Brooms

 Brooms by Jasmine Walls with art by Teo Duvall (2023) 240 pages

"It's 1930s Mississippi. Magic is permitted only in certain circumstances, and by certain people. Unsanctioned broom racing is banned. But for those who need the money, or the thrills...it's there to be found." Practicing magic and racing on brooms is an allegory for the intersectionality of being queer and black or indigenous or asian. There is tons of diverse representation in this graphic novel. The first race that we, the reader, witness, which explains the mechanics of the game, establishes antagonists, but skips some steps before our central characters win the race. I wish it spent more time visually explaining the game. The characters have just a few defining traits, mostly centered around their identity, so I wish there was more depth to them too. However, it was still a fun read. I loved the post Bios scrapbook pages.

Race the Sands

Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst, 528 pages

In the desert land of Becar, one of the most popular annual events is a series of races on kehoks, a variety of deadly beasts that are only created when an irredeemably evil person is murdered. Tamra is a former rider and current trainer, though she's had enough riders under her care massacred by their kehoks that she's considered cursed by many in the racing community. When her patron gives her one last chance to find a rider and kehok that can win the grand championship, Tamra has no choice but to take on a killer lion kehok and a runaway teenage girl named Raia as her training duo, whether she thinks they can win or not. On a larger scale, Becar is in a pickle, as its recent emperor has died and because of the prevalent belief in reincarnation, his younger brother cannot take the throne until the late emperor's new vessel is found. But it's been three months without any sign of his soul, and until it's found, Becar's government has ground to a halt — something that neighboring enemies are planning on exploiting.

Durst has created some interesting characters and ideas in a thrilling book. It honestly didn't feel like 500+ pages. That said, there were a few twists that I could definitely see coming (as well as a few that I totally didn't expect). A fun book, and I'd love to see more of these characters in the future.