Zed Watson is a self-described “very flamboyant and well-regarded drama kwing,” a combination of “king” and “queen” as befits their nonbinary identity. Yet Zed’s confidence in that identity is only one of the great things about this fun mystery novel. Zed, who comes from a large, rambunctious Canadian family that is effortlessly accepting of their gender identity, is also obsessed with an unpublished and potentially valuable gothic romance novel called The Monster’s Castle. When Zed discovers something that they think will lead them to this mysterious book, they set off on a road trip with quiet, black-clothed neighbor Gabe, whose knowledge of flora helped with a clue, and his older (and buff) sister, Sam, a geologist who is driving back to college in Arizona.
Being stuck in a car for hours can test the best of friendships, however, and the characters argue over snacks, music, and other trifles. Yet they also make lots of ice cream stops and encounter both helpful (and quirky) people and entertaining situations along the way, like potato-themed dance-offs—all while trying to stay ahead of a greedy historian who is also after the book.
Zed is often misgendered, but never bullied—and the misgendering is as both a boy and a girl, never revealing what Zed’s sex assigned at birth may have been (which is good; that’s none of our business). Even at the Canadian-U.S. border, where Zed has to produce a passport that has their deadname on it, we never learn what that name is—a thoughtful bit of modeling for how to treat deadnames of real nonbinary and trans people (i.e., don’t use them). Zed comments, “It can be humiliating to have to answer questions based on information that’s not about who you are,” but these lessons about nonbinary identity are not the point of the novel and never come across as pedantic.
Several other queer characters show up in passing, including same-sex couples, another nonbinary character, and a likely trans woman (wearing a trans flag symbol). Zed is White; other characters are of various racial and ethnic identities, including Indigenous.
Zed’s first-person narrative showcases their creative, geeky, and dramatic spirit, making this a hugely entertaining yarn.
