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softness-and-shattering · 9 months

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The Fae Keeper, sequel to The Witch King by H. E. Edgmon

Context: The trans guy protagonist is being offered magic transition by an antagonist he's been chasing. She's stalling for time.

Italics are from the book, bold is mine for emphasis.

Page 24

I refuse to bend to the cis logic that my body is wrong, that I am a boy's soul stuck in a girl's bones, that the only appropriate way to be trans is to hate myself. I dont want to be cis. I don't want the magical penis Clarke is offering me, and I wouldn't go back and give up the experiences transness has given me either.

Seriously. Me, a cis man? No thank you.

And yet...there is a part of me that wants to buy what she's selling, and I hate myself for it.

1. Relatable oof ouch ow that dichotomy

2. "I dont hate myself because Im trans! I hate myself for other reasons! My self hate has nothing to do with you! I hate myself for all my own reasons!!! Nyeehhhhhh"

This is so fucking funny.

(This is not lack of reading comprehension. Its deliberate character work. Its good writing. Its also hilarious. Dude is making progress. He has very far to go).

#the witch king #the fae keeper #not the martha wells witch king different book #mine #h. e. edgmon #does this series have a name?#not that i can see #alrighty then

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26lettersandmanyjourneys · 1 year

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09.01.2023

Another Christmas gift I just couldn't wait to read

#26lettersandmanyjourneys #books #reading update #pic #h. e. edgmon #the witch king

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monstercollection · 2 years

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Finally back to making progress on the Literary Tarot Deck Challenge.

For anyone new to my tumblr, the Brink Literacy Project created a tarot deck with cards based on works of classic literature. Each card was selected by a contemporary author or comics/graphic novel illustrator who also helped write the guide to interpreting that card.

The challenge I’ve set for myself is to read each classic work and one thing by every author/illustrator. Including the fan-picked alternative cards, that comes out to 162 books.

I just finished The Witch King by H. E. Edgmon. It’s a queer YA urban fantasy novel about a trans witch named Wyatt who is pulled back into the magical world he tried to escape. As a child, he was betrothed to the crown prince of the Fae who wants the marriage to go forward for the sake of the kingdom and his own heart.

The book deals with some pretty heavy content and Edgmon who is himself transmasc admits in the forward that it’s very much a vehicle for processing his trauma. But it’s also a love letter to queer identities in every combination.

The book’s cast also includes a bisexual ace Indigenous teen who identifies with womanhood and matriarchy but rejects European society’s construction of those two things. There is a non-binary lesbian freedom fighter witch. I also think there is also a solid case to be made that Prince Emyr’s soulmate bond with Wyatt is a a flavor of demisexuality but it’s not ever explicitly described as such.

Wyatt’s experience as a trans man is also different from the most commonly pushed narrative of a person “born in the wrong body.” I think it’s extremely important to have the representation of a variety of trans experiences, especially when drawn from the personal experience of that author.

Style wise, the writing reminds me of the Percy Jackson books, but with a more chaotic stream-of-consciousness, lots of memes, Gay Culture and teenage horniness.

I don’t think Edgmon always manages to pull off first-person present tense style well. The plot is rushed and we are constantly bombarded with one chaotic situation after another, and many times they don’t feel linked by cause and effect in a way that would be natural.

At the same time, this is Edgmon’s first book, and it’s level of dedication to portraying queerness in all it’s messiness and beauty is something you just don’t find in other books. He treats each character’s experience of identity and sexuality and something unique to them. He’s committed to the idea that there is no one way to construct gender and no boxes to limit sexuality. This is a book I desperately wish I’d had 15 years ago.

Edgmon does begin the book with a pretty thorough content warning and I want to include it here so people are aware without buying the book. There are instances of sexual harassment of a minor and one assault scene that is not graphic but it’s there. There is also a character who attempts to use his psychic powers to groom a minor. Bodily autonomy is a major theme and especially with the state of things in the US being what they are, this may hit close to home for some folks.

Again, Edgmon says right up front some of this book is rooted in his personal trauma but there is also a strong sense of the empowerment of that comes from reclaiming your pain. There is also an element of revenge fantasy that feels satisfying. If you’re the type of person who finds yourself joking about your own trauma as a way of coping, you’re going to relate to Wyatt.

I do plan to eventually read the sequel— The Fae Keeper— at some point. For all it’s flaws, I liked The Witch King enough that I’m willing to see if Edgmon grew as a writer between the two. If he didn’t, it’s a fast enough read that I won’t mind. I still want to know what happens next and spend more time with these supernatural disaster queers and their world.

If you like the “fated soulmate” trope and are down for a friends-to-lovers-to-enemies-to-lovers-again romance, I honestly think it’s worth the read. If you’ve got an LGBTQAI+ teen in your life that could use a book that they can see themselves in, I recommend it for them too.

This puts me at 46/162 books. I’m not sure what I’m doing next. I know I was supposed to tackle Whitman but am trying to keep up with my book club, Dracula Daily, and finish the Daevabad Trilogy so I may just try to knock some easy reads and short stories off the list.

#literary tarot challenge #brink literacy project #literary tarot #tarot #the witch king #h. e. Edgmon #queer fiction #queer lit #YA #diverse books #lgbtq+ literature #queer books #trans protagonist #wyatt Croft #Emyr North

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cateyedfox36 · 1 year

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Call me a baby (you're a baby) but the worst thing about library books is that I can't highlight or mark up my books. Like how do I show "haha this part is funny/sad/poignant/ect" without scribbling in a book? I won't freaking remember this line in 10 minutes, let alone the page number!

Grump grump grump

Anyways I'm really enjoying The Witch King, and as much as Wyatt is not interested in political intrigue I love that shit and dearly want to know more. Hope someone actually explains it to him.

#trans rights readathon #Witch king #H. E. Edgmon #Library books are sacred #Don't touch that highlighter!#Grump grump grump

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draconiclore · 2 years

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30 Days of Pride books (with @miraclerizuin)

Day 5: The Witch King by H. E. Edgmon

#books #pride #the witch king #h. e. edgmon #gay #transgender

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yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere · 4 months

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Tahereh Mafi, i love you so much❤ 🍉 👑

besides my queen Tahereh Mafi-some other favorite authors of mine that support Free Palestine, and speak out against Israel's crimes include: Sabaa Tahir, Aaron H Aceves, Adam Silvera, H.E. Edgmon (he/they), Mason Deaver (they/them), Casey McQuiston (they/them), Leigh Bardugo, Holly Black, Zoulfa Katouh

+

♥.

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sparkystar26888 · 2 months

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just finished godly heathens by h e edgmon and currently going insane please let me know someone else is too it was SO GOOD

#godly heathens #h e edgmon #trans rep #demiromantic #rep #polyamory #just so much rep

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satan-wishes-he-was-me · 1 year

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#i’m finishing the fae keeper and briar and jin are getting to me #briar’s “at what point is wanting to sue for the greater good actually just a socially acceptable way of wanting to die?”#how about you drive a knife through my heart #and jin’s “i’m done fighting for a world that doesn’t love me. i’ll love me.”#and tessa too #holy shit #this book #i know it doesn’t even have a fandom but god #the witch king #the fae keeper #h e edgmon

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pearblossommina · 1 year

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I LOVE THIS BOOK I LOVE THIS BOOK I LOVE THIS BOOK

“Faery is not arrogant enough to assume we know anything about our children before they’ve a chance to learn it for themselves.” She shakes her head. “There are as many genders as there are people. And each one of them comes into the language they’d like to use for themself, in their own time.”

#feel so many feelings right now #this book!!!!!!#The Fae Keeper by H. E. Edgmon

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gabiioreblogs · 2 years

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HOLY SHIT it's the first time I read neo pronouns in a published novel! hell yeah!

#win #the fae keeper #the witch king #H E edgmon #okay yeah ill have to talk about these books because TFK is reallly good!

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nerd-at-sea5 · 3 days

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just finished godly heathens and my first thought is ‘holy crap there better be a sequel’ AND THERE IS

and bc i am implosive and love reading i have already bought merciless saviors on my kindle

this might be my new favorite book series and i’ve only read one of them

#godly heathens #merciless saviors #h.e edgmon #h e edgmon #books #reading

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lilibetbombshell · 5 months

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ilikereadingactually · 11 months

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Godly Heathens

Godly Heathens by H. E. Edgmon

i went back and forth on this book all the way through reading it. i think it's not quite for me, but i can easily imagine the readers who will really love it! it's got some compelling moments and an interesting premise, and it's such a hugely delightful experience to read about trans characters in a plot that's not totally centered around the struggles of being trans. those stories absolutely have a place, but i love reading about people just doing wild things while also being trans. i also really specifically enjoyed the embodiment of transness in this book--different kinds of trans bodies, people wearing binders, top surgery scars, attraction rooted in physical sensation, pronouns often decoupled from physical descriptions even as pronouns were shifting back and forth. WHAT! A! DELIGHT!

the plot had a comic-booky feel to me, in a fun way! alternate universes, reincarnated gods, magical power and weird memory things, all pretty neat in concept. i honestly think a graphic novel adaptation of this book would be very fun and might work better for me personally. it's very fast-moving, and i've found that i usually need a little more time to get to know and love the characters before i can follow along with a story that escalates as quickly as this one does. the pacing and characterization often strained my suspension of disbelief and the twists were easier to see coming than i prefer, but for a different reader i think it would be thrilling and full of little surprises and turns! (and i know a lot of readers like a fuckboy--character's own assessment--a bit more than i do lmao)

i was really into the theme of balance happening in the book though, on every level from the cosmic good and bad of two different worlds to the very personal balance of the biracial, nonbinary main character! the push and pull between aspects of their gender, their god-heritage passed through one parent and Seminole heritage passed through the other, their opposing relationships--everything tied back to the balance theme, which was fantastic.

the ending is really where i got hung up. i enjoy a good cliffhanger, something that introduces a new conflict or problem or goal to draw you into the next book in a series after the main conflict of the book you're reading has been resolved. that's not quite what happened here; what seemed to me to be the main conflict, the latest incarnation of a battle between these various gods, came down to a choice made in the very last moment, with the resolution presumably yet to come in the next book. so for me, it's wanting without getting satisfaction versus wanting, feeling the satisfaction of triumph or tragedy, and then discovering that there's more and wanting that. this is probably less of a turn off for folks without ADHD, but i need that big dopamine hit!!

i want to end on a high note though, so let me sum up by saying that this is an exciting and speedy, snappy book that i think a lot of readers will really enjoy!

the deets

how i read it: an e-galley from NetGalley. i got a bunch of approvals all at once recently so look forward to several more galley reviews from me in the near future! love that phase in the marketing where it's getting close to the pub date and the publishers look at my extremely average stats and go "yeah ok we've approved all the useful reviewers already, we can throw her a bone"

try this if you: delight in a majority-trans cast, dig a speedy pace, crave a little horror tinge in your fantasy, or like a little complicated and messy relationship stuff on the side.

a line i really liked:

"But let's not overstate our similarities. I've built my dominion on wonder and yearning. You are the king of cacoëthes. Your kingdom knows only bloodshed and damnation."

I literally do not even know what cacoëthes is. Dream-me is so big-brained and sexy.

pub date: November 28, 2023!

#books and reading #book reviews #bookblr #godly heathens #h e edgmon #young adult fantasy

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cateyedfox36 · 1 year

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I made a poster board!

This was meant to go to work, but apparently we can't display solicitations bc as always the MLM huns ruined it for everyone.

So here it is! I was feeling very elementary school science fair when I made this and gosh I am delighted!

I'm starting bright and early tomorriw- I'm cheating a little by already starting 'When the angels left the old country" but it's so flapping good you guys!

Ok the organization is my local trans support project that provides clothing and other necessities to trans folks in my state. If you want to donate to your own, that's cool, I know in US every state is going full nazi on trans folks, just keep in mind SOUTH DAKOTA is a trash pit of human rights and were very small.

Heres the link. Any amount pledged helps.

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instantkrazy · 1 year

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My first book festival experience at yallwest was very fun. If I keep going to festivals I will need another bookshelf.

#yallwst #yallwest 2023 #ARCs #sarah raasch #beth revis #judy bloom #gretchen schrieber #kathryn purdie #h e edgmon #olivia worley #p djèlí clark #kristen simmons #ali hazelwood #kayvion lewis #j elle #niki pau preto #david arnold #lynn painter #YA

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yourartmatters-itswhatgotmehere · 2 years

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after reading TheWitchKing-just my happy&grateful queer heart♥

I’m just so super grateful and happy that books like these exist in this world and that every following year i see more and more of them. just thinking abt all those young queer kids&teens who will have so much support&love&guides along the way makes me wanna cry with joy♥♥

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