Critic Reviews
Great
Based on 8 reviews on
FINALIST FOR THE PEN/ROBERT W. BINGHAM PRIZE, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES ART SIEDENBAUM AWARD FOR FIRST FICTION, THE 2022 LAMBDA LITERARY PRIZE FOR TRANSGENDER FICTION, AND THE 2023 PUBLISHING TRIANGLE EDMUND WHITE AWARD FOR DEBUT FICTION
"These breathlessly imaginative stories are all the more remarkable for the elegant, organic ways in which the author unhooks language from its entrenched assumptions about men and women." --The New York Times Book Review"Thomas writes in a musical, incantatory style that approaches poetry . . . Thomas takes extraordinary care with syntax to let queer characters fully express themselves on the page. It's almost as if Thomas needed to create a new language to tell these stories; ours is still too binary." --Claire Oshetsky, The New York Times Book Review
"By projecting their characters desires' onto sketches of historical figures, Thomas has created their own archive . . . They remind us how the past was once the present, open to all possibilities until one choice flooded the horizon." --Grace Byron, The A.V. Club "Thomas' breathtaking prose sings while somehow also being precise and measured. More than once while reading, I gasped . . . More than once, I was angry at Thomas for being so talented, jealous that I'd never write fiction this well, disappointed that there weren't 25 more stories to read. More than once, I was moved to tears." --Abeni Jones, Autostraddle "At once fantastical and yet utterly true . . . the stories here pack a combined punch of entrancing prose examining gender, history, obsession, race, bodies, and all the mysteries within these words." --Sarah Neilson, Shondaland