Not what I expected as a next read from Erika Swyler and I am all the more grateful for it. We Lived on the Horizon is rich in storytelling, delicate in its threads of meaning and matter. What does it mean to exist in a system, or to be a system, in all its definitions? The good, the bad, the need for evolution that comes with it? The breaking. The building. Whatever comes after. Do you hear the people sing?

P.S. Do not recommend reading pages 293 to 296 in public 

 What should be another routine crossing of the Atlantic for Emery, Neeta, and their ship/home the Lark turns deadly when new management steps in, their intentions...less than good. Perhaps even a little demonic. Robin's debut graphic novel is enthralling; the artwork on this book alone should catch your eye, every panel crafted with great color sense, expression, emotion, and such dynamic textures. 

 *stares awestruck* Her.

 It's girls vs boys in "Season of the Roses" as the Rosigny FC girls team fights to save their senior year season. Chole Wary has something fantastic here, a story that pulls at your emotions and artwork that sucks you into the energy and motion of the story. The tactile coloring of the art heightens the dynamic-ness of the soccer scenes in the best way. Barbara and the Roses tell a story about learning to stand up for yourself and fight for the things you love, even when the battle feels insurmountable 

 To his friends and classmates, Hassan is just an average seventh grader. He loves soccer and video games and teasing his younger siblings. But what he doesn't want his peers to know is that this year he is fasting for Ramadan, and it's a little harder than he expected to keep up with everything during his fast. "Almost Sunset" is a sweet, intimate look at Hassan and his family during the holy month of Ramadan as Hassan grapples with his responsibilities in school, on the soccer field, and in his religious community. 

 "On the Calculation of Volume," part one of Balle's septology, is an enthralling epic, though nothing epic truly happens. Instead we are soft and meditative, reminiscing on the meaning of time when time itself has lost meaning. How do we keep moving forward when the world itself is standing still? All the timey-whimey-ness you expect in a time loop story, but Balle's writing brings something warm and alive into the words. Something human, even as Tara feels further away from being one herself 

 More pieces of a story that is endlessly a puzzle, a map, a premonition. Answers to questions you didn't have yet. The haunting tenderness of things not human, unrecognizable yet familiar. Cue the dreams of white not-rabbits, of reptilian eyes looking on from dark corners. "Absolution" is a masterpiece.