Was super intrigued by this one when I saw it on the Philippines prompt page for StoryGraph’s Read the World, and although it was a bit uneven (aren’t all anthologies??), I am overall glad that I read it! This is the only anthology of lesbian writing from the Philippines so it’s such an important contribution to literature! The stories are nicely separated into sections like Beginnings, Family, Unrequited and Endings, although all the stories are supposed to be a response to ‘what makes you tingle as a lesbian?’ And I’m not sure all of these really seemed to ruminate on that theme.

My favourite section was the Passion section, there were some absolutely gorgeous pieces of writing about sex and lust. Then I also really appreciated the pieces that explore the tomboy phenomenon in the Philippines. It seems like a lot of queer women in these stories and essays still adhere to quite strict gender roles - mascs pair with femmes, stone tops abound.

Not all pieces left an impact, some left the wrong kind of impact (one was a bizarre recollection which seemed to romanticise touching a woman’s breast without her consent??), but overall glad this anthology exists!