Thanks to One World Books for the free advance copy of this book.

Hiram was born a slave. When he survives a near-death experience, he becomes hyper-focused on freedom. He finds himself linked up with the Underground, a covert movement working to free slaves and bring them north. Hiram never forgets the people he left behind and is willing to do whatever it takes to free them as well.

On first glance, THE WATER DANCER appears to be a standard runaway slave narrative. However, rather than focusing on the physical pain of slavery, this book is a study of the mental pain - particularly the pain of being separated, over and over, from family and loved ones.

I did find it to be a bit slow moving. Hiram is usually kept in the dark about the Underground's plans until the moment they are executed, which means the reader is as well, so in effect a lot of the action takes place off the page. On the other hand, the imagery and mechanics of the magical realism elements were just incredible - images I’ve never encountered before in any book.

I also found the underlying discussion of people's motives for doing abolitionist work, particularly for Corinne and the other white women, quite interesting.

Kiera is one of only a handful of black students at her high school in suburban Seattle. But she's got a secret. No one knows she's Emerald, the creator of SLAY, a virtual reality online game where players create kings and queens who duel each other by drawing cards based on elements of black cultures around the world - open only to black players who have the secret passcode. But when a boy is murdered in real life over coins in the game, SLAY becomes international news.

I tore through this book in about 48 hours. I was completely riveted by Kiera, her friends and family, and the deft way this book handles the nuances of navigating the world as a black person. Everything from the pros and cons of black-only spaces to code switching to conflating black power with black male power and more is covered in SLAY, and in a natural way that doesn't feel like a Very Special Episode.

And the game itself - so cool! You do have to suspend disbelief a bit to accept that a game with hundreds of thousands of players is run by only two people and kept a secret from the entire non-black world, but the battles were so fun I decided I could look past it. I've never read anything like this book and I can't wait to recommend it to everyone.

Thanks to Grove Press for the free advance copy of this book.

FRANKISSSTEIN is a dual narrative - one thread is the tale of Mary Shelley's creation of the story of Frankenstein. The other is set in the near future, with trans doctor Ry Shelley falling in love with professor and scientist Victor Stein, who is carrying out secret experiments in the name of advancing AI technology.

Past and future collide in this book in a way that is alternately hilarious and deeply thought provoking. Winterson draws lines between Frankenstein, artificial intelligence, the Industrial Revolution, transhumanism, gender theory and more - it kind of feels like that Always Sunny meme with the red thread conspiracy board. This book is packed to the gills with ideas and yet none of them feel underserved. Also, lots of sex jokes.

I have seen some reviews calling this book disrespectful to trans people. That's not the vibe I got at all. There are certainly characters who do not understand and clearly do not wish to understand Ry. There's a lot of purposeful misgendering and deadnaming. However, it's clear to me that the book is showing that the characters doing this are behind the times and close-minded, even if they are open-minded about other things (like say, sex bots). This whole book is about what it means to be human and the wide range of possible forms and experiences humanity can take. Please do note that I am not trans - I'll happily discuss further with anyone who felt otherwise about this book.

FRANKISSSTEIN is one of those books where I know I didn't catch all the layers of on the first read. I am already looking forward to rereading it.

Thanks to Scholastic for the free advance copy of this book.

TAKE THE MIC is a fiction anthology featuring stories of young people making small acts of everyday resistance. Ranging from advocating for gender-neutral restrooms to refusing to wear a shirt with a racist slogan on it, these are stories of teens finding their voices.

I think this book is exactly what young readers of today need. So often, it feels like change is beyond our reach and world events are out of our control. These stories show kids that even taking the smallest stand is worth it.

While a number of the stories come across as a little Very Special Episode-esque, I think that's probably just due to the age group it's aimed at. I’ve read basically no middle grade fiction so I don't really know if that's the standard. I did love the variety of stories told, though. Everything from race to religion to disability to queerness is covered. I particularly enjoyed how many stories hinged on a young girl deciding she wasn't going to be quiet and polite just to keep the peace.

Thanks to Simon and Schuster for the free advance copy of this book.

HOW WE FIGHT FOR OUR LIVES is Jones' memoir about coming of age as a black gay man in the South. Told through vignettes that follow his travels from home in Texas, to college, and elsewhere, it examines his life against the backdrop of phobias and -isms that run rampant in America.

This book is 200 pages worth of a punch to the chest. Each story knocked the air out of me, even as someone who has read plenty of wrenching memoirs. It's Jones' exploration of his experience and the world's experience of his marginalized body, and how he turns his body into a weapon to be used against the world and against himself.

Threaded through this journey is Jones' relationships with his mother and grandmother. I think the complicated, intensely loving relationships of half-truths he lives with both these women will feel so very familiar to many queer readers.

The third installment in the Lady Sherlock series, THE HOLLOW OF FEAR sees Charlotte Holmes' continued work as "Sherlock" as Moriarty presses closer and and her longtime friend Lord Ingram's estranged wife turns up dead on the Ingram estate.

I rarely read mysteries, cozy or otherwise, but something about this series is just irresistible to me. I wasn't wowed by the second book so I was a little worried about this one. My worries, luckily, were put to rest quickly.

The mystery at the center of THE HOLLOW OF FEAR is fairly straightforward, which I liked, as I'd found the mystery in A CONSPIRACY IN BELGRAVIA to be too convoluted. Even with so much of this book resting on the events of the previous book, I never lost the thread, but also didn't figure it out on my own. Additionally, a lot of friendships, relationships, and other acquaintances begin to bear fruit in this book, which was quite satisfying.

I'm also happy to report that the weird fatphobia that surfaced in the second book is gone. Charlotte remains a lover of sweets and pastries, but she is simply allowed to enjoy them without judgment.

FORWARD is not just a memoir about Abby Wambach's soccer career. It's also a blunt look at what she has struggled with throughout her life - self-acceptance, addiction, an overwhelming drive to be the best, regardless of the personal cost.

This is one of the hardest memoirs I've ever read. Wambach's storytelling style is straightforward, no holds barred. I knew she struggled with alcohol and pills, but reading this "behind the scenes" account of what her inner life was like during games I watched her play - even events I remember attending - puts her career in a whole new light. It really spotlights how someone can be at the top of their field, outwardly appearing to be someone who has it all together and is harnessing their talent, when inside, they are tearing themselves apart.

There are some events that still feel glossed over - her friendship with a former club owner comes to mind - but for the most part Wambach lays everything on the table in this book. She openly discusses lifelong feelings of inadequacy, the loss of direction after retiring, troubled relationships and more. I also kind of hope she writes another memoir down the road, as this one came pretty shortly after her DUI, and it's plain that while she has stayed sober she is still working things out.

I will also just say, boy, do I relate to having an innate talent for a sport but also an innate laziness.

Thanks to Hougton Mifflin Harcourt for the free copy of this book.

IN AT THE DEEP END is the story of Julia, a young Londoner who comes to realize she is a lesbian and throws herself into the city's queer scene. At first, it's all fun and full of discovery, but once she pairs off with Sam, a beautiful local artist, things take a darker turn.

I've seen this book called "queer Bridget Jones" a lot, but really, it's Bridget Jones x Fleabag. It's full of dry British humor and verges on satire of queer and poly social circles. It really does start off as a fun finding-yourself story about the joys of queer life and chosen family, but it quickly turns into something that's even less discussed - abuse in queer relationships.

The way Julia and Sam's relationship slides slowly into toxic and controlling almost before you realize it felt very real. Another thing that rang true for me is that way some people have of insinuating "if you're really as liberal and accepting as you say, you'll be okay with this thing I'm making you do." I'm not sure I've ever seen that dynamic in a novel before, and it's really quite insidious.

I do wish we'd gotten a little more depth in Julia's friendships. She had so many people in her life that I think a few interesting side characters didn't get filled out quite enough. Though maybe that's just another illustration of how one can be so quickly isolated from friends.

Add to these things the very real depiction of how hard it is to leave an abusive situation even when you know you're being abused, and IN AT THE DEEP END isn't a light beach read, but, I think, an important expansion of the types of queer stories we're telling.

Also, this book is SUPER NSFW, reader beware if you're in public!