For National Poetry Month I chose to read this collection I’d picked up from Sundress Publications, an independent press. It’s a fascinating collection of poems about the interconnected nature of gender, sexuality, sex, and identity. The poems’ forms start as stanzas and lines written in fragments, but as the speaker gains a greater sense ofRead More
Sheila reviews Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist
I wanted to read something shorter, that I could put down and come back to as my attention comes and goes these days. I was very happy to pick up (or download, whatever) this work of poetry, Disintegrate/Dissociate by Arielle Twist. This isn’t to say that these poems are of a lighter subject manner. ManyRead More
Danika reviews The Seep by Chana Porter
The Seep is a weird fiction novella (200 pages) exploring a “soft” alien invasion utopia. It begins with a section titled “Tips for Throwing a Dinner Party at the End of the World.” Earth is being invaded by a disembodied alien species–which turns out to be a good thing. The Seep forms a symbiotic relationship withRead 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
Danika reviews Stage Dreams by Melanie Gillman
I love Melanie Gillman’s art. The use pencil crayons, and the detail is incredible. I always spend half the time reading their books just admiring landscapes. In Stage Dreams, Grace is in a stage coach, on the run. The coach is being driven through an area that’s being haunted by the Ghost Hawk, a supernatural giantRead More
Sheila Laroque reviews Holy Wild by Gwen Benaway
As I’ve said in previous reviews; I haven’t widely read a great deal of poetry. Nor do I have the lived experience of a trans person. However, reading this collection of poetry by Gwen Benaway I felt drawn into her world and stories, and I felt like I could understand a little bit better. TheRead More
Meagan Kimberly reviews The Names We Take by Trace Kerr
The Names We Take is a young adult dystopian novel set in Spokane, Washington after an epidemic called the One Mile Cough wipes out a huge chunk of the population. Pip, the protagonist, is an intersex trans girl just trying to survive. But a group of bounty hunters has a different idea as they seekRead More
Sheila Laroque reviews Maiden, Mother Crone: Fantastical Trans Femmes by Gwen Benaway
I became aware of Gwen Benaway this fall on twitter (@GwenBenaway) with the controversy that was happening in Toronto with the public library and a hateful speaker. More of Gwen’s writing on her experiences of these events can be found here. Also, this fall she won the Governor General’s Literary Award for Poetry for herRead More
Danika reviews A Safe Girl to Love by Casey Plett
It’s not beautiful or brave or redemptive. It’s like a light case of mono that never goes away. I don’t want to brave. I want us to be okay. I’m having trouble writing this review, because I feel like I’m still processing this book. A Safe Girl to Love is a collection of short stories withRead More
Anna Marie reviews Stone Butch Blues
Ever since I learnt about Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg I’ve wanted to read it, but I knew it would be an intense book to read with quite a lot of violence in it, so I waited till I thought I might be slightly more ready for it. The time to read it arrived since, lastRead More