This adorable graphic novel follows a young deaf witch as she reconnects with an old friend (a nonbinary werewolf) and tries to solve the mystery of the horse demon in the woods.
A huge focus of this novel is dealing with one‘s past (Nova, the main character) has lost her parents and Tam was forced to run away from an abusive home, getting stuck in their not yet controllable werewolf transformation), especially how to heal through forging new connections and how to move on without forgetting what happened. The story is really intruiging and fast paced, quickly pulling you in and dragging you along on this magical (and cuuuuute) story.
It is a bit light on the magic system and on the characters‘ past, both of which I found myself missing while reading, but the cuteness of the art style and the sweet relationship between Nova and Tam was something I really enjoyed.
I also enjoyed that Nova uses hearing aids and that the difficulties of them were also shown (once Nova has to take them off when she receives a phone call as it distorts the noises too much) and that she found a way to combine magic and technology, which is really, really cool.
All in all I would recommend this graphic novel to fans of adorable breezy supernatural romance and those that are just looking for a light but sweet read for an afternoon.

This is a very short but cute children‘s picture book following a child growing up as they find themself unable and unwilling to chose only one form of being (both in regards to gender and species). The story shows how important a supportive and loving family is in order to allow children to grow up with self esteem and self love and also shows the dangers of societal pressure forcing someone to conform in a way that goes against their nature. The ending is also very sweet and adorable and has a nice message for children, especially those that are otherwise made to feel different or wrong.
The art is also really cute and the writing lyrical and beautiful and I found myself moved to tears at points, particularly when seeing how supportive the mother was.

This is a really interesting novel following a young genderqueer person coming into her own identity while looking for connection in the past.
Dawn is a book conservator, who feels unable to express her identity fully anywhere. At work her boss makes snide comments and harasses her anytime she dares to dress more masculine, at home her genderqueer partner does not seem attracted to her if she embraces the feminine side of herself and neither her parents nor her other friends truly understand her. Unable to deal with this she throws herself into researching the life of a german woman named Gertrude whose message she found in a lesbian pulp novel she was restoring.
Besides being an interesting look at nonbinary/genderqueer/genderfluid identity in a time where there wasn’t a fixed term for these identities yet, this novel also beautifully examines the way in which prejudice and hatred particularly in times of social changes (such as post 9/11 new york and pre-nazis rise to power in germany) target and damage especially those of us who are visible different and stand out. It also explores the way art can be healing and help us form connections, that we might otherwise miss.
The writing style was also something I enjoyed, especially the short chapters, as it simply dragged me along on the journey. I especially enjoyed the discussion of art and especially the big artpiece Dawn planes at the end.
TW for graphic physical violence, hatecrimes, homophobia, transphobia and racism.

This is an interesting short story collection focussing on fantasy and sci-fi stories with trans characters. There‘s a wide variety of trans stories, from the clearly defined featuring both characters that transitioned through means of our current modern medicine and some through magical or futuristic means, to the allegorical where transness is not the focal point and only implied. I liked that there was such a big variety of stories.
I found myself enjoying quite a few of the stories here such as the sci-fi time travelling story „The Shape of my Name“ by Nino Cipri, the unsettling sci-fi apocalypse „The Petals Abide“ by Benjanun Sriduangkaew, the body-switching war novel „into the waters I rode down“ and the gothic short „The Librarian‘s Dilemma“.
Unfortunately as is the case with many trans anthologies I‘ve picked up recently there is definitely a skew towards transmasculinity in this one as well. Some of the nonbinary characters never have their agab mentioned, but those that do are only ever afab. Furthermore only one story „into the waters I rode down“ features an explicitly trans female character, who mentions her transition. „Where Monsters Dance“ has a trans woman LI (but unfortunately her role in the plot is minimal and she mainly serves as a damsel) and The Scaper‘s Muse features a sci-fi transition from a formerly male body to a female one, but as the character has repeatedly changed their body and gender through sci-fi means beforehand I would not necessarily claim them as a trans woman. I sincerely hope that that is something that has been improved upon in the future releases.

A really beautiful and touching coming-of-age story with a touch of magic. We follow a young boy named Owen from the day he is born. At first doctors believe he will die due to heart failure, but after his mother takes him home with her to grieve in peace, a hole with a bird inside appears in his chest. After this his mother goes on the run, afraid of what the medical field will do to her son if he is discovered.
Owen is raised in heavy isolation for the first ten years of his life in his mother‘s quest to keep him safe. There is only him, his mother and Gail, the bird in his chest. Gail desperately wants to go outside and begs Owen to allow her freedom. The childhood scenes were incredibly melancholic and I really enjoyed how this isolation was portrayed and that the love even though it was clearly present just wasn’t enough.
After a medical emergency causes Owen‘s secret to be discovered by an obsessed doctor, his mother hides him with her brother and for the first time in Owen‘s life he gets to experience a different world, one where he is allowed to form connections with others, coinciding with the start of his puberty and the many things that change during it.
This book shows the beauty of connection and of getting to share your deepest truths with those close to you, while also showing the danger that comes with being different. I spent a lot of time grieving for the time Owen had lost due to his isolation in childhood and from having to hide who he is to such an extent and yet fearing the repercussions that came from him becoming more visible. This was a really beautiful coming-of-age that explores growing up gay and features some hints towards potential future gender exploration. All in all it is an incredibly tender story and it made my heart ache and warmed me at the same time.
TW for medical abuse, child abuse, forced isolation, bullying, graphic violent assault, homophobia, sexual assault, drug use.

This is a quite interesting short story collection with a really fascinating gimmick (yes, it‘s bicycles in space. A lot of bicycles in space.) Well, okay, some of the bicycles are also ridden on planets, with riders focussed on finding peace and raising children or collecting luck through collective bicycle parkour, but many of them are set directly in space, from exploring other planets to a bicycle race that changes your gender.
I really, really enjoyed this collection. There‘s magic street art, two bicycle racers caught up in a galactic war, a sentient bicycle friend and even a transgender werewolf bicycle repair man. What I especially enjoyed is that this short story collection presents a variety of transgender stories (sometimes focussing on general trans stories, but also with trans man, trans women and nonbinary main characters!) and even though I feared the stories might get repetitive at points (after all I wondered how many different trans sci fi stories can you write if they focus on bicycles? the answer is many!) this was not the case and I really enjoyed this anthology.
As always with anthologies I did not love every story presented here and especially the variety in length sometimes bothered me as some stories were much too short, whereas others (especially in comparison) seemed to drag on a little bit, but if you enjoy your sci-fi fun, diverse and with a general positive and happy vibe check this anthology out!

If you‘ve been wanting to learn more about trans and gender nonconforming history and are also interested in the academic field of making and creating history this will be a particularly interesting book.
Heyam collects a wide and varied number of historical cases of gender nonconformity from prisoners in British internment camps not only performing as women on stage, but also living as women full time, a gender identity in Japan‘s Edo period that marked the person as a permanent adolescent regardless of their actual chronological age, a gender in Afrika that was marked through the ability to inherit land and have wives, an intersex person in colonial Virginia who was forced to wear both male and female attire at all times to adhere to their intersex status as well as french Prostitutes that attracted better paying costumers through wearing men‘s clothes and more!
If you have already researched transgender history you might be familiar with some of these histories, but certainly not all of them. If you haven‘t researched transgender histories yet, but have at least a passing familiarity with trans existence nowadays, you will also have a great time reading this book.
I liked that this book especially allows for wiggle room when it comes to gendered presentation, looking at gendernonconforming history as part of trans history even if it cannot be proven (or disproven!) that said historical figures would identify as trans nowadays. At points the author is very careful and cautious, paying homage to more radical (and foundational) trans histories such as Leslie Feinberg‘s work without reaching the same inclusivity, but I still enjoyed the novel.

This book combines a novella and a short story set 100 years apart with some interconnections (the narrator of the short story is distantly related to one of the people involved in the first novella). The first novella starts out quite interesting, following the doctors‘ at a sanatorium who become obsessed with a quest to find out what happens in the afterlife, quickly crossing many lines of ethical treatment and instead turning towards a lot of murder. I found the main characters disturbingly realistic in their eugenic and sexist beliefs and their complete disregard of actual human suffering as long as they could make some money out of it otherwise and satisfy their medical curiosity. Particularly the main character has a strong voice and even though is repulsive, he manages to set the mood and ambience of the story perfectly. Some parts of the story were never followed up on (why do women spend so much time on Bidets? And why do the men care so much they are willing to kill?) and that left me feeling a bit unsatisfied but all in all this was a very morbid and interesting novella and would have been a 3 star read for me.
Unfortunately there‘s also a second story in this book and while it attempts to be creepy and dive into more human depravity, the scenes did not work to build an even remotely comparable unsettling atmosphere as the first book did. It follows a young artist, a former child prodigy, who favours macabre displays, never shows any care for other people and tries to see how dark his art can go. The narrator also doesn’t manage to draw us as deeply into his depraved mind as much as the first story does and it really suffers from that. In general, the story just did not really land for me and seemed to dive deep into depravity at points solely to be shocking, without actually having anything interesting to say. Only one star, leading to the final rating of two stars.
TWs for sexual assault, eugenics, mass murder, sexual assault of an autistic child, fatphobia, body horror

This is a very short, but very lovely (and hot) interlude to Prince Hal's current story.
I nearly always adore gender affirming magic interventions, especially for trans men as that is something I often find myself missing in trans erotica (even though of course trans men who are comfortable with their original plumbing are rad as hell too!). I definitely enjoyed this one.
It is as already mentioned rather short and I have to say the end disappointed me a little bit (i wish he could have remembered, at least as like a hot sexy dream!) but I also understand that finally experiencing sex without dysphoria only to be forced to realize its not real would be incredibly upsetting as well and either way it made me want to hug Hal (but I think his two guards are doing a great job at taking care of him too!).
I am excited for the new installation of this series, especially a further expansion of the mythology, and I am very glad I got to read this short interlude to Hal's story.