Aiza has always dreamed of becoming a Knight for the Bayt-Sajji Empire. Also, as a member of the recently colonized Ornu people, its one of her only paths to full citizenship. Her parents don't want her to go, but eventually they allow to let her enlist, if she hides her race. Aiza befriends a dreamer who grew up on stories of heroes; a strong, practical, no-nonsense older girl; and a retired Knight with one arm who trains Aiza in secret. She is the runt of the trainee litter but she's determined to prove herself. What she didn't realize is that joining the army means joining the machinery of empire, conquest, and violence. As she rises in the ranks, she must confront what she is fighting for, and against. This is a very beautiful and richly drawn story, which reminded me of a childhood favorite, Alanna but from a refreshingly non-European perspective. 

I absolutely loved this debut short story collection. It contains thirteen stories, some spooky, some sweet, many queer, many infused with Filipino myths or set around Manila. Every story was special in its own way but "How to Swallow the Moon," a fairytale drenched with lesbian yearning, and "A Spell For Foolish Hearts," a gay meet-cute story about a part-time witch who works at a tech startup in San Francisco really stood out to me. But there was also "Milagroso" about a future of fully human engineered food and a saint's day miracle; and "Hurricane Heels" about the bachelorette party of a Sailor-Moon-esque crime fighting magical girl. So much to enjoy! I plan to keep an eye on this author. 

A fun, fast-paced short comic that reads like a single session D&D campaign. Eugene is the handsome, flirty, single son of a queen and heir to a kingdom. He whimsically joins an adventuring crew with a gentle nonbinary cleric, a mysterious knife-wielding thief, and a prickly mage. They pick up odd jobs on the way to their goal: a small town plagued by disappearances. Tensions run high in this misfit band, and it's only a matter of time until they start stabbing each other, or making out, or both! Delightful art and character designs from an artist/author I've been following since we met in a mutual fandom :D 

A short, sweet, bilingual book about nonbinary gender identity. The book emphasizes the importance of listening to your heart, speaking your truth, and respecting the identities and pronouns of others.

Una breve y tierna historia bilingüe sobre la identidad de género no binaria. El libro enfatiza la importancia de escuchar tu corazón, decir tu verdad y respetar las identidades y los pronombres de los demás. 

The author writes of an idyllic childhood spent in Wuhan, China, surrounded by cousins, grandparents, and countryside. This time was interrupted by a move to Texas when the author was four years old, and then years of trying to fit in at primarily white elementary schools and high schools. Laura only began to find an Asian community, and a queer community, in college and afterwards when living in San Francisco in her first shared apartment with a group of POC friends. Drawn in a lively, energic style with limited colors and humorous asides, this memoir untangles some of the challenges of identity that come from home meaning many vastly different places and cultures. A fast, enjoyable read!

Taylor looks like an ordinary teen boy (two siblings, single father, member of the high school basketball team) but she is actually a princess from an alien planet, hiding in disguise on Earth. She's feeling increasingly trapped in the gender and human body that confine her, but when she meets a sexy and confident girl from Metropolis she finally gets the courage to start letting her real self show. The story is simple, but it's cool to see an explicitly trans book come out from DC Comics from a trans writer and nonbinary artist. 

A very short middle grade book which still manages to deliver a very successful ghost story and a sweet trans coming out narrative. The book opens at the beginning of the summer, when 11 year old Bug's beloved queer uncle has just died. Bug's house was already haunted before this death, but it's even more so after his passing. Bug struggles to process grief as well as pressures from friends to prepare for the transition to middle school- an opportunity some kids take to reinvent themselves. But Bug is haunted by both uncertainty about the future and literal ghosts. 

Hani and Ishu are fifth years at an all-girls school in Ireland. As the only two students of Bengali descent, people naturally tended to group them together, but they are extremely different people and have never been particularly friendly. But when Hani comes out to her white best friends as bisexual, and they don't believe her, she panics and lies, saying that she and Ishu are a couple. They regularly see each other at Bengali dawats, but Hani is still extremely hesitant to contact Ishu and ask if, maybe, she'd like to pretend to be girlfriends for a while... but Ishu surprises Hani by saying yes. Ishu has her own agenda: run for head girl at school, a position that will fill out her already accomplished resume for college applications, and she things Hani can help. I enjoyed many aspects of this cute teen romance, and think the leads had good chemistry, but overall the book was a little over-long for my taste. I wish the mean white friends had gotten less time on the page, because it was the family dynamics that interested me more. The audiobook narrators are very good, but I was listening at 1.5 speed by the end. 

What a powerful story of a woman coming into her own power, making her own choices, and rejecting the toxic family and society she was born into! Circe is the daughter of a Titan and a nymph, the oldest but least loved of four siblings. She has immortality, but seemingly none of the power, beauty or grace of other gods and goddesses. Until she realizes that she can use plants, both earthly and divine, in potions to work some of her will upon the world. She irrevocably changes a mortal into a lesser god, and a nymph into a monster, confesses her actions, and is banished to a remote island for the rest of eternity. Here, where some stories might end, Circe's begins. Her life touches on so many other myths: King Minos and the Minotaur, Jason and Medea, and of course Odysseus. I was completely drawn in by the prose which is lyrical and rich without being distracting, and by the glimpses here and there of the Olympian gods who studied, drew, and daydreamed about as a child. I can see why this book gets so much attention; it deserves it. 

The follow up to Six of Crows, a fast-paced fantasy heist novel I really enjoyed despite having to age up the characters from mid-teens to mid-twenties in my head for their level of expertise and motivation to feel at all plausible. This one picks up right after the cliff-hanger ending and takes place entirely within the city of Ketterdam (fantasy Amsterdam). My love for my favorite character from book 1, Inej, only grew, and I remained the most invested in her story line, relationships, and future goals. The middle of this book dragged a little for me. There were so many plots, double-crossings, double-double-crossings and last-minute reveals that I basically started to assume they were coming and they no longer surprised me. However I did really like how the final act played out- once I got into the last 200 pages the book went really quickly. I think I will probably set the series down here though. I'd rather end on a high note than wade into another overly-long sequel that I might loose steam on.