Unsex Me Here

Mattia (The Fifth Wound) dazzles with this genre-spanning collection of stories about queer and trans characters navigating desire and love. Raphael, the protagonist of “Valentine’s Day,” submits to a series of hookups on Grindr while pining for the man he loves. In “Wild and Blue,” Peach and Sandy go on the run after stealing an experimental drug from a pharmaceutical company. As the drug strips Sandy of his memories, Peach, who is trans, worries her lover’s altered mind will dismantle his ability to see her as a woman. Mattia draws on Greek and Roman mythology with “Celebrity Skin,” about two trans women who become lovers during their quest to reach a cult that performs the mystical and gender-affirming Aphroditos ritual. In “Cradle Me, Lucifer,” the narrator details her bond with her pet python, Milky, who was given to her by an ex. As she chronicles her beautiful and heartbreaking relationship with the snake, her own life and those of the people around her come into focus. Ripe with poetic metaphor, Mattia’s narratives blend reality, magical realism, and autofiction to create a fever dream of yearning. Readers will be enthralled. (Apr.)