Gwen and Art Are Not In Love, by Lex Croucher

In medieval England, there still reigns a division between the Catholics and the "cultists" (followers of the Arthurian legends).  Gwen's father, the king, tries to keep the peace and hold the kingdom together.  Part of pulling that off is betrothing Gwen to the odious son of a former rival. Art.  Gwen and Art have met over the years at various events, but never gotten along.

Now nearing her eighteenth birthday, the day of the nuptial is about to arrive.  But as much as Gwen is dreading the moment and prepared for the worst, she isn't quite prepared for the discovery that Arthur actually prefers boys or for the revelation that her brother, the crown prince, likes Art!  This may all work out though because Gwen is hot for a lady knight.

The result is a complicated entanglement where the four of them work out ways to make their desires match the requirements of kingdom building in the middle ages.  Meanwhile, the drums of war beat softly in the background for most of the story until they suddenly burst forth in a glorious blood bath.

Narratively, this is a big mess of random ideas that shows little interest in history or plausible motivations and opts instead for an attention-deficit adolescent view of romantic drama topped off with some sword swinging and bloodletting at the end.  There are some cute ideas about Arthur Pendragon and Sir Lancelot being suppressed gay lovers thrown in as well.  It's a lively text, but lacking in interesting characters.  I liked the female knight Bridget and Art's sideman Sid is good comic material, but the story didn't seem to know whether it wanted to be history, fantasy, comedy, or contemporary romance.

Old Wounds, by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Erin and Max, two trans kids, run away from home.  Driving across the country from Ohio to California, their trip quickly goes astray and they find themselves lost and in deep trouble in Kentucky.  The locals have taken an unnatural interest in them and for good reason: in the local woods lives a monster who grants its inhabitants longevity in return for a human sacrifice.  The tribute has to be a girl and the men have their eyes set on Erin, mistakenly believing she is cis-female.  Once Erin and Max's identity is revealed, the bigger question is whether the monster cares about binary sex.

I'm not a fan of horror novels, but this one packs an interesting conundrum that I was curious enough about to want to read the book.  It doesn't hurt that the novel is well-written and, while including all the typical horror tropes, does a neat job of giving them a particularly trans flavor.  Beyond the key question of whether Erin or Max sate the monster's tastes, there are lots of interesting analogies between dealing with violent transphobes and escaping human-eating creatures from another dimension.  Far more, in fact, than might initially be apparent!

Overall, this is a clever, witty, and suspenseful bit of dark paranoia for a genre that is best known for its misogyny.

Away, by Megan E. Freeman

Recounting the same forced evacuation of Colorado that provided the background of Alone, this companion novel depicts the multiple viewpoints of a group of children who are relocated into refugee camps.  Each speaks with a different voice -- one in poetry, one as a movie script, one as a journalist, and so on.  Combining these voices with official announcements and news conferences, the story recounts how the children uncover a great conspiracy to defraud their families of their property and then to find a way to subvert the plot.

The original novel, about a girl abandoned by her family during the evacuation, always seemed a bit of a stretch.  While this installment provides the background to explain the evacuations, it does little to provide any sense of plausibility.  And while suspending disbelief for the original novel allowed us to enjoy the compelling survival tale, here the background conspiracy is the story.  That's a lot of stuff to suspend disbelief over!  So, I found myself far too distracted to enjoy the story, which is otherwise an adventure with a bunch of middle schoolers resourcefully saving the day!

All That's Left To Say, by Emery Lord

After the death of her cousin from a drug overdose, Hannah hides her identity and enrolls at her late cousin's school to try to determine who gave her the pills.  Against her will, she is joined by a former nemesis:  the champion of the school's debate team, with whom she frequently sparred when she was at her old school.  Combining their wits, they investigate leads and ruling out suspect.  The investigation reveals disturbing things about her cousin's friends and the way that the school is run.  Hannah's obsession to find the culprit eventually puts her in danger.

A thrilling and immersive mystery with a decent plot twist at the end that helps the awkward story structure (halfway told through flashbacks) make sense.  I found Hannah to be maddeningly opaque and the story full of details (like Hannah's interest in clothing and costume design) that had no bearing on the plot.  However, the main mystery of who contributed to the death of her cousin and how culpable they were is compelling enough to make this an enjoyable read.