This book gave so many little facts that made my heart sing.

Of course we all know that queer people always existed. That we might be hidden in history but nontheless always existed. But what if we go back, and uncover every little corner where we might have been before? What if we look deeper into history and see how we were maybe essential to the stories we all grew up with? This simple premise sounded a lot of fun to read, but only when I was a few chapters in I realized how much I actually needed a book like this. This book made me squeal, smile, share little facts to all my friends. I needed this reminder that yes we really have been here since the start. And reminding me it did in the best way possible.

This book takes for each chapter a different creature and that was a lot of fun. Instead of going chronological it was held together by themes. This way we read many little stories why a unicorn might be tied to queer people. Ever time I was suprised to see there were more ways we are connected to each folklore creature. I didn't expect that each of them had so many ties to queer people. Reading about all of them was thus really a big good time.

I also want to talk about how respectful this book was for historical people. It held the right balance of reading between the lines of written history, while still not assuming big things. It definitely hinted towards a lot of things but wouldn't put labels down on people. Gendernonconforming historical people were called gendernonconforming instead of straight up trans for example. Gendernonconforming is a descriptive that definitely was accurate for them, and doesn't label them with an identity like trans is. I felt like the book did this really well.

Concluding this book is amazing if you're queer and want to know more facts about how we're rooted in the stories of the world.


I received an eARC and this was my honest review.