genius, or a madman.

Montgomery Laughton: a melancholic overseer with a tragic past and a propensity for alcohol. An outcast who assists Dr. Moreau with his scientific experiments, which are financed by the Lizaldes, owners of magnificent haciendas and plentiful coffers.

The hybrids: the fruits of the Doctor’s labor, destined to blindly obey their creator and remain in the shadows. A motley group of part human, part animal monstrosities.
All of them living in a perfectly balanced and static world, which is jolted by the abrupt arrival of Eduardo Lizalde, the charming and careless son of Doctor Moreau’s patron, who will unwittingly begin a dangerous chain reaction.

For Moreau keeps secrets, Carlota has questions, and in the sweltering heat of the jungle, passions may ignite.

THE DAUGHTER OF DOCTOR MOREAU is both a dazzling historical novel and a daring science fiction journey.

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This sounds like a really wonderful reimagining of the classic – and Garcia has promised Daughter does not involve vivisection, which The Island of Doctor Moreau did. I am extremely grateful and much less nervous about reading it now!

The Stone Road by Trent Jamieson
Genres: Fantasy
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

On the day Jean was born, the dead howled. A thin scratch of black smoke began to rise behind the hills west of town: Furnace had been lit, and soon its siren call began to draw the people of Casement Rise to it, never to return. 

Casement Rise is a dusty town at the end of days, a harsh world of grit and arcane dangers. Jean’s stern, overprotective Nan has always kept Casement Rise safe from monsters, but she may have waited too long to teach Jean how to face those demons on her own. On Jean’s twelfth birthday, a mysterious graceful man appears, an ethereal and terrifying being connected to the family secrets Nan has hidden from Jean in an effort to keep her safe.

Now Nan must rush Jean’s education in monsters, magic, and the breaking of the world in ages past. If Jean is to combat the graceful man and finally understand the ancient evil powering Furnace, she will have to embrace her legacy, endure her Nan’s lessons, and learn all she can—before Furnace burns everything down.

With the lyrical cadence of The Last Unicorn and intense imagery of A Wizard of Earthsea, The Stone Road is a timeless story of hope, belonging, and growing into your power.

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So, I actually DNF-ed my ARC of this, but, that was for something I’m hoping was just a formatting-type issue with the ARC, and that therefore won’t be present in the final copy. If I’m right about it. I’ll let you all know how that goes!

The Tea Dragon Society Box Set by Kay O'Neill
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F, M/M, queernorm world
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

"This book is wonderfully inclusive, and depicts a distinct and expressive cast of LGBTQIA characters and people of color." — School Library Journal

In the bewitching Tea Dragon Society series, two-time Eisner Award-winning creator K. O’Neill offers three stories featuring the enchanting world of Tea Dragons. Now collected in a beautiful box set with brand-new box cover art, readers can experience The Tea Dragon Society, The Tea Dragon Festival, and The Tea Dragon Tapestry from start to finish. This charming and peaceful trilogy is heartwarming, inclusive, and absolutely magical. 

The Tea Dragon Society
After discovering a lost tea dragon in the marketplace, Greta learns about the dying art form of tea dragon caretaking from the kind tea shop owners, Hesekiel and Erik. As she befriends them and their shy ward, Minette, Greta sees how the craft enriches their lives—and eventually her own.

The Tea Dragon Festival
Rinn has grown up with the Tea Dragons that inhabit their village, but stumbling across a real dragon turns out to be a different matter entirely! Aedhan is a young dragon who was appointed to protect the village, but fell asleep in the forest eighty years ago. With the aid of Rinn’s adventuring uncle Erik and his partner Hesekiel, they investigate the mystery of his enchanted sleep... But Rinn’s real challenge is to help Aedhan come to terms with feeling that he cannot get back the time he has lost.

 The Tea Dragon Tapestry Join Greta and Minette once more for the heartwarming conclusion of the award-winning Tea Dragon series! Over a year since being entrusted with Ginseng's care, Greta still can't chase away the cloud of mourning that hangs over the timid Tea Dragon. Meanwhile, Minette receives a surprise package from the monastery where she was once training to be a prophetess. Told with the same care and charm as the previous installments of the Tea Dragon series, The Tea Dragon Tapestry welcomes old friends and new into a heartfelt story of purpose, love, and growth.

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These are, no word of a lie, some of the sweetest and loveliest stories ever, and if you haven’t had the pleasure of reading them yet, the boxset is out tomorrow! It’s the perfect time to fall in love with the gorgeous little tea dragons!

Heat Wave (The Extraordinaries, #3) by T.J. Klune
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: M/M, MC with ADHD, Black sapphic secondary character
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

The explosive finale to the Extraordinaries trilogy by New York Times bestselling author TJ Klune.

School's out for the summer and a raging heat wave has blanketed Nova City. Still, Nick's life is pretty much perfect, as he finally gets to team up with his superhero boyfriend to bring justice, protection, and disaster energy to the world.

Meanwhile, Seth, Jazz, and Gibby are setting up headquarters for Lighthouse, their hero team, Nick's dad's private investigation agency is taking off, and Nick's mother, the superhero known as TK, is right there at Nick's side. Where she's always been. Hasn't she?

But something's off. It's not just Simon Burke campaigning to 'cure' Extraordinaries. And it's not the rumours of Nick's ex-boyfriend and villain-in-the-making's escape. Something isn't right and Nick will need all his loved ones together to uncover the truth - a truth that will reveal a traitor in their midst and burn through their lives like a wild fire.

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I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS TRILOGY IS ABOUT TO BE OVER! But at the same time, I can’t wait to see how Klune will wrap up this story. EEE!

Youngblood by Sasha Laurens
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: F/F
Published on: 19th July 2022
Goodreads

For fans of Vampire Diaries and dark academia, two queer teen bloodsuckers at an elite vampire-only boarding school must go up against all of Vampirdom when they uncover a frightening conspiracy on campus.

Kat Finn and her mother can barely make ends meet living among humans. Like all vampires, they must drink Hema, an expensive synthetic blood substitute, to survive, as nearly all of humanity has been infected by a virus that’s fatal to vampires. Kat isn’t looking forward to an immortal life of barely scraping by, but when she learns she’s been accepted to the Harcote School, a prestigious prep school that’s secretly vampires-only, she knows her fortune is about to change.

Taylor Sanger has grown up in the wealthy vampire world, but she’s tired of its backward, conservative values—especially when it comes to sexuality, since she’s an out-and-proud lesbian. She only has to suffer through a two more years of Harcote before she’s free. But when she discovers her new roommate is Kat Finn, she’s horrified. Because she and Kat used to be best friends, a long time ago, and it didn’t end well.

When Taylor stumbles upon the dead body of a vampire, and Kat makes a shocking discovery in the school’s archives, the two realize that there are deep secrets at Harcote—secrets that link them to the most powerful figures in Vampirdom and to the synthetic blood they all rely on.

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I’m not sure I want to deal with queerphobic vampires, so I may or may not end up reading it, but queer vamps definitely get feature-spots in my posts!

Will you be reading any of these? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #94 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

A Feast of a Book: The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Lesbian MC, asexual secondary character
Published on: 9th August 2022
ISBN: B09CNDPXZV
Goodreads

Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book's content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories.

But real life doesn't always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

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~maps taste better with ketchup
~Gameboys make me emotional now
~princesses have teeth
~mothers who burn the world down for their kids are A++
~I wanna be a book eater too (sans the sexism!)

“Some books should be tasted, some devoured, but only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly.” ~Francis Bacon

Never has that quote seemed so apt as when reading this utterly marvelous tale of people who eat books!

The book eaters are a human-adjacent species who…literally eat books. They have special book-teeth and everything! Different genres and prose styles have different flavours (which is the kind of tiny detail I adore) and a book eater can perfectly remember every word of every book they’ve ever eaten. This means, of course, that over the course of their life they amass a ridiculously huge amount of knowledge.

…Or, it should. But book eaters are patriarchal, sexist dicks, so female book eaters are kept on a diet of fairytales and fluff-fiction to keep them ignorant and docile. Because there aren’t many book eaters around, and they’re not very fertile, and girl children are much rarer than boys. So it’s pretty important that the women accept the fact that they’re ‘leased’ out for short-term marriages in the hopes of them having as many (preferably female) children as possible. If they were ever to realise they had more options than being sheltered princesses in towers, well…things might go badly.

Devon is an ex-princess. When we first meet her, she’s on the run with her five-year-old son Cai – who isn’t a book eater, but a mind eater, something the collected book eater Families consider monstrous and dangerous. Mind eaters are supposed to be handed over to the Knights, the all-male order who negotiate and keep track of marriages between the Families, but fuck that. Devon is not giving up her son…even if he is a monster. Her one hope is to track down the remnants of a fallen Family and get her hands on the drug they once produced – the drug that lets mind eaters live as normal book eaters.

More or less, anyway.

Dean’s writing is sharp and tight and gleaming, gorgeously smooth in a way that makes the book impossible to put down. Which I’m very glad of, because I was a little taken aback when I first started reading; The Book Eaters is not the magical, more fanciful tale I was kind of expecting from the premise people who eat books. This book is sharp book-teeth behind an agreeable smile; it’s a look of rage hidden by long hair and a bowed head; it’s what is left behind when illusions are shattered and the scales torn from your eyes.

It’s what happens when you push a mother past helplessness and into the dark, desperate, dangerous space beyond it.

It is not what I expected, and to be honest, if it had been written by anyone else I might have put The Book Eaters away to come back to later – it’s been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy stories that feature sexism and rage-inducing men and people I like being stuck in horrible situations. I’ve been wanting a lot more escapism, lately.

But it wasn’t written by anyone else, it was written by Sunyi Dean, and I wasn’t being hyperbolic when I said it’s unputdownable. Whenever I picked up The Book Eaters I lost hours of time as her prose swept me away into Devon’s world and made me forget about everything else. There are writers who can make you feral for a story and its characters, and Dean is definitely one of them; I had to keep reading to find out what Devon was planning, to make sure she and Cai would be okay, to be there for whatever happened next.

And wow did I not see it coming! Dean doesn’t save the twists for the final moment; I swear I got whiplash at the big reveal a third of the way through, and the whole book was like that, unpredictable as anything, keeping me on my toes and glued to the pages. The Book Eaters is much more than a completely unique premise; it’s fierce and clever and pointed and tricksy, constantly surprising, without a single wasted word. Every sentence is exactly as it needs to be, every scene and chapter is completely necessary, every line distilled down to its ultimate potency. And by that I don’t mean that The Book Eaters is solely plot-driven – the secondary timeline of the book, showing us Devon’s past, is all about her developing as a character and a person; there are many moments of introspection, and scenes that are all about emotion, not action.

What I mean is that Dean nails the balance of plot and – and heart; that elusive thing we write fanfic to get our fill of, because so many stories don’t give it to us as part of canon. The human moments, the in-between moments, the moments that do not directly move the plot forward but make the plot matter. The magic that transforms a character on the page into a person whose story we need to know.

Is there a name for that? Because whatever it is, Dean gets it, understands it, and gives it to us; not so much that it would diffuse the power of the overarching story, but exactly the right amount to magnify the power of the story.

If we were all book eaters, and could devour our copies of Devon’s story right down to the endpapers, The Book Eaters would be a Michelin-star dish.

If you haven’t yet, you must preorder this book immediately.

The post A Feast of a Book: The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Your Gender Binary is Still Imaginary: SFF For International Non-Binary People’s Day!

Non-binary Pride Dragon by Kaenith!

As a proud nonbinary person, there was no way I was going to leave today uncelebrated! And how do I celebrate things? By making rec lists!

So here are a few SFF books featuring nonbinary characters – and a couple that aren’t out yet, but that you should definitely keep on eye out for!

In the Watchful City by S. Qiouyi Lu
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Science Fantasy
Representation: Nonbinary MCs, trans MC, sapphic MCs
Goodreads

In the Watchful City explores borders, power, diaspora, and transformation in an Asian-inspired mosaic novella that melds the futurism of Lavie Tidhar’s Central Station with the magical wonder of Catherynne M. Valente’s Palimpsest.

The city of Ora uses a complex living network called the Gleaming to surveil its inhabitants and maintain harmony. Anima is one of the cloistered extrasensory humans tasked with watching over Ora's citizens. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from all harm.

All that changes when a mysterious visitor enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around the world, with a story attached to each item. As Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places—and possibilities—æ never before imagined to exist, æ finds ærself asking a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?

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To start us off, how about a beautiful science-fantasy novella, with neogenders, a cabinet full of stories, and a magical city network? This is a short but flawless book that I treasure dearly, and if you read it, you’ll easily see why.

My full review!

Stealing Thunder (Stealing Thunder, #1) by Alina Boyden
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Desi setting and cast, hijra MC, hijra secondary characters
Goodreads

Protecting her identity means life or death in this immersive epic fantasy inspired by the Mughal Empire.

In a different life, under a different name, Razia Khan was raised to be the Crown Prince of Nizam, the most powerful kingdom in Daryastan. Born with the soul of a woman, she ran away at a young age to escape her father’s hatred and live life true to herself.

Amongst the hijras of Bikampur, Razia finds sisterhood and discovers a new purpose in life. By day she’s one of her dera’s finest dancers, and by night its most profitable thief. But when her latest target leads her to cross paths with Arjun Agnivansha, Prince of Bikampur, it is she who has something stolen.

An immediate connection with the prince changes Razia’s life forever, and she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous political war. The stakes are greater than any heist she’s ever performed. When the battle brings her face to face with her father, Razia has the chance to reclaim everything she lost…and save her prince.

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Taking inspiration from the kingdoms of ancient India and its environs, Boyden has created an intricate world where once-prince, now-courtesan Razia discovers that an unexpected love might open the doors for her to reclaim some of what she gave up in the past – if she’s smart and strong enough to take it. Gifting Fire in particular is a delicious, pulse-pounding political fantasy, but both books make one thing very clear: if you come for the queen, you’d better not miss.

The Brilliant Death (The Brilliant Death, #1) by A.R. Capetta
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Genderfluid MC and love interest
Goodreads

For Teodora DiSangro, a mafia don's daughter, family is fate. All her life, Teodora has hidden the fact that she secretly turns her family's enemies into music boxes, mirrors, and other decorative objects. After all, everyone in Vinalia knows that stregas--wielders of magic--are figures out of fairytales. Nobody believes they're real.

Then the Capo, the land's new ruler, sends poisoned letters to the heads of the Five Families that have long controlled Vinalia. Four lie dead and Teo's beloved father is gravely ill. To save him, Teo must travel to the capital as a DiSangro son--not merely disguised as a boy, but transformed into one.

Enter Cielo, a strega who can switch back and forth between male and female as effortlessly as turning a page in a book. Teo and Cielo journey together to the capital, and Teo struggles to master her powers and to keep her growing feelings for Cielo locked in her heart. As she falls in love with witty, irascible Cielo, Teo realizes how much of life she's missed by hiding her true nature. But she can't forget her mission, and the closer they get to the palace, the more sinister secrets they uncover about what's really going on in their beloved country--and the more determined Teo becomes to save her family at any cost.

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A.R. Capetta is the author of several beautiful YA fantasies featuring queer teens, but my favourite remains this duology right here! The prose is just so gorgeous, the magic really feels like magic, and watching Teo discover and grow into both her power and her gender identity was a pure delight. J’adore!

Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Goodreads

After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle, a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, complete with geothermal heating and sustainable energy. The city’s denizens have become accustomed to a roughshod new way of living; however, the city is starting to fray along the edges—crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside direst poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called “the breaks” is ravaging the population.

When a strange new visitor arrives—a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side—the city is entranced. The “orcamancer,” as she’s known, very subtly brings together four people—each living on the periphery—to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves.

Blackfish City is a remarkably urgent—and ultimately very hopeful—novel about political corruption, organized crime, technology run amok, the consequences of climate change, gender identity, and the unifying power of human connection.

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It’s been a while since I read Blackfish City, but it’s a book I doubt I’ll ever forget: set post-environmental collapse, it’s an electric, go-for-the-throat sci fi that is simply unputdownable.

And seriously – do you really need to hear anything more than orcamancer??? No, no you do not!

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore
Genres: Fantasy, Magical Realism, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Goodreads

The biggest lie of all is the story you think you already know.

The del Cisne girls have never just been sisters; they’re also rivals, Blanca as obedient and graceful as Roja is vicious and manipulative. They know that, because of a generations-old spell, their family is bound to a bevy of swans deep in the woods. They know that, one day, the swans will pull them into a dangerous game that will leave one of them a girl, and trap the other in the body of a swan.

But when two local boys become drawn into the game, the swans’ spell intertwines with the strange and unpredictable magic lacing the woods, and all four of their fates depend on facing truths that could either save or destroy them. Blanca & Roja is the captivating story of sisters, friendship, love, hatred, and the price we pay to protect our hearts.

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Besides being a McLemore book, which automatically means it’s fabulous, I love Blanca & Roja for the more complicated portrayal of what being nonbinary can mean. This was the first time I saw a nonbinary character whose identity didn’t neatly fit into how cis people typically think being nonbinary works, and it’s wonderful.

It’s also a really beautiful retelling of the Snow White and Rose Red fairytale, with very special apples!

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary/third sex MC
Goodreads

Dragons. Art. Revolution.

Gyen Jebi isn’t a fighter or a subversive. They just want to paint.

One day they’re jobless and desperate; the next, Jebi finds themself recruited by the Ministry of Armor to paint the mystical sigils that animate the occupying government’s automaton soldiers.

But when Jebi discovers the depths of the Razanei government’s horrifying crimes—and the awful source of the magical pigments they use—they find they can no longer stay out of politics.

What they can do is steal Arazi, the ministry’s mighty dragon automaton, and find a way to fight…

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One of the first Adult books I read with a nonbinary protagonist, this is great for anyone who loves dragons, mechas, and/or thoughtful exploration of what it means to be a conquered and colonised people. And your jaw will drop when you discover the secret behind the magic!

You can read my review here!

August Kitko and the Mechas from Space by Alex White
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Queer MC, nonbinary MC, M/NB, queernorm world
Goodreads

When an army of giant robot AIs threatens to devastate Earth, a virtuoso pianist becomes humanity's last hope in this bold, lightning-paced, technicolor new space opera series from the author of A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe. 

Jazz pianist Gus Kitko expected to spend his final moments on Earth playing piano at the greatest goodbye party of all time, and maybe kissing rockstar Ardent Violet, before the last of humanity is wiped out forever by the Vanguards--ultra-powerful robots from the dark heart of space, hell-bent on destroying humanity for reasons none can divine. 

But when the Vanguards arrive, the unthinkable happens--the mecha that should be killing Gus instead saves him. Suddenly, Gus's swan song becomes humanity's encore, as he is chosen to join a small group of traitorous Vanguards and their pilots dedicated to saving humanity. 

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How about a galactically-famous nonbinary popstar, who’s flamboyant and fabulous and maybe just a tiny bit narcissistic? Ardent is such a fun character, and they share the stage with the titular August (Gus) Kitko as Earth comes under attack by giant mechas. If you like giant space robots, then boy is this the book for you!

My review!

Activation Degradation by Marina J. Lostetter
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary MC, secondary intersex character, secondary M/M
Goodreads

The Murderbot Diaries makes first contact in this new, futuristic, standalone novel exploring sentience and artificial intelligence through the lenses of conflicted robot hero Unit Four, from Marina Lostetter, critically acclaimed author of Noumenon, Noumenon Infinity, and Noumenon Ultra.

When Unit Four—a biological soft robot built and stored high above the Jovian atmosphere—is activated for the first time, it’s in crisis mode. Aliens are attacking the Helium-3 mine it was created to oversee, and now its sole purpose is to defend Earth’s largest energy resource from the invaders in ship-to-ship combat.

But something’s wrong. Unit Four doesn’t feel quite right.

There are files in its databanks it can’t account for, unusual chemical combinations roaring through its pipes, and the primers it possesses on the aliens are suspiciously sparse. The robot is under orders to seek and destroy. That’s all it knows.

According to its handler, that’s all it needs to know.

Determined to fulfill its directives, Unit Four launches its ship and goes on the attack, but it has no idea it’s about to get caught in a downward spiral of misinformation, reprograming, and interstellar conflict.

Most robots are simple tools. Unit Four is well on its way to becoming something more....

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This book was the first time I encountered a nonbinary character who used it/its pronouns! It’s also a very inventive scifi that DELIGHTS in flipping the tables on you everytime you think you know what’s going on!

(But it really isn’t anything like Murderbot. Don’t pick it up if that’s what you’re looking for!)

You can read my review here!

Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Goodreads

A lasting impression is worth killing for in this intoxicating novel about memories and murder by the author of the Amberlough Dossier series.

In New York City everybody needs a side hustle, and perfumer Vic Fowler has developed a delicate art that has proved to be very lucrative: creating bespoke scents that evoke immersive memories—memories that, for Vic’s clients, are worth killing for. But the city is expensive, and these days even artisanal murder doesn’t pay the bills. When Joseph Eisner, a former client with deep pockets, offers Vic an opportunity to expand the enterprise, the money is too good to turn down. But the job is too intricate—and too dangerous—to attempt alone.

Manipulating fellow struggling artists into acting as accomplices is easy. Like Vic, they too are on the verge of burnout and bankruptcy. But as relationships become more complicated, Vic’s careful plans start to unravel. Hounded by guilt and a tenacious private investigator, Vic grows increasingly desperate to complete Eisner’s commission. Is there anyone—friends, lovers, coconspirators—that Vic won’t sacrifice for art?

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Base Notes isn’t like any other book on this list in two ways; first, it’s speculative fiction rather than obviously fantasy or sci fi; and second, the main character, who is nonbinary, is amoral as fuck. They’ve killed people before, and a good chunk of the book is them planning to do it again.

But like. Nonbinary people can be terrible too, because we’re still people, and I think it’s important that we get rep wherein nonbinary people aren’t idealised, or always shown in the best light. And Donnelly’s writing is amazing, anyway, and more people need to read her books!

The Unraveling by Benjamin Rosenbaum
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Neogendered cast
Goodreads

In the distant future somewhere in the galaxy, a society has emerged where everyone has multiple bodies, cybernetics has abolished privacy, and individual and family success within the rigid social system is reliant upon instantaneous social approbation.

Young Fift is an only child of the staid gender, struggling to maintain their position in the system while developing an intriguing friendship with the poorly-publicized bioengineer Shria–somewhat controversial, since Shria is bail-gendered.

In time, Fift and Shria unintentionally wind up at the center of a scandalous art spectacle which turns into the early stages of a multi-layered revolution against their strict societal system. Suddenly they become celebrities and involuntary standard-bearers for the upheaval.

Fift is torn between the survival of Shria and the success of their family cohort; staying true to their feelings and caving under societal pressure. Whatever Fift decides will make a disproportionately huge impact on the future of the world. What’s a young staid to do when the whole world is watching?

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I suppose you could make the argument that the characters of The Unraveling aren’t nonbinary…but the binary they’re a part of isn’t male/female, but a whole new gender system, so I think it very much qualifies for this list! Rosenbaum has created an incredibly weird and wonderful far-future where everyone has multiple customisable bodies, clowns are absolutely not to be trusted, and the Spoon is sacred.

It’s seriously awesome.

Behold my review!

ForthcomingThe Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Refugee BIPOC nonbinary aroace MC with c-PTSD, BIPOC trans male side character, queer BIPOC female side character with c-PTSD, QBIPOC supporting cast, nonbinary side characters that use neopronouns, WLW side pairing, muslim inspired religious characters, chronically-ill side characters
Published on: 9th August 2022
Goodreads

In this intricately layered debut fantasy, a nonbinary refugee practitioner of blood magic discovers a strange disease causing political rifts in their new homeland. Persian-American author Naseem Jamnia has crafted a gripping narrative with a moving, nuanced exploration of immigration, gender, healing, and family.

Firuz-e Jafari is fortunate enough to have immigrated to the Free Democratic City-State of Qilwa, fleeing the slaughter of other traditional Sassanian blood magic practitioners in their homeland. Despite the status of refugees in their new home, Firuz has a good job at a free healing clinic in Qilwa, working with Kofi, a kindly new employer, and mentoring Afsoneh, a troubled orphan refugee with powerful magic.

But Firuz and Kofi have discovered a terrible new disease which leaves mysterious bruises on its victims. The illness is spreading quickly through Qilwa, and there are dangerous accusations of ineptly performed blood magic. In order to survive, Firuz must break a deadly cycle of prejudice, untangle sociopolitical constraints, and find a fresh start for their both their blood and found family.

Powerful and fascinating, The Bruising of Qilwa is the newest arrival in the era of fantasy classics such as the Broken Earth Trilogy, The Four Profound Weaves, and Who Fears Death.

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You can read my review here, but basically this is a surprisingly gentle book – I say surprising, because the story revolves around a plague and discrimination against a refugee community, and those are heavy topics.

My Name Is Magic by Xan van Rooyen
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary MC
Published on: 27th September 2022

Taika Turunen has no magic.

Despite coming from a long line of powerful Finnish mages, and their name literally meaning magic, Taika can’t perform the simplest of spells.

Forced to attend Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted on account of their mom being principal, Taika has a hard time fitting in. Sometimes, they wonder if not having magic has something to do with the fact they’re neither a girl nor a boy and if they’re fated to be Taika the Talentless forever.

Life goes from bad to worse when Taika sees a liekkiö and recognizes the spirit's voice begging for help as that of their former BFF and major crush, Natalie Khumalo, whose recent absence from class hadn’t gone unnoticed. When more students go missing, Taika must take the lead in a race against time to save friends old and new before a powerful group of chaos mages can unleash the legendary Sampo, an artifact capable of either renewing the world’s waning magic or destroying everything Taika holds dear.

To rescue Natalie, Taika will have to journey to the liminal space between worlds where they’ll be forced to battle mythical monsters and their own flagging self-esteem. In doing so, Taika might just discover that magic—and love—comes in many different forms.

For fans of witchcraft and wizardry looking for a new, inclusive story, My Name Is Magic, is a story about finding strength from within and potential where you least expected it.

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Have you, too, been pining for a magic school story unaffiliated with TERFs?* Well, your wish is soon to be granted – we only have to wait until September to attend the Myrskyjärvi International School for the Magically Gifted. I SERIOUSLY CAN’T WAIT.

*My Name Is Magic is obviously not the only magic school story not written by a TERF; it’s just the one I’m most excited for right this second!

The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Genres: Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary MC, queernorm world
Published on: 27th September 2022
Goodreads

An immersive, electrifying space-fantasy from Neon Yang, author of The Black Tides of Heaven, full of high-tech space battles and political machinations, starring a queer and diverse array of pilots, princesses, and prophetic heirs.

This is the story of Misery Nomaki (she/they) – a nobody from a nowhere mining planet who possesses the rare stone-working powers of a saint. Unfortunately, these saint-like abilities also manifest in those succumbing to voidmadness, like that which killed Misery’s mother. Knowing they aren’t a saint but praying they aren’t voidmad, Misery keeps quiet about their power for years, while dreaming and scheming up ways off their Forge-forsaken planet.

But when the voice of an angel, or a very convincing delusion, leads Misery to the center of the Empire, they find themself trapped between two powerful and dangerous factions, each hoping to use Misery to win a terrible war.

Still waiting to be convinced of their own divinity and secretly training with a crew of outlaws and outcasts, Misery grows close to a rebel royal, Lady Alodia Lightning, who may know something of saints and prophecy herself. The voice that guides Misery grows bolder by the day, and it seems the madness is catching…

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I’m in the middle of reading this right now, and folx, it is even better than it sounds. Seriously! I mean, I knew it would be, because, you know, Neon Yang – but still, this whole book has me making heart-eyes. I love it so much, and can’t wait to finish it and review it and SHARE ALL MY FEELS!

And if you’re looking for even more to read, my previous list of genderqueer/nonbinary recs can be found here!

Happy International Non-Binary People’s Day!

The post Your Gender Binary is Still Imaginary: SFF For International Non-Binary People’s Day! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.