a party, a poem, and one really heartfelt dedication to dandelions later…
i finally am reading this very beloved series, and i am so very excited, buta party, a poem, and one really heartfelt dedication to dandelions later…
i finally am reading this very beloved series, and i am so very excited, but i will admit that i was unexpectedly surprised by this first book. a lot of friends have told me to think of this first book as a prequel, that really sets the tone for the story to actually come! so i was expecting that a little bit, but i was not expecting this to read so much like a historical and so not like an sff story. yet, i think there are few authors are talented as ken liu, and his storycrafting and telling are truly god tier. and even though my reading experience was not what i was expecting, i still had a really good time with this one. and also, i just deeply respect what this book is.
this is essentially a reimagining of the fall of the qin dynasty and the rise of the han dynasty. and it reads very much like many different stories, from a few different povs, from all over the land during this time, that all come together and weaves one big story! i truly don’t want to say much more than that, but the major theme that i ultimately took from this first installment is how heavy the price of power always was, always is, and always will be. and how it changes you, shapes you and your life, even if you never asked for that power in the first place.
friends’ reviews that i love a lot: mogsy, petrik, ts
trigger + content warnings: war, battle, violence, gore, blood, death, torture, mention of cannibalism, a lot of suicide mentions, slavery, human trafficking, loss of a child, torture of a child, loss of loved ones, abuse, assault, sa, conscription, killing animals for food, animal abuse (horse), captivity, prison, occupation, colorism, starvation, infidelity
“You’re right; for you, I could do something much worse.”
how have i already read 200+ episodes? Ahhhh, as always, i just love these characters, i love the imagination behind this world, and i love the art so much. this eighth installment feels like a really big one, because persephone and hades talk about what she has been… not talking about. the panels in particular for those conversations were truly so beautiful and just perfect. i was so emotional and it was just very thoughtfully done and i really appreciate it. this volume also contains the trial verdict, and zeus is just the worst regardless of the media he is being depicted in haha.
also, we just get to see persephone really be a badass, and fight so many monsters, both metaphorically and actually physically, too! just seeing her find her voice, in all the ways, felt really special and really powerful. and i will fully admit i did cry when i saw the pomegranate. again, 200+ episodes in, i just want to see persephone have the life that she wants to have
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: talk of death, trial / courtroom settings, talk of infertility, blood, hurt animal (they are okay), illness, possession, battle
♡ buddy reading this series with penny ✰ read for free on webtoon
“Believe me when I tell you, you are not tethered to your abuser.”
another installment in this beautiful graphic novel series that has very much taken the book community (and the rest of the world) by storm. we follow hades and persephone navigating their relationship, and their own mental health, in a very unforgiving world.
i feel like i can’t say too much with this being volume seven (which feels insane to type btw), but the bright shining light in this installment was seeing persephone going to therapy and talking about her sa. it was really beautiful, and i know it will help a lot of readers of this beloved series, and i just loved it completely.
oh, and seeing hermes and persephone’s past? adored every panel! i also really enjoyed learning more about zeus, poseidon, and hades pasts and the things they were forced to do, too. but besides these things…well, this might not have been my favorite volume, but i absolutely cannot wait for what will come next.
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: nightmares, threat of sa, cheating in past, talk of infertility, vomit, parents talking about their child’s body, courtroom/trial setting
♡ buddy reading this series with Penny ✰ read for free on webtoon
when i heard sapphic medusa reimagining with a dark academia setting, i knew i couldn’t resist reading this for tosalted pasta water is still crazy...
when i heard sapphic medusa reimagining with a dark academia setting, i knew i couldn’t resist reading this for too long. and this book is that! and i really loved the romance! and i will always love seeing women getting revenge and healing the way they want to heal against horrible acts committed against them!! but this is a dark book that really centers on sexual assault at this college, so please use caution and take care of yourselves while reading. (i would say just skip chapter 2 when the on page rape happens, but different assaults happen and are discussed throughout this entire story.)
after chapter two, we get to see lex almost a year later, back at the university that did nothing to protect her and everything to protect her rapist, and she is ready to get that revenge that she deserves. she is also ready, with the help of her sister, to take revenge for people who feel voiceless and put fear in the men who walk around campus feeling untouchable after making people feel voiceless. but when a girl who is supposed to be part of lex’s personal revenge starts to feel like something she has always wanted, things get a little more complicated.
i really liked the romance in this. going into this book, i was scared because i knew it had a revenge element, but i didn’t feel any weird power dynamics, there was no bullying towards one another, and i felt like both girls just truly liked each other from the very start. i also felt like luna’s journey in realizing she is bi was really thoughtfully done and realistic. and i also really respected and enjoyed lex’s portrayal for always knowing she is a lesbian. i know the salted pasta water is still crazy, but the sex scenes were actually extremely well done - maybe some of the best i've read. and i just really enjoyed watching this romance unfold.
i just really respected what this book and story is, and i wish we got more books like this. i wish we got more empowering books about women getting revenge on the people who have committed these acts that our broken systems don’t accurately punish them for. And i also wish we got more books of just girls falling in love, girls discovering their sexuality, and girls having all different kinds of relationships - some quiet, some loud, some slow, some fast, some light, some heavy. (i feel like some of the comments i am seeing about the romance/sex in this book… you all are not saying this to the 500 m/m romances we get every year. i really appreciate this story and what it is doing for so many reasons, but also the reason the baseline fact that we need more sapphic stories of all kinds.)
i also “enjoyed” (it feels weird to say that for this but…. i just think it's an important conversation) seeing the discussion on how men/society can treat lesbians because the world cannot fathom someone not being attracted to men in some shape or form or way. How people will say you're just confused, or you just haven't had a good experience with a man yet, because it is impossible for some people to wrap their minds around their own unimportance (and their misogyny). i am pan, but i really respected that being shown in this book, because i sadly do think that is a reality for so many people who aren’t interested in men romantically or sexually and it should be talked about (and unlearned) more.
overall, i just really am happy this book exists for many reasons. i loved the sapphic romance and seeing these two girls heal and realize that they deserve good and safe things, maybe even with the unconditional help and support from one another. and i also really respected what the author did with these darker themes and the helplessness people often feel. i'm not saying this was a perfect book by any means, but i am thankful for it and i really hope this author writes more sapphic romance in the future, because i will be preordering.
trigger + content warnings: rape and sexual assault (on page, many different depictions, and talked about through the entirety of this book), not being believed after sa, predatory behavior, drugging, vomit, misogyny, snakes, blood, bullying, child abuse mentions, abusive parents, graphic physical abuse, ptsd, nightmares, harry potter mentions, torture, gore, violence, homophobia (in a negative light always), use of slur for lesbians, suicidal thoughts in past, murder
“Any horror story could be said to work in two pieces: the fear of being wholly alone and of realizing that one has company.”
julia armfield is jus
“Any horror story could be said to work in two pieces: the fear of being wholly alone and of realizing that one has company.”
julia armfield is just a new all time favorite author for me, both of her full length books, and her short story collection, were just perfection to me. her writing is just so haunting and her characters are so impactful and this book was just a masterpiece to me and my reading tastes.
private rites is a modern king lear reimagining, where all three daughters are queer, and living in a world that has been so impacted by climate change that the world is mostly underwater and humans are forced to build up. the father in this story was a luxury architect that helped build luxury living in the form of skyrises, while others were forced to live in a world that is always raining and the water levels are getting higher and higher. and the three daughters are forced back together after leaving their abusive palace in the sky, because their father has passed away, but maybe the family secrets not being laid to rest alongside him.
i loved these three daughters, and how different their worlds forged them into being. I read in a goodreads interview where the author talks about how even though she knew she was writing what the world would deem “unlovable characters” she wanted to show that they are still deserving of love and partners who show up for them. i loved that, i felt that on every page, during all three povs. and how, because of capitalism, these women are forced to wake up in a drowned world and go to work like everything is normal. i feel like it would be impossible for you to read this in 2024 and not think of the comparisons to the 2020 pandemic and how most of us are still really trying to process that immense trauma, while many of us were still forced to clock in every day, and not everyone lucky enough to do so safely.
but if you know how king lear ends, well… this really is a reimaging, with a clifi setting, that is talking about capitalism and abuse and how those things go very much hand in hand - especially in our current day society, and upon finishing you will also realize that this is a true horror story. i loved every page and i recommend with my whole heart to everyone.
trigger + content warnings: blood, loss of a father (mention of stroke and heart attack), loss of mother in past talk of cults, child abuse in past, vomit, panic attacks, sleep issues, talk of bad dreams, abandonment, anxiety, pica mention in past, suicide attempt // self harm in past, some hospital setting, drowning, mention of infidelity in past (parents), drinking, smoking, brief mention of dementia, one sentence homophobia mention (in negative light), unwanted touching
heather walter is giving the world the sapphic dark fairy tales, with a reclaiming villain povs. malice was o
“choice is a magic in and of itself.”
heather walter is giving the world the sapphic dark fairy tales, with a reclaiming villain povs. malice was one of my favorite reads the year it came out, and i just couldn’t wait to read something else by this author, after obsessing over that duology!
this is a reimagining of snow white, from the “evil” queen’s perspective. we follow a twenty-three year old witch heir, named ayleth, who is the descendant of one of the five ancient covens. In this world, there are five houses, all with five heroes, who come together once a year during an ascension, where you give blood and make an offering to one of the five. ten years ago, her sister’s ascension ended in tragedy, so now that ayleth’s is approaching, she goes on a quest for the coven to try to unlock some mystery, once of which being some information about five bloodstones that were stolen.
the thing is, magic had been abolished ten years ago as well. and now she finds herself at a court filled with secrets, while carrying her own secrets, while trying to figure out what are actual truth, especially involving magic. and… there is the cutest little princess in this story and ahhh i just loved it all.
i think one of the best and wildest parts of this is that i kept forgetting it was a reimagining and then something snow white-y would happen and i would be like “oh yeah!” but this really does stand all on its own. i love a quest story, and i always love exploring a castle. this also has a very good kind of enemies to lovers in it, that really did have me screaming. And the ending was very close to perfection. though, i did sadly feel like this was just a little too long and did drag at parts. but overall, i can’t wait for the next book and just to read all the powerful stories that healthier writes!
trigger + content warnings: a lot of talk of loss of a loved one, blood, abandonment, grief, self harm to get blood, talk of animal death in past, unwanted touching (arm grab), a very brief mention of loss of a pregnancy, death, funeral, anxiety, vomit, hurt pet (by another animal), animal death (magical evil wolf), homophobia (obv in a negative light), illness / poison, and just a lot of really bad parents
♡ bonus offline content: this book is extra special to my collection, because it was my 2024 birthday book (and it actually released on my birthday !!) which my dad not only wrote in, but also felt the need to cosign my mom's birthday message lol [image]...more
wow, i think this was my favorite installment yet. this sixth volume was all about different journeys healing from different types of trauma, and how sometimes others can make that journey a little easier for you (or with each other, even)! this has such good themes of consent and boundaries and overcoming (unwarranted) embarrassment when something happens to you that was not your fault. this one also has a very big theme of motherhood, where we get to see the different mothers of these different gods, which also started to open up stories about the titans, which was really cool.
rachel smythe just really created something very different and very powerful. the art is so gorgeous, and flipping each page truly feels like a treat. and the story is just getting more and more complex and layered, while discussing important themes that inherently are more complex and layered. and while we see persephone finding safe spaces for herself, and safe spaces for her to create what she wants to create, this story also feels like a safe space of creation for the reader, and i just really am happy this exists in the world.
also, daphne, i love you so much.
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: trauma depiction, depression depiction, anxiety, a plot of sending and taking photos without consent, loss of friends in past, captivity, alcoholism mention, infidelity mention (not mcs), nightmares, debt depiction, talk of infertility.
♡ buddy reading this series with Penny ✰ read for free on webtoon
“It never occurred to her to doubt her welcome. Such was the gift of a child raised with love.”
this is a hard one to rate, but i think i have sett
“It never occurred to her to doubt her welcome. Such was the gift of a child raised with love.”
this is a hard one to rate, but i think i have settled on the highest of 3 stars! but three stars feels extra wild because the mc of this is probably my favorite character that t kingfisher has ever created! this is a sleeping beauty reimagining that really makes the reader think about what humans can perceive as good and/or evil on first glance. it also has heavy themes of nurture versus nature and how important it is for children to grow up with love and safety. but there was just something about the evil one being a child* in this story that made me uncomfortable, and upon finishing it just really made me not want to give out a higher rating, despite loving so many other aspects of this novella. (*i know there is more to this, but i am trying to be vague for this mini review!)
toading, the main character, is truly wonderful. and I loved seeing her watch generation after generation pass while protecting this tower, until one day a prince comes that makes her want to do things a little differently. i loved seeing her growing up among the fae, with a family and community who loved her unapologetically with everything they had. and i loved the writing of this and how beautifully kingfisher was able to blend past and present narratives together. i know this review is a little all over the place, but i still recommend this one and i can’t wait to continue reading everything from this author.
trigger + content warnings: blood, plague, death, kidnapping, captivity, brief mention of child birth, death of a child, self harm for magic / testing magic, mention of animal cruelty, physical abuse (slap), suicide mention, violence, extreme isolation
“Sometimes my poems venerated her like a saint, other times they cast her as the Devil herself, but Carmilla always played a starring role.”
my gra
“Sometimes my poems venerated her like a saint, other times they cast her as the Devil herself, but Carmilla always played a starring role.”
my grandmas should have been at the 1968 ivy league dark academy vampire clubs (highkey, that’s what i kept thinking while reading this each time the year was mentioned >.< lol)
okay okay, moving on, this was a very highly anticipated new book by st gibson, after a dowry of blood blew everyone’s minds in the previous years. this story is a carmilla reimagining, where we follow laura, while she attends a very prestigious university in massachusetts, where she wishes to study poetry. yet, she soon meets the carmilla of this story when the poetry professor makes them spend more time than just in class together. and then carmilla slowly introduces laura to an entirely different world, sometimes filled with secrets and monsters.
yes, this book did let me down, too, but I truly do think a lot of people are being a little too hard on this book. i think the expectations for everyone were just so high because of this author’s debut. but there is still a lot of good in this story, besides just paying good homage to the original sapphic story! i think this also has some good discussions, like inappropriate and manipulative power dynamics. the writing is lovely, and i think ts gibson can craft 11/10 settings and atmospheres. again, we love the queer vampire clubs. we love some pan / bi / attraction to multiple genders rep always. and i truly adored the last page of this book, and it has the exact kind of ending i love. i will always root for girls not wanting to be saints, not wanting to be scared, but wanting to become whatever they want to become in that moment, with power they have always deserved to claim and to have.
sadly, i didn’t love this one as much as i hoped, either. the story just never grabbed my attention and the characters never grasped my heart. but i still see the good and i can’t wait to read more from this author, even if this one was not my favorite.
author’s note trigger + content warnings: uneven power dynamics, inappropriate relationships between a professor and students, toxic academic environments, blood, gore, murder, consensual sexual content (including public sex), kink (negotiated and spontaneous), alcohol use, drug use, smoking, racist political policies, homophobia, religious discrimination against women.
additional trigger + content warnings i wrote down while reading: abandonment in past, vomit / bile, one sentence about animal death in past (kitten), mention of loss of mom in past, self harm imagery in poetry.
“Demeter is going to kill me… Resurrect me… And then Hestia is gonna kill me!”
i believe in hera and hecate supremacy. but this fifth installment is the highest of three star ratings. i truly just love this reimagining of greek gods, with a color palette and art style that is so beautiful. i find so much happiness reading these each new volume drop. i felt a lot of persephone in this bind up, and i think it is the perfect set up for a really emotional and powerful volume six. i really am just manifesting her safety, and her happiness, and her finally feeling in control of her body and choices. i also really extra loved the bonus art at the end of this, and seeing the creator talk about how a lot of this art and story was created in march of 2020.
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: trauma depiction, depression depiction, infidelity (not mcs), anxiety, blood splatter implications, murder, death, alcohol consumption, smoking, blackmail, missing person, sending photos without consent (and those photos also being taken without consent)
♡ buddy reading this series with Penny ✰ read for free on webtoon
“Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov,” she whispered to him. “Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague o
ARC provided by the publisher via Netgalley
“Write me a tragedy, Lev Fedorov,” she whispered to him. “Write me a litany of sins. Write me a plague of devastation. Write me lonely, write me wanting, write me shattered and fearful and lost. Then write me finding myself in your arms, if only for a night, and then write it again. Write it over and over, Lev, until we both know the pages by heart. Isn’t that a story, too?” she asked him softly.”
in the year 2023, no one is writing longing, yearning, and angst like olivie blake. every book i pick up by her, vast in different concepts, the writing and one liners she is able to string together just rendered me speechless. what a gift to the literary world and the lyrical prose readers (me).
this story is a mash up reimagining of Romeo and Juliet and A midsummer Night’s dream, which is a really insane combination. we get to see two different families, two different worlds, and two different timelines of power, love, and betrayal. this is a story about family, and sibling bonds, and love that feels too big too much of the time. but everything is also filled with magic, and fae, and secrets. i really did adore this, and it was very impressively crafted. i loved seeing all the different powers, and u think i lost part of my own heart upon finishing this epilogue.
trigger + content warnings: a lot of talk of drugs + selling drugs + drug use, alcohol, vomiting, blood, murder, death, loss of a loved one (a lot too), grief, brief mention of bullying in past, magical compulsion, violence, gore, suicide.
reading these bind ups physically has really been such a treat for me over the last year. the art is➽ Volume One ★★ ➽ Volume Two ★★★ ➽ Volume Three ★★★★
reading these bind ups physically has really been such a treat for me over the last year. the art is so beautiful and intriguing, the characters are endearing and finding ways into my heart, and i just really appreciate what this creator is doing with this project. yes, there is a romance that will obviously eventually happen, but this really is a series about abuse and all the different ways that can take shape and, in turn, shape people and their lives.
lastly, i feel like this fourth installment had a lot of extra greek mythos jokes and i really was obsessed (zeus swan and all). oh, and i still cant believe that hecate is my favorite of all the gods, but here we are.
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: trauma depiction, infidelity, anxiety, blood splatter implications, injury, hospital setting, brief mention of infertility.
♡ buddy read with Penny ✰ read for free on webtoon
“You made a forest in a place where NOTHING is meant to live.”
This graphic novel series is just getting better and ➽ Volume One ★★ ➽ Volume Two ★★★
“You made a forest in a place where NOTHING is meant to live.”
This graphic novel series is just getting better and better for me! I really loved this installment in particular, and I fell in love with Eros. Sometimes, you really just need someone to tell you it will be okay, but what happened to you was not okay.
As always, the art is beautiful and page styling choices are magnificent. I also found the banter in this one to be even better, and I found myself giggling at times even! I am truly so excited to read the next bind up upon release and I am finding a lot of joy physically reading these ones!
cws from the author at the start of this book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, + toxic relationships
other tw/cw i wrote down: paparazzi, trauma depiction, death, implied cheating, talk of rape, drinking in excess
i enjoyed this second installment so much more than the first. i felt so much more for these characters and their**spoiler alert** ➽ 1.) Volume One ★★
i enjoyed this second installment so much more than the first. i felt so much more for these characters and their lives, and was left with a good balance of desperately wanting to know what will come next. the art is truly so beautiful as well, but i feel like it is extra breathtaking in the underworld.
and (like in most greek myth inspired tales)... i really love hera. <3 (view spoiler)[you deserve better, bby. zeus, you're truly always the worst. (hide spoiler)]
author's cw/tw published in book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, and toxic relationships
more tw/cw that i wrote down: depression depiction, paparazzi/stalking/tabloids, cheating (not mcs), dissociating depiction (when being forced to be around your abuser), mentions of past sexual assault/rape, and sexual harassment.
i am always going to be here for a Hades and Persephone retelling! but sadly, i didnt love this one. but i still had a good time reading it and i lovei am always going to be here for a Hades and Persephone retelling! but sadly, i didnt love this one. but i still had a good time reading it and i loved the art and color palette. i do feel like the next installment would be even better and i am very intrigued to picked it up! (also maybe this was just overhyped a little bit subconsciously for me too... because even my b&n here in vegas, they have a huge display dedicated to this series! so... take my star rating with a very big grain of salt bc i am for sure not the popular opinion here!) <3
author's cw/tw published in book: physical + mental abuse, sexual trauma, and toxic relationships
more tw/cw that i wrote down: drinking, drugging, blackmail, captivity, kidnapping, parental abuse, paparazzi/stalking, blood depiction, rape, sexual coercion, unwanted sexual pictures being taken, anxiety depiction, trauma depiction, and disassociating while something traumatic is happening.
━━♡ Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire ★★★ a very beautiful, smart, sweet, and sapphic hades + persephone reimagining. ou➽ Robots vs. Fairies ★★★
━━♡ Phantoms of the Midway by Seanan McGuire ★★★ a very beautiful, smart, sweet, and sapphic hades + persephone reimagining. our main character lives with her mom among a traveling circus, but this current stop is going to be very different for them both. i didn't love this at first, but by the end i was emotional and invested.
tw/cw: mention of fire in past, mention of death of a child in past
━━♡ The Justified by Ann Leckie ★★ an interesting futuristic scifi reimagining of sekhmet/hathor. they just wanted to live a life of solitude, but mankind can be so annoying (very true). sadly, this one just wasn't for me.
tw/cw: blood, death, murder, gore, violence
━━♡ Fisher-Bird by T Kingfisher ★★ a reimagining of the labors of hercules, but it took me far too long to figure that out. this was supposed to be funny with mentions of different gods and stories, but it just really wasn't for me personally.
tw/cw: very brief mentions of cannibalism and animal deaths
━━♡ A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy by Rebecca Roanhorse ★★★ a very unsettling story, about a futuristic cyberpunk world where, if you're powerful enough, you can prolong lives + memories digitally... but at a cost for sure. deer hunter and white corn maiden legend
tw/cw: death, grief, unsettling imagery of decomposition
━━♡ Bridge of Crows by Neon Yang ★★★★★
"Sometimes, to undo all the wrongs you have to undo the entire system."
absolute perfection. this is a the cowherd and the weaver girl, but sapphic scifi masterpiece, reimagining. this is a new tale within old tales and it really just blew me away from first to last sentence. this is a mini quest, where our main character is going up a mountain to seek a powerful witch's help - which sounds amazing on it's own, but it's layered with so much more. from love + sacrifices, to broken + corrupt systems, to how we perceive stories being told to us + how they can be so much bigger and/or smaller... this was just everything for me as a reader and ended so powerfully. (also our mc is fae which you all know is always an added bonus for me!)
tw/cw: captivity, banishment, talk of war
━━♡ Labbatu Takes Command of the Flagship "Heaven Dwells Within" by Arkady Martine ★★★★ sumerian poetry, but make it a space opera. this was impressive and enthralling and i know i will be thinking about these origin stories for a long time to come. this is a story about how the greatest captain + thief captured a starship... while being brave, and charming, and empowering. i am even more excited to finally read a memory called empire soon (i promise)!
tw/cw: blood, talk of war, brief fighting/battle scenes. i see some reviews didn't like the more bold language used in this, but i think it just added to the power of inanna + the story! :)
━━♡ Wild to Covet by Sarah Gailey ★★ a modern historical story about thetis from greek mythos, who is most known for being achilles’ mom… and whose story ends when his story ends. this is all about identity and being more than just a vessel for childbirth, but i just didn't enjoy reading it. i feel like i should have loved this, but i just didn't.
tw/cw: blood, war, loss of a child
━━♡ ¡Cuidado! ¡Que Viene el Coco! by Carlos Hernandez ★★★★★ oh, this was heartbreakingly lovely. this is a story a little bit about el coco, the cuban boogeyman-like entity! but mostly this is a story about mental health, fatherhood, and navigating parenthood as a child who was abused. with a lot of themes of sacrifice, forgiveness, and love. We follow a man, on a ship alone with only his ai psychologist and his baby. we get to also see his relationship with his currently separated wife, and we get to see his past and his present living with BPD. this was able to evoke so much emotion from me, and was just a wonderful reminder of how much i love powerful, beautiful, quiet short fiction like this. (and finding new authors through anthology bindups!)
tw/cw: mention of suicidal thoughts, mentions of child abuse + abusive parents in past, self harm, dissociation, scary imagery
━━♡ He Fell Howling by Stephen Graham Jones ★★★★★
"I don't bite holes in the world because I dislike the world, I bite holes in it because I have these teeth."
oh, i know this is going to be a polarizing one because of the darkness to this story, but this was insanely well crafted and told - i loved it. this is a imagining of what happens to lycaon after zeus curses him for feeding him his own child. this is a very unsettling story as we see lycaon become a wolf (think werewolf/lycanthrope... get it), where his hunger for power and vengeance and cruelty does not stop in this new animal body. this is very much a story told in the pov of a villain gaining strength at any cost to take down another villain... oh, and he is personally telling the story to you so it's even more chilling and haunting. this is not going to be for everyone, but this is short form horror perfection for me.
tw/cw: cannibalism (and... as a wolf eating his own wolf pups too), human sacrifice, human death, animal death, animal sacrifice, blood depiction, mention of spiders, implications of sexual assault
━━♡ Curses Like Words, Like Feathers, Like Stories by Kat Howard ★★ this was so beautifully + lyrically written rendition of the children of lir, but it also analyzes how that story feels disjointed, almost as if it were two stories combined, maybe as if someone else wrote the ending. this also discusses how stories are passed down, and how things can change over time, and this author does a beautiful job honoring her attachment to the story. i personally didn't love this one, but i loved the writing and what it obviously meant to the author.
tw/cw: grief depiction
━━♡ Across the River by Leah Cypress ★★ a story about a jewish poet, living in germany, who can see a magical river that most people cannot. then a sorcerer comes to town killing jewish people with just a touch, and our mc asks the river for help. this is a retelling of the sambatyon, but also inspired by a real life man who was cited to have some of this water from the story trapped in a glass. sadly, this one just didn't work for me as a reader.
tw/cw: antisemitism, unwanted touching, talk of death + murder
━━♡ Sisyphus in Elysium by Jeffrey Ford ★★ this was for sure the one that felt most like a retelling for me. this is the story of sisyphus, who is being punished, by hades for cheating death, by pushing a huge bolder up a hill, until it crashes and disappears. we get to see him ponder about life, think of his mistakes, realize what is important in life. and i feel like it makes the reader think about life and eternity, but it didn't leave me feeling anything and i just didn't really enjoy this one.
tw/cw: talk of death, mention of cannibalism, isolation depiction. fighting
━━♡ Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das ★★★ inspired from a hindu goddess but also by the microsoft ai bot who was corrupted by racist online trolls. this was a very smart, but very heavy on the heart to read story. we get to see this vr world being ruled by myths and religion and all things social media, while also seeing that our actual world is ruled by the very same. and how evil people will profit on all three of these things simultaneously, if they are able. especially when the backdrop of both worlds are filled with hate, racism, and misogynistic views. and the people are able to be very bold, very loud, and very proud to be anonymously hateful.
tw/cw: online harassment, verbal abuse, colorism, + just harmful and scary online bullying and abuse
━━♡ Live Stream by Alyssa Wong ★★★★★ if you've read my anthology reviews in the past, you might know that alyssa wong is my favorite short story writer of all time. this was, hands down, the story i was most excited for, and i really did love it a lot, even if i read it with such a heavy heart. being a women who puts herself into online spaces that are mostly populated by cis men can be such scary experience in general, but i feel like anything involving the video game community is ten times amplified. this is a reimagining of artemis and actaeon, but told from the pov of a twitch streamer who is facing unmeasurable online harassment because of a man in the industry with immense power. and sadly, this is such a reality for so many people who i personally know. it just hit hard for so many reasons, but hit harder knowing this is something a favorite author of mine has also dealt with. (cis men marvel stans can be pretty horrible too!) but this story is very powerful, and also talks about surviving, and finding support systems, and taking back your own agency and communities and power. ahhh, i dunno... i just love alyssa a lot a lot. i bet this one resonates a lot with people reading this review, too!
tw/cw: sexual assault, stalking, pictures being taken and shared without consent, harassment, online abuse, power imbalances, vomiting, blood mention, anxiety depictions, maybe agoraphobia
━━♡ Close Enough for Jazz by John Chu ★★ this one just was not for me whatsoever. this is a "reaction" to idun, goddess of youth, where we see a tech startup pitching those magical apples, but these can change your body autonomy... kinda. this is also about how society and corporations will always try to capitalize off the very deep discussion on body image, but i just felt like this wasn't very well done/could have been done better.
tw/cw: mechanical spiders, power imbalances, and lots of themes of body image
━━♡ Buried Deep by Naomi Novik ★★ one of my favorite things in literature is a good big sister + little brother relationship, so i feel like this reimagining of ariadne and the minotaur really should have worked for me, but it just didn't. i loved seeing this tale told from ariadne's point of view, and i adored reading the unwavering unconditional love she had for her brother, but it was just so long and dare i say everything else but the sibling relationship was boring.
━━♡ The Things Eric Eats Before He Eats Himself by Carmen Maria Machado ★★★ carmen maria machado is one of my favorite short story writers of all time, so i was very surprised that i didn't love this modern day reimagining of demeter's revenge curse on erysichthon. but maybe i just wasn't in the mood for body horror. probably just wrong short story at the wrong time kind of thing. but a solid story on how some men will truly grow up learning only how to take, and continue to take, regardless of the cost, until it consumes everything.
tw/cw: gore, self mutilation, cannibalism, lots of food descriptions, murder, death, animal death
━━♡ Florilegia; or, Some Lies About Flowers by Amal El-Mohtar ★★★★
"There are so many flowers, and so many birds, and so many women in the word and they all deserve to be more than set dressing in men's stories."
oh, what a beautiful way to end this anthology. a powerful, sapphic, blodeuwedd reimagining that was so heartfelt and just so lovely. and a good reminder that we really can be anything that we want to be, while growing however we want to grow.
“I made you into my private Christ, supplicated with my own dark devotions.”
I love epistolary novels, but this one could very well be my favorite.
“I made you into my private Christ, supplicated with my own dark devotions.”
I love epistolary novels, but this one could very well be my favorite. This is a reimagining of dracula, but told from the pov of his first bride who is writing a letter to him about their story, and we learn from the very first letter that she became his downfall. But this is also a story about abusive relationships and how power dynamics, manipulation, gaslighting, are sometimes very difficult to see. We get to see their story unfold from the very first day he made her a vampire under the promise of saving her to the very end where promises of love could no longer be masked as unconditional.
This book also very much discusses consent and how power dynamics and manipulation also can play a part in an individual saying yes when they may not under other healthier and safer circumstances. And also just… how hard it can be to leave an abusive relationship… especially when he is a powerful immortal vampire.
There is a lot of overall morally grey things happening too, and something in part 3 I just personally didn’t love - so that is why this sadly did not receive a full five stars from me. But everything else was actual perfection, the writing felt like eating honey in reading form (truly some of the best prose I've read in years), and overall this was such a powerful read that i know i will keep with me forever.
trigger + content warnings: blood, war, death, murder, abuse, gaslighting, ptsd, trauma, grief, depression, self harm for blood, self harm (with needle), anxiety, plague, medical experimentation, brief mention of human trafficking, loss of a loved one