This was a fun, steamy romp with a side of sexy subversion. It was an anthology I didn’t know existed until I came across it on my Libby one day and absolutely had to read it. (Shameless plug for the Queer Liberation Library—you can sign up for a card for free if you have anRead More
Love, Grief, and the Abyssal Depths of the Ocean: Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
There is a peculiar kind of sadness in telling a love story backwards, starting with its end. There’s the tenderness and domesticity of an established relationship, and the inevitable fact of its eventual nonexistence. This love story captures a relationship by chronicling its end. Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield’s debut novel, is a captivating tale told in alternating perspectives about a couple, Miri and Leah, the latter of whom goes out on a deep-sea exploration and comes back irrevocably changed. The book weaves Miri’s struggle to reconcile the slow slipping away of her wife, Leah, with Leah’s recounting of the events of the deep-sea submersible dive.
A Tough But Necessary Read: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Review
Content warnings for pretty much everything: violence, gore, racism, incarceration, solitary confinement, self harm, cutting At the time of writing this, it’s barely been three weeks since the 2024 presidential election in the United States, which Donald Trump won by a handy margin. Although Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah came out over a yearRead More
An Endearingly Gory Monster Love story: Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell
Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell is a gory monster love story about what it means to love someone and be loved. Shesheshen, Wiswell’s main character, is a shape-shifting monster who lives in a decrepit manor near a small town. The town both hates and fears her, but Shesheshen isn’t worried whatRead More