We may be into the closing months of twenty gay-teen but the LGBT releases are not letting up. November so far seems to be a hotbed for sapphic releases, numbering five of those on our list. This roundup includes fantasy, historical, sci fi and contemporary books, and also a non-fiction book about the lesbian world traveller, Anne Lister. So, hopefully, there’s something for everyone.
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ARC Review: Girls of Paper and Fire
Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It’s the highest honor they could hope for… and the most cruel.
But this year, there’s a ninth girl. And instead of paper, she’s made of fire.
In this lush fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after – the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest.
Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable – she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.
Girls of Paper and Fire
Natasha Ngan
Rating: 5/5 🌈
Published: 6th November 2018
Goodreads
Rep: wlw mcs (ownvoices), South-east/East Asian characters (ownvoices)I know it now with a certainty that has fitted into the lost core at the heart of me, as hard and angular as my hope was soft and shimmering. The King will not have me.
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ARC Review: In The Vanishers’ Palace
In a ruined, devastated world, where the earth is poisoned and beings of nightmares roam the land…
A woman, betrayed, terrified, sold into indenture to pay her village’s debts and struggling to survive in a spirit world.
A dragon, among the last of her kind, cold and aloof but desperately trying to make a difference.
When failed scholar Yên is sold to Vu Côn, one of the last dragons walking the earth, she expects to be tortured or killed for Vu Côn’s amusement.
But Vu Côn, it turns out, has a use for Yên: she needs a scholar to tutor her two unruly children. She takes Yên back to her home, a vast, vertiginous palace-prison where every door can lead to death. Vu Côn seems stern and unbending, but as the days pass Yên comes to see her kinder and caring side. She finds herself dangerously attracted to the dragon who is her master and jailer. In the end, Yên will have to decide where her own happiness lies—and whether it will survive the revelation of Vu Côn’s dark, unspeakable secrets…
In The Vanishers’ Palace
Aliette de Bodard
Rating: 4/5 🌈
Published: 16th October 2018
Goodreads
Rep: Vietnamese mcs (ownvoices), bi mc (fairly sure ownvoices), lesbian mc, non-binary side characters (not ownvoices)And then she’d wake up, gasping, trying to breathe, raising her hands to her face, remembering Vu Côn’s touch on her skin, as wet and as cold as the oily river.
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ARC Review: Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)
Meet Jack Rothman. He’s seventeen and loves partying, makeup and boys – sometimes all at the same time. His sex life makes him the hot topic for the high school gossip machine. But who cares? Like Jack always says, ‘it could be worse’.
He doesn’t actually expect that to come true.
But after Jack starts writing an online sex advice column, the mysterious love letters he’s been getting take a turn for the creepy. Jack’s secret admirer knows everything: where he’s hanging out, who he’s sleeping with, who his mum is dating. They claim they love Jack, but not his unashamedly queer lifestyle. They need him to curb his sexuality, or they’ll force him.
As the pressure mounts, Jack must unmask his stalker before their obsession becomes genuinely dangerous…
Jack of Hearts (And Other Parts)
Lev A. C. Rosen
Rating: 3/5 🌈
Published: 30th October 2018
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc and side character (ownvoices), black side characters (not ownvoices), two sapphic side characters (one bi, one not stated)My first time getting it in the butt was kind of weird. I think it’s going to be weird for everyone’s first time, though.
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Book Releases: October 2018
20gayteen is treating us so well & this is true for books, too, of course! So much good stuff is already out there and the list for just October itself isn’t short either, guys. What a beautiful time to be alive (and gay).
Our objective with bringing titles to your attention is, obviously, to highlight the kind of lgbt rep they give us. But we also want to be picky about that, only talk about books that genuinely interest us. We deserve as much already, right?
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ARC Review: What If It’s Us
Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a showstopping romance when you least expect it.
Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things.
But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them?
Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated.
Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited.
But what if they can’t quite nail a first date . . . or a second first date . . . or a third?
What if Arthur tries too hard to make it work . . . and Ben doesn’t try hard enough?
What if life really isn’t like a Broadway play?
But what if it is?
What If It’s Us
Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Rating: 1/5 🌈
Published: 9th October 2018
Goodreads
Rep: gay mcs (one ownvoices, one not), Puerto Rican mc (ownvoices), Jewish mc (ownvoices), mc with ADHD, side character with anxiety, side non-white charactersI don’t know if we’re in a love story or a story about love.
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ARC Review: Love Like This
Sometimes the most imperfect match is the most perfect surprise.
Hadley Cooper believes in happily-ever-afters with her whole heart. Described by her friends as a wide-eyed, eternal optimist, she looks for the bright side in most any situation. However, when her job as the assistant manager of Silhouette, a posh boutique on Rodeo Drive, is on the line, she realizes it’s time to pull her head out of the clouds and find a way to turn business around, and that just might mean partnering with the most stubborn up-and-coming fashion designer she’s ever encountered.
Spencer Adair has a passion for fashion, but hates the fact that it rhymes. She’s serious about her designs, fiercely protective of her work, and is waiting patiently for her big break. What she didn’t plan on, however, was the unsolicited opinions of that overly friendly blond boutique manager. Or the way her heart beats faster every time she’s around.
Love Like This
Melissa Brayden
Rating: 2/5 🌈
Published: 16th October 2018
Goodreads
Rep: lesbian mc and li (ownvoices), Latina(?) li (not ownvoices, also never specified)Her soul soared, her heart sang, and her life could go in so many different directions.
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Book Review: Almost Like Being in Love
A high school jock and nerd fall in love senior year, only to part after an amazing summer of discovery to attend their respective colleges. They keep in touch at first, but then slowly drift apart.
Flash forward twenty years.
Travis and Craig both have great lives, careers, and loves. But something is missing …. Travis is the first to figure it out. He’s still in love with Craig, and come what may, he’s going after the boy who captured his heart, even if it means forsaking his job, making a fool of himself, and entering the great unknown.
Told in narrative, letters, checklists, and more, this is the must-read novel for anyone who’s wondered what ever happened to that first great love.
Almost Like Being in Love
Steve Kluger
Rating: 4/5 🌈
Published: 11th May 2004
Goodreads
Rep: gay mc and li (ownvoices)And as long as I’m being brutally candid, I only wound up teaching American History because I followed a cute ass into the country-and-western section at Barnes & Noble (…).
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An Introduction
Welcome to Reads Rainbow
a blog dedicated to LGBT media, where we aim to give you reviews, recs and information about new releases!
A little bit about the blog: we hope to provide you with reviews of already released books, films and tv shows, as well as offering rec lists and keeping you apprised of new LGBT releases. We want to primarily consider ownvoices media, but we will also be reviewing non-ownvoices media, and reccing those we think are good. We will also try to indicate where the media is diverse in other ways, and whether that is ownvoices representation or not.
ABOUT ANNA
(twitter @ heresthepencil)
Hi, I’m Anna! I’m a 30 year old lesbian from Poland and I work full-time at a city hall. Nowadays I usually read YA literature (I might be old, but the feelings described in those books are relatable to all & somehow more real than in adult lit) and more specifically contemporary books, with some sff thrown in every once in a while. I’m also very big on poetry. The list of my favourite authors is quite long but to name just a few: Melina Marchetta, Natasha Pulley, Kayla Ancrum, Brandon Sanderson, and for poets: Ocean Vuong, Richard Siken, Ada Limón, Sappho, Kaveh Akbar.
ABOUT CHARLOTTE
(twitter @ mahitdzmare)
Hi, I’m Charlotte! I’m 22 and studying for my Masters degree in Sport Psychology this year. My reading oscillates between finishing something in a day, maybe two, and not finishing it for months on end. (There really is no in-between.) My favourite genres are historical mystery and fantasy (and probably also sports fiction, now I think about it). Some of my favourite authors are Patrick Ness, Melina Marchetta, and Megan Whalen Turner. I also blog over at tealeafreads.
