I was in my senior year of college before I learned to spot the widespread vilification of vulvas and vaginas. In reading Swedish artist Liv Strömquist's graphic novel, Fruit of Knowledge: The Vulva vs. The Patriarchy, I relived every emotion and thought I had at the moment of realization. For feminists looking to renew and … Continue reading Fruit of Knowledge: A Review
Among the many graphic novels that have attempted to capture the distinct feeling of facelessness that our all-digital, social media-minded age presents, Aisha Franz's Shit Is Real may come the closest to accurately portraying that experience. Following Selma — recently single, becoming isolated — as she floats through an increasingly weird landscape of strangers, Shit … Continue reading Shit Is Real: A Review
The fates of four parallel worlds collide in V.E. Schwab's A Darker Shade of Magic, the first in a trilogy of high-concept fantasy novels from the Monsters of Verity author. Pairing a plane-shifting magician with a ne'er-do-well teenage pirate, Schwab invites readers into a world in which magic is real, and another version of their … Continue reading A Darker Shade of Magic: A Review
If there's one thing I have learned as a voracious consumer of speculative fiction, it's that not every strange, narrative happening requires a thorough explanation. In fact, it's rather nice to not overthink the whys of a fun fantasy, to just go with the flow and accept a novel's events as they come along. In … Continue reading The Gentleman: A Review
Following the success of his 2015 short-story collection, Hall of Small Mammals, Thomas Pierce invites readers into the life of former dead man Jim Byrd with The Afterlives. Pierce's novel is part Gothic mystery, part comedy ghost story, and wholly memorable. The Afterlives centers on Jim, the recipient of a game-changing pacemaker that connects to … Continue reading The Afterlives: A Review