A beautiful collection of sixteen short stories that are filled with mystery, magic and wonder – creating a powerful statement about the othering of queer people and culture by placing them in an otherworldly story. There is just something about placing the obstacles and struggles of the queer experience in a backdrop of surreal magic and adventure that emphasises the absurdity of the hatred we receive for simply existing in our world.
We journey to ancient times and modern offices. Visit witches, magicians, fairies and immortal beings in adventures that were delicate, thoughtful and absorbing.
Every story has a curious, playful energy - with beautifully descriptive settings, fantastic characters and richly vivid, lyrical prose throughout. As a short story, of course you can’t always capture the ‘full story’ as it were which at times left me wishing for just a little more context; but the author instead gives us a series of moments that don’t necessarily follow a typical story structure, instead almost acting like a crystal ball and letting us temporarily watch a few moments of life in this mystical world.

This was a good time overall. A cute collection of magical queer short stories, mostly with cozy endings, what’s not to love?

While the description intrigued me, for me the stories fell flat. I couldn‘t finish the book. Even though I recognize you can‘t put the depth of a novel into short stories, I felt like something was missing, I wanted more. I would understand the initial concept of the stories but then there was no build-up, no excitement and so I couldn’t emotionally connect to the stories. Some of the passages were written beautifully so I have no doubt the author is a great writer, but I wish they had chosen another format for their ideas.