I think this is a great book, I just don’t think it was for me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC, all opinions are my own.

I found this book both a beacon of hope and simultaneously one of the most confusing books I’ve ever read. It requires the reader to have quite an in-depth understanding of the period of history it discusses, as well as things like the popular myths or social conventions of said time. Some stories are able to be read without this knowledge, but many are not. Still - it comforts me, that this book exists. Even if I don’t understand all of it, I feel lighter just by knowing that there were so many queer people in the days of old. And the stories that I did understand, I enjoyed. I learnt. My perspective was challenged and my heart was lifted, and not just because of the stories - the way in which they are explained and translated shows that the minds behind this book know how to add to and explain works in a way that makes them feel even more resonant. The book offers a variety of perspectives of people who come from different demographics, which I appreciated. There are also many forms of stories, from scripts to poems.

I would recommend this to anyone who is queer or looking to learn more about queer history, and who has a detailed knowledge of the time period that this book discusses. I think it is well-written and compiled, I simply wish it had been more accessible - but that’s just me, and I’m sure that there are others who are more knowledgeable about this time and who will enjoy this book.

I’ll be honest I did have a hard time getting into this one. While the idea of reliving these stories seems interesting, there reached a point where they blended together. The art in this is fun and unique, however, where the story’s became a tad bit monotonous

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. 300,000 Kisses was a truly beautiful book that I couldn’t put down. Queer history is often forgotten and not talked about, so to have these stories in one place to read.

This is an absolutely stunning volume full of original illustrations and impactful selections from a variety of writers from antiquity. The book design is also refined and sophisticated. But this volume is so much more than art-object; rather, it is a thoughtfully curated and translated collection of works that speak to the long history of gay people in society. I appreciated that the selections that were included were impactful, concise, and varied. This is a book that fulfills an important need: to recognize the longstanding existence of gay people from the time of our earliest history.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. I enjoyed reading through this, and it is nice to see a collection of queer stories from Ancient Greece and Rome. A fun little collection that is worth a read.

300,000 Kisses by Seán Hewitt and Luke Edward Hall documents queer love in ancient Greece and Rome for all its complexity and beauty— but above all, showing how queer people are an undeniable part of history.

This anthology is very unique in that it does not tell you what the dynamics of or ideologies regarding being queer was like in this era, instead, it shows you! With a short bit of context before every excerpt, the reader gets to build what queer life was like in this period for themselves. While it may not be the perfect introductory book to the ancient world, I definitely recommend for anyone who wants to do a deep-dive into such an integral— but often ignored or misconstrued— part of not just queer history, but history, in general.

What I found to really be a great part of this specific anthology is the care of Sapphic love and women. There was, admittedly, a sad lack of Sapphic stories, which is not a critique of the authors, at all! While it did feel a bit empty without much Sapphic content, there was great care in balancing education on the exclusion of women while still allowing Sapphics to see themselves happy. The Greeks and Romans did not like women and that is very closely tied to their beliefs regarding queerness, however, by digging deeper like 300,000 Kisses did there is still beauty in queer love—for both men and women— that was untainted by misogyny.

As someone way too invested in the dynamics of queer love in the ancient world, this is a great place to go to to see first-hand and not just be told what these relationships were like. With charming drawings along the way, the reader is taken on a journey of the ancient world for all its beauty and faults.

Queer love in the ancient world was messy, problematic, beautiful, but beyond everything it was undeniably present— 300,000 Kisses captures this idea perfectly.

Other reviewers have expressed similar sentiments to what I want to display. I had an incredibly pleasant experience with this book, with only minor criticism.

Positives: The translations are accessible but still embody the essence of the love and lust that accompany them in their original text. The works are accompanied by art that represents the work. I will make a major note here that the art style is not for everyone, and it took a while to grow on me. I wouldn't call it beautiful in the traditional sense. It's a more raw media that leans more towards demonstrating emotion than realism.

Criticism: The only criticism I can leverage is that I would have appreciated more analysis of the cultural context surrounding these works, however I can understand why they devoted a bulk to the translations.

For centuries, evidence of queer love in the ancient world has either been ignored or suppressed. Even today, only a few narratives are widely the wild romance of Achilles and Patroclus; the yearning love of Sappho's lyrics; and the three genders introduced in Plato's Symposium . Yet there is a rich literary tradition of queer Greek and Roman love that extends far beyond the prudish translations of these familiar handful of stories.

In 300,000 Kisses , award-winning poet Seán Hewitt and renowned designer Luke Edward Hall collect these stories—including some of the most beautiful and moving in the classical canon—and bring them to vivid life. Alongside celebrated works by Homer, Sappho, Ovid and Catullus, they include a wide range of rarely anthologized raunchy poems, thoughtful dialogues, philosophical treatises, and even a graffiti text salvaged from the ruins of Pompeii.


This collection of short stories is preceded by short paragraphs from the author explaining the passage they have laid out next, giving context to the time, history, and emotion to really let you in on what you are reading. Accompanied with Seán Hewitt's writing and the actual texts themselves (written by many different authors from Homer and Ovid to Sappho and Catullus as stated above) are many illustrations by Luke Edward Hall which I really enjoyed. The illustrations really let me understand these myths and legends on a new level, the visuals are truly next level and one of my critiques is that I wish there was more (this is just me being picky because I enjoyed them so much lol)!

The mix of short stories varies in length, some being a single page to others being over 10. This is not a book I could devour in one sitting, it required a lot of rumination to really let the many texts speak to me and reveal their many layers. There are a lot of words to describe this collection of short stories, because it takes you on such an emotional rollercoaster. The author is keen on where each kind of story is being fit into the overarching story they are telling, making it easy for a mood reader like me to flow into different themes and tones.

While the main focus of these stories is, of course, love and how it was expressed, there are many other layers that Hewitt weaves throughout. Never shying away from the gruesome details, they give the audience many stories of death, betrayal, and jealousy. On the other end of the spectrum, the stories about love and how much these people would not only die, but live for each other, had me swooning. The lengths they would go to proclaim their love almost had me twirling my hair and swinging my feet, the representation is so important and it feels so good to have characters you can see yourself in.

Overall, I really enjoyed this, I will absolutely be buying a physical copy and marking it up for easy access to the stories I want to revisit frequently. If you are a lover of history and Greek/Roman Mythology I would highly suggest picking it up for that reason alone. For everyone else, the queer representation that is brought to light has reshaped a lot of my thoughts of the heroes from the myths we know and love, it has only made me love it all even more. Highly recommend across the board.

I enjoyed this anthology of Greek and Roman prose and poetry. Unlike a lot of translations given to classical texts, the translation here was clear and accessible without attempting to be too "modern" and contemporary- you won't find Socrates slinging around 21st century gay slang here (which is absurd that I would have to highlight that, but I've seen similiar things happen, such as that recent translation of Beowulf). I loved the intro essay as well the little essays preceding each work, I found them useful for both clarifying further what happened in the work and adding historical context, both without much editorializing. The art was beautiful, however the digital edition has some formating issues- the two page paintings were clearly split in half, with me having to flip back and forth between the two virtual pages in order to see the completed picture. Because of that, if you are planning on picking it up I'd recommend a physical copy.

This is a review of "300,000 Kisses" by Seán Hewitt, illustrated by Luke Edward Hall.

Review Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️— Five Stars / God-tier / Just read it already
— an all-time personal favorite read;
— an expected re-read;
— a culturally impactful work

A NetGalley ARC review: The publisher provided a digital copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.

💫 Recommended for those who love:
—queer history
—queer mythology
—anthologies
—poetry
—non-fiction

💫 Content warnings: sex, violence

🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Genre: non-fiction, poetry, mythology, LGBTQIAP+, illustrated editions


💫 Immediate impressions: Queer sass and desire are immortalized. Long before Twitter, King Princess, and Jonathan Van Ness, there were lyrics carved in stone tablets, Sappho, and the poet Catullus. "…A poet can be filthy in his lines and pure in life. So what if I throw in some heat, some sweat and spice to get some hairy old men hard?" — Catullus 16.

💫 Overview: This is an anthology of poetry and mythology, collecting surviving fragments of queer icons from ancient cultures including the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. The book is divided into 41 chapters, each featuring individuals or couples of queer identity. The author provides historical context and reflection prior to each original source poem or myth, and the illustrator punctuates each entry with beautiful full-color, stylized paintings inspired by each work. Also included are a prologue, epilogue, recommendations for further reading (very much appreciated), and acknowledgments.

💫 Reflection: "300,000 Kisses" is a work of non-fiction, a love letter from Hewitt and Hall to the queer icons from an ancient world, each surviving today in pure spite of countless attempts to strike them from history. This book is a thoughtful reflection on the permanency and resilience of queer identity, and I am humbled to have read it. I truly believe this is a foundational piece of literature and a must-read for members of the queer community and general community as a whole. During and after reading, a great realization settled on me: if these poems had been taught in school equally alongside Shakespeare's sonnets or Beowulf, how much internalized homophobia might I have been spared?

Humans are queer.

Humans have always been queer.

Humans will always be queer.

It is written in the stars, in our myths, in our very foundations.

💫 Regarding the prose: The prose is adept and serves as a smooth conduit to immersion in each tale. Hewitt's own skill as a poet is clear, and the prose at times adopts a lyrical quality well-suited for the content of the book.

💫 Regarding depth/impact: I regard this as a foundational work of literature in the queer community and will be pre-ordering a personal copy for my library. I hope to meet the author and illustrator someday.

💫 Constructive feedback: As this is a work of non-fiction/a study of historical works, cited sources at the end of each chapter may serve to bolster the validity of the contents for those unfamiliar with historical poetry/mythology.

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