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Rainbow Rainbow

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A fearless collection of stories that celebrate the humor, darkness, and depth of emotion of the queer and trans experience that's not typically represented: liminal or uncertain identities, queer conception, and queer joy.

In this delightful debut collection of prize-winning stories, queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters struggle to find love and forgiveness, despite their sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mistakes.

In one story, a young lesbian tries to have a baby with her lover using an unprofessional sperm donor and a high-powered, rainbow-colored cocktail. In another, a fifth-grader explores gender identity by dressing as an ox—instead of a matriarch—for a class Oregon Trail reenactment. Meanwhile a nonbinary person on the eve of top surgery dangerously experiments with an open relationship during the height of the COVID crisis.

With insight and compassion, debut author Lydia Conklin takes their readers to a meeting of a queer feminist book club and to a convention for trans teenagers, revealing both the dark and lovable sides of their characters. The stories in Rainbow Rainbow will make you laugh and wince, sometimes at the same time.

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2022

92 people are currently reading
7764 people want to read

About the author

Lydia Conklin

6 books71 followers
Lydia Conklin has received a Stegner Fellowship, a Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, three Pushcart Prizes, a Creative Writing Fulbright in Poland, a grant from the Elizabeth George Foundation, a Creative Writing Fellowship from Emory University, work-study and tuition scholarships from Bread Loaf, and fellowships from MacDowell, Yaddo, Hedgebrook, Djerassi, the James Merrill House, and elsewhere. Their fiction has appeared in Tin House, American Short Fiction, The Paris Review, One Story, and VQR. They have drawn cartoons for The New Yorker and Narrative Magazine, and graphic fiction for The Believer, Lenny Letter, and the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago. Last year they served as the Helen Zell Visiting Professor in Fiction at the University of Michigan and they are currently an Assistant Professor of Fiction at Vanderbilt University. Their story collection, Rainbow Rainbow, will be published in May 2022 by Catapult in North America and Scribner in the UK.

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5 stars
217 (17%)
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349 (28%)
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386 (31%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 231 reviews
Profile Image for Andrew.
1,839 reviews125 followers
March 24, 2022
2.5 stars? I guess? CW: Sexual Abuse, Pedophilia, Pet Death, Transphobia, and more, probably.

Let me start with what I did enjoy: I loved the short story Pioneers, a story about a child that is on the cusp of consciously understanding that they're transgender when they're assigned the part of a matriarch in a school re-enactment of pioneer villagers, causing a downward spiral and refusal to dress the part for it, opting to be a mule (and treated as such by their classmates) instead. I felt this story down to my core and found it deeply resonant. I feel like there's a double meaning to the title of Pioneer, in that this child will go on to forge a new and unknown path for both themselves and those around them after they reach the end of the assignment. Out of every story in this collection, this is the only one I really loved. I was also intrigued by Laramie Time, which portrays visceral longing and grieving of a long term relationship as it's about to end-- but I was still wanting more from it and wish there was more to it. I would love to see it extended into its own novel.


Now for... Everything Else. This collection was overall really uncomfortable to get through, my biggest dislike being multiple stories of sexual abuse and/or content involving minors, and I'm talking age twelve/thirteen. I'm usually okay with most consuming most content, especially if written for adults such as this collection, but my one hard limit in fiction is when adults are maliciously/intentionally doing something to children, and there's a couple of stories here where adults are preying upon pre-teens/teenagers, and the way the fact that this happens in more than one story feels really gross. There's another story that goes graphically into detail of some kids aged twelve/thirteen being sexually involved with each other that also felt so uncomfortable and strange to read for multiple reasons. So much of it felt completely unnecessary to even drive the plot of these.


In addition to that, there's also a descriptive and emotionally rough story of a pet death, a weird borderline-fetishistic story where a character publishes his ex-girlfriend's diary entries misgendering him to confess his crush to a cis man, which somehow makes him a lesbian? and a story about a middle-aged nonbinary person who takes their trans nephew to a trans convention that could had so much potential, but left me wondering what the message Conklin was trying to send even was.


All in all, this wasn't for me. I really, really wanted to like this book and was looking forward to it, but it's hard for me to find much to say about it that isn't negative. Please be advised that this short story collection has a lot of potentially problematic content that is bound to make people uncomfortable. I certainly was.

Profile Image for CaseyTheCanadianLesbrarian.
1,328 reviews1,824 followers
February 2, 2023
It took me a weirdly long time to realize I didn't really like most of this collection of short stories. There was one standout story, "Pioneer," about a middle schooler questioning their gender via being an ox in their school's colonialist and reductive pioneer reenactment day. I kept waiting to like another story like that one and it never happened.

Otherwise these stories fell flat for me and/or just had such a bleak and cynical worldview that I found them excruciating. Like, it's a collection of fiction about things going really badly for people, people being cruel, and some deeply uncomfortable sexual content involving minors, including a pedophile. The narrative voice doesn't condone the pedophilia or anything, but it left me wondering what exactly the point of depicting queer characters in such a way was.

I'm really all for not insisting on moral purity in queer characters, but I just didn't enjoy or find anything interesting about the types of people and situations Conklin chose to focus on. At their worst, the stories felt like they were being dark and miserable in order to be edgy and literary.
Profile Image for Dahlia.
Author 23 books2,783 followers
Read
April 4, 2022
Story after story had a complete chokehold on me, and almost all of them had me wishing for more, even though there's definitely some rough content in there. (A bunch of reviews have covered the cws well, and yeah, the pedophilia, pet death, and sexual content among minors is definitely jarring and difficult to read.) There's so much gender self-discovery in these stories, and I love how many different ways it's examined, including the ways things have changed between earlier generations and now. (And along those lines, it was particularly interesting to see stories set in different parts of the recent past, taking historical milestones like the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal and the 2016 election into account.) I really devoured this and will definitely be keeping an eye out for more of Conklin's work.
Profile Image for Heather Birt.
39 reviews19 followers
May 30, 2022
Truly brilliant, honest, queer stories told without judgment of the idiosyncrasies and paradoxes of the human experience. Rainbow, Rainbow by Lydia Conklin takes us inside queer and trans characters' minds with raw awareness. It took a few chapters for me to adjust to the white-hot honesty, but I settled into a tempo of gratitude for these truths. They were like a map to some of my own memories of adolescence, past relationships, perceived mistakes or contradictions, and the shadowed aspects of all humanity.

It can feel disturbing to read about life’s most undiscussed internal battles and societal issues, and that’s exactly why this book left me contemplating the vital importance of bearing the discomfort of painful truths so we can see with clear and open eyes what’s essential for our growth. Maybe if we dared to be this honest and open with one another in day-to-day life, we could heal wounds and lessen the transmission of unhealed pain from person to person through every aspect of our societies.

Each essay helps us see through another’s eyes what it means to navigate bodies, identities, relationships, needs, and desires all while constantly evolving and changing within and without. Most stories want to promise us some kind of certainty. I know who I am, this story will show you my struggle and my resolution - that’s what we commonly see, but it’s not how we actually function. Rainbow, Rainbow flows more like real life. There aren’t neat resolutions or comforting moral lessons. It is raw, true, often ugly, not precious but sacred because we are so used to seeking inspiration in ideals and washing our hands clean by denying the messiness that is the human experience.

I would recommend this book to lovers of creative nonfiction and memoir, LGBTQIA+ readers, and fans of authors like Melissa Febos and Carmen Maria Machado.
Profile Image for Brooke Curry.
15 reviews2 followers
July 19, 2022
I picked out this book because of its colorful cover and positive reviews, one calling it a “gorgeous ode to queer life”. There was nothing gorgeous about how horrendously weird and depressing every queer and trans story was for no reason except to close with a dark ending.

I did enjoy the exploration of trans identities but the overall lack of trans joy makes it so the exploration isn’t worth the read.

If you do pick up a copy of this book, I suggest reading “Pioneer” and then closing it.

TW: Suicide, addiction, pet death, pedophilia
Profile Image for Breanne.
94 reviews
July 4, 2022
Art doesn’t need to make me feel good. It has no obligation to coddle me, but so much of the subject matter in this collection had me contemplating putting it back on the shelf. A collection of well-written stories with unbearable characters in situations I had no desire to read about, all held together by their queerness. Representation doesn’t have to stick to only Good and Pure characters to be representation, and I’m grateful for a collection of queer stories by a queer author on my public library’s shelf, but this is the first time I’ve seen authentic representation and said, “Maybe we don’t need this, actually.”

The exception to my general dislike of the stories was “Pioneer” - I was absolutely enthralled and immediately recommended it to my girlfriend after reading.

CWs for depictions of minors in sexual acts, an adult grooming/assaulting a minor, and animal/pet/dog death
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Austin Zamudio.
31 reviews1 follower
February 12, 2023
I really struggled to get through this book, and if I had to explain why, in a sentence, it is this:

A white author compiled queer trauma porn for a straight audience.

I know firsthand how the queer experience has its fair share of hardship, but this book is just one horrible event and tragedy after the other. Where is the queer joy, euphoria, or celebration? This book is nothing but characters experiencing upheaval and trauma - and not in ways that inspire positive forward motion.

I have sat with all of these negative emotions this book has made me feel in an attempt to really understand why they made me feel this way. Just because art makes you feel bad doesn't mean it's "bad," but I truly believe there is no message to these stories other than ,"It is how it is." This message, especially being centered in queer stories, is so horrifically damaging and unproductive to our experiences. We are more than our trauma.

Queer media so often revolves around cis gay men, but this book does not. This book features a lot of women and characters assigned women at birth who have transitioned or are in the process of transitioning - characters that are so often left out of the queer narrative. The fact that these characters had a chance to shine and are only shown as suffering is truly disgusting.

I honestly would not recommend this book to anyone. It has nothing productive or positive to offer at all unless you are some sicko trying to identify reasons why being queer sucks.
11.2k reviews187 followers
May 25, 2022
An impressive debut. This collection of 10 stories won't be for everyone but short story fans as well as those who value queer, trans, gender non-conforming people should pick it up for its thoughtful and enlightening approach to so many issues. Know that Conklin addresses some uncomfortable and difficult things, chief among them abuse and the death of a pet. Know also that there's always a rainbow in the story. Conklin's writing is wonderful. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Read these one at a time - over a period of days- to fully appreciate them.
Profile Image for Emily.
118 reviews
August 1, 2022
I enjoy a complex exploration and/or understanding of gender and sexuality, but this book & these stories didn't do it for me. It is also incredibly funny to see everyone lauding this as such a "true" and "honest" representation of queerness when it is... not that? A true and honest representation of deeply unpleasant people, maybe.

CW: a lot of sexual abuse of minors/sexual assault. Pet death. Racism. Transphobia & homophobia. Probably some other stuff I'm not recalling off the top of my head.
Profile Image for Sage Agee.
148 reviews424 followers
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June 27, 2022
Hmm.. some of these stories don’t sit well
Profile Image for Olga Zilberbourg.
Author 3 books30 followers
July 7, 2022
Love is a delightful and messy thing, and reading these stories I reflect on how much pain it causes. This book is funny, tender, terrible, and always, always surprising.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
4,075 reviews3,369 followers
June 14, 2023
(3.5) The 10 stories in this confident debut collection are unabashedly queer, and half involve the trans experience, whether ideation or reality. Conklin is nonbinary, so it’s tempting to read several stories as autobiographical: female characters long to get top surgery and transition to male or nonbinary, but worry it will change how they are perceived or desired. “Pink Knives” and “Boy Jump,” especially, have the flavor of autofiction, with protagonists traveling in Poland and feeling attraction to people of various genders. (The former has a pandemic setting, which I’ve noticed has at this point started to feel dated.) My overall favorite was “Sunny Talks,” in which middle-aged Lillia accompanies her trans teenage nephew to a conference for celebrity YouTubers but can’t bring herself to announce her own intended transition. Though life hasn’t been easy for Sunny, he has support she lacked growing up.

Asher and Ivan, two characters of nebulous sexuality and future gender, are the core of “Cheerful Until Next Time” (check out the acronym), which has the fantastic opening line “The queer feminist book club came to an end.” “Laramie Time” stars a lesbian couple debating whether to have a baby (in the comic Leigh draws, a turtle wishes “reproduction was automatic or mandatory, so no decision was necessary”). “A Fearless Moral Inventory” features a pansexual who is a recovering sex addict. Adolescent girls are the focus in “The Black Winter of New England” and “Ooh, the Suburbs,” where they experiment with making lesbian leanings public and seeking older role models. “Pioneer,” probably my second favorite, has Coco pushing against gender constraints at a school Oregon Trail reenactment. Refusing to be a matriarch and not allowed to play a boy, she rebels by dressing up as an ox instead. The tone is often bleak or yearning, so “Counselor of My Heart” stands out as comic even though it opens with the death of a dog; Molly’s haplessness somehow feels excusable.

Six of the stories are in the third person and four in first person. I’d be interested to try Conklin’s longer-form work, and think first-person narration would particularly suit her. I didn’t really sense that this was a book meant for me, but that’s okay; a lot of readers will feel seen and represented. Pair this with, or have it on hand as a follow-up to, work by Allison Blevins, Melissa Febos and, most of all, Eley Williams.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.
Profile Image for Bandit.
4,896 reviews568 followers
January 16, 2022
With a title like that you go in expecting all the colors of the rainbow umbrella and you get mostly two, the lesbian and the trans. But a lot of it and in a lot of different configurations, different ages, etc.
This collection begins so strongly, the first story is absolutely terrific, and after that the quality is somewhat uneven, getting back to the initial level maybe twice or so. But then again, I may be biased, I found some of the stories more relatable and/or compelling than others. I suppose, those interested in specifically trans-related fiction and specifically of a younger age group, would have a different take on the book.
At any case, the author’s talent definitely blazes through; there’s a certain organic storytelling quality to it that denotes a genuinely gifted emotionally engaging writing. These stories come alive in that very specific way. They also tend to be complete, not just mere slices of life, with a proper arc and plot, which I enjoy in short fiction. Each one features a pivotal moment in its characters’ lives, something that’ll define or transform them in some way.
Overall, I liked this collection and not just from a diverse reading perspective, but as an interesting, well written and emotive work of literature. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/
249 reviews3 followers
June 7, 2022
This collection of stories was truly amazing as it gave us a perspective of humanity, and all its problems, awkwardness, sexuality and joy, through the lens of the queer community. If you have ever craved clarity of transgender, pansexuality, bisexuality, non-binary etc., this book will offer you that and more. We'll see it through the eyes of a young girl, as she figures out things using her friend and her friend's experiences to gain knowledge and ultimately, make decisions. A woman in her later years struggling with her own identity as she chaperones her 11 year old nephew, who is a transgendering Instagram influencer, to a LBGTQ community event. It is rare to get inside the heads of people but Conklin does it and teaches us.
Profile Image for BB Bux.
11 reviews3 followers
November 10, 2021
I was really lucky to get an advance copy of this short story collection. Lydia Conklin’s stories are about queer characters trying to find connection in the world, whether that’s in the form of an eternal love or a brief tryst or a true friend. So often too these characters are trying to navigate or swallow desire or understand its meaning. Sometimes they stumble, and sometimes they succeed, but you can almost hear their hearts beating, they are rendered so alive. Conklin has a keen eye for the strangeness of human behavior, and the ability to present that strangeness with incredible tenderness. The collection is a gorgeous testament to yearning and desire, of all kinds.
Profile Image for May Tulin.
1 review1 follower
July 8, 2022
Like many other readers, I related hard to Conklin's stories - but the author transformed these experiences I am familiar with into something so new! The pain was so intense that I had actual nightmares last night, that’s how deeply the author expressed some of this deep, lifelong anxiety I’ve never quite heard outside my own interior.

So that statement above is it's own TW. To me, that's good art. I don't love feeling upset, but I do love new feelings, fresh feelings, and learning and experiencing through art - which this collection engenders.

The only thing about their stories that didn’t resonate with me has to do with this struggle that so many of the characters faced: do I take the dive, what is this adventure I will face? I so steadfastly avoided that struggle my whole life by just eventually, quietly starting T without any big ceremony and just changing day by day. Each trans person’s narrative is a different narrative. So the sense of precipice, of closetedness, that tortured me from ages 14 to 30-or so, no longer relates to that particular narrative that is quite present in Lydia's stories. But… that’s not a criticism of Conklin's writing. I believe the issue with the bad Goodreads reviews is that everyone seems to want the stories to reflect their own narratives. As though, if the stories didn’t reflect my experience, they’re bad! If they did, they’re brilliant! Maybe… it’s just damn good writing, better than any of the reviewers could do, provocative and expressive and interesting. Just because Conklin didn't tell my story exactly doesn't mean it's not great writing. No one has a responsibility to tell everyone’s story from every perspective - just to use their own voice, which as readers we should appreciate as a gift!

I read so many trans and queer stories for straight/het audiences that are just these boring stories about coming out, victories over bigots and rainbows. Conklin's writing reminds me that there are vastly more stories to our lives, thank Goddess/x.

On that note, it's homophobes' and transphobes' fault, not Conklin's, that LGBTQ folks are seen as pedos and groomers. Of course writers have a responsibility to bear in mind the impact of their words, and I believe Conklin does. Consider, in contrast to "Rainbow Rainbow," the original "Queer as Folk" series on Showtime & BBC. The show clearly glorified an underage/adult relationship which would now be considered pedophilia. Conklin takes a more explicit approach to minor/adult abuse, taking responsibility as the author to make it clear that such relations are unhealthy, toxic, and not to be glorified. It's important in our community(ies) to portray and consider pedophilia. These relationships do exist within our community(ies), for their own particular queer and not-queer reasons of power & prejudice, just as they do in cishet community, for their own particular cishet reasons of power & prejudice. So what's wrong with portraying them? If anything's wrong with portraying them, it's not the author's fault, because they do so artfully, rather the media's fault, because they are bigoted and would find reasons to hate us even if we gave them only rainbows.
Profile Image for Jack.
733 reviews6 followers
November 26, 2023
2.5. (SA content warning) Conklin’s writing is tight and impressive, but man. Most of these stories felt uncomfortable and spiteful for the sake of it.

There are some major standouts. “Pioneer” is the best by leaps and bounds (as others who have also reviewed have said).

The elephant in the room is that so many of these stories involve heavy themes of child sexual assault that are touched upon, but don’t really seem to say anything other than be there as depressing shock value. This collection also includes a story about a sex addict who leaves her boyfriend after he was raped, and it somehow tries to land on a hopeful note and ends up fumbling the ball so bad that nearly DNF’d right then than there.

Maybe I’m just not the right audience, but these stories (the majority of them, really) just didn’t click with me at all. They felt so cynical, like the author was going out of their way to make the messiest queer characters out there when that psychological clutter just doesn’t make for a good story when that’s all there is, you know?

Not a big fan of two separate transmasc characters forgoing HRT because of worries about increased aggression, baldness, cancer, etc. Characters are characters, and they can have their own motivations, but it feels a little gross to have those characters parrot off stereotypical fear-mongering concerns about testosterone and just leave it there. Doesn’t help that the one story about a trans man on HRT involves him getting involved with a chaser.

The thing is that I love being made uncomfortable by art. I’m not always going in for a good passive time, but you need to engage me with something other than a cavalcade of misery to hold my interest. I should be able to glean something other than “Christ, that’s grim.”

Overall, I leave this with a bad taste in my mouth, as well as remorse for not liking the food when it was cooked so well.
Profile Image for Ruth.
171 reviews13 followers
October 9, 2021
Lydia Conklin's debut short story collection is a master class in composition. All the stories involve lesbian, trans, or non-binary individuals, but the similarity stops there. Each one embodies the nuances of relationship conflicts and vivid descriptions of very different geographic locations. I could not put the book down, and wished several of the stories were actual novels. The characters certainly were all fleshed out and interesting enough, even in the few pages allotted to each, to know what came next in their lives.

The first story "Laramie Time" is the poignant, heartbreaking conflict of a lesbian couple regarding the decision to have a child, and forcing them to face the conflicts within their partnership.

In "Pioneer", a child is asked to take a gender role during the class' assignment that that conflicts with their own identity, and thus faces the repercussions of refusing the role.

There is a story about two trans relatives, one unaware of the older one's identity; two teenage best friends who follow up an online flirtation with an older lesbian, with disastrous results. All the stories are written with compassion, care, and warmth for even the more unsavory characters.

I am genuinely looking forward to more of Conklin's work.
Many thanks for Catapult/Soft Skull Press for an ARC.
Profile Image for jbro.
6 reviews
June 1, 2022
Soothes my sapphic soul

I didn’t know what I was missing in reading this full collection of queerio magic. What an amazing talent. I saw myself in all the teens. THE best tonic for tired times. Will gift this to many of my peeps. ~jbro
Profile Image for Annie.
53 reviews4 followers
December 23, 2022
I have read many stories by this author and loved them all. I'm so excited to receive this when it is released! Lydia Conklin is a very talented writer and I look forward to reading more from them.
Profile Image for Bea Masters.
61 reviews7 followers
June 16, 2022
The more negative reviews seem like they're less about the stories and more about the cover/title creating a misleading expectation of joy and happiness. The description on Goodreads feels fairly accurate, though. "In this delightful debut collection of prize-winning stories, queer, gender-nonconforming, and trans characters struggle to find love and forgiveness, despite their sometimes comic, sometimes tragic mistakes." All of that feels very true, except I'd replace delightful with dark or challenging. I thought they were great stories but I wasn't running to read each one since most of them were fairly grim. But they were consistently engaging, each so different from the other, overall a collection worth reading.

(And I got my copy in a Goodreads giveaway.)
Profile Image for Bailey.
1,268 reviews91 followers
May 31, 2022
2.5?

This was one of my most anticipated releases for 2022. I've been loving short story collections lately and I especially was excited for a collection of queer stories by a non-binary author. Unfortunately, I did not end up really enjoying this one, partially because the title and cover had me thinking this would be full of queer joy, or at least not have every single story be quite so bleak.

This book had some strengths. The stories tended to feature primarily lesbians or trans people--and given the majority of "queer lit" is by/about gay men, this was a refreshing take to see trans lives centered. I think "Sunny Talks," was a fantastic story--it follows a person struggling to come out to their nephew as non-binary as they accompany him to a trans youtuber convention. Another story, "Cheerful Until Next Time," I found to be well-crafted and featured messy queers--people struggling to disentangle gender and sexuality and relationships in an honest way. However, even with those stories, I struggled to understand what exactly the message was. Overall, I found the writing to be lackluster--the stories tended to just end abruptly, or have the last couple paragraphs glimpse into the future, which I personally hate in short stories. If you have their whole lives planned out, write a novel.

Although I found the writing to be lackluster, I could look past that if it wasn't for some larger issues. Multiple stories involved sexual encounters between minors or a minor and an adult in a way that made me extremely uncomfortable. I do think there is a way to tastefully discuss minors exploring sexuality, but this was not it. In particular, "Ooh, the Suburbs" featured a queer adult abusing a minor, with the story told from the minor's perspective. Queer art does not have to be full of joy, not at all--but in this political climate, where we are being called groomers and pedophiles, I don't think an on-page depiction of a sexual encounter between someone in their twenties and someone fourteen (at most) was necessary at all.

Overall, I'm pretty disappointed in this collection, but I am interested in what Conklin writes next. I think (hope) that perhaps they may be better suited to a novel format.

Thanks to NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for honest review.

ratings by story
Laramine Time 3/5
The Black Winter of New England 2.5/5
Pink Knives 2.5/5
A Fearless moral Inventory 2.5/5
Pioneer 4/5
Counselor of My Heart 3.5/5
Sunny Talks 4.5/5
Cheerful Until Next Time 4.5/5
Ooh, the Suburbs 3.5/5
Boy Jump 4/5
Profile Image for Lori.
1,723 reviews55.6k followers
May 21, 2022
It's not often I receive pretty hardcovers in the mail so a sweet thank you to Catapult for sending one my way!

The last couple books I'd read left me feeling lukewarm at best and holy crap, I needed this! This book was just so fricken refreshing (and it was the first book I took outside with me to read, hello to the first day of the year where we broke into the 80's). Lydia's writing moves across the page like butter, sucking you right in. They have this knack of getting you to care for the characters immediately and making each protagonist easily accessible.

I see that some reviewers were triggered by the sexual abuse / slash / minors having sex. But for me, coming at these stories as a cis white female, I read them for what I believed them to be, a fictional but maybe also not so fictional peek into a world that is slightly differently than my own. So while the stories are from the perspective of pan, transitioning, and queer youth, they are still youth, and there was definitely some overlap with my own childhood - sneaking out at night to crash a party because all of your other friends were and the whole FOMO, crushing on people that are totally out of your league and waaaay too old for you, finding youself in slightly uncomfortable or weird situations wondering how the heck you got there and how the heck to eject youself out of it, and OMG the ferrets!!!

The only thing that really triggered me was the *spoiler not spoiler because it happens right at the start of the story* completely unneccessary dog death in Counselor of My Heart. It bothered me so much I did a little reel about it last night as I read it: Am I going to cry?

Honestly, though. Go on and grab this one, you guys. You'll thank me later.
Profile Image for Audra (ouija.reads).
742 reviews323 followers
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January 23, 2023
More than anything, the ten stories in this collection are about the continual process of self-discovery. The trans, queer, and gender nonconforming characters in these stories are all in various states of becoming. They make mistakes and go through horrible experiences. They discover joy and understanding. They find small and big ways to express what's happening for them internally. Nothing is perfect, nothing is permanent. It gets messy and uncomfortable, but that's a space that readers, especially cis and hetero readers, should be willing to inhabit.

These stories, of course, do not speak to the vast array of queer experience, nor should they be expected to. They are microcosms that confront constructs that society has told us are real, give voice to issues that are generally left unspoken, and center people whose experiences are marginalized. For me, these stories simply got it. They navigate relationships, societal expectation, identity, and even the quagmire that is the body itself. They force us to reckon with the state of humanity, in all its messiness and ugliness, in order that, if just for a brief moment, we are able to connect with the potential for humanity.
Profile Image for Ian!.
32 reviews9 followers
September 4, 2022
This was an interesting collection of short stories - full of vulnerability, quirks, and insight about trying to figure out your place in both the Queer community and along the spectrum of gender and sexual identity. I was captivated by a few of the stories but ultimately struggled to connect with the majority.

I do appreciate how the author highlighted certain parts of the Queer experience - though it was often uncomfortable and, as the description of the book forewarned, wince-inducing.
Profile Image for Michelle Dai.
297 reviews5 followers
May 15, 2023
these are all very challenging reads, but some of these stories are really compelling. i especially liked “pink knives” and “pioneer”- most stories of this collection focus on lesbian and trans experiences.
Profile Image for A Kade.
86 reviews6 followers
February 5, 2023
I like the theory behind this book…queer and gender expansive stories…but it just wasn’t for me. 🤷🏻‍♂️
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