fairytale – Enby Yourself

Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: Lightkeepers

Author: Kennedy Plumb

Year: 2022

Genre: YA, modern retelling of fairy tale

Queer shit: None that I remember

Vibe Check: Foster kids, modern Rapunzel, cults, finding freedom and finding home

Pile of Opinions: I love a good fairytale retelling! The Lightkeepers is a Rapunzel retelling set in modern times where Rapunzel is part of an extremist cult where she is locked up out of fear of a (fake) virus that impacts children under 18 the most. She meets her travel companion for a night of freedom after starting to question the validity of the virus her ‘mother’ tells her about. CW: this story does involve foster care experiences, kidnapping, and near the end there is a gun pulled but not shot. This book also explores found family, finding yourself, coming of age, and all the children are safe by the end of the book btw. I enjoyed this retelling and how it explored the capacity people (even young people, stop underestimating teenagers) are capable of and resilience the world often demands of them. The journey of our two leads finding home was collectively heart wrenching and heartwarming.

Buy Lightkeepers

Book Review (more just a pile of my personal opinions from my personal experiences)

Title: Blanca and Roja

Author: Anna-Marie McLemore

Year: 2018

Genre: YA Fantasy/Fiction/Folktales/swans

Queer shit: Trans/non-binary, queer relationship, gender fluidity and expression, pronouns.

Vibe Check: the vibe of this was kind of like panicked siblings left unsupervised. I really liked that set up though because it also was big about the complex nature of sibling relationships and how your siblings can be your best friends and your biggest enemies then back to your best friends in the same conversation. Sibling dynamics are very interesting and very sacred to me. Also big swan vibes.

Pile of Opinions: Anna-Marie McLemore has quickly become one of my favorite authors the last couple years after a friend introduced me to their work. I love the folklore vibes of all their books (that I have read so far) and thoroughly enjoy how the stories are told. Blanca and Roja are sisters but their family has a dark curse; each generation always has two daughters, and one is always taken by the swans due to a questionable deal made with the swans generations ago. The sisters must work together to find a solution, but the sisters are also rivals because you don’t know who the swans will take. This book covered sibling bonds, exploring gender identity and expression, delicious apples, and teen shenanigans. I really enjoyed this story and wish I had all of McLemore’s books when I was younger. The way they keep mystery throughout the story and sweep you up in storytelling is beautiful and soul-healing. I find myself getting caught up in the characters and don’t try to predict the outcome, I just enjoy the storytelling.

Buy Blanca and Roja