This book was absolutely delightful. The art is stunning and the story is important. You should definitely make this a priority if you like historical fiction, graphic novels, and LGBTQ+ Rep.

enjoyed this, lots of good moments but historical fiction in this setting is not my forte.

I loved the representation of trans women and Native American protagonist, we love diversity. very quick and easy to read.

I downloaded this from Netgalley on the recommendation of a good friend, Chan from ChandlerAinsley. She recently did a deep dive into the f/f genre and loved this graphic novel, which features a relationship and adventure between a woman of color and a trans woman in the Old West during the American Civil War.

Stage Dreams follows closeted trans woman Grace as her travels get interrupted by outlaw Flor. Flor ends up kidnapping Grace, as she thinks she'll fetch a decent ransom, only to discover that Grace has run away from home after dodging the draft. So, no ransom for Flor. Grace, however, negotiates her way into joining Flor's next big job and the two end up unlikely partners in the Wild Wild West.

Not only does this story have a swoony relationship between Flor and Grace, but the absolute acceptance of Grace's gender and lack of transphobia is refreshing af and made me so damn happy. It's not something that's avoided/forgotten, but it's handled with so much respect and compassion. You always go into a story like this warily, because it can go downhill so quickly, but Gillman did such a fantastic job. 

The job Flor and Grace take on is more of a background motivator for the relationship development, but the way is ends definitely has me wanting a sequel because it ends very cliff-hanger-y. Chan and I will both petition for this story to continue because it's so wholesome and enjoyable and desperately needed in this godawful state of the world. 

There's not much to discuss without getting spoilery, so sorry for the short review, but know that you should 100% go download this book (it's available for Download on Netgalley - no request needed) and/or preorder it/request it from your library. I look forward to reading more from Gillman and especially more about our favorite sapphic outlaw queens!

This was such a cute, queer, and soft graphic novel and I loved it.

This was an extremely short story, but it packs quite the punch in the time you spend with it. There are several key moments that I thought were so, so important to see in a graphic novel. I hope that this will be one that gets into a lot of peoples hands to read!

Stage Dreams was the first graphic novel that I have read in a long time, and I am so glad that is the first one I’ve picked up. This was so queer, so cute, and so much fun! It was incredible to see a trans woman and sapphic relationship set in the past without being a cautionary tale, but instead getting to reclaim the narrative, to say “we were there”, and to have an adventure. I will definitely be looking more into Melanie Gillman’s work.

This was the cutest little graphic novel and the art style was so adorable! It was a very quick read (I literally started while I made my dinner and finished it when I was done eating) but it's a great little story about a trans woman and a queer outlaw during the Civil War and one of their adventures. My only complaint would be that the story is somewhat abrupt and almost needs some more to it to flesh it out. It feels a little like the first half of a book.

4.5 stars. this was such a quick, fun read!

Stage Dreams is a western graphic novel set in New Mexico featuring a trans woman main character, Grace, who is fleeing the war, and a woman POC main character, the outlaw Flor, aka Ghost Hawk. The relationship that developed between them was so freaking cute, and the illustrations were beautiful.

would totally recommend this if you're looking for some cute, fun, (and western!) f/f romance

the perfect read to cheer yourself up. it's a cute queer romance set in the us in 1800s, during the civil war. it's short, ended a bit abruptly, but with enough ambiguity that there can be more to finish the story.

This story follows two of our characters Grace and Flor, their unexpected acquaintance and how they deal with the society and their own feelings as well.

Thankyou Netgalley for providing me with the review copy in exchange for an honest review. All views are my own and is not influenced in any way.

First of all, I picked this book up because Chandler Ainsley was talking about this on booktube and I was intrigued. The fact that this book has a cis and a trans character as main focus is making me really happy! This is my first time ever reading a queer graphic novel and my expectations were set high. Second, I don't know what it is, but I am really drawn to the art style this book has! It looks like a pencil shading first draft, but it has so much character to it and I really liked it. I think this can be categorized as a f/f relationship since both our main characters identify themselves as females.

Now coming to the actual storyline. I would say this was a really simple yet a cute portrayal of our characters plotting something they shouldn't be doing, and getting caught. It was fun to read and it also dealt with discussing topics on self discovery and how the society views people who does not fit a standard they have set. It was really refreshing to read about the struggles anyone goes through when they feel like an outcast even in their own skin.

With all that being said, this book had so much potential to discuss about what the characters want, how they feel about themselves and their own identity. But to my opinion it was not what I expected it to be and it was slightly disappointing. It was in no means bad, but not what I expected since it had so much potential. It's a very short graphic novel with a heist plot, but could have done better with how the dialogues went.

Overall, I am really glad I picked this book up, it was really fun, cute and a refreshing read. If you want to pick up a queer graphic novel with diverse main character representation, definitely give this one a try. I think you will enjoy it !

The world is under threat of the Ghost Hawk – a mysterious highwayman who uses an actual hawk to pass them everything they need, like handily-placed ropes which which to swing to safety. What nobody can dare admit is that Ghost Hawk is a she, and not a white one at that. When attacking one stage coach – for she has many stage dreams, if you see the title as a pun – she finds an unlikely person to take hostage, a prim and silent young girl from out of town. But what the girl is unable to admit (at first, at least) is that he's a bloke, a lad who was going to be forced into the war. He has other stage dreams – of not only living fully as a woman but treading the boards of those new entertainment hall types. Luckily, Ghost Hawk is completely au fait with this, and she knows to call him a her when he's dressed up, and lo and behold a most unlikely collaboration is formed.

Visually there is nothing wrong with this whatsoever – the artwork has an all-gender-pleasing pastel quality, and the way it uses so many shades of the Midwestern golden hour throughout really does make for a distinctive look. It also allows for visual puns – the five o'clock shadow appearing on 'her' face, for one. I think if anything it's the plotting that lets the show down. Too many of the pages feature a sympathetic dressmaker, and in the end the plot is just too quick to forget the subterfuge and feature the leads' relationship. Still, that IS the point of the book, to be trans-friendly and to highlight those living as other genders, as the handy footnotes at the close proves. And in showing 'her' be the force that lets the two escape it shows up all our prejudices. It's easy for us to be surprised at the sight and strength of a demure befrocked 'heroine' doing what she does, but of course it's not a heroine under that dress. It's just someone being who they want to be at last.

A slightly generous four stars.

"Stage Dream" follows Flor, an outlaw going under the alias "Ghost Hawk". When she robs a stagecoach and holds Grace for ransom, they decide working together is more beneficial for both of them.

Absolutely a feel-good, wholesome graphic novel. The trans character representation is natural and effortless, and the romance has a steady build-up. The soft art style adds to the old western feel. The only major shortcoming is it's a bit short so the plot isn't as fleshed out as it could've been.

Stage Dreams is a queer graphic novel with lovely art and some promising elements but I found it too short to really get into and it felt like the first chapter of a book rather than a whole story. It features a queer highwaywoman in the Old West kidnapping a trans actress for ransom, and the pair go on together to spy at a Confederacy ball, but the short length just didn't give enough room for this to really develop. I also have to object on principle to romances that start with one party kidnapping the other!

Flor and Grace are not like other girls living in Civil War era New Mexico Territory. Flor dreams of buying a goat farm and is busy making money for her future through highway robbery. Grace was actually born in the body of a boy, but ran away from home when her father signed her up for the Confederate Army. When the two meet they discover they share a love of the stage - but "stage" means something different to each of them.
To Flor it means the stage coaches she plans to rob to make her financial goal, and to Grace it means the great and renowned theater houses of San Francisco where she hopes to become a great actress some day. If either girl hopes to make her dreams come true though, they must team up and take the world by storm.
While this is a very short book, I do at least hope it's planned as a series because I do want to know more about what happens to these two characters. It's definitely something new and interesting for the age group it's intended for. I can't think of when I have seen another children's western starring such a diverse cast of characters!

Goodreads Rating: 4 stars

A fun adventure/spy story set during the Civil War era in the US and encompassing an excellent amount of "lost" history. I don't recall ever learning about the Confederate plans to take over part of the Arizona Territory and use it to get to the gold and ports in California to further their mission, and this was an awesome introduction to the topic.

Grace, a trans runaway from the South, and Flor, a stagecoach robber, make a great team as they go undercover to steal Confederate secrets and pass them on to the Union. While I loved Flor, Grace was truly the badass in this story and grew as a character. I would love to see more stories with these two characters and their adventures, see how they grow more as characters and as a couple.

The illustrations were lovely--it wasn't particularly my favorite style, but they were excellent nonetheless, especially the landscapes. I loved the washed out color scheme, as well as the textured page look (echoing leather or rough cardstock), which fits perfectly with the Western setting.

Gillman provides a few pages of excellent annotations at the end of the book, explaining the history they incorporated into the story. Any thoughts I had of only rating this 3.5 stars at first was boosted up to 4 due to this little section (although I do wish there'd been a bibliography of suggested readings, but I'm interested enough in the topics covered to search things out on my own).

Highly recommended for anyone who loves history, especially queer history, or just a fun spy/covert adventure!

If you're looking for something quick, lighthearted, and fun, you've come to the right place.

Stage Dreams is the story of two women (outlaw Flor and Grace, fleeing the war) who team up to go on an adventure and execute a heist in the Wild West during the Civil War. This graphic novel is bighearted, diverse, and will make your heart a little lighter. The colored pencil illustrations are beautiful and the story is well-paced.

That's it? Um... okay. (Maybe there's going to be a sequel or something. I sure hope so. Because this is not a complete story at all.)

While I appreciate the intent of this graphic novel, I'm not sure it worked for me. I had a similar issue with it that I did with Jen Wang's The Prince and the Dressmaker: believability. The issue isn't so much people believing Grace is a girl; there are plenty of examples throughout history that show that it isn't impossible. However, in this book, I felt like I had to suspend disbelief about the attitudes. Lip service is paid to the difficulties trans people might have faced (within their own families, mostly), but the ease with which everyone around Grace accepts her (despite the fact that she's drawn with fairly male-looking features in some parts of the book) just doesn't seem right. Like in The Prince and the Dressmaker, the reader seems to be expected to believe that historical attitudes toward trans and queer people were better--more accepting--than they are today. While I'm sure there were some people who would accept folks just the way they were, I kind of doubt it was the norm... and books like these seem to be glossing over what must've been some difficult (and potentially dangerous) times for those with differing gender identities.

The story (what there was of it, anyway; it seemed to end just as it was getting going) is fine. The illustrations are kind of neat, too. They're done with coloured pencil, which gives everything a dreamy sort of look.

I wouldn't mind reading another book about Flor and Grace (if there's going to be one), because Stage Dreams didn't really satisfy my hankering for a good story. I guess we'll see if the plot continues at some point...

Very short for the amount of story it packs in (100 pages! We go from Flor kidnapping Grace to them running out of a Confederate fancy dress party as escaped spies, with time for some heartfelt queer backstory and a fashion montage, in 100 pages!) but for the most part Gillman pulls it off. Their artwork has a very distinctive style that I appreciate -- I think the soft colors work very well for historical/Western -- and I really liked the historical endnotes.

Read it in less than an hour and it was amazing. Although short, which left little room for anything but the plot it was well written and I loved it so much. The f/f relationship pulled at my heartstrings and I l ove the trans main character. There was no homophobia or transphobia which was extremley refreshing and brought a new sense of emotion to the story. Do yourself a favour and read this book.

Thank you netgalley for the free e-arc. I look forward to more stories by this author.

Stage Dreams tells the story of a Latinx outlaw, Flor to her friends and The Ghost Hawk to her foes, and her friend (and former captive) Grace, a trans girl who has run away from home to escape enlistment into the Confederate army, as they attempt a heist at a Confederate ball.

This story has everything you could want in a short and sweet western graphic novel with an explicitly queer element:

The illustrations are beautifully done, all hand-drawn and colored gorgeously with colored pencil; Gillman's style is very unique and lends itself well to the genre.

The representation is well done (as far as I can tell, as I am not Latinx or a trans woman, but I am queer); it is wonderful to see such a visibly trans character on the page, and I enjoyed how Flor's character is so brazen, especially about her womanhood, which contrasted nicely to the more subdued Grace. My personal favorite character is Luis, the tailor who helps Grace and Flor dress for the heist, and whose specialty is tailoring clothes for trans people (as implied in the story). Each of the main characters was precious, and I enjoyed seeing their growth in the book. I would like to see a sequel, especially so I could see if the relationship between Grace and her father improves, and I would also like to see if she ever gets to pursue her acting dream in California.

The only criticism I can find of this book is that at times it felt like it was a little too fast-paced. Things wrapped up fairly quickly at the end, but there were a few loose ends that didn't get tied, so I am curious to see how those are handled if there is a sequel. Otherwise, I will be disappointed because I won't find out what happens!

Overall this was a precious queer western that was fluffy and sweet, but still had enough action to keep me on my toes.

Pros: Fun story, interesting historical details and context, great queer and trans representation especially for a genre/time period that doesn't often see much of this

Cons: Didn't personally enjoy the artwork that much (though that's more personal preference than anything else), I thought the story moved too fast and there was too much to be fit into such a short comic. The pace that certain things progressed seemed unrealistic to me.

Overall: Not flawless but it's fun and worth reading