Genre: science fiction – military / space opera (somewhere in-between)


Pairings: lesbian, pansexual


Queer Representation: cis lesbian, pansexuality, nonbinary (nonspecific variety)


Warnings: touch of gore, nothing too unusual though


Rating: 5 stars

REVIEWED BY ANON

Recent college graduates Adda and Iridian are wracked with debt and a deep desire for adventure. An engineering degree won’t pay the bills but piracy might–assuming they survive several killer AIs and a dilapidated station threatening to crumble at a moment’s notice.

Plot

Solid plot on this book, despite a somewhat rocky start. I was never really sold on Adda and Iridian’s reason for choosing piracy over a job (aside from the stock rationale of not wanting to be in crippling debt–like, I don’t want to be in debt either but piracy never really crossed my mind), but it does make for a good book starter. The commandeering of the first ship to get to Barbary Station, the home of the pirates, went on a bit long but once the couple was on the station proper, the book really found its pacing.

There was a constant tension from their arrival at the station through to the end, good plot twists, and enough real science to make the twists really land. In fact, the book would have been fine with a bit more science in it, especially on the microbial side with the biological weapons. Tell me more about the Pseudomonas-like bacteria!

I also really enjoyed the depth of the story. There are multiple ‘threats’ to the station at any given time, and actions of various political bodies and a group of refugees living amongst the pirates further muddies the waters. A lot of good interaction comes from the various factions of people living on the station. Some are the original crew of Barbary, some are the pirates, some the refugees, and still others parts of rescue and extraction crews. Each group of people has their own set of motivations, although all are working towards a common goal of getting off the station and away from the killer AIs. Adda and Iridian, of course, are the only two with skills to really get control (see, those engineering degrees are useful!), which pushes them into the center of almost every conflict.
 
Characters

Although we are given a huge array of characters (which did bother me at first), it does help to give names to the bodies when the AI really goes off the rails. Most of the secondary characters were very three-dimensional, and Adda and Iridian were compelling protagonists. We spent enough time with each of the secondary and tertiary characters that their deaths really helped drive the narrative. Even the AIs were compelling characters, and once we got into the meat of the story, my empathy for their sentience had me rooting for both ‘sides’.

Nonbinary Rep

I’m assuming this book was in my TBR pile because, hello, lesbian space pirates! I was surprised, therefore, to find that the pirate captain was nonbinary, and a well developed character at that! The attention the author paid to nonbinary genders in this book was excellent, and passages such as the one below had me squealing in joy.

​Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Nope, zefriend!

If ‘lesbians in space’ is your thing, this book is a must buy. Bonus, the next book in the series is up for preorder on Amazon (and yes, I’ve already preordered).
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You can buy BARBARY STATION in ebook here, paperback here, and hardback here. It’s available in audiobook from Audible.

Reviewed by Rebecca.

GENRE: Historical Romance

RATING: Four stars

PAIRING: F/F

REVIEW

Jae is one of those writers that I kept hearing about, especially given how active she has been, working to become a fairly prolific writer in the world of "lesfic" by producing a huge number of books as well as being an editor for YLVA. As such, I thought it was time I finally read something of hers. I must admit to not having been a huge fan of Radclyffe despite all of the hype surrounding her (and that's a shaky limb to stand on, really, because it almost seems blasphemous to not love everything Radclyffe writes), but with Jae, I can certainly see why her work is so popular. (As a side note... it's not that I don't appreciate Rad's work, but I don't personally feel the need to read any more of her books after having read two of them. Everyone has their preferences, right?)

Backwards to Oregon is a well-researched historical fiction, though the research was focused on geography more so than the history of the era. Don't get me wrong, the historical context is handled well, but if you're looking for the level of social and political depth you might find in a Sarah Waters novel, this isn't what you'll find here. That said, the aspects of this world Jae has engaged with makes it all quite convincing. Her depth about the nature of Oregon Trail itself and how people had to navigate the various challenges along the trail makes it quite an immersive novel.

It's great to read books with characters who aren't strictly 'binary' lesbians, with Luke existing somewhere undefined on the gender spectrum and Nora perhaps being (though labels aren't ever applied - which is AWESOME) bisexual, or at least very fluid in her understanding of her own body and desires. Luke is not established as being entirely trans, but nor is she strictly 'female' in her gender identity, preferring to live her life within the safety and comfort that being a man offered her at that time in America's colonial history.

Luke and Nora are enjoyable characters overall. Both of them experience a very clear line of personal growth, questioning their own perceptions and choices in the face of various types of adversity. At times, though, I found aspects of their personal transformations a little bit forced. This was especially true towards the end where Nora's insecurities started to feel unreasonable to me given what had already taken place, and given Luke's HUGE leap in sharing her true sex with some of the people around her. But take that with a grain of salt, given that I picked this book up for the genre elements (I love historical fiction) as well as the Twelfth Night-esque story line of Luke's hidden sexual identity, rather than for the angsty romance. Reader expectations and interests are impossible to cater for, as every reader is so different. If you liked Lise MacTague's trilogy, think of this book as having a similar story-line, swapping the sci-fi elements for old Western nostalgia. That's a good thing, by the way.

This is the ultimate in 'slow burn' genre romance, and that's probably exactly what many readers want. For me personally, some aspects were too slow. It felt, at times, like every part of the journey to Oregon was "the hardest" or "the worst" part of the journey. I also skipped a few pages due to reading what felt like extensive and repetitive detail about how the wagons were moved up and down steep hills and across bodies of water. I love descriptions of nature, but the repetition of some sections felt unnecessary and I didn't think it added much to the story in the last thirty percent of the book. This was a minor point overall, and didn't detract much from my enjoyment.

This was, overall, a well-executed story that kept me coming back to my Kindle when I should have been getting some work done or maybe even been, you know, parenting my children. There are a lot of writers I want to discover, a lot of stories I want to read, so it's definitely a huge compliment to the author that I'm interested to read some more of what Jae has published.

You can purchase an e-copy here.

REVIEWED BY ANON

Genre: fantasy – sword and sorcery

Pairings: nonbinary (gender fluid)/female

Queer Representation: lesbian, gender fluid (nonbinary)

Warnings: none

Rating: 4 stars

Review

Sal is genderfluid orphan of young-ish indeterminate age and an excellent thief. Haunted by memories of ‘Shadows’ and the death of parents, siblings, and homeland, Sal decides to join the tournament to become the queen’s new ‘Opal,’ one of a small group of mercenaries that kill on the queen’s behalf. Sal hopes that position will come with enough influence and access to take out a pretty substantial hitlist from the destruction of Sal’s homeland. But to get the position, Sal must be the last alive in a sort of ‘Hunger Games’ style competition, and an unexpected romance may lead to some unintended consequences.

The plot

Generally, this was a well done, standard ‘Battle Royale’ style book. One part Hunger Games, one part Throne of Glass, the book’s main arc deals with a number of competitors trying to kill each other off in order to become the last one standing and therefore, the queen’s Opal. There’s good worldbuilding and backstory, a decent number of secondary characters, and the pacing is good (excellent, even, for a YA, which, to me, seem to run slower than adult books–although this book definitely spans into the murky waters of YA/adult). While the ending is inevitable and involves no twist (not really a spoiler – Sal becomes Opal…we all saw that coming), there’s a neat tie-up segment at the end that gives a lot more depth to the story and sets the stage for the second book in the duology.

I think my biggest issue with the plot, overall, was just the more or less constant fighting. Of course I understand that is a major part of this book, but it seemed to come at the expense of character development and depth of story. More on that below.

Characters

The secondary characters in this book were top notch! Maud is an outstandingly 3-D servant woman, and Ruby shines as the pseudo-mentor. The love interest is intriguing, although remains firmly in just the ‘love-interest’ camp, and doesn’t really get any fleshing out until the last chapter or so.

My main issue, and this is my main issue for the book, is the lack of character development for Sal. I read this book entirely because it had an enby main character. And while the gender fluid moments were real and excellent (note: nonbinary is a huge umbrella term that encompasses many different identities. While I am nonbinary, I am not gender fluid, as the MC is, but we do share an umbrella), I had no other points under which I could connect with the main character.

Sal had a lot of anger, but not much else, and seemed to be driven only by revenge. The character reminded me of Katniss from book three of the hunger games, when most of her humanity had been stripped away. That’s more or less where we start with Sal, which makes it hard to really get invested in the journey, especially since we’re left basically in the same place, emotionally, as when the book started.

To be fair, however, there’s as much character development with Sal as there is with most adult fantasy characters (think Vin from MISTBORN), so I suppose I’m just used to seeing more character arc in YA. The action was definitely all there, so readers looking for murder, thievery, swords, knives, archery, and a fun greenhouse filled with poisonous plants will definitely enjoy this book.
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You can buy MASK OF SHADOWS in paperback here and ebook here.
 
Random Notes
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If you have the hardback edition, you may have noticed that Sal has female pronouns on the dust jack blurb. This was not supposed to happen and has been rectified in the paperback, but may still be present in some editions. Don’t let the copy mistake turn you off this excellent book!