I don’t think I’ve ever been so pulled into a novel by the dedication, author’s note, and epigraph. (The epigraph to Part One is “i did not come to preach of peace / for that’s not the hunted’s duty.” -Danez Smith.) In the author’s note, Johnson explains the inspiration behind this book coming from her time participating in the 62-day sit in at Nashville’s Tennessee State Capitol. I found myself writing down multiple quotations, including…
Queer Bandits Fight Back: The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang Review
The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang is an action-packed, genderbent homage to a work of classic Chinese literature, but you don’t have to have prior knowledge of the source material to have a good time with these bandits. In Liangshan, a large group of bandits, mostly women, are forced to live outside the bounds ofRead More
Pacific Rim Meets Crier’s War: Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta is one of those books that somehow passed me by when it came out in 2021. It follows two teenage girls, Sona and Eris, as they try to destroy the Godolia empire from the inside: Sona as one of the students from the Academy who earns a spot as a frighteningRead More
A Queer, Anti-Colonial Sci-Fi Novella: Countess by Suzan Palumbo
This review contains spoilers. Countess by Suzan Palumbo is a short science fiction novel that is a love story to the West Indies and its people even lightyears and generations away from the islands of Earth. It follows Virika Sameroo, a soldier for the Æcerbot Empire that controls and subjugates people like Virika just as theRead More
Love and Rebellion: We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia is a young adult novel that follows teenager Daniela as she navigates becoming one of the wives to a vicious up-and-coming young man while simultaneously becoming a secret member of the rebel group La VozRead More
An Anti-Fascist Queer Space Opera: Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Some Desperate Glory by Emily Tesh is one of the most powerful science fiction books I have ever read. I have not been able to read another book because I keep wondering where the main character Kyr has gone. I look for her in everything. She is such a well-rounded, complicated character (the best kind),Read More
Maggie reviews The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link In The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri brings to life a kingdom in upheaval after the ascension of a new Emperor of Parijatdvipa, while meanwhile Ahiranya is an unwilling state reaching the boiling point in its quest to regain its sovereignty from said empire. Two women from opposite ends ofRead More