This book had me in two words: queer. Gothic. I have long-held passions in both areas. The gothic is the realm of the outsider, the rejected, the monstrous. It lends itself to queer interpretation–and that is mostly what queer gothic is. Just interpretation. The height of gothic literature was, of course, the 18th and 19th Centuries, beginning with TheRead More
Bee reviews Die For Me by Luke Jennings
SPOILER WARNING Trigger warning: emotional abuse, transphobia Being a Killing Eve mega-fan since season one began, it was only a matter of time before I got around to reading the books. I picked up Luke Jennings’ series at just the right time – only a couple of months before the release of the third andRead More
Bee reviews Euphoria Kids by Alison Evans
I’ve been reading Alison Evans’ work for a while. The main appeal for me is that they are a Melbournian author, and their YA sci-fi/fantasies always have a basis in the city and surrounding areas. I think I’ve written here before about how much that appeals to me. When their newest book, Euphoria Kids, wasRead More
Bee reviews I am Out With Lanterns by Emily Gale
I often see people complaining that there is no WLW equivalent to Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. I’m not really sure what the complaint is about: the popularity of the books? The tone? The content? The writing? I think that what people mean when they say this is that they areRead More
Bee reviews Nightwood by Djuna Barnes
I have never been so confused as I was while reading Nightwood by Djuna Barnes. I felt exceedingly silly, like I was missing a trick (or several) about the impenetrable prose and the seemingly nonsensical character behaviour. I was expecting to be wowed, amazed, startlingly impressed by it as a work of literature. Jeanette WintersonRead More
Bee reviews The Tiger Flu by Larissa Lai
Spoiler Warning Trigger warnings: character death, violence, body horror, gore I should say upfront that I don’t read much sci-fi. It’s definitely not my genre of choice, so I am unfamiliar with the conventions and the tropes, and the general methods of worldbuilding. The only reason I picked up The Tiger Flu by Larissa LaiRead More
Bee reviews Wilder Girls by Rory Power
Spoiler Warning Trigger Warnings: body horror, gore, violence The things I heard about Wilder Girls before I picked it up: Lord of the Flies-esque, but with girls Body horror Secrets and lies Queer girls And needless to say, I was sold. If the ethereal and captivatingly disturbing cover weren’t enough, these tidbits promised something darkRead More
Bee reviews A Love Story for Bewildered Girls by Emma Morgan
Sometimes you take a chance on a book, and it pays off in a weird, indefinable way. This is the only way I can describe my experience with A Love Story for Bewildered Girls by Emma Morgan. Actually, it turned me into the bewildered girl the book addresses in the title. I tacked it onRead More