Really enjoyed this... I want more though... maybe short histories are just the beginning. I switched between physical reading and audio for this one and would recommend both the physical and the audio. The physical is well written and formatted in a way that is really easy to read. The audio is read by the author and you get more of the sarcastic humour with the audio. 

My first experience reading from James Baldwin and will absolutely be reading more from them. The flow of the writing style, the pace of the plot and the character depth without over explanation is pure magic. 

I am so proud of Maia for eir guts and open honesty about things we don't talk about often enough. As someone who was in their 40's before giving themselves space to be really be themselves and figure out the stuff I had avoided confronting in myself for so long.... there were many moments of connection in this book for me that made me feel seen and accepted. I also really connected with the challenges of asking for to be referred to in a way that makes sense to me. The feeling I have to justify myself and my gender to people is hard when if I fit the body I was born in there would never be a question. I hope that we have a future where the questioning and justification of ourselves happens less and less. 

I am so glad I got to finally read this. This is such a well written and well weaved story. I love a witchy book but this is so goooooooddd!!! I really enjoyed the gender conversation that was peppered throughout, and the familial challenges as well as how close they were to each other. It was good to have the representation of a strong family that also still has imperfections... it felt realistic and possible. My only little annoyance was the typical teen angst that means that I don't read as much YA as I used too. However, it was manageable in this as it is balanced out with an impeccable plot, some very real social commentary (for want of a better description), and characters that I could either connect with personally or admire for their differences to me. 
I am really anxious to find out what happens in the second book... I am intrigued to see what happens and what decisions are made by Luc in particular... and who or what will be the cause of the "future hurt" 

I really enjoy Darcy Coates books generally, but this one didn't have me as interested as others have. It was mostly just fine with some parts completely uninteresting to me. I did like the dual timeline aspect, but overall a little disappointed.

This was such a fun read. The beginning was a bit rough and everything just sort of happened. This is a rare romance that I wouldn't have minded being a bit longer so that the first bit wasn't quite as rushed. 
I really loved all the characters, apart from the "mum" but even that character was necessary. I am always a sucker for sapphic love and found family vibes, but I really did enjoy the overall plot too and thought the autism rep was pretty good overall. There were a couple info dumpy bits with the autism rep, but honesty would rather that than no attempt at it. I felt that the relationship challenges were well worked through overall, but also felt that there was an emotional maturity to how they worked through things which was nice to see. 

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for access to the e-arc of this title. 
I was super excited to read this as I really vibed with Tender is the Flesh. This did not disappoint! Agustina Bazterrica's writing style is literal perfection, Insight into human behaviour and response to extreme circumstances is mind blowing, and the impact a short narrative can have on the reader is proven. 
I ended up reading this after the pub date so was able to buy the audio from Libro.fm and the narrator Imani Jade Powers did a great job of reading this nameless pov narrative. I would recommend this to any reader that enjoys a dystopian narrative that has a religious like thread through it. It is a single pov but what is interesting is that I felt like I understood as much about the other characters than I did about the pov character. This is a thought provoking exploration into how mysogeny would survive a human existence altering event, like a cockroach. Pervasive lies are accepted and the survival of female bodies is an intense experience throughout. I want everyone to read this... but also want everyone to go in expecting to find it emotionally maddening and challenging.