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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...
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Comfort Me with Apples by Catherynne M. Valente

Sophia was made for him. Her perfect husband. She can feel it in her bones. He is perfect. Their home together in Arcadia Gardens is perfect. Everything is perfect.

It's just that he's away so much. So often. He works so hard. She misses him. And he misses her. He says he does, so it must be true. He is the perfect husband and everything is perfect.

But sometimes Sophia wonders about things. Strange things. Dark things. The look on her husband's face when he comes back from a long business trip. The questions he will not answer. The locked basement she is never allowed to enter. And whenever she asks the neighbors, they can't quite meet her gaze....

But everything is perfect. Isn't it?

TITLE: Comfort Me with Apples
AUTHOR: Catherynne M. Valente
PUBLISHER: Tordotcom
YEAR: 2021
LENGTH: 112 pages
AGE: Adult
GENRE: Horror
RECOMMENDED: Highly

Queer Rep Summary: No canon queer rep.

COMFORT ME WITH APPLES is a story of trouble in paradise, when Sophia finds something out of place and begins to question everything she knows about her life.

The worldbuilding is amazing, deftly layered through lists of community rules and the details of Sophia’s explorations. Sophia is a bit saccharine as a character, I prefer more of an edge to protagonists, but her sweetness is important to the plot and is used very well. 

I love the ending, it ties things up neatly in a way that suits the story as a whole.

CW for fatphobia (brief), gaslighting, death.

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A close-up of a woman's face with vines in front of it. The purple flowers from the vine surround her eyes like eyeshadow too low on her face.


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