I know there isn& #39;t a lot of good news in the world right now, so I& #39;m gonna talk about something I am so excited about. And that is, as of last night, I got to hold a real, physical, tree-eating copy of @NatalieZed& #39;s Hench.

(warning: I am about to have emotions)
I looked it up and the first time I got to read this novel, in any form, was an ill-formatted unfinished word doc in March of 2017. It took so little time to realize that it was such a special thing in the world.
I grew up mega poor. We lived in university housing because my mother knew that being a wiz at applications would get us access to some basic life essentials (we lived off bursaries and loans and hampers and the food bank).
There was only one thing lack of money didn& #39;t touch: books. My mother promised me she would "find the money for books as long as I kept reading them" (which I& #39;m sure was so hard sometimes. But to me it meant they was the only guilt free pleasure I had as a kid.
I lived for fantasy and sci-fi. For anything with queers in it (I started reading feminist theory at 9 or 10 cause it was in the house). As I grew up this stayed with me. When my mother partnered up, we were no longer poor, but our ritual of guilt free spending stayed with books.
All this to say, I love books. Books were the things that raised me, that made me critical, that allowed me any form of recognized intelligence in the face of systems that hide that behind paywalls. Books are the reason I, as a fat, poor, queer person, can exist confidently.
I love a lot of shitty books, I love a lot of brilliant books. I have read so many that are varying degrees of good. Every once and a while I get to read a books that is *remarkably phenomenal*. A book that has to be read in one sitting, a book that is undeniably *compelling*.
And then, every once in a blue moon, I get to read a book that is both so well written that it can& #39;t be ignored AND is written by and for people like me. Written for queers and outsiders and people who are fucking struggling.
For people who need an escape and are tired of getting 300 pgs in to be surprised by the misogyny, getting to the final chapter and realizing the evil was trans all along, putting in all the work of reading to get to the point where the author reveals themselves as *not like you*
I think about myself, trying to fit into the romance of David Eddings, trying to mental gymnastic myself out of the last chapter of The Wasp Factory, trying to disassociate attraction from the expensive (and hyper masc utilitarian) aesthetics of Gibson.
I think about what it would be like to be young and come upon a copy of Hench in a second hand bookstore. To get sucked in and just be allowed to love a book. To care for the characters and have them treated with respect.
I can& #39;t actually imagine what it is like to be young and not have to mind leap yourself into being able to identify with a book (the book I identified the most as a teen was the Wives of Bath and spoiler: the trans character does not experience a happy ending).
But this fucking books, guys. It is all these things. It does all these things. It is beautifully crafted. It is hilariously funny, and it is infinitely relatable.
I remember sitting in a little dinner @JairusKhan found somewhere in the north end of Toronto while @NatalieZed told @iColpitts and I about selling it. I remember hearing about how the powers that be also recognized it as something special. It all seemed a little unreal.
And now, I& #39;m sitting here, with a physical copy of what I genuinely think is one of the best books I& #39;ve ever read. A book written by someone I care about so much. A book that in so many ways has beat the odds.

AND I& #39;M JUST SO FUCKING EXCITED THAT Y& #39;ALL GET TO READ IT.
Congratulations, @NatalieZed - you are changing the world. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đź–¤" title="Schwarzes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Schwarzes Herz">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đź–¤" title="Schwarzes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Schwarzes Herz">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="đź–¤" title="Schwarzes Herz" aria-label="Emoji: Schwarzes Herz">
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