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Kinship and Kindness by Kara Jorgensen

Bennett Reynard needs one thing: to speak to the Rougarou about starting a union for shifters in New York City before the delegation arrives. When his dirigible finally lands in Louisiana, he finds the Rougarou is gone and in his stead is his handsome son, Theo, who seems to care for everyone but himself. Hoping he can still petition the Rougarou, Bennett stays only to find he is growing dangerously close to Theo Bisclavret. Theo Bisclavret thought he had finally come to terms with never being able to take his father’s place as the Rougarou, but with his father stuck in England and a delegation of werewolves arriving in town, Theo’s quiet life is thrown into chaos as he and his sister take over his duties. Assuming his father’s place has salted old wounds, but when a stranger arrives offering to help, Theo knows he can’t say no, even if Mr. Reynard makes him long for things he had sworn off years ago. As rivals arrive to challenge Theo for power and destroy the life Bennett has built, ...

Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison

Bastard out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison was a hard book for me to read. It’s full of rage and pain and trauma because it is capturing the shape of real rage and pain and trauma. It is dark because dark things happen. The narrator is a child slowly losing naïveté but without enough well-rounded experience to stop being seen as innocent. She is hurt and confused because she is being hurt without reason or sense. Nominally she is blamed but it isn’t her fault, it can’t be. Minimizing spoilers, Bastard out of Carolina requires trigger warnings for child abuse and rape. It is a good book, one that should be read either as a window or an outlet, for it is worth your time and your attention. “Enjoy” is not the word, but I recommend Bastard out of Carolina for how it crosses taboos to reach for wordless rage and common traumatic experiences. Rape and child abuse should not be common. But since they are we must also have the words to speak of them.

CW for child abuse, sexual assault.

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