Outlawed is a dystopian western set in an alternate version of the United States in the 1890s. After a great flu epidemic, society is hyper focused on marriage and childbirth. Barren women are ostracized as witches, sometimes even dying if they cannot conceive within one year. 

Ada has grown up the eldest daughter of a midwife. Being a single woman is taboo, unless you have enough children. As a mother of three, Ada's mother has the respect of the community and her great record as a midwife earns her a clean reputation. Ada has greatly enjoyed attending births and health related calls and intends to continue this work, but when she marries things do not go to plan. Ada does not conceive, and as the title suggests she must survive outside of society and the law. 

I loved the beginning of this book. North draws us in quickly and clearly establishes the world in which Ada is living. I found the second quarter of the book to drag a bit, but it was necessary building for the action and characters introduced in the second half of this beautiful, heart wrenching, and at times exciting novel. 

If you liked The Grace Year, The Handmaid's Tale, or you generally like dystopian or western books, and a good found family trope, this is a strong choice. There is ample representation of existing outside the gender norms that is absolutely stunning in its humanity and obvious but subtle criticism of those who cast aspersions on those who are "different." I absolutely think this book deserves more hype. 

I'll begin by saying I am an S.A. Cosby completist. I have read all of his books and enjoyed each of them tremendously. Each of his books has been narrated by the very talented Adam Lazarre-White and this is no exception. The combination of Cosby's phenomenal writing and Lazarre-White's vocal talents is perfection in my book. 

So All the Sinners Bleed  on audio is both set up for success by both of these talents and held to high standards for the same reasons. I was 100% not disappointed with this story. All the Sinners Bleed is by far the darkest of Cosby's novels, which is definitely saying something. This is the story of Titus, a newly elected sheriff in rural town in Virginia. Titus is Black, and as you can easily imagine that is a hard pill for many Southern folks to swallow. When there is a school shooting, Titus immediately launches into action which results in the shooter's death. 

As they investigate the shooter, more sinister crimes come to light. I went into this fairly blind and it was such a mesmerizing time, so I don't want to spoil anything for you. As always, S.A. Cosby has razor sharp observations of religion and racism in the South that is paired with incredible wit. The speed with which Cosby makes us go from "Oh dang, that's a deep observation" to literally laughing out loud is incredible and in my opinion the mark of an outstanding author. 

Read this if you like a mystery, Southern gothic, any of his past books, and if you can handle some gore and very disturbing topics. I can't believe it when I say this is far and away by favorite S.A. Cosby novel because the others are all so wonderful too. A must read!

Endpapers is the story of a gender queer bookbinder living in NYC in 2003. Dana feels trapped in her job, her gender presentation, and her relationship. Add in a bad case of artist block, and she's in a rough spot. 

One day at work, Dana finds a pulp novel cover and a love letter- in German!- hidden in the binding of an old hardcover. The pulp cover shows a woman looking into a mirror and a man reflected back at her. Dana wonders if it was a book about trans identity? She feels immensely drawn to it and decides to find out what the love letter says. 

Launching into a mystery from the 1950s, Dana ends up discovering what will bring her more joy and contentment. This story evokes so much of the early aughts and of the 1950s, a truly dangerous time to be queer. The exploration by Kelly of what it means to have no clear answers about gender coming from within was so poignant and beautiful, even when Dana acted in unhealthy ways that were hard to stomach as a reader. 

There are some obvious comparisons to be made to Detransition, Baby. I liked that book but loved this one far more, so if you liked it then please give this one a read. Truly, I feel like this is a book not to be missed by fans of lit fic or queer literature. 

Emily Henry does Emily Henry. 

Hot mess, this one is. I picked this up and enjoyed the first 180 pages. I was flying through it. A twin dies and the other twin is determined to solve the mystery? Yes, please!

But on page 180, we get a twist and then another 180 pages of slow, torturously drawn out exposition that could have been 70 pages easily. And in the end? No believable resolution, tons of plot holes with a lazy one sentence explanation, and no clear motive. 

Really, I wasted 5+ hours reading this book and I am annoyed. 

Small Mercies is set in 1974 South Boston, as the city prepares for desegregation of a local high school. Mary Pat has been a "Southie" her whole life, knowing little of life outside this Irish American community. This novel starts with vivid descriptions of the racism surrounding the issue of school desegregation, and honestly I was about to DNF for my emotional wellbeing (not because the writing was poor or thinking it was inappropriate, there was still plenty of time for the author to make a point about racism). But then, a mystery developed. 

When her teenage daughter doesn't come home one night, Mary Pat is desperate for answers and launches into a search that you'd hope your own parents would if you were missing. Unsatisfied with the response from the police, Mary Pat starts tracking down her own answers. Meanwhile a Black teenage has been lynched and his community is rightfully up in arms about the tragedy. While these events seem unconnected, they come together and we see the downfalls of racist communities and the admirable hope and resistance in Black communities. 

I enjoyed the ending and the depiction of police as flawed, which wasn't a common perception by white folks at this time in history. This book has a lot to say about power and what is truly criminal. I recommend it, while noting that there is explicit racism, drug use, and police interrogation as well as less intense content warnings in other areas. 

This is a really sweet, emotional, and at times funny story of a curse on generations of women in a Vietnamese family. There’s a family tree at the beginning and trust me, it’s handy. Told from different perspectives in the mostly estranged family of women, we learn about their bad luck in life and with men. 

Read this if you like: 
❤️Emotional but not super heavy family drama
❤️Immigrant experience centered stories
❤️Sisters handling trauma in different ways 
❤️A funeral, a wedding, and a (mostly) secret pregnancy 

It’s 5 ⭐️ from me. And at 272 pages, it’s a quick one to read and enjoy.