Wrap-up: September 2022

September was a weird month for us. Well, maybe mostly for me… My laptop broke (thanks to everyone who helped me out!), I had a work trip, I had a few out-of-town workshops for work… Not a lot of time to read. Meanwhile, Charlotte, in true fashion, was reading like there’s no tomorrow.

Most importantly, though, in September we hit our fourth (!) blogging anniversary!

What we read

Anna

In Memoriam by Alice Winn (gay mc, Jewish gay mc) – 5 🌈 tw extreme gore, violence, blood, murder, suicide, body horror, period typical homophobia, internalised homophobia, PTSD, panic attacks [review to come]
Icarus by K. Ancrum (achillean mc with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, achillean intersex li, achillean side character) – 5 🌈 tw child abuse, cancer, past off page death, drug addiction, violence

Charlotte

Kenzie Kickstarts a Team by Kit Rosewater & Sophie Escabasse (sapphic mc, trans side character) – 3 🌈
Honeymoon for One by Rachel Bowdler (lesbian mc, pan mc, f/f relationship) – 3 🌈 [review to come]
Presidential Chaos by Saxon James (bi mc, gay mc, m/m relationship) – 3 🌈
Platonic Rulebook by Saxon James (bi mc, gay mc, m/m relationship, gay side characters) – 2 🌈
Conservation of Shadows by Yoon Ha Lee (achillean & sapphic characters) – 4 🌈

Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen (nonbinary character, achillean character) – 5 🌈
Aru Shah and the Nectar of Immortality by Roshani Chokshi (bi character) – 3 🌈
Pearl of the Sea by Anthony Silverston, Willem Samuel & Raffaella Delle Donne (South African cast & setting, lesbian mc, sapphic li) – 4 🌈 [review]
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older (sapphic mcs) – 2.5 🌈 [review to come]
🔥 The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson () – 4.5 🌈

The Last Tale of the Flower Bride by Roshani Chokshi (Persian(?) sapphic mc) – 4 🌈 cw sexual harassment, paedophilia, animal death, child abuse [review to come]
When Angels Left the Old Country by Sacha Lamb (Jewish cast, achillean mc, genderless mc, lesbian mc) – 4 🌈 cw antisemitism, violence [review to come]
The Stars Undying by Emery Robin (bi mcs, lesbian side character, nonbinary side character, gay side character) – 4.5 🌈 [review to come]
A Short History of Queer Women by Kirsty Loehr (nonfiction) – 2 🌈 cw transphobia
The Upstairs House by Julia Fine (sapphic mc & side character, gay side character) – 2 🌈 cw past self harm, mentions of suicide

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall (sapphic mc, sapphic li) – 2 🌈 cw gore, child death, blood, body horror
When We Rise by Cleve Jones (memoir) – 2 🌈 cw recounted homophobia & serophobia
The Red Scholar’s Wake by Aliette de Bodard (Vietnamese cast, sapphic mcs) – 4 🌈 [review to come]
The Harness Room by L. P. Hartley (gay mc, bi mc, m/m relationship) – 4 🌈
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (memoir) – 4 🌈 cw abusive relationship

The Accursed Vampire by Madeline McGrane (nonbinary mc, sapphic side characters) – 3 🌈
The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott (nonbinary side characters, m/nb side relationship) – 3 🌈 [review to come]
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley (lesbian mcs) – 3 🌈 cw gore
A Restless Truth by Freya Marske (lesbian mc, bi mc, f/f relationship, bi side character) – 3.5 🌈 [review to come]
The Angel of History by Rabih Alameddine (Lebanese Yemeni gay mc, gay side characters, Latina lesbian side character) – 4 🌈 cw child sexual abuse, AIDS-related deaths, racial slurs, anti Black racism

The Light Years by R. W. W. Greene (Arab Muslim bi mc, Japanese-Turkish bi mc, m/f relationship, gay & bi, nonbinary side characters) – 2 🌈
The Court of Broken Knives by Anna Smith Spark (gay mc, gay li, m/m relationship, bi mc, m/f relationship) – 2 🌈 cw gore, violence, blood, child death, sexual assault
Confidence by Rafael Frumkin (gay mc, bi li, m/m relationship) – 4 🌈 [review to come]
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks (lesbian mcs, f/f relationship, gay mcs, m/m relationship) – 2 🌈 cw torture, violence, implied suicide attempt, drug abuse
The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez (Filipino coded cast(?), achillean mcs) – 4 🌈 cw gore, violence, cannibalism
🔥 Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney (bi mcs, m/f relationship) – 5 🌈 cw mentions of self harm, depression

What we watched (and listened to)

Charlotte

The Girlfriend Project Day 1 (2022) cr. RED Q (Korean lesbian mcs) – 3 🌈
Stonemouth (2015) dir. Charles Martin (pan character) – 2 🌈 cw mentions of incest, violence, drug use, gun violence
See How They Run (2022) dir. Tom George (Black gay character) – 4 🌈