• Literature,  Most Anticipated & Best

    Most Anticipated 2022 Releases: January to June

    30 December, 2021

    It’s that horrible, horrible time of year again, when we look at what’s going to get published next year and make ourselves choose one (1) LGBT book per month that we’re most excited about. It’s not easy, it’s not pretty; sometimes we fight over books, sometimes we cry a little because we can’t decide on just one…

    To make things marginally more manageable, like in previous years, we’re sticking only to books we haven’t read ARCs of yet. (So if there’s something huge and obvious missing here, that’s probably why!) Enjoy!

    Related: Twitter’s anticipated releases in 2022.
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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: All The 2021 Releases We Heard About Too Late

    28 December, 2021

    Every time we make a releases post, we know that we’ll find yet more books for it the moment we hit publish. Hence, this post! This is a collection of all the books we didn’t know about in time to put on our posts (for various reasons, like, simply, we didn’t hear about it, we didn’t realise it was gay until later because reviews mentioned nothing, or because a date change took it into an earlier month). There is a lot here: there are 499 501 books on this list alone, representing just under a third of all the books we knew about (1,715 1,717 at last count), in all genres and age groups.

    This will be the final post of its kind though because, as of January, we’re going about our releases posts in a slightly different way (that’ll hopefully make it easier to update the posts themselves instead of a massive, and not very readable, post of everything we missed from the year).

    But before we start, here’s a link to our list of 2021 releases:

    ALL THE LGBT RELEASES (THAT WE KNEW ABOUT) FROM 2021

    P.S. a little note: where we write something like “bi mc, m/f” or “pan mc, f/m”, what we’re trying to get across is that the mc note refers to the first letter of that. So, in this case, the bi mc is a man and the pan mc is a woman. Similarly for trans mcs, or when one of the mc’s is nonbinary. I realised that, while this is clear to me, it’s not as clear to everyone else so. A little explanation!

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  • All Recommended,  Film & TV Recs,  Film & TV Shows

    Film & TV Recs: Achillean Coming of Age Movies

    26 December, 2021

    Movies about gay teenagers just hit differently, don’t they? Which is why I am here with this list of ten coming of age movies where the main character is achillean. The list is a little bit chaotic, but I think that’s a good thing? It means you will find some more serious movies here, some more romance heavy, some with very little romance at all… A little bit for everyone!

    Related: Sapphic Coming of Age Movies
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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Adrienne Wilder

    23 December, 2021

    After spending a few hours battling shoddy internet connectivity, finally, we’re here with another post! Today’s interview is with Adrienne Wilder, author of gay contemporary and speculative fiction. If you’re looking for a new author to get your teeth into, why not try his books? And, of course, read this interview!

    Finally, don’t forget to follow him on twitter!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Midnight Girls

    21 December, 2021

    The last Tuesday of the year brings us some of the best gifts, actually. And by that we obviously mean what is probably one of the best books to read during those long winter evenings. To achieve the maximum of a Polish experience, maybe try some mead with it or at least mulled wine (not that we encourage drinking, of course!).

    Anyway, lets us give you all the reasons why you should absolutely read The Midnight Girls, enjoy the playlist for it, full of Polish songs, and don’t forget to follow Alicia on twitter, if you’re not already!

    It’s Karnawał season in the snow-cloaked Kingdom of Lechija, and from now until midnight when the church bells ring an end to Devil’s Tuesday time will be marked with wintry balls and glittery disguises, cavalcades of nightly torch-lit “kuligi” sleigh-parties.

    Unbeknownst to the oblivious merrymakers, two monsters join the fun, descending upon the royal city of Warszów in the guise of two innocent girls. Newfound friends and polar opposites, Zosia and Marynka seem destined to have a friendship that’s stronger even than magic. But that’s put to the test when they realize they both have their sights set on Lechija’s pure-hearted prince. A pure heart contains immeasurable power and Marynka plans to bring the prince’s back to her grandmother in order to prove herself. While Zosia is determined to take his heart and its power for her own.

    When neither will sacrifice their ambitions for the other, the festivities spiral into a wild contest with both girls vying to keep the hapless prince out of the other’s wicked grasp. But this isn’t some remote forest village, where a hint of stray magic might go unnoticed, Warszów is the icy capital of a kingdom that enjoys watching monsters burn, and if Zosia and Marynka’s innocent disguises continue to slip, their escalating rivalry might cost them not just the love they might have for each other, but both their lives.

    The Midnight Girls

    Alicia Jasinska

    Goodreads

    Rep: Polish-coded cast & setting, lesbian mc, bi mc, lesbian character, gay character, bi male character
    CWs: child abuse, blood, body horror (brief), death, murder
    Release: 28th December 2021

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Friends to Lovers

    19 December, 2021

    In the three and a bit years this blog has been up, I’ve made two enemies to lovers rec lists and always intended to make a friends to lovers list too, but somehow never got round to it. Well, today, I have finally got my act together! If you love the friends to lovers trope, the pining, the yearning, the belief that it’s unrequited—this rec list is for you! (And if it’s not your favourite, then I live in hope these books will convert you.) So, let’s go!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Book Review: The Harbinger of Freedom

    14 December, 2021
    43294395

    In the millenary world of Taenand, the continent of Empiria is oppressed by a fifty year lasting military dictatorship perpetrated by the Army of the Harpy, the leader of which is the young General of aristocratic descent Ludwig Maximilian Eckhale who inherited the throne and became the second Emperor of his Era.

    In these challenging times, Valerius Raleigh, a young noble as the Emperor himself, takes on the mission to inspire his country to break its chains and free itself from the ever more raging tyranny, first becoming a symbol and a messenger of freedom, then building an army whose purpose is to take down the reign of terror and injustice which threatens to spread all over Taenand due to the ruthless ruler’s strategic mindset and powerful alliances.

    The Harbinger of Freedom is the first act of the Falling Feathers Series, a crazy mix of blood, sex, drugs, hacking, cybernetic augmentations, shamanism, fantasy creatures, artificial life and an overall retrofuturistic and cyberpunkish aesthetic. In this vast, complex world, liberty and self-determination play a pivotal role in the search for balance and justice for all, while the diverse characters are pawns in a gritty game of power, intrigues and violence in which there is no place for surrender or subjugation.

    The Harbinger of Freedom

    Freddie A. Clark

    Published: 30th August 2021
    Goodreads
    Rep: bi mc, gay li, achillean & sapphic side characters, nonbinary side characters
    CWs: gore, violence, implied child sexual abuse, past child abuse (for more detail, see author’s website)

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  • Interviews

    Author Interview: Jae

    12 December, 2021

    If you read lesbian romances, you’ve probably come across Jae’s work before. She really is an icon in the community. And if, for whatever ungodly reason, you haven’t read any of her books yet, check out this interview to learn more about her, and then buy yourself at least one novel!

    And, while you’re at it, don’t forget to follow Jae on twitter!

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  • All Recommended,  Film & TV Recs,  Film & TV Shows

    Film & TV Recs: LGBT Christmas movies

    10 December, 2021

    Christmas is just around the corner, so it’s high time for a rec list of movies to watch while you cosy up with some hot chocolate. Those are basically all new releases, since Happiest Season coming out last year gave studios a kick to bring us more LGBT Christmas movies. Finally. And no, I’m not including Single All the Way on my list, because you probably already know about it (and because, well, I didn’t really enjoy it much).

    I made a part one to this, with gay Christmas movies, two years ago, and I obviously encourage you to check it out, but also I have to be honest: most of the good stuff came out since then.

    There are also 11 movies on this list and that’s because one of them is a short feature, so it’s like a cute little bonus.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Reads Rainbow Awards 2021: The Results

    8 December, 2021

    As you may have noticed, we ran the awards a little differently this year, allowing for a week’s worth of nominations in all categories, before taking those nominated more than once, adding a few more to reach 20 per category (although 15 in two, and 30 in debut), and then opening up voting for 3 and a half weeks. In selecting nominees, we tried out best to ensure different books were nominated in each category (debut and romance aside) and that, within each category, an author appeared only once.

    But enough of that. The results of that vote, with 2320 ballots cast, are now here and I’m sure you’re all excited to see who won! First though, if you’re interested in just who made the cut in this year’s awards, below you can:

    see the list of nominees!

    Otherwise, happy scrolling!

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  • All Releases,  Music,  Music Releases

    Music Releases: LGBT songs of November 2021

    7 December, 2021

    It’s the very end of the year and LGBT artists, like everyone else, are clearly excited for the holidays: there are quite a number of Christmas songs on the playlist below. There’s even one among the ten songs I highlight in the post itself. And those are only the November songs!

    If you want more, though, I have a very long holigay mix for you & one made of only 2021 songs. (I will be updating them as more songs come out!)

    That’s still not enough music for you? Try all my previous monthly posts right here!

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  • Wrap Ups

    Wrap-up: November 2021

    3 December, 2021

    Better late than never comes our wrap up post for November. This month was pretty busy for us, and December is only going to get busier. Which is… good news of a sort? Risky news for the frequency of posts on the blog, but we’ll just have to see how it goes.

    But anyway! I hope your Novembers went well, and that December is good to you. Here’s a little summary of our reading, watching, and now listening habits!

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: December 2021

    30 November, 2021

    Last thirty one days of the year! Who can even believe that? But also, statistically speaking, it’s basically 2 LGBT books coming out on each of those days!

    No spoilers, but this is the last time we will do the releases post like this. Starting January we will be using a different method, and hopefully y’all will find it even easier to navigate!

    If any books are wrongly categorised, just let me know & I can fix it. As per usual, you can find all our previous releases posts here & the rainbow emoji indicates an author who id’s as LGBT.

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