An anthology including a wide variety of LGBT+ characters, relationships and genres. I really enjoyed it and it definitely deserves a spot on my “Fav anthologies” list.

Miss Me With That Gay Shit (Please Don’t) By Sacha Lamb
Representation: jewish trans man MC, mlm jewish LI, wlw jewish SC
TW: none
Rating: 4/5 Stars
I really enjoyed this story. It is a short contemporary story about a young trans guy who just recently meet a childhood acquaintance Nick at the GSA of his school again. Unsure of whether or not Nick is even interested in boys, Elijah deals with having a crush on a person who just is so incredibly, annoyingly perfect, that it’s honestly starting to piss him off. It’s really cute and features a great sibling relationship as well as a sassy MC, a combination which I absolutely enjoyed.

Gifts of Spring by Shira Glassman
Representation: trans woman MC, jewish LI, mlm SC
TW: none
Rating: 3/5 Stars
A trans woman mage is on the run from the king and queen, who she made enemies of, when she rescues a juggler from the rage of the crows that accuses him of doing magic because he’s good at his craft. As they walk through town they meet various people in trouble and help them out. I quite enjoyed this short story, although I think some aspects of it might have been better able to shine in a longer story. (Note: there is sexual content)

Wishing On The Perseid by Kay Sulli
Representation: mlm MC of color, gay LI
TW: none
Rating: 3/5. Stars
This is a contemporary story about a ranger and a park visitor, who are interested in each other at first sight and slowly grow closer in the two weeks Zach spends at the park. It’s a really cute story featuring star watching, and I liked it. Hints at a happy future for them gave the story a really nice ending. (Note: there is sexual content)

Hunt and Peck by Teresa Theophano
Representation: wlw MC, butch lesbian LI, wlw SC
TW: homophobia, lesbophobic slurs, homophobic parents, physical and emotional child abuse,
Rating: 3/5. Stars
A young girl realizes that she has a real talent at typing on a typewriter and soon enters competitions. She only wants to win and gain some fame, when she finds herself attracted to one of her opponents. When she figures out her opponent is not as suspected a hot guy, but rather a handsome butch lesbian, she can’t help but fall into something new, but incredibly nice. The story was quite sweet and adorable and I especially enjoyed the part where they bonded about music. However, I would have liked a bit more exploration of sexuality in this one and the MC’s happiness as being able to pass as a straight with her new girlfriend (as she passes as male) sometimes made me kind of uncomfortable.

First Light at Dawn by Nyri Bakkalian
Representation: trans female lesbian MC with PTSD, bisexual LI, trans female SC
TW: flashbacks, war, murder
Rating: 5/5. Stars (but actually more like 100/5. Stars)
The story is presented in the form of an e-mail written by a former military soldier to an old friend, who she has fallen out of touch with. Now she updates her on her life, talks about how she met her girlfriend, coming out and how she deals with her PTSD. As someone with PTSD I very much enjoyed the descriptions of trauma and how just because you have a therapist it doesn’t make everything magically better (although it helps). Or in the words of the MC: “Trauma’s a bitch”. I also absolutely adored the descriptions of lesbian bars being accepting and welcoming of transbians. I really liked the writing style and this is definitely one of the short stories I would love to see transformed into a longer story. Probably (definitely) one of my favorites in this collection and I can’t wait to check out more from the author.

Dragons Do Not by Evelyn Deshane
Representation: disabled wlw MC (deaf), disabled trans woman SC (needs crutches to walk)
TW: grief, past deaths
Rating: 5/5. Stars
The idea of assistant dragons for disabled people is incredibly interesting and I adored the way it was used in the story. The story deals with a government that tries to keep their failures hidden and with it the people that where hurt during them, by keeping them separated from most people, as well as grief. It was also both funny and sad to see the official handbook disproven over and over again. After meeting another woman with an assistant dragon, she learns that she can become much closer to her dragon as well as to the world outside than she has been since the accident.

Planchette by Carolyn Gage
Representation: lesbian/trans male MC, lesbian SC, wlw SC
TW: rape, violence, murder (all as punishment for gay love), religious homophobia
Rating: 1/5. Stars
Set in the 1800s a young “female teen with a masculine gender presentation” is sent to Portsmouth after growing up on the frontier with their parents. It is not made entirely clear if the character is a tomboy or a trans man, as they mention both lesbianism and transmasculine idols for them. During a sleepover with a classmate, they get to talking about their pasts, both of which feature pretty traumatic events, such as the murder of close family friends and a mentally ill mother that tried to kill her own child. I didn’t really enjoy this story as I feel it didn’t really fit the happy, positive vibe of the other stories and the ending was also quite abrupt. It also dealt with very dark topics and while I was happy that there were trigger warnings at the beginning of the chapter, I still think this anthology was too dark for this anthology.

Birthday Landscapes by E.H. Timms
Representation: aromantic, disabled MC (uses crutches) with PTSD, aromantic SC, platonic relationship
TW: war, death, violence
Rating: 4/5. Stars
A platonic relationship between Val, a warrior, and Rose, a weaver, both of whom are aromantic and started dating out of a desire for a family and companionship without romance. They are now raising two children together and it works very well. The warrior also seems to have some kind of magic powers which was really interesting to read about, especially how they were triggered by PTSD due to all the death he’s seen on the battlefield. He also uses his magic to entertain his children, which was super cute. I quite enjoyed the story and especially the relationship between Val and Rose, whose platonic relationship I adored.

A gallant rescue by A.P. Raymond
Representation: nonbinary MC, trans female LI, nonbinary LI, lesbian sc, polyamorous relationship
TW: homophobic parents
Rating: 5/5. Stars
A spaceship crew decides that they need to get their friend Ellen out of a shitty family situation. Her parents want her to marry a business partner, ignoring that Ellen is already in a committed lesbian relationship. Mattie, Robbin and Johnny all come from lower social spheres, but with the help of their families and their own determination, they managed to acquire a ship and are not trying to keep afloat. They are also in a polyamorous relationship and also all trans (Mattie is Robin’s childhood sweetheart and uses ey/em pronouns, Robin uses they/them, and Johnny is a trans woman who uses she/her pronouns), which was really great to read about. I also really enjoyed the world building and the rescue mission was amazingly written. Also, I definitely need more sci-fi with trans and nonbinary characters that are humans (there is also another crew member called Much, who uses xe/xyr pronouns). This is another short story that I would definitely love to see turned into a longer story, just so I can follow this crew on their travels through space.

Overall, this story definitely kept its promise of happy and uplifting queer stories and I absolutely adored it. The one story I didn’t like was heavily outbalanced by a few other short stories (such as, First Light at Dawn, Dragons Do Not and A gallant rescue) that I absolutely adored. From fantasy to contemporary to historical fiction and sci-fi there’s short stories in many genres and featuring a gigantic amount of representation. I will definitely check out some of the authors further and all in all, I’m really happy we get to have this book that encapsulates so many different relationships and people, that you rarely get to see like this in other books.