Wrap-up: February 2022

February was not an easy month for anyone, we don’t think, not least for the obvious reasons. Anna was in a reading slump for a lot of it (though also says to say at least I was reading). As ever, time does not feel real, etc etc, and we can’t believe it’s already March. All of which to say, check out what we read and watched this past month!

What we read

Anna

Can’t Resist Her by Kianna Alexander (Black lesbian mc, biracial (Black, Japanese) lesbian mc, Black sapphic side characters) – 3 🌈
The Thirty Names of Night by Zeyn Joukhadar (Syrian American trans gay mc, Syrian American gay li, Syrian sapphic mc, Syrian trans li, Syrian sapphic li, Black nonbinary character) – 5 🌈 tw islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia, violence, death, blood
In the Shadow of the Throne by Kate Sheridan & Gaia Cardinali (Filipino gay mc, gay mc) – 2 🌈 tw blood, violence
Save Yourself! by Bones Leopard, Kelly Matthews & Nichole Matthews (sapphic mc, nonbinary li, Black achillean character, Black trans side character) – 3 🌈 [review]
West Wind by Mary Oliver (poetry) – 4 🌈

Charlotte

Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour (biracial Black bi/pan mc, lesbian mc, gay side character) – 3 🌈 cw drug abuse, mentions of overdoses, prostitution, child sexual abuse, death of a parent [review]
In the Event of Love by Courtney Kae (bi mcs, f/f, gay side character, bi side character, (East?) Asian trans side character) – 5 🌈 [review]
The Thousand Eyes by A. K. Larkwood (lesbian mcs, gay mc, nonbinary character, bi character) – 5 🌈 [review]
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid (Pakistani bi/pan mc) – 3 🌈 cw sexual assault, suicidal ideation, violence
🔥 Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier (gay character) – 5 🌈 cw implied torture, gore, illness, amputation, human experimentation [review]

Southernmost by Silas House (gay characters, lesbian character) – 5 🌈 cw homophobia
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen (Vietnamese American gay mc, sapphic side characters) – 3.5 🌈
Rubyfruit Jungle by Rita Mae Brown (lesbian mc, gay side characters, lesbian side characters) – 2 🌈 cw racism, racial slurs, homophobic slurs, homophobia, child abuse, incest, adult/minor relationship
The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning (gay characters, sapphic characters) – 4 🌈 cw gore, eye gore [review]
Egotistical Puckboy by Eden Finley & Saxon James (gay mcs) – 2 🌈

Dead Woman’s Pond by Elle E. Ire (lesbian mc, Colombian American bi li) – 2.5 🌈 cw lesbophobic slurs, homophobia, sexual assault, domestic abuse, violence, torture, lesbophobic violence & murder
🔥 Cenzontle by Marcelo Hernández Castillo (poetry) – 4.5 🌈
🔥 Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers by Jake Skeets (poetry) – 5 🌈
🔥 Thief in the Interior by Phillip B. Williams (poetry) – 5 🌈
🔥 The Poems of Catullus trans. by Peter Green (poetry) – 5 🌈

Crowded, Vol. 3 by Christopher Sebela (bi/pan mc, Black lesbian mc, Black sapphic side character) – 3 🌈 cw violence, gore, murder
Flamingo by Rachel Elliott (lesbian mc, bi mc, f/f, gay side characters) – 4 🌈 cw ableism, toxic parents, implied suicidal ideation
Uncommon Charm by Emily Bergslien & Kat Weaver (Russian Jewish sapphic mc, Jewish gay mc, Jewish butch lesbian side character, Russian Jewish sapphic side character, gay side character) – 4 🌈 cw past domestic abuse, implied past sexual abuse [review]
Of Charms, Ghosts and Grievances by Aliette de Bodard (Vietnamese bi mc, gay li) – 4 🌈 [review]
Son of Sin by Omar Sakr (Lebanese Turkish Muslim Australian bi mc, Black sapphic side character, Arab achillean side characters, gay side character) – 4 🌈 cw racial slurs, homophobic slurs, domestic abuse, racism, homophobia, sexual assault, suicidal ideation, implied child sexual abuse

Bad Things Happen Here by Rebecca Barrow (biracial Black lesbian mc with anxiety & depression, biracial Filipino American sapphic li) – 3.5 🌈 cw murder, mentions of drowning, intrusive thoughts, violence, suicidal ideation, self harm, implied stalking [review]
It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland (lesbian mc, Jewish lesbian mc, Black bi mc, Jewish pan nonbinary mc) – 2.5 🌈 cw misgendering
The River of Silver by S. A. Chakraborty (West Asian/North African coded cast & setting, bi mc, gay mc, sapphic mc) – 5 🌈 cw past suicide attempts, torture, attempted rape
The City of Dusk by Tara Sim (lesbian mc, bi mcs) – 2 🌈 cw gore, violence [review/review #2]
The Fake Up by Justin Myers (Black gay characters) – 3 🌈 [review]

Save Yourself! by Bones Leopard, Kelly & Nichole Matthews (sapphic mc, nonbinary li, Black gay side character, Black nonbinary (genderqueer?) side character) – 3 🌈 [review]
Cold by Mariko Tamaki (biracial Japanese(?) American lesbian mc, gay mc, gay side characters) – 3 🌈 cw murder, homophobia, homophobic slurs
Bloom by Kevin Panetta & Savanna Ganucheau (gay mc, Samoan American gay mc, Black achillean side character) – 3 🌈
Fragile Wings by Rebecca S. Buck (lesbian mcs, f/f) – 2 🌈 cw homophobia, drug use, implied suicide

What we watched (and listened to)

Charlotte

Summerland (2020) dir. Jessica Swale (lesbian mc, Black sapphic li) – 4 🌈
Space Force (S2) cr. Steve Carell & Greg Daniels (gay mc, bi side character, nonbinary side character) – 4 🌈