WLW – Enby Yourself

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

Title: Legends & Lattes

Author: Travis Baldree

Year: 2022

Genre: Fiction, fantasy, gaslamp fantasy, romance, coffee shop

Queer shit: Yup! Lead character, also baked goods, tell me cinnamon rolls aren’t queer!

Vibe Check: Viv is done fighting beasts and ready to open a coffee shop in a new town, but first she has to build it (and teach people what coffee is)

Pile of Opinions: Viv is an orc ready to leave the violence of swords and quests behind and settle down into a new town and build a coffee shop and community. She faces obstacles and has to overcome some local trouble makers but this low stakes fantasy is as cozy as your favorite coffee shop. I recommend this to anyone who likes stories, liking fantasy or coffee is not a prerequisite. I don’t have much to say about this book other than you should read it and it immediately became one of my favorites so go read it then come tell me what you liked. The found family/community aspect of this absolutely melted my heart and the characters were all unique and delightful. There is a character that is nearly non-verbal, there is queer shit, and there is baked goods and coffee. Let me know if you’ve read it and what you thought.

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

Title: Juliet Takes a Breath

Author: Gabby Rivera

Year: 2016

Genre: YA fiction, personal growth, coming of age, coming out/queer

Queer shit: Lead (female) is gay, has a girlfriend, and is trying to come out to her family. Lots of support queer characters, lesbians, poly.

Vibe Check: jumping into the deep end before you are ready and being fine

Pile of Opinions: LOVED THIS BOOK. I needed more of this book the second I finished. Juliet is a lesbian about to go on summer break during her college years in 2003. She reads a book by a lesbian feminist in Portland Oregon who opens Juliet’s eyes to a world of queerness and body positivity that is new for her. She lands an internship with the author, decides to come out to her parents, and heads off to Portland for the summer. This book was empowering and human and made me want to up and go somewhere new and meet new people. This book covers the complexities of being gay in the early 2000’s, family dynamics and varying responses to queerness, intersectionality, white privilege, polyamory, and meeting your heroes only to find out they are human. This book is one I will reread soon and suggest to anyone who will listen (already sent a copy to someone so they’ll read it and we can talk about it). This book felt so real and personal and human and i just loved how Juliet builds relationships with the people she meets, how the characters love and make mistakes, and how the author addresses body image and the intersectionality of Juliet being a queer woman of color. The author portrays whiteness in a way that is both disappointing and incredibly accurate. Rivera uses a character to address white fragility and how queer white women cannot represent queer women very well because the experiences of queer women of color are not only different, but something white queer women cannot understand because they are not queer women of color. This book was light and enjoyable while touching on heavy and complex topics, the author balanced all of this brilliantly.

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