Book Review: The In-Between Bookstore

The In-Between Bookstore 

by Edward Underhill
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Giving this one 3 stars is generous. A whole star is added because it has good trans/queer representation.
Things that were lacking in this book are easily broken down:

1) The time travel, magical realism aspect here is redundant and irrelevant. It’s merely a mechanism for our MC to learn about himself instead of a way to move the plot forward. It’s never explained, appears to have limited rules, and very random. To say I’m not a fan of unstructured magic like this would be an understatement. I feel the same emotional growth could have been had by our MC by finding a journal he wrote but couldn’t remember much from and experiencing his own words on the page or in another format. The time travel was totally unnecessary.

2) Nothing happens. Okay that’s a lie, sex happens, once. And it’s a wasted opportunity to discuss what sex is like for a trans man, instead of having a narrative about it the sexual partner indicates he knows what to do or be aware of and nothing more is said. It could have been a great moment of education for readers, and a better understanding of a trans man who has had too surgery but not bottom. Instead it’s totally wasted. Otherwise our MC just wanders around his home town whining and acting like a teenager (even though he’s supposed to be 30!).

3) This author is better known for YA books. And in all honesty he should stick to them. The In-Between Bookstore reads like a coming of age novel; except our MC is 30 years old, whiny, annoying, and makes no sense. It was so weird for him to flip back and forth regarding who he wanted to be friends with, who he cared about, and other emotional issues.

Unfortunately this novel, while short enough, shouldn’t have hit shelves as is. It needed more direction, mature editing, and a real purpose that made more sense to the reader. It also needed some guts to really push on what gender dysphoria feels like, sex with a trans man, and the difficulty of coming out. Instead it glazes over most of these issues without really drawing the reader in. There are many better trans books to read out there (thankfully). I would leave this one on the shelf.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

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Book Review: Yellow Wife

Yellow Wife 

by Sadeqa Johnson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yellow Wife is a well-written, horrifying story of slavery treatment. The coping and hoping that so many had to endure; and the ultimate sacrifice of identity, modesty, and humanity that is tragically lost along the way.

The story itself is very good and based loosely on facts. Given there is a fair bit of fiction here, everything felt believable (tragically) throughout. The biggest flaw however is that there is a bit of distance left between the reader and all the characters. At first I felt like this was left in place because Sadeqa Johnson is trying to give the reader the feeling of what many would have done to preserve their own sanity; distanced themselves from their living situations and reality. Eventually it felt like it was more a lack of intimate writing. I never really felt an enduring connection with any of our characters, including our leading lady. It was just a little too superficial when it came to emotions. This was especially true when it came down to scenes describing intense torture, insane grief, and other massively impactful moments. I'll admit that it's possible that more would have been too much for many readers. By keeping Yellow Wife at a bit of a distance Johnson allows more readers to be able to experience the reality of the extreme conditions for so many slaves in the Southern USA. For me that feels a bit cheap. Although I will admit to liking grimdark fantasy and horror so perhaps I'm not the right person to decide what is 'too much' for the average reader. That's not to say that I desire more harshness and intolerable conditions; just that it didn't connect for me like many other stories of this genre often do. At no time was I choked up or brought to tears. My fear for our characters was not as intense as it could likely have been and it was easy to casually pick this book up. Given the content and subject matter that is a bit surprising; but again leaves the novel readily accessible for a larger crowd of readers, which is awesome in it's own way.

I will look for more books by Johnson as I really liked the trueness that came across on the page. It felt very genuine and the research incorporated so many truths in it that it was nearly impossible to know what was likely fiction versus based on fact until I reader the Author's Note at the end. As with many historical stories Johnson provides us with a list of sources, supplemental reads, and details about what was based on as much fact as she could find.

Overall this is a shorter historical fiction book that is well worth everyone's time to read. It gives a brutal, excruciating view of the horrendous conditions of slavery in the South. I feel it's very timely given the recent events in the USA (it was just inauguration day) and how quickly things can deteriorate to conditions that are beyond unacceptable for any humans to exist in. While I do not believe that true 'ownership' slavery will ever come back; there is a fine line between slavery and creating social conditions that render certain groups of people into deplorable conditions, restrict their income or educational abilities, and in general control the lives of others. What is truly terrifying is that it's not as if equality had been gained between the timeframe of this book and today; and yet we are now seeing the rights and livelihood's of others taken away for no other reason than the colour of their skin, religion, sexuality, or place of birth. It's disgusting and I hope that books like Yellow Wife can remind people to fight back and remind themselves/ourselves that every human is equally special and precious.

If nothing else Yellow Wife does bring to the forefront that a common evil or enemy can create friendships and alliances that benefit the greater good. Let us hope that we see a lot more of this happen today as it did back then.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.