This gothic historical horror is set in an alternative London, where spirit work is not just a parlor trick, but a real thing. But just like the real victorian London of the time, the society is saturated in misogyny, racism, ableism and queerphobia. Silas, a young autistic trans man, wants to escape an arranged marriage and the role of a speaker wife by becoming a speaker himself. Even the dangers of being discovered pale in comparision to his terror of a life like that.
Silas is an incredibly interesting character and I really enjoyed delving into his story of life as a trans man in a misogynistic society, an autistic man in an ableist society and especially as somebody who despite his marginalizations and the abuse he faced due to it often still realized that his upper-class status, his desireability as a future bearer of (hopefully male) violet-eyed children and his ability to learn to speak and mask his autistic traits due to (abusive) tutoring protected him at points. Particularly solidarity across class and gender play a huge part in this story and my favorite friend- and relationships in the book where between Silas and the nonverbal autistic groundskeeper and Silas, a trans man, and Daphne, a trans woman.
I also really enjoyed the horror aspects of this novel, from the oppressive society, the exploration of gothic themes of powerlessness, madness and ghosts, to the body horror and the gore. Personally I wish there had been a bit more of it (I love gore and medical horror and so that was a huuuge selling point for me), but I enjoyed everything we got. It was really well done as well.
I wish we had gotten a little bit more information on the other girls at the home, as their storylines were swallowed by the mystery, Silas' and Daphne's blossoming relationship and the day-to-day struggle for survival. Similarly the villains fell a bit flat, especially the reveal of

Spoiler

Lord Luckenbills

evilness felt both too obvious (it was pretty clear he was a dick beforehand!) and too similar to the horrible behaviour of the other cis men in the story. While this did work with the gothic genre I just expected it to delve a little bit deeper or portray some more varied villains and found particularly the repetitiveness of their motivations a bit boring.
Despite this I still absolutely adored the book, I really liked Silas, I loved the trans range and the anxiety and autism representation, I found the mystery and the mythology intruiging, I liked the world building and I can't wait for what Andrew Joseph White writes next.

A fascinating collection of essays from one of the co-creators of the term Neuroqueer. As this is a collection of essays all written across different times with some annotations and additional essays based on some essays there is a bit of repetition spread out between the essays, which sometimes made my experience of listening to the audiobook a bit tedious and unfortunately is the reason I found myself unable to vote this 5 stars. Here I think the editing could have been done a bit tighter, which would have made the reading experience more enjoyable.
However on their own each essay in this book is incredibly powerful and interesting and so I would advice you to read them one-by-one and letting yourself digest them a bit, if you want to be able to enjoy them more.
As somebody who has heard the term neurodiversity and neuroqueer a lot, but has not dived deep into what their meaning is (in particular neuroqueer), this book was incredibly informative and interesting and I enjoyed it a lot. I particularly adored the combination of the activist and academic approach to autistic empowerment. I also enjoyed the chapter about autistic movement and the way autistic teachers who want their students to unmask need to lead by example by allowing their own autistic movement patterns to emerge instead of masking them.
This is definitely a book I would recommend to anybody interested in the neurodiversity paradigm (aka the social model of disability), anybody who's neurodivergent themself and interested in learning more about neuroqueerness and especially to anybody working with neurodivergent people in a professional setting, whose goal it is to embrace a social model of disability instead of an medical one.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book by the publisher in exchange for my review.

So starting off, I was super excited when I found out about this anthology and even more so when I got approved for an ARC. Having now read the anthology, I can definitely say that my excitement was well worth it. I often found myself positively surprised by how much I adored this anthology and the way it was put together and I have also found a few authors I want to keep an eye now. It is a really, really good collection with a variety of authors and a variety of horror genres and I really enjoyed it. There's gothic horror (Discourse on the Seven Headed Monkey), folk horror (Worry your Head), post-apocalyptic horror (Survive Lot 666), haunted house horror (the Thing that Lives in the House), creature body horror (So This Is Freedom?), slasher horror (The Mask It Wears), eldritch horror (Given Names) as well as a lot of modern or less definable horror (This list is also just based on my vibes mainly and so you may define some of the stories differently, but I just want to use that to point out that we get a lot of really cool horror in here and that if any one horror genre is not to your liking you will find 19 other stories that might work for you!). I really liked the variety here and even though I did not enjoy every piece presented here, I liked the vast majority and even loved quite a few of them (Like No Blood, But the Wi-Fi is Great, Given Names, The Thing That Lives in the House, So This is Freedom?, Freedom was a Flaying, Silence of Broken Things and Shabbat Dinner are all what I would consider 5 star reads to me if I had read them on their own and a lot of others just barely did not make my Oh My God More Immediately Please). In general there were only two stories I did not enjoy as much, which in a collection of 20 different stories is something I've rarely experienced. I also was positively surprised at the diversity of queer representation in here (mostly trans men, but also sapphic, ace, and nonbinary MCs get their spotlight, there is no explicitly transfemale character, besides a trans woman LI unfortunately). All in all this is a great anthology and I can't wait to order a paperback copy as soon as it comes out, so I can add this amazing creation to my bookshelf!

I have also taken some notes on each short story collected here with trigger warnings and rep. Obviously a lot of characters in here are autistic and they are all written by autistic authors but I also made a note of each one that mentions being autistic or showing clearly autistic traits in the stories, in case this is a selling point for you! So beware, from now on here there be spoilers!

Worry your head by Rain Corbyn - a really quite interesting story, I liked the dialect, its only a bit scary, but I enjoyed reading it, plus who wouldn't enjoy taking a trip with your husband's head in a box while he's still talking? TW: transphobia, homophobia, child abuse, ableism, animal death, gore, Rep: autistic gay trans man

Like No Blood by Adrian Speth - a really great horror about raising the dead and what happens after, very tense and very emotional, I was on the edge of my seat for a lot of the story and the writing style is really, really great, also I've discovered my new fav trans worstie, TW: animal death, murder, needles, Rep: gay trans man, t4t (one of my favs)

These Thirteen Simple Tricks Will End Your Sleep Hallucinations For Good by Catherine Forrest - A short horror story about sleep hallucinations, nice and spooky, TW: Medical horror, needles

A Dream So Sweet by Chris Nelson - This story combines a play about a gay man grieving the death of his lover and an alien linguist and his wife investigating where the work came from, it was interesting, but one of the stories I enjoyed less, the story skipped around its own time frame a lot and was a bit hard too follow, TW: Death and grief, threats of child murder, violence

Survive Lot 666 by Caroline Hung - A survival reporter travels through a scary post-apocalyptic house filled with monsters, its short and creepy and I like the cosmic horror, but I would have loved some more world building, TW: animal death

Discourses on the Seven-Headed Monkey by Tim Lieder - this gothic horror explores a man's history with a seven headed monkey and the impact the being had on his life, i unfortunately did not like it very much to begin with as the story keeps skipping around in its time line and is not easy to follow and then there's also a sexual assault perpetrated by the protagonist for which I would have prefered trigger warnings and so unfortunately all in all my least favorite piece in this anthology, TW: rape, suicide

Curse the Darkness by Die Booth - this story follows a man with S.A.D. and intrusive thoughts who tries witchcraft to deal with his mental illness, it was an interesting short story and I enjoyed reading it, even though the way he phrased his witch spell already invited disaster and I was screaming at my screen when he said it, the story definitely builds dread really well and I enjoyed that a lot, TW: suicide, intrusive thoughts, depression, animal cruelty, Rep: trans man

The Sun Approaches Every Summer by Akis Linardos - I was already really happy with the title of this one after reading the previous short story, it just fits together quite well so definitely another kudos to the editors, in this story a young man discovers a silly game he plays for his wife might have catastrophic consequences, it's a really interesting story that builds heavy dread very well and I liked it, TW: mass extinction event, death, gore, Rep: autistic gay or ace man

But the Wi-Fi is Great by John Wiswell - After breaking up with her boyfriend a young woman follows a friend's invitation to stay at his hotel, which is run down but has great Wi-Fi, this one was really interesting and spooky and fun, (plus the genre of sun-related horror is one I very much understand and relate to so! Yippieh!) TW: acephobia, attempted sexual assault, sexual boundary pushing, migraines, Rep: asexual woman (one of my favs)

Given Names by Lucas Shipwright - a pregnant trans man and his trans girlfriend visit the guy's father in a small town for the first time, but something is waiting in the mountain for his return, sooo nice and spooky and fucked upppp, i love it, TW: misgendering (apologized for), murder, gore, Rep: trans man, trans woman (one of my favs)

Safe Food by Xochilt Avila - A nonbinary autistic teen is abused heavily by their controlling father until one night something finally changes, it was fun, the twist was expected, but still cool, TW: deadnaming, body shaming, abusive parent, food restriction, unsafe food consumption, eating disorder (due to lack of available food), cannibalism, Rep: austistic nonbinary MC (one of my favs)

The Thing That Lives in the House by Nexus Hope - a haunting story told in letters about a person living in a loud house, manages to feel very claustrophobic and relateable as someone who is also sensitive to noise, I liked it a lot, TW: murder, overstimulation (one of my favs)

So This is Freedom? by Steve Neal - this one has so many things to love! cool body horror, unmasking taken literal, isolated night shift clerks, plant body horror, its scary and fun!!! I loved it. TW: gore, body horror, prejudiced costumers, isolation, paranoia (one of my favs)

The Mask It Wears by Sarah Musnicky - A costumer in a haunted house takes things too far. Again there's a gorey unmasking and I really enjoyed it, a fun twist on slasher horror, TW: murder, gore, body horror (one of my favs)

Freedom was a Flaying by Onxy Osiris - A young trans man is sacrificed by his towns people, but the God they sarificed him to helps him get revenge, very good, very gorey and veeeery fun!, TW: murder, transphobia, child abuse, gore, Rep: autistic trans man (one of my favs)

Bitemark Bitch by Olive J. Kelley - this one was fun and kinky, but unfortunately quite short and I didn't really get all the implications? TW: gore, murder, serial killer, knife play, death, Rep: Sapphic MC

Neighborly by Aquino Loayza - A messed up and kind off very poetic piece about murder and chaos, I really liked it, the writing style is unusual, but fits very well for the story, it was a lot of fun, TW: murder, serial killer, gore, death

The Silence of Broken Things by Xan Van Rooyen - the story of the creation of an album interspersed with a review describing the end result, a very touching story, that I really enjoyed, TW: child abuse, grief, obessession, gore (one of my favs)

Shabbat Dinner by Zachary Rosenberg - the story of a jewish autistic trans person (gender not specified) living under a facist regime, it was haunting and I loved the ending. TW: facism, masking for survivals sake, Rep: jewish autistic trans person (one of my favs)

Different by Ashley Lezak: A girl wakes up in the hospital and suddenly everything is different for her, this story is filled with a creeping dread about ableist's need to "cure" autism, very interesting and I enjoyed it, TW: graphic child abuse, ableism

So all in all, if you like horror, if you're interested in what horror from an autistic perspective could look like (and yes sometimes it's overstimulation and sometimes it's allistic people's ableist preconception and sometimes it's about allowing yourself to unmask, but a lot of times it's just something completely different as well, so don't fear that autism is presented shallowly or one-dimensional here, because autistic creators just get to shine in all their glory here) do check this anthology out when it is published and enjoy the Horrors.

A radical and very interesting book on Autism and in particular radical autistic self love and self care. This book explores the necessities of unmasking in order to uncover your real self and stop working yourself to the bone for an ableist society.
As the title suggests this book is particularly helpful for masked autistics, who no longer want to bear the strain it takes to appear normal and who want to figure out a way to unmask. The book offers helpful tools to do so while maintaining and increasing self esteem as masking is often a survival tool learned in childhood. It combines worksheets with interviews of other autistic experiences, the author's personal experience and his research as a scholar and blends it all wonderfully.
I particularly enjoyed the part about realizing family members have been masked and undiagnosed neurodiverse, as someone who has multiple adult neurodivergent (including autism and adhd) diagnoses in my close family and is questioning myself. It just felt very true and relateable.
I also enjoyed that I was able to snag an audiobook read by the author himself, which increased my enjoyment of the sometimes sarcastic scenes a lot.
All in all this is a very good book if you want to read about intersectional autism with a heavy focus on the US, exploring the difficulties for people that went undiagnosed since they are not white nonverbal middleclass to rich boys.

A very good collection of essays that explains the concept of Disability Justice and how it can become (and has become in some cases) a reality. The necessities of accesability, the survivor-industrial complex, the way community can uplift us through care networks and the ways in which womanhood, femmeness, race and queerness impact and compound ones experience as a disabled person and more are all topics these essays touch upon.
While at points things repeat due to the nature of it being made up of essays that were written at different points in time I found that this often added to my enjoyment of the book, allowing me to deepen my understanding and think back to the earlier chapter in the book where it had come up before. In general I learned a lot in this book and tremendously enjoyed it, particularly the parts about community and care.
Definitely a book I would recommend to anybody who wants to incorporate disability justice in their own community, who is disabled or in close community with disabled people, anybody who fights for accessability and greater inclusion of and greater care for disabled people.

This book combines the literary analysis of disability in fairy tales with the author's own experiences with disability. It is a very interesting and accessible for beginners in the fields of literary analysis and disability activism.
If you are interested in fairy tales and particulary the way class and physical difference is portrayed in there, this is a quite interesting book, albeit being sometimes a bit short and not going into as much depth as I would have liked. Instead of going into detail with one form of fairy tales that author chose to include a overview of Grimm's fairytales (often including the Disney versions) as well as superhero stories to offer a wider variety, which was quite interesting.
I also enjoyed the way the author combined her own experience as a disabled child with her love of fairytales, how these experiences influenced each other and why she chose to investigate this field.
All in all a quite enjoyable read and one I can recommend.

This story follows a young Deaf boy through his life as he is trying to cope with the fact that his mother is in a coma and that he is unable to participate in class as expected due to what to me reads as so far undiagnosed adhd and/or autism. His life changes when he makes a new friend at a forum, who turns out to be an intelligent AI that his brother programmed.
The thing I enjoyed most about this story is how it shows that what to everybody else is considered to be an unruly kid acting out maliciously are understandable frustrations born from existing in a Hearing world without being allowed to take part in Deaf culture and be offered necessary accessability. Our Deaf character who was unable to receive Cochlear Implants as a child due to medical reasons was only allowed to learn a limited amount of sign language and is forced to communicate vocally and follow along in class with hearing aids that don't fit. Only one teacher offers him minimal amounts of accomodation there (by speaking a bit slower), whereas everybody else in the school tries their hardest to get him reassigned to a special school as he obviously was just too stupid to follow along (internalized ableism our protagonist reproduces at some points in the novel, which was heartbreaking to read). At points I felt frustrated at how much everybody was ignoring how hard it can be to follow along with a class where you are only able to understand bits and pieces of and how much attention is required if you are not communicated with properly. And while I know that even today some children are still educated with a Speech-First approach it made me really sad seeing how much work went into forcing our protagonist into vocal speech, while we are simultanously told that his father forbid him from learning sign language when he was younger (he has been allowed to learn in the mean time thankfully). I just found this book a really interesting look at how ableism hinders and harms us. However, our protagonist thankfully is allowed a happy end, when the protagonist is finally given fitting support at school (in his case an assistant who translates the coursework into sign and uses humor to keep him engaged) and I was just very glad to read that.
The rest of the plot is also interesting and something I enjoyed. It deals with grief and the environment and of course AI and I think it did so in a very intruiging manner. Another thing I particularly appreciated that the protagonist truly read like a 10 year old although a somewhat precocious one.
There is not a lot of plot and unfortunately the end wraps up pretty fast and while it is nice I found myself missing something, so this is only a four star read, but otherwise I quite enjoyed this book.

TW for child neglect, ableism (particularly regarding mental disabilities and forms of communication outside of grammatically correct spoken language), mental illness, self harm (especially during meltdowns/overstimulating moments).