Dragonfall by L.R. Lam

Pages: 448 

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton 

Released: 2nd May 2023 

Long ago, humans betrayed dragons, stealing their magic and banishing them to a dying world. Centuries later, their descendants worship dragons as gods. But the 'gods' remember, and they do not forgive.

Thief Arcady scrapes a living on the streets of Vatra. Desperate, Arcady steals a powerful artifact from the bones of the Plaguebringer, the most hated person in Lumet history. Only Arcady knows the artifact's magic holds the key to a new life among the nobles at court and a chance for revenge.

The spell connects to Everen, the last male dragon foretold to save his kind, dragging him through the Veil. Disguised as a human, Everen soon learns that to regain his true power and form and fulfil his destiny, he only needs to convince one little thief to trust him enough to bond completely–body, mind, and soul–and then kill them.

Yet the closer the two become, the greater the risk both their worlds will shatter.

 What I Have to Say 

This was definitely the dragon book I wanted. I loved the plot and the way that the dragons were described, I loved the shape shifting, both the dragon's different forms and the shapeshifting that the humans could do with their magic. I loved the magic system and the dangers that come from it. I just loved everything. 

This book was so inclusive as well. Not only was one of the main characters genderfluid, but there was also mentions of hearing loss and a commonly known sign language as well. Not only that but I was intrigued by the honorific They pronoun and how no one's gender was assumed until they said it themselves! 

The plot was good. A nice heist and the run up to it, even though the emphasis was on the two main characters bonding. It could have been really boring, but the way it was written meant there was always some action to be had. 

If you like dragons and queer representation, look no further!! 

4 stars 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for providing me with this copy for review. 

Louis & Louise by Julie Cohen

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Orion 

Released: 24th of January 2019 

ONE LIFE. LIVED TWICE.

Louis and Louise are the same person born in two different lives. They are separated only by the sex announced by the doctor and a final 'e'.

They have the same best friends, the same red hair, the same dream of being a writer, the same excellent whistle. They both suffer one catastrophic night, with life-changing consequences.

Thirteen years later, they are both coming home.

Trigger Warnings: rape, suicide, childbirth

What I Have to Say 

A fascinating thought exercise into how gender and the way people treat you because you are one gender or another. Louis and Louise are created carefully to be recognisably the same person, but the way that their lives have developed change the way their life goes. It's interesting how something as small as the fact that they make friends with the same gender as children, both of them making friends with a twin boy and girl, but with Louis being closer to the boy and Louise being closer to the girl. 

In the early stages, it was a little repetitive. Hearing both Louis and Louise's birth twice was a bit dull, even though they had the viewpoint from a different parent for each child. But soon it moved to either focusing on one of the Lou's at a time or talking about them both with a neutral They pronoun. 

I honestly wasn't sure what I'd think of this book when I requested it. I thought it might be interesting, but wasn't sure what it would be like, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was well written and the two different versions of Lou were really well written and engaging. 

An interesting concept and a really engaging story. 

My thanks go to Orion and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

The Pants Project by Cat Clarke

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 272

Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky  

Released: 7th of March 2017 

"My name is Liv (Not Olivia)... I'm not technically a girl.

I'm Transgender. Which is a bit like being a transformer. Only not quite as cool as cool because I probably won't get to save the world one day."

A Transformer is a robot in disguise. Liv is a boy in disguise. It's that simple. Liv knows he was always meant to be a boy, but with his new school's terrible dress code, he can't even wear pants. Only skirts.

Operation: Pants Project begins! The only way for Liv to get what he wants is to go after it himself. But to Liv, this isn't just a mission to change the policy- it's a mission to change his life. And that's a pretty big deal.

What I Have to Say 

This is a book that highlights how badly school dress code can be damaging to transgender teens. I grew up having skirts as the school uniform policy. Even while being cis, I hated it but even as I began to understand transgender and the issues surrounding it, it was never something that crossed my mind that would be a problem. This book opened my eyes to the small ways in which transgender kids can be hurt every day. 

I loved Liv as a character.  I love his love of comics and zombies and the way he builds up a good group of friends around him. Friends who don't care that acts differently to the girls in his class. The only problem is the bullies. And the skirt he has to wear every day. 

This is a story about activism and friendship. About finding who your friends really are. The only problem I had with it was the way they dealt with the bullying. It's the same way as bullying is dealt with in every other book. It's showing the textbook way of dealing with bullies and as most schoolchildren know, it just doesn't work. It felt a bit too moralistic of a story in that way. 

Really though, this is a story to inspire. It's a story of how you can change the world or at least your little bit of it. 

My thanks go to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review.