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The second volume of My Brother's Husband by Gengoroh Tagame follows straight on from the first, continuing the story of Mike's time in Japan with his late husband's brother and niece. It's very sweet, particularly the growing affection between Mike and Kana, the little girl. It also continues Yaichi's journey of self-analysis regarding his attitudes towards homosexuality in a way that felt important and satisfying.
This is a great short series of manga volumes that looks at relationships in a very interesting and realistic way, with no neat answers but a lot of heart. Highly recommended.


Fae and Fare by pirateaba is the second instalment of the Wandering Inn series, and it's sooooooooo long. I had to take several breaks to listen to other audiobooks along the way, but I did finish it and I'm glad I did. The world is fascinating and I love a lot of the characters, and there are so many intriguing layers to the storytelling. But it's just all too much, with so many volumes and each of them being so very long. I also find a lot of the voices in the audio narration really annoying (which makes sense because the characters they represent *are* annoying) - but it adds and extra barrier to wanting to continue with the series. So I think I'm done - for now.


Song For Medusa by Grace Desmerais is a sapphic graphic novel retelling of the Medusa myth, with reframes her as the victim of the vagaries of the gods and the fear that lives in men. It's well-drawn and very involving. I felt really invested in both Medusa and Princess Cyrene, and I loved how the story eventually came together. The use of ancient Greece as a setting, with the gods taking an active role in proceedings, was good overall - though I'm not sure I wholly agree with the presentation of their involvement. I really enjoyed this, though - a lovely story that doesn't shy away from hard topics.

Sing Fox to Me by Sarah Kanake
This tells the story of teenage twin boys, who are left with their grandfather in a remote area of Tasmania.
It was very well written, especially with the four viewpoint characters having very distinct voices.
But it was very depressing and pretty unpleasant. I kept going until over halfway through, hoping for a sense that things might get more positive by the end, but the gory animals deaths got too much and I ended up DNF-ing it.


The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon
Well-written, layered, intellectual – about history and culture and religion and discrimination and complex relationships and personal morality and challenging authority – but I just couldn’t persuade my over-stretched brain to get into it.
I gave up when I realised I’d spent two days not reading because I didn’t want to read this book.


Neon Gods by Katee Robert
I was not expecting to enjoy this book, but I wanted to give it a try after hearing other people talk about it.
It's a 'dark retelling' of the Hades/Persephone myth, set in a modern-day city 'ruled' by the Thirteen, who take on the names of various Greek gods and goddesses when they accept their roles.
The writing isn't fantastic - there's a lot of repetition and it's a bit basic.
The world-building is almost non-existent and what is there makes very little sense.
But there's a pleasing level of self-awareness at certain points, suggesting it's not meant to be taken wholly seriously - though I don't imagine you're supposed to find it as funny as I did, especially in the first half.
It has a reputation for being quite transgressive and I was expecting a lot of toxic aspects to the romance - but it's actually mostly really sweet, and the sex is pretty vanilla (despite early discussions of BDSM) - with a satisfying emphasis on consent and pleasure on both sides.
There are only two sex scenes in the first half - then another seven in the next 100 pages. But the last 100 pages don't have any at all (except for the final scene) - and that's also where the plot really ramps up and the climax (no pun intended) is exciting, tension-filled, and had me very much wondering how it was all going to work out in the end.
I loved Hades (he's basically John Wick, which is a big draw for me) - and also Hermes for the humour and straight-talking.
As mentioned, the setting of this story makes almost no sense at all - but I really enjoyed this anyway, and I'm actually keen to read on in the series.