This was amazing!! Even better than Six of Crows!! I have nothing else to add I just loved it!!!! But I am heartbroken cause I want more!!!!!!! Short story set after this please Miss Bardugo??

This is a really lovely and intense story, set in a well-crafted world. The plot moves quickly and is paced incredibly well, the suspense building exponentially throughout the novel. The way the author tackles sexual assault and violence towards women is sensitive, although the scenes are still fairly descriptive and so warrant a warning.

I do think the writing could have used a bit less cliche, and some characters felt more one-dimensional than others. The main character was a bit basic and didn't have much of a personality, doing fairly predictable, impulsive things. Her relationship with Wren felt a bit too perfect, the girls always saying exactly the right thing to each other - I wish there had been a bit more complexity there. Her love interest was really cool though, and some of the other Paper Girls were really interesting to read about as well.

The last chapter definitely ended on a cliffhanger, so I'm excited for the sequel and to see what else the author has in store for Lei and Wren!

FINALLY finished this. I loved the exploration of how race, sexuality, gender, and class all work together to form people's position in society. I also loved the way the author tackles sex work and exploitation, as well as difficult family dynamics and abusive homes. All the characters in this story are flawed and, to an extent, pretty terrible people, but they all feel fully fleshed out.

My main problem with this novel was just that the plot took a very long time to kick off. I wasn't sure where the story was going and whether there was a plot at all until about 60% in. Once I hit that 60%, however, I finished the book in a few hours, so the author definitely knows how to write!

In conclusion, I would recommend this if you want to read about queerness and sex work in Jamaica and are up for a bit of a slower read!

Full of unconventional interpretations of religion, reimaginings of Jesus as a girl walking home at night, and general queering of everything conservative. Really unusual form in places, and interesting use of language and structure throughout. Had my future told by the author at a local book sale the other day (ikr) and she is super cool to talk to as well, having left a very inappropriate and much appreciated signature at the front of the book. I look forward to whatever she writes next!

What an absolutely wonderful memoir. Not only was it interesting to follow the author's life - the way we follow it is also incredibly satisfying in its brilliant structure. I am an absolute sucker for memoirs that mix life writing with theory and a wider cultural history. The author does this incredibly well, breaking up her stories of mental health, work, and gender identity with fascinating information about everything from politics to literature. It is also generally a very intertextual memoir, another favourite type of writing for me; I now have a long list of queer media that I will happily explore.

However, perhaps my favourite aspect of this memoir is how working class it is. It is so easy for people who work in the arts and who write on gender and sexuality to fall into liberal discourse and shy away from anything political that isn't identity based, and to forget completely about their own class privilege. This memoir instead reveals an author who is poor and angry with the government in a way that doesn't sound fake or repetitive; she does not just make exasperated remarks about the Conservatives, but instead offers genuine criticism of parties and politicians. None of this makes her memoir boring, nor does it distract from her personal narrative - instead, it builds on it, and makes for an enjoyable reading experience that feels true and honest.

If you enjoy intertextuality, counterculture, and class conscious writing on gender, I would highly recommend picking this up.

A very gay and magical collection of stories. I liked the queerness of these stories a lot, but unfortunately didn't get along with the writing style in a lot of the tales. The author tries too hard to make a point, his metaphors becoming too obvious in the process, the stories turning into cliches. The dialogue is probably the worst part, reading extremely unnatural and forced, making the relationships between the characters seem inauthentic.

There were, however, a few stories I really liked. 'The Boy With The Flower That Grew Out Of His Ass' was definitely my favourite one, and it's one that is quite well-known in Singapore. It addresses homophobia in a creative way, with striking imagery and subtle dialogue and interactions. It was very well-crafted, and I could feel the fragility of the characters' relationships (and lives, even) emanating from the page.

I also really enjoyed 'The Elf & The Knight', although I didn't like that the author chose to bring back the same characters for a few more stories. It felt very random and disjointed, and I didn't get the point of having a mini series in the middle of a collection of otherwise single stories.

The collection definitely ends on a high note with the last two stories, 'The Cave' and 'The Old Man With The Golden Voice'. I really enjoyed both of those and thought they built strong characters and settings with very few words. I once again had some issues with the author trying to make the moral of the story too obvious (in 'The Cave' especially), but generally thought they were strong, memorable stories.

If you like the sound of this collection and want to give it a go, I would encourage you to pick it up and see for yourself how you feel about it. It's not perfect by any means, but it does have its merit.

MY HEART