I am one of the contributing authors of this volume, so my opinion of it is somewhat biased- that being said, I thought it was amazing! Hope Nicholson has pulled together a wide range of stories from many cultures, all featuring romance in its darker and more spectral forms. In Vietnam, a ghost protects his lover from American soldiers. In rural Canada, a woman is lured into the woods by a forest spirit. In Scotland, a love-sick man follows a woman down a dangerous road at night. In Taiwan, a fashion designer conceals an evil secret. On a slave plantation, a woman struggles with childbirth. In Brazil, a political dissident hides in an abandoned mansion. The collection also includes a re-print of "The Promise" by San Ho Kim, a Korean revenge story.

This book records the massive undertaking of 10 years of research and interviews with over 250 families by the author Andrew Solomon. Solomon's area of interest here is children who turn out different from their parents in ways that are difficult or impossible to predict before birth. In the first chapter Solomon lays out the idea of vertical identities, such things that are generally passed down in families (religion is a common one of these, as are race, language, nationality, etc) and horizontal identities- things such as being queer, being deaf, being born with a disability. People who have horizontal identities usually have to search for community outside of the family to find people who mirror their experience. Sometimes this is handled well by the family, with love, acceptance, grace and dignity and sometimes it is not. As readable and conversational as it is rigorous, I speed through the early chapters, titled "Deaf", "Dwarfs", "Down Syndrome", "Autism", "Schizophrenia", "Disability", and "Prodigies." I got stuck on the heaviest two chapters of the book and ended up having to skip over 100 pages of it in the middle as I haven't been in a place where I can read about "Rape" and "Crime" lately. I finished out the last two chapters though, one about Transgender children and one about the author's own unconventional but loving parenting set-up.

I know it's early, but this comic may very well end up being my favorite of the year. I have been following it's progress on Jen Wang's instagram for a long time; when I finally got the book in my hands it did not disappoint! The story starts with Frances, a seamstress who works long hours in a Paris dressmaker's shop. She designs a rule-breaking gown that catches the eye of an unusual client: Prince Sebastian of Belgium, who sometimes wants to dress as a Princess. Frances and Sebastian's growing friendship is at the heart of this fairy tale; the charm and warmth of these characters shows through on every page. It's like a cross between Cinderella and Ru Paul's Drag Race, and I've never heard of a more enchanting combination :D