Book Review: Exodus 20:3 by Freydis Moon

Exodus 20:3 by Freydis Moon is an unexpected, short read. Religious eroticism and queer emancipation meet in a claustrophobic monster-romance about divinity, sexuality, and freedom. When Diego López is guilted by his mother into taking a low-key construction job in New Mexico, he doesn’t expect to be the only helping hand at Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe. But the church is abandoned, decrepit, and off the beaten path, and the only other person for miles is its handsome caretaker, Ariel Azevedo. Together, Diego and Ariel refurbish the old church, sharing stories of their heritage, experiences, and desires. But as the long days turn into longer nights, Diego begins to see past Ariel’s human mirage and finds himself falling into lust—and maybe something else—with one of God’s first creations. WARNINGS: mention of transphobia, mention of drug use, light dubious consent, sexualization of religion.

Exodus 20:3 is a book that started off fairly normal, then quickly had me wondering what exactly was going on and who Ariel and Diego were. I liked the build up, and think it was very well written. I could understand a good deal of Diego's insecurities and concern, and could empathize with them. It was not until close to the end that I felt like I had any kind of understanding of Ariel's thoughts. There was just so much more that needs to be explored and unpacked with these two characters, and I think I would have enjoyed it a little more if it had been a bit longer, with more information on both characters and what might happen next. There is plenty of room for more, and I am more than a little intrigued in the world building here and how the relationship could go. I do see how some readers could be offended or upset by the take on religion and sexuality here, but I think those readers are also unlikely to pick up a book with a transsexual main character, so I doubt that will be a big issue for the readers that choose this book. 

Exodus 20:3 is a well crafted read, and I think I will be exploring other writing from the author. 

Early Book Review: Sexus Animalis: There Is Nothing Unnatural in Nature by Emmanuelle Pouydebat

Sexus Animalis: There Is Nothing Unnatural in Nature by Emmanuelle Pouydebat is an illustrated guide to the amazingly multifarious sex lives of animals, from elephants and bonobos to butterflies and bedbugs.It is currently scheduled for release on March 8 2022. 

There may be nothing unnatural in nature, but nature still encompasses much that seems fantastically strange—the amazingly multifarious sex lives of animals, for example. Sexus Animalis tells us everything we never dreamed we wanted to know about the reproductive systems, genital organs, and sexual practices of animals, from elephants (who masturbate with their trunks) to fruit flies (who produce spermatozoa twenty times their size). In the animal kingdom we find heterosexual, lesbian, gay, and bisexual behavior, as well as monogamy, polygamy, and polyandry, not to mention fellatio and many varieties of erections and orgasms. Emmanuelle Pouydebat, a natural history researcher, tells us about gutter penises, double penises, detachable penises, and corkscrew-shaped penises, as well as vaginas built for storage and clitorises with thorns. (Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s more data about animal penises than animal vaginas and clitorises.) She explains how the ostrich achieves an erection, describes the courtship of pygmy chameleons, and recounts how the female short-beaked echidna chooses a partner. She reports on sexual assault among animals—there’s evidence that half of female mallards are sexually assaulted—and explains how masturbation helps squirrels avoid sexually transmitted diseases. It seems that animals have been composing their own Kama Sutra throughout the ages. Striking color illustrations accompany the text.

Sexus Animalis is a book that offers exactly what is promises, fascinated information that I never knew I wanted to know about the anatomy and mechanisms of sex for a wide variety of animals and how evolution and natural selection could play their part in all of it. I found the writing style to be accessible with some humor and straight forward information that I never thought about exploring previously. I thought the information included was well researched and organized, and pointed out the gaps in our understanding and how much work there is still to do. I thought the frank and honest explanations were peppered with a nice dose of humor and wit to add another level of interest and entertainment to the read without lessening the credibility of the text. I thought that the illustrations were tasteful and very well done, and helped give readers a more informed awareness of the size and particularities of what is being described in text. I was very interested in the implications of how evolution and other factors have made so many variations on the sex lives of creatures of all shapes and sizes. I never thought much about it, and think there are many people that likewise never considered the complexity and sometimes straight up strangeness of the world around us. This read entertained, informed, and got me thinking a little more about the complexities of the world around us.