This may be fiction, but it is still a good example of the consequences of living in a society in which machismo is the norm.

These stories are hard to read but very essential, as they are honest about the violence women face in Mexico. The stories feature women of different classes and backgrounds, and they all do what they can to survive in a world not made for them. There's an emphasis on the friendships of women and girls, which was nice to read about. For instance, in some stories women mourn their murdered friends and do what they can to get justice for them. I am eager to read more from Dahlia de la Cerda.

Carmen has started to see things other people can't see after the death of her mother. She's gone to numerous doctors and tried multiple treatments and nothing has helped. Dr. Barbara MacDonald promises to help her, but ends up kidnapping her with the help of her assistant and protege Neema. Carmen must escape before she ends up like the other patients that Barbara conducted experiments on. I really enjoyed this scifi horror novella. There is an equal amount of gore, violence, and heart. It is about survival, grief, and revenge, as well as the cost of ambition and the pursuit of greatness. I really cared about Carmen and hoped she was able to escape from Barbara and Neema. The only thing I didn't like is that there were multiple typos and misspellings, but other than that this is a great story. I am definitely reading more by Nico Bell.

This is such a great book. It is both full of scares and gore, but also full of heartfelt moments and it has me all emotional. It follows Jess, a waitress and aspiring actress. Her father has recently died and she is trying to process his death and the fact that he was abandoned her when she was a child. When she finds a boy who ran away from his father, she makes the decision to run away with him. However Jess soon realizes that the boy can change reality which is even worse when he's scared. Also the image of someone being ripped apart and how it's compared to rotisserie chicken will forever stay in my mind. I adore this book so much and I am definitely gonna read it again.

I didn't know what to expect from this since I read it without even looking at the summary. All I knew was that there's a bookshop and black cats thanks to the cover. Anyway this follows four very different people as they enter the bookshop, buy a book that will give them the knowledge they are seeking, their lives improve for a while, until they end up having to pay for the knowledge. This has some genuinely creepy and terrifying scenes, but also a lot of humanity, heart, as well as some humor. I was interested in all of the characters' stories and motivations whether I liked them or not. I am really excited to read more stuff by E.M. McConnell.

This is a short story collection that is all about trans people, both adults and teenagers, in school settings. In some stories the protagonists know they're trans but only out to some people, in others they figure it out with the help of friends and/or family. In all of the stories the protagonists have people who support them on their journeys of self-discovery. There was a lot of infodumping at times, but they all still provide hope and show trans people living happy and fulfilling lives.

This sounded so interesting but it turned out to be dull and disappointing. There were some scary moments but they did not make up for how much of a boring book this is. I was expecting some spooky witchy horror and instead I got a generic thriller with occasional horror moments. There's no way I'm reading another book from this author. :(

I had fun reading this collection. The writing is captivating and charming, and all the flawed characters are well-written. All of them have themes of gender and queerness. I'm excited to read more from Rae Wilde.

This is such a beautiful, tender book about an unnamed trans woman. She thinks about the time she was married, her desire to see her son and be seen as a mother, her childhood and her parents, and how much she wants a boyfriend. There are times when she talks to friends, both real and imaginary. She also can't decide what to do about the automaton boyfriend she's been keeping in a box under her bed. Themes in this novella are motherhood, relationships (romantic and platonic), and selfhood. I really, really adore this book and I am excited to read it again someday.