For personal reasons I can’t say that I enjoyed the process of reading this book, but I think that Fern writes about polyamory with a much more compassionate and emotionally aware approach than others whose work has pushed me away in the past.

The mystery and quality of writing are on par for the rest of the series, but there's a streak of condescending ableism that runs through how the protagonist and several other characters discuss and treat an autistic side character that bothered me. I wish those attitudes had been checked and corrected, but they never really were.

A polyam t4t romance about two trans women and a trans man finding belonging, healing, companionship, and a lot of sex together in a gorgeous cottagecore setting. Character-driven in a way that readers who prefer more dramatic romances will find frustrating, but ideal for those seeking a soothing read. It spoke directly to the part of me that wants to run away and live on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

I first read this in 2018, and I decided to reread it after getting Nagata Kabi’s latest book and realizing that I should refresh and catch up. I liked her work well enough when I was closeted and in a lot of denial. But reading it now, after a lot of therapy and coming out and letting myself think honestly about my family, I appreciate it a lot more. I feel like I’m just now allowing myself to acknowledge how deeply I relate to it.

Most of my disability knowledge is focused on neurodivergence, so I read this book hoping to get a better grounding in issues related to physical disability. This book is written in a breezy, conversational style and covers the basics in a way that feels appropriate for young adults or non-disabled people who are completely new to thinking about disability. Good information that draws from lots of different perspectives and communities, but I do feel the need to supplement it with further reading.

A love letter to reading well wrapped up in a gentle fantasy about a grieving teenager, his classmate, and the talking cat who enlists their help to save books. The cat reminded me a lot of Behemoth from The Master and Margarita, but with shades of Hayao Miyazaki (and no vodka to be seen). Pretty charming; it makes me want to read some of the classics that have languished on my mental "I'll read this someday" list.

The further along the series progresses, the more often these are three-star reads for me: fine, pretty fun, but lacking the sparkle that they held for me when there were fewer characters, tighter focus, and more moments with Komi, Tadano, and Najimi.

I can't comfortably rate this book in light of the accounts of abuse co-author Franklin Veaux inflicted upon numerous former partners. Some of the information seems good. Some of it seems like it could easily be weaponized against people and used to avoid accountability for bad behavior... and as Franklin's example shows, it has been. I get a generally positive impression of Eve Rickert from her blog and her writing about the problems with More Than Two (including that horrid "long dark night of the soul" passage), and I wish I could hand her my copy and ask her to highlight the parts that she wrote and still endorses. It was just hard to read 400+ pages of "trust your partner" from a guy who has proven himself to be utterly untrustworthy.