So, I’ve really enjoyed the Witches of Thistle Grove series in general. Lana Harper’s writing is great, the characters feel well thought out and have some nice dichotomies that make them feel like real people, and this particular story gives us some insight into the Blackmoores and their family trauma. Morty is very charming and cares deeply (even if their name is unfortunate), I really like Nina, and we get a peek into the internal growth that her older brother Gareth has been going through behind the scenes. Overall I enjoyed it.

That said: I was disappointed with the nonbinary representation. I mean, when a character is introduced right off the bat (before we even meet said character on the page) as having he/they pronouns, wouldn’t you use the gender neutral pronoun at least once? But that doesn’t happen here. It makes it feel like cop out and doesn’t honor Morty’s identity, and honestly it seems like a bit of a dismissal of Nina’s sexuality. Like, she’s slept with men but says she always pictured herself ending up with a woman in an internal monologue. Lo and behold here’s this androgynous person who wears more feminine clothes and accessories and makeup on the regular, so of course she falls for them, but we’re not going to acknowledge or respect their pronouns, and here’s maybe a bit of bi erasure on top. I don’t know, perhaps I’m reading too much into it or being too sensitive, but it made me feel a bit yucky about it all and I’m a cis lesbian. 

It really stuck with me and I waited a few days before writing a review because I wanted to ruminate on it for a bit, and it was almost enough of a disappointment for me to drop the rating by a star, but for now I’m going to leave it where it is.