GIMMICKS AND GLAMOUR

San Diego high school senior Ashly Harris just wants to play tennis, but the faeries keep ruining it for her.

Her whole life, Ashly has seen mischievous, green-skinned creatures with wings that no one else believes are real. When they play pranks, the humans around Ashly blame her; her supposed bad behavior has earned her poor grades, disqualification from the tennis team, and therapy. So now she lies to make the adults in her life happy, especially her Black dad and white mom, who don’t understand Ashly’s bisexuality either. No wonder she’s “pissed off all the time” and can only be herself around her best friend, Caris. In Ashly’s confessional narration, the occasional turn of phrase is a bit much—it’s hard to imagine a jilted suitor’s face turning “a shade redder than my period blood”—but more often her thoughts provide trenchant observations about her experiences. She describes faerie identity politics as being similar to “being biracial. Everyone wants you to pick a side, but no one wants you on their side.” This is an accessible story with an interesting premise: The fantasy metaphor for Ashly’s adolescent alienation and despair works well and livens up the plot, especially when a revelation draws Ashly into the throes of a faerie war as well as a rewarding queer romance.

A relatable fantasy weaving in real-life issues.