The Neurospicy Bean

  I had this book sitting in my room for I kid you not a few years before I finally got around to it earlier this year, and it was absolutely a book that made me think, why on earth did I wait so long to read this? There were so many different stories from so many different creative perspectives, and I loved reading them. It did also make me realize I’m not quite as familiar with King Arthur as I thought I was – there were stories that I struggled to make the connections the author had intended. Still, for the most part thoroughly enjoyable. The Once and Future Qadi ★★★★ This story was a really interesting starting point because it’s essentially just one element of the original King Arthur story (the trial of Lancelot and Guinevere) but from the perspective of a new character coming from a completely different culture. It paints a compelling portrait of Guinevere, and it never misses an opportunity to skewer sexism and xenophobia – often at the same time. A nice little read, though...

  (NetGalley eARC) This is exactly what a retelling should be. One of the challenges that has cropped up with this series of retellings – and all queer retellings – is how to write a queer retelling of a tragedy critiquing humanity’s greatest flaws that’s really just kind of a bummer…without falling into the age-old trap of “bury your gays.” Too much deviation from the original, and you lose the emotional and intellectual core of the story – some of you might remember my frustration with the Great Gatsby retelling earlier in this series. Too loyal to the original, and not only have you not created anything new but you’ve also bought into one of the most insidious, heart-breaking ways that our society tells queer people our existence is inherently a joyless burden. Without getting into spoiler territory, I just want to say: this book absolutely nailed the balancing act. Fundamentally, Romeo and Juliet is a story about young people who are so trapped by their parents and society and...