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The Empress of All Seasons by Emiko Jean

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace's enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete--all except yokai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren't hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yokai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life will be forfeit. As she struggles to keep her true identity hidden, Mari's fate collides with that of Taro, the prince who has no desire to inherit the imperial throne, and Akira, a half-human, half-yokai outcast. Torn between duty and love, loyalty and betrayal, vengeance and forgiveness, the choices of Mari, Taro, and Akira will decide the fate of Honoku in this beautifully written, edge-of-your-seat YA...

Of Things Unknown by Seanan McGuire (October Daye, #11.5)

This is an April O'Leary Novella. In it, April, as well as her living mother Li Qin have finally come to terms with the need to deal with all of the dead left in the aftermath of the earlier events in Tamed Lightning. For this plan, they will need to call a certain Blood Worker by the name of October Daye to assist them.

TITLE: Of Things Unknown
AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire
PUBLISHER: Daw Books
YEAR: 2016
LENGTH: 61 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Fantasy, Urban Fantasy
RECOMMENDED: Highly

OF THINGS UNKNOWN is a novella included with most editions of THE BRIGHTEST FELL.

Queer Rep Summary: Lesbian/Sapphic Secondary Character(s).

This beautifully addresses some past hurts long lingering, and is a welcome tale in the series. I like the way April uses a unique blend of idioms and reference points to see things differently from how Toby does. 

CW for grief, blood, violence (backstory), parental death (backstory), death (backstory).

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A pale woman with dark hair and pointed ears, wearing a leather jacket and jeans walks through a moonlit forest with a dagger in her hand and a wary look in her eye.


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