Happy Pride, Friends! 🌈

Pride means a variety of things to queer people. Pride means I can live a deeper truth about myself and build more meaningful relationships with others because I can be my full bisexual and trans non-binary self. If I’m hidden from you or forced to avoid “certain topics” around you, you built a wall between us, and we are not close. If I can show up, then the possibilities between us are endless.

Pride started as riots against police brutality; laws criminalizing homosexuality and cross-dressing; lack of minimal protections from being fired, evicted, and harassed out of public life for being queer; and many other things.

Queer people didn’t get rights because we were nice or “respectable.” In an age of rising anti-LGBTQ+ violence, perhaps it’s time to drag out the old slogan: queers bash back.

For my lovely queer friends reading this, we continue to survive and thrive.

I think about Vincent Virga talking about his 1980 NYC book release party for Gaywyck. Gaywyck is the first gay romance to feature a Happily Ever After, which, according to Romance Rules™️, means it is the first gay romance. Book partygoers heard many sirens that night but thought nothing of it beyond city life noise. The emergency sirens were responding to the Ramrod Massacre, where a former cop shot up a gay leather bar and killed 2 men and injured 6 more. Queer joy and queer sorrow; a stride forward and a shove backward.

I carry the strides and the shoves inside of me, full of Pride.

Bookworm corner 📚

Bombshell (Hell's Belles #1) by Sarah MacLean ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: historical cishet romance

This was a middle-of-the-road romance for me.

I enjoyed:

- The friends and family group around the MCs. (Though all the sisters with the S names essentially blended together except our heroine and Sera.)

- The world-building, which I'm okay with when historical novels have anachronisms, and I imagine Americanism in the UK-based ones.

- The ending part, where we see the Hell's Bells come together and use their skills for justice, worked very well and was entertaining.

What I didn't enjoy:

- Our hero Caleb's stakes were too hidden from the reader, not just from the heroine.

- Our heroine Sesily had the motive to believe this man didn't want her and was eager to leave her at first, but at some point, there should've been an earlier part where she stopped believing Caleb was leaving her because of her.

- Too much quippy banter that was exhausting. Part of a romance is often our MCs removing their masks to expose their true selves to each other, which means turning down the banter as banter is a mask.

- Related, Bombshell was about 50 pages or so too long.

I don't know if I will continue this series, but I have two other MacLean books on my to-read bookshelves.

📽️ Watch my review on TikTok.

Carmilla: The First Vampire by Amy Chu and Soo Lee ⭐ 4/5 stars
Genre: horror graphic novel

Overall, I enjoyed this take on Carmilla.

The art was lovely and fluid but had a 1990s comics feel that contributed to the grit of 90s NYC and the horror elements. Chinese art and myths were also cleverly woven in. It worked very well and captured Carmilla as a vibe and atmosphere, a deep part of vampire mythology aesthetics.

My favorite panel was when Violet lays on the couch holding a skull, and we see death all around. Perfect 90s Goth mixed with all those other elements. She could've been Death in Sandman as easily as a vampire.

The plot bit off too much at the end. There were double-crosses and two deaths (a Black woman and a trans woman) that seemed unnecessary or didn't have the pages for impact, especially with the reveal of Athena being from a family of demon hunters. I have yet to read the original Carmilla text (I've only read/watched adaptations). Still, in Athena, Chu plays with other stories, like the Chinese zombie vampires and demon myths, Dracula, and the Greek goddess she gets her name.

All these plot elements also affected the pacing and made for a lopsided story with some underdeveloped characters.

The Collected Works of Billy the Kid by Michael Ondaatje ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: historical fiction poetry

Ondaatje is one of my favorite writers. The Collected Works of Billy the Kid employs his attention to finite details in the scenery, in distilled moments, and in little fragments of details that bring the work alive. Ondaatje has an acerbic sense of humor. Here, his humor is deployed in the violence and harshness of living in the era and places Billy lived, which comes across more as gallows humor than laugh-out-loud absurdity.

I didn't connect with this work like I have Ondaatje's other poetry and prose. I also know very little of Billy of the Kid beyond the broad swathes of his legend in Western culture. But the myth plays nicely with the poetry of it all because it's not the facts that carry weight, but the minute details we have no one way of knowing about another person.

Dark Desires After Dusk (Immortals After Dark #5) by Kresley Cole ⭐ 2/5 stars
Genre: cishet paranormal romance

An incredibly offensive and ableist portrayal of OCD that never improved beyond Cade never shaming Holly for it (one silver of goodness).

Nïx and Cade actively prevent Holly from accessing her OCD meds. (Nïx "forgets" to pack them. Cade refuses to stop at a pharmacy and refill her prescription or charge through her vampire-filled home to get her to-go bag.)

Then many of Holly's OCD traits are "actually just things every Valkyrie does." Like Holly's compulsion to run into thunderstorms. Cole additionally does not understand how intrusive thoughts work, and Holly's "thoughts" are just her repressing her Valkyrie sexual appetite.

Not all of Holly's OCD goes away by the end of the book, but much of it is magically just her Valkyrie nature or "overcome" by experiencing "the world."

DC's Harley Quinn Romances (2023) #1 by Alexis Quesarano, Max Sarin, Marissa Louise, Taylor Esposito, Zipporah Smith, Will Robson, Andrew Dalhouse, Steve Wands, Amanda Deibert, Adriana Melo, John Kalisz, Becca Carey, Frank Allen, John McCrea, Mike Spicer, Raphael Draccon, Carolina Munhóz, Ig Guara, Ivan Placencia, Greg Lockard, Giulio Macaione, Fabs Nocera, Ariana Maher, Jessica Berbey, Priscilla Petraites, Michael Atiyeh, Saida Temofonte, Ivan Cohen, Fico Ossio, Sebastian Cheng, and Carlos M. Mangual ⭐ 2/5 stars
Genre: superhero romance comics

8 stories and only half had a romance for any main character. Like what? It should've been called a Valentine's Day special, then the pining without connection or Galentine’s stories would've made sense.

I mainly got this for Apollo and Midnighter content; they were barely together on the page. It certainly wasn't romantic, even if there was flirting and a single kiss.

Harley and Ivy and Karen and Jimmy had the only real romance-focused stories, and there wasn't a HEA or HFN for the latter.

That Kite Man story was offensive to anyone who likes romance books. Read like an author who likes superheroes and action movies because she's "not like the other girls."

Queer-baiting with Constantine not being the one going on a date in a story with his name and hiding Boston's identity. More with Fire and Ice just not dating each other in an otherwise boring story.

There was no depth to the Aquaman is a thot story, and the Batman one was just bad, especially considering he's not an incel.

I adored the Harley and Ivy story, and Max Sarin on art is always a delight.

DC should get writers who write romance for something like this.

Devil in Spring (The Ravenels #3) by Lisa Kleypas ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: historical cishet romance

My favorite parts were Pandora and Gabriel figuring out who they were and how to express that trueness with each other. The times that they seemed on equal footing and the times they were passionate about being the best partner for the other and finding the boundaries in that.

I loved Gabriel's observations about Pandora and how that led to him understanding her disability to childhood abuse and Pandora's relation to her feelings and the privacy she expected around these issues.

Pandora never understood her husband's strive for perfectionism and the consequences. Devil in Spring never went far enough with Gabriel's shame in his affair with a married woman (pre-Pandora) and his "dark" desires in bed. (We simply have a little light bondage.) Instead, Mrs. Black is a caricature.

I have yet to read the Wallflower series, but some of Gabriel's character rests on you loving his parents, Evie and Sebastian (the OG St. Vincent). Sebastian is one of Kleypas' most beloved heroes. There were parts of this that it was nice to see a young man have a healthy relationship with loving parents. (The Ravenel books have had many dead and/or horribly abusive parents of our MCs.) But this goodwill from Gabriel's parents was relied on slightly too heavily, and Gabriel can't stand alone as a character. I found it weaker writing that this 3rd book required an MC almost dying from an injury for our couple to come fully together.

Additionally, Devil in Spring is White Feminism the Book™️. Even if we handwave away Pandora being very early on the women's suffrage movement (especially for an upper-class woman), the text itself ignores class issues between Pandora and Ida and Pandora and Mrs. O'Cairre. Except for Ida's instance that Pandora would be ridiculous not to marry an obscenely wealthy and handsome man, Ida is presented as the "odd" woman's maid fit for an "odd" lady.

Pandora was correct that marriage curtailed her rights and was a terrible bargain for her. But Pandora's choice wasn't marrying Gabriel or being out on the street and having to work as a lady's maid. Her choice was to marry the man she loved (who's rich, handsome, and respects women) or make her board games and be a kooky businesswoman spinster under the protection of Devon (a powerful and once again rich earl that we readers trust and love), who specifically said he'd take care of her no matter what. I'm not saying she was wrong for marrying Gabriel; it wasn't the same choice as other women in her time.

Devil in Spring has an entire ending side-plot with Irish anarchists, and at the time, Irish people were actively discriminated against as a racially non-white group. Their homeland was forcibly occupied and colonized by the British for centuries. (And Northern Ireland is still part of the UK.)

When Pandora and Gabriel attended the event with the Prince of Wales (future King Edward), my royal-hating brain was like, "Would this have been bad if this royal (and a bunch of other aristocrats) had been bombed to death?" Two seconds on Wikipedia told me that Edward was against Home Rule and wanted to install a dual monarchy in Ireland. Edward wasn't even a "centrist" in this debate. He was far-right, and our anarchists, who wanted self-rule independence, would've been far-left.

Historical romance writers have to walk a fine line. But Kleypas' writing/politics (in 2017) haven't moved from applying White Feminism to a broader understanding of intersectionality. Let's not even discuss their "one good detective" friend/maybe Ravenel bastard Ransom perpetuating the myth that some cops are corrupt, but not all; we just need to eliminate the bad apples who are helping leftists bomb colonialists but are their active oppressors. (Cops definitely love and help people they can oppress with impunity. Never once in history. ACAB.)

Anyway, this is a Romance book.

📽️ Watch my review on TikTok.

Girl Taking Over: A Lois Lane Story by Sarah Kuhn and Arielle Jovellanos ⭐ 4/5 stars
Genre: YA superhero graphic novel

An adorable story about intrepid young reporter Lois Lane doing an internship at CatCo before she heads off to college. Kuhn's remaining of Lois' world works well, right down to the boy she likes that looks like Clark Kent.

The art is endearing and uses a bright palette that works well with the big emotions of these teenagers moving into young adulthood and living independently for the first time.

Cute and fun. Though because this story featured zero superheroes, I wondered how it fits in the greater DCU.

Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark #6) by Kresley Cole ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: paranormal cishet romance

Rydstrom remains my favorite hero, and this is where I stop talking about that and talk to my therapist instead.

But this book...

-1 star for the homophobia. There hasn't been a single (out) queer character in IAD so far, and here we get our first queer characters. They are 1) off-page; 2) Sabine's slaves (a general problem that's *never* dealt with); and 3) are ordered by Sabine/take pleasure to *maybe* SA Rydstrom while bathing him when he's Sabine's prisoner. Cole's writing pulls back as if she knew in 2009 that this wasn't cool. Then Rydstrom goes for homophobia instead of dealing with being SA'd because that's the "easier" writing path.

-1 star for the what-the-fuckery of so many writing choices. Kiss of a Demon King would be incredibly hot one moment, and then next, it's whiplash, where the word choice is vomit-worthy. Among other things, I may die happily if I never read the word "seed" again outside of gardening books.

Rydstrom and Sabine have classic D/s dynamics, but smart-ass masochists tend to throw off readers as that doesn't seem to be what most romance books with BDSM elements go with. Rydstrom not breaking is important, but tying him up on a bed for 130 pages was a disservice to showing his character. Rydstrom does lose it, but the rage nature of the Rage demon Cole kept promising didn't quite materialize until the very end when he will sacrifice himself for Sabine's life.

Cole plays with our cultural ideas about demons and sorcerers and contrasts medieval and modern society. I enjoy the materialistic and "ooh, shiny jewels" Valkyrie nature. Still, it'd be nice to see more ways Cole views modernity besides fancy sports cars, expensive clothing, thongs, video games, and movies. (Every sexually empowered woman wearing thongs dates this series so much.) We get little hints of Sabine wanting to bring sexual education and feminist empowerment to the female Rage demons. (Rydstrom not remembering sleeping with Durinda was hilarious, but also, it was a millennia ago. Sorry, but I wouldn't recognize some people I had sex with 20 years ago on the street.)

For a moment, I'd hoped that Puck would be their foster kid, and he'd actually been the one the prophecy had been about, not some future biological offspring of Rydstrom and Sabine. If Nïx forges these alliances via marriage amongst the different types of Immortals and makes everyone family, it would be cool to show a contrast, especially after Cade and Holly's very bio-essentialist journey.

I have many questions about Rothkalina under Rydstrom's rule again, including, but not limited to, what they think of their queen. I do hope we'll see more.

The Lost Heir (Wings of Fire #2) by Tui T. Sutherland ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: YA fantasy

Tsunami is my least favorite of the five dragons, and her annoying and arrogant personality drove this book down for me. Even though I love this world, and Sutherland is a talented writer, it took me at least 100 pages to get into this part of the story due to our narrator.

The story mirrors Clay's journey quite a bit, and the books are tied thematically. However, I did appreciate that Coral, despite her many flaws, does love her daughters and was genuinely excited to meet Tsunami.

I get that Riptide couldn't join them for the story's sake, but it seemed like he'd want to spend time with his father over saving people who don't like him.

Anemone was a great new character, especially in how she contrasted with Tsunami. It was fun to discover her powers, and it was nice that she and Tsunami got along and immediately sought solace with each other when Coral wasn't a good mother. A lesser writer might've pitted them against each other.

Overall, this series remains so good, and I'm looking forward to the next book and a different narrator.

📽️ Watch my review on TikTok.

Lumberjanes: Unicorn Power! (Lumberjanes novel #1) by Mariko Tamaki and Brooklyn Allen ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: fantasy middle-grade children’s fiction

I'm a massive fan of the Lumberjanes graphic novels, and this prose with a few illustrations book is a delightful addition to the Lumberjanes’ canon. They're such great fantasy adventure books for kids. The plot of Unicorn Power! isn't groundbreaking amongst Lumberjanes stories, but it's fun and cute. This is more of an April story, but each girl in the Roanoke cabin shines.

Lumberjanes: The Moon Is Up (Lumberjanes novel #2) by Mariko Tamaki and Brooklyn Allen ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: fantasy middle-grade children’s fiction

This was cute. It was fine. Suitable for kids, but maybe there needs to be more crossover appeal than the comics. Also, mentions of Jo's transness were coded to feel more hidden than an insider: if you know, you know.

Nether Realms: Sci Fi Non Binary Erotica For Gender Explorers, edited by Tab Kimpton and The Neon Caster ⭐ 4/5 stars
Genre: sci-fi non-binary erotica comics

Nether Realms was fun and sexy, and as a non-binary person, it's super exciting to have an erotic comic anthology by, for, and about non-binary people. I love what Tab Kimpton's doing in the comics space, and I will continue purchasing anything he edits.

My favorites were:

Automated Assistance by Butchflux - what we'd all be doing with a real AI

Vee's Theorem by Faeri Sami - the most gorgeous art in the entire collection

Experimental Xenobiology by Shane Basement and Shae Beagle - my favorite story with great art and a sweet romance with a first contact that hit a lot of my personal sexy preferences and identity points

The Payload by C. Bedford - like I wouldn't enjoy a plant fucking story

📽️ Watch my review on TikTok.

Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) by Sonali Dev ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: contemporary cishet romance

A little slower-paced than I'd expected. The story about the family and the community is far better than the romance. I loved the magical world of the Anchorage, which was most analogous to Pemberley but filled with more people.

The romance left me cold, and I felt more like the characters were "meant to be" instead of showing the falling-in-love action, especially for DJ. Dev's attempt to make Trisha (the Lizzie character) the prideful one couldn't work as we still don't know how to make the heroine grovel.

Regarding class and race/colorism, Dev bit off more than she could chew. Though Wickham as a white lady with dreadlocks was perfection.

The second book is on my TBR self, and I will give the series another book. It did make me want to rewatch Fire Island, a superior modern Pride and Prejudice adaptation.

She-Hulk Vol. 2: Jen of Hearts by Rainbow Rowell, Luca Maresca, Takeshi Miyazawa, Rico Renzi, and VC’s Joe Caramagna ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: superhero comics

I love the progression of She-Hulk and Jack's relationship and romance. Every moment with them is lovely, and it was nice to see Rowell write an adult romance. Give me more of this.

Plus, more of Jen with her friends and all the wonderful She-Hulk universe characters.

Some side character moments were fun, but the central plot, with April trying to steal She-Hulk's powers and Jack's zero energy, was a bit bland. There needed to be more development or mystery. I didn't get the connection until Jack found the chamber of zero energy and walked into it. I'm still unsure why that even happened, and it seems like an excuse to break them up, as no one can ever imagine what other challenges couples might have together that don't involve breakups.

Trade Me (Cyclone #1) by Courtney Milan ⭐ 3/5 stars
Genre: contemporary cishet romance

Trade Me was a challenge to rate. Milan is an incredibly talented writer, and these characters and this plot, including how badly it aged, would've fallen apart and probably been a DNF under a lesser writer. Some of the deep characterization and the connection between Blake and Tina were a 5-star read.

Trade Me was published in 2015, and in 2015, these things probably wouldn't have bothered me.

But in 2023, reading a book about a tech billionaire's son Blake who's set to inherit his father's empire, I found that setup unbelievable. (The dad, Adam, is very much Steve Jobs if Jobs had been a single father who loved/cared about his children.) Not a single major tech corporation has passed to a child for a reason (greed), and most children of tech billionaires seem to rightly hate their parents. Hell, in my own family, my brother was supposed to inherit my bio dad's SMB (told this since he was a toddler), and instead, dad's milking my brother for money; as it turns out, Ayn Rand cannot live off his social security alone. And my family is much closer to Tina's in wealth. It's clear that toxic masculinity and not talking about feelings got in the way of Adam's parenting, and I just cannot believe that someone who works that kind of hours could be a single parent and there was no nanny for Blake.

Then there was Tina's backstory. The in-depth details of Tina's relationship with her mom and what it truly meant to not have money and try to attend college and support her family were great. Tina was right that Blake could never actually trade her lives.

However, again in 2023, Falun Gong is now a significant spreader of far-right politics, including supporting QAnon, Trump, and anti-vaxxer movements. Yes, practitioners can be oppressed and subject to torture in China, but they can also be a destructive far-right force in Europe and the US. Both these things can be true.

The messiness of the setup and the character's backgrounds testify to Milan's ability as a writer that this book doesn't crumble to dust in 2023.

Winter's Orbit by Everina Maxwell ⭐ 4/5 stars
Genre: sci-fi with m/m romance

This is another book that blends sci-fi and romance genres, and it leaves major fans of either genre a little wanting. The court politics left things a little dry for me, especially at the beginning.

I did develop immediate affection for Jainan, Kiem, and Bel. Maxwell was pretty good at balancing different characters and making them unique in attitudes, interests, and actions. The pacing and the build-up of the mystery worked well, even if it was a little too well divided in who knew what between Jainan and Kiem and how they never seemed to have time for each other. I pegged Taam immediately as an abuser.

My favorite part was when Jainan and Kiem unexpectedly trekked through a national park in the winter. This gave the two characters time alone and showcased how they worked as a team. With this piece, they're working together to stop a galactic war and other mayhem worked better. It was also notably the only time they got physically intimate (fade-to-black) and was the bulk of the romance.

I can see the comparisons to Ancillary Justice. Though the plotting, world-building, and political details aren't quite Ancillary Justice level. But Red, White, & Royal Blue is much more a romance-only book, and it feels like every book with m/m romance, outside the romance genre, is compared to RWRB. Which is a pet peeve of mine, along with people misgendering McQuiston. But this will be like everyone discovering that you like romance and asking about Fifty Shades of Gray. (The answer is never read, and very unlikely I ever will.)

Anyway, would read more books by Maxwell and more books in this universe.

Fresh book reviews on my TikTok:

Fantasy

• The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire No. 1) by Tui T. Sutherland

Memoir

• Gender Failure by Rae Spoon and Ivan E. Coyote
• Save Yourself by Cameron Esposito

Romance

• Act Your Age, Eve Brown (The Brown Sisters No 3) by Talia Hibbert
• Aurora Blazing (The Consortium No. 2) by Jessie Mihalik
• A Caribbean Heiress in Paris (Las Leonas No. 1) by Adriana Herrera
• Dark Needs at Night's Edge (Immortals After Dark No. 4) by Kresley Cole
• Drag Me Up (Gods of Hunger No. 1) by R.M. Virtues
• Kraken's Sacrifice (A Deal With a Demon #2 ) by Katee Robert
• Letters for Lucardo: The Silent Lord Vol 3 by Otava Heikkilä
• Mandy and the Tentacle Monster (Urf Oomons No. 1) by Bebe Harper
• A Prince on Paper (Reluctant Royals No. 3) by Alyssa Cole

Sci-fi

• Kindred by Octavia Butler
• Lusia Now and Then by Carole Maurel
• The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne Oliver, Rebecca Kirby, and James Fenner

Superhero

• Nubia Real One by L.L. McKinney and Robyn Smith
• Wonder Woman: The Adventures of Young Diana No. 1 by Jordie Bellaire, Paulina Ganucheau, Kendall Goode, and Becca Cary

Book discussions:

• April reading wrap-up: the 11 books I read
• Cissexism, ableism, and child abuse in Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor
• Community care in Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin
• My overly ambitious Pride reading list
• Reading Kiss of a Demon King by Kresley Cole and Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski — That's not how bodies work!
• Reading Kiss of a Demon King: rage demon biology makes no sense
• Whipping Girl by Julia Serano, Part 13, on passing and presenting your gender incorrectly before you come out
• Whipping Girl by Julia Serano, Part 14, on how to support each other and build a world full of every gender expression

Book silliness:

• Used book haul from Half Price Books
• A book haul of mostly free or used books!

Green thumb update

Seattle’s weather has been everywhere! This has made gardening an extra challenge. Climate change is real.

But for better or worse, the beds are planted, and what will grow is what will grow!

• Seedling potting
• The mason bees have been released into the garden
• Gardening update: May 14th
• Radish harvest
• Yesterday's gardening plant removal misidentified a poisonous hemlock (and I took it down)
• Removing poison hemlock: what I did right and what I did wrong

Houseplant videos:

• Behead that succulent with the Echeveria runyonii ‘Topsy Turvy’
• Houseplants and cold snaps with the Hoya polyneura
• Rescuing the Corytoplectus cutucuensis after she fell from her shelf
• Stapelia gigantea vs. cats
• The Hoya peduncle progress
• Hoya peduncle update! The Hoya lacunosa and bella are flowering. Still waiting for the Hoya obovata.
• Repotting the Agave victoria reginae or Queen Victoria Agave
• Bad box store soil with the Hoya Crimson Princess

Other plant videos:

• An April walk to the ballot drop box in Beacon Hill, Seattle
• A botanical tour of Washington Park Arboretum in Seattle on May 21st

Other things

[MUSIC] Janelle Monáe’s “Lipstick Lover” — They deliver perhaps the chill song of the summer and a dream of a hot bi summer I can get behind.

Happy first weekend of Pride, friends!

🌈🎉🏳️‍⚧️🎶

Erica McGillivray