Loghan Paylor

Historical Fantasy | 2024 385 Pages

💚💚💚

This is the story of Katherine (Kit) and Rebekah who meet as pre-teens just before WWII. It’s a story of love and separation. I truly loved this book. 

So why only 3 hearts? The writing is superb, the characters rich, the story captivating… but implausible. Kit, disappointed in love, runs away to join the Canadian Royal Air Force at age 16 using identification papers taken from a young male. Kit subsequently becomes a flight navigator flying bomber combat missions over Germany. What I never understood was how Kit could pass the physical exam as a male, and later coexist in an all male army barracks without being discovered. After all, women were not allowed to fly combat missions in the Royal Air Force.

This book, written by a queer trans author, was a bit of an education for me. I really struggled with the use of the pronouns they/them when referring to Kit. In one moment the pronoun they was a reference to Kit. In the next it could be referring to Kit and Rebekah. 

All that aside, I highly recommend this book.

Additional note: Andrea ordered this book and it arrived in the mail the very day she would pass away. She never got the chance to read it. I may not have chosen this book myself, but it called to me under the circumstances.