Rachel reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Rachel reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link I read Malinda Lo’s newest book, Last Night at the Telegraph Club (2021) about a month ago, and I’m still thinking about it. If you’re looking for a slice of mid-twentieth-century lesbian culture with some wonderful Chinese American representation and rich social history, Last Night at the Telegraph Club is for you. Having read many of her books…
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link This is a thought-provoking, complex book that I’m still mulling over. The Unbroken is a military fantasy about a colonial occupation. It’s based on French on occupation of North Africa, though it’s not–of course–an exact match. There isn’t a lot of sexism in this world: women serve alongside men at all ranks in the military, and they also lead…
Danika reviews I’m a Wild Seed: My Graphic Memoir on Queerness and Decolonizing the World by Sharon Lee De La Cruz
Danika reviews I’m a Wild Seed: My Graphic Memoir on Queerness and Decolonizing the World by Sharon Lee De La Cruz
I’m a Wild Seed is a short (51 pages) graphic memoir exploring the author’s exploration of her identity. It’s about how her “coming into queerness,” but it’s also about her relationship to her racial identity and decolonizing gender and sexuality. Because this is so short, it often reminded me more of an in-depth essay than a graphic memoir–that’s not a complaint! It’s packed full of memes,…
Danika reviews Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
Danika reviews Butter Honey Pig Bread by Francesca Ekwuyasi
This was such an impressive book that I have been intimidated to write about it! It was longlisted for the Giller Prize, and it was on Canada Reads! (If you’re not Canadian: this is a big deal.) Trigger warnings for suicide and suicide ideation, miscarriage and child death, as well as rape and child sexual abuse, both for the book and this review. This is a book about three Nigerian women:…
Maggie reviews Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
Maggie reviews Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link I am always excited for queer fantasy, and I enjoyed the first book of the series – Girls of Paper and Fire – so I was quite excited to get to Girls of Storm and Shadow. Lei and Wren had been through so much in the first book, and I was excited to see how they’d come together in the aftermath. They had killed the King, and there was rebellion to…
Mo Springer reviews The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
Mo Springer reviews The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Trigger Warning: This book has scenes of sexual assault. Gilda starts out her journey as Girl, running from a plantation in which she was a slave and her mother died. She is taken in by a vampire, who gives her her name and gives her longevity, a life without end. Her journey takes her from her birth as a vampire in the 1850s, to 1870s, 1920s,…
Carolina reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Carolina reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
It seems apt to begin 2021, a time of reflection and introspection for many, with a YA novel that feels fresh and timeless at the same time. Malinda Lo’s new novel, Last Night at the Telegraph Club echoes with the same beats as my favorite “baby gay” first lesbian novels (e.g. Annie on My Mind by Nancy Garden and Fun Home by Alison Bechdel), but holds nuance and depth as an exploration of the…
Danika reviews Goldie Vance: The Hocus Pocus Hoax by Lilliam Rivera
Danika reviews Goldie Vance: The Hocus Pocus Hoax by Lilliam Rivera
I already know and love the Goldie Vance comics, but now it is also a middle grade novel series! The premise is that Goldie Vance is a sixteen year old girl who works as a part-time valet, part-time detective at a resort her father manages. She is the assistant to the hotel’s detective–which is apparently a thing?–and aspires to be a full-time detective when she’s older. It has a 1950s feel, and…
Maggie reviews Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Maggie reviews Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan
Content Warnings: Rape, kidnapping, physical violence Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan is a YA fantasy about Lei, a Paper Caste girl, who is forcefully taken from her family by the imperial guard in order to join the newest class of Paper Girls. Paper Girls are the most beautiful paper caste girls in the kingdom, chosen to serve the king as concubines for one year. Some of the girls are…
Labyrinth Lost is the first book in Zoraida Cordova’s captivating young adult series entitled Brooklyn Brujas, and it’s one I didn’t expect to fall head over heals for. In 2019, I picked the book up, but couldn’t seem to concentrate on the story. I eventually put it down, deciding it just wasn’t the book for me at that particular point in time. I went on and read other things until the fall of…
