When Amara Lynn hosted #LGBTQwrimo in November 2018, I had no idea how much it would change my Twitter experience. Since then, I'm made friends, discovered books, been inspired, and talked way more about my own writing projects than I thought possible. When Lynn began promoting their own novella Masks, I added it to my TBR and knew I had a delightful little read in store for me.

Masks is the story of Avari, who is a social outcast by choice. In the beginning, Avari is about drowning in toxicity: he demands solitude (but he's desperately lonely), thinks himself as solely logical (as he channels all his stress & emotions into arson), and insults his classmates (in the comfort of his own head, where they can't challenge his accusations). When he's not burning cars, Avari is studying for double engineering degrees, and lo, enter Chayton, an assigned and inescapable lab partner. Chayton is the opposite of Avari. He believes in goodness and goes out of his way to connect to his fellows. Avari doesn't know what his deal is, but sparks are flying at the same time as a new superhero flies onto the scene, demanding Avari stop his fiery ways.

For a short novella, Lynn packs a lot in. Masks is a enemies-to-lovers tale and, in a further twist, we're in the villain's perspective. Avari's caustic personality may put off some readers. He reminds me of the "edgelord" figure in popular culture, like Kylo Ren, but with fire-bending powers and black wings. Trusting Lynn as I do, I stuck with the story, and the ending is all the more rewarding as Avari slowly opens up and changes his ways. The actual romance between Chayton and Avari is surprisingly sweet. I think the greatest strength of the book is Lynn's deft handling of popular tropes--how they make them queer and comforting. For fans of superheroes who are tired of waiting for their favs to be done right and be gay already, Masks is here to fill your mighty need.

If I had one quibble, it would be about Chayton. It's a spoiler so I'm smudging it.

I don't think it's a leap to say Chayton is Native American coded. He doesn't mention a specific tribe (perhaps he's one of the Costanoan people?), but he does have brown skin & long dark hair in a braid, and he mentions living on a reservation. As a writer and reader, I'm at times overally sensitive to the portrayal of Native Americans by a non-Native authors. In my undergrad Native American studies class, writing Native American characters was highly discouraged. Considering the history of genocide, non-Natives were instead encouraged to use their platforms to promote Native American creators and arts. Chayton's ethnicity is not the main focus of the book and only mentioned in passing, so I think everything's fine. It's clear that Lynn meant no disrespect, and I don't think it's inherently bad to have a Native American character. What might fall in a gray area is how Chayton receives his powers. To grow his wings, Chayton touches a feather earring, and this story choice struck me as uncomfortably close to the "Native American magics" stereotype. Avari has no magical help. He was born with the wings. It's unclear why Chayton couldn't have just inherited the same genetic quirk. As a white person, I'm not the expert on what is a harmful portrayal and what isn't, but the story choice was jarring in an otherwise comfortable read.