• All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: To Break a Covenant

    20 September, 2021

    I’m sure this next book is one you’ve all been highly anticipating (and if not, why not?). It’s also coming out at the perfect time for Halloween and all things spooky! If you want a book that’ll scare you out of your wits (and I’m not just saying this as a certified wimp), then this is the book for you.

    So, sit back, give Alison a follow on twitter, and get yourself ready for the perfect spooky season read!

    Debut voice Alison Ames delivers with a chilling, feminist thriller, perfect for fans of Wilder Girls and Sawkill Girls.

    Moon Basin has been haunted for as long as anyone can remember. It started when an explosion in the mine killed sixteen people. The disaster made it impossible to live in town, with underground fires spewing ash into the sky. But life in New Basin is just as fraught. The ex-mining town relies on its haunted reputation to bring in tourists, but there’s more truth to the rumors than most are willing to admit, and the mine still has a hold on everyone who lives there.

    Clem and Nina form a perfect loop—best friends forever, and perhaps something more. Their circle opens up for a strange girl named Lisey with a knack for training crows, and Piper, whose father is fascinated with the mine in a way that’s anything but ordinary. The people of New Basin start experiencing strange phenomena—sleepwalking, night terrors, voices that only they can hear. And no matter how many vans of ghost hunters roll through, nobody can get to the bottom of what’s really going on. Which is why the girls decide to enter the mine themselves.

    To Break a Covenant

    Alison Ames

    Goodreads

    Rep: lesbian mc, bi li
    CWs: animal death, death of a parent, gore
    Release: 21st September 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Iron Widow

    17 September, 2021

    Iron Widow is one of those 2021 debuts that possibly everyone has already heard about it and is (rightly!) excited about, so let us stoke the fires some more with our reviews of this glorious beast of a book. There’s a music mix, too!

    And if you want to do yourself a big favour, go ahead & follow Xiran on twitter already!

    The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the mecha aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall. It doesn’t matter that the girls often die from the mental strain.

    When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it’s to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister’s death. But she gets her vengeance in a way nobody expected—she kills him through the psychic link between pilots and emerges from the cockpit unscathed. She is labeled an Iron Widow, a much-feared and much-silenced kind of female pilot who can sacrifice boys to power up Chrysalises instead.​

    To tame her unnerving yet invaluable mental strength, she is paired up with Li Shimin, the strongest and most controversial male pilot in Huaxia​. But now that Zetian has had a taste of power, she will not cower so easily. She will miss no opportunity to leverage their combined might and infamy to survive attempt after attempt on her life, until she can figure out exactly why the pilot system works in its misogynist way—and stop more girls from being sacrificed. 

    Iron Widow

    Xiran Jay Zhao

    Goodreads

    Rep: Chinese-coded cast, bi mcs, polyamory
    CWs: gore, murder, torture, mentions of rape, threats of rape, misogyny, femicide, suicide ideation, abuse, alcohol addiction
    Release: 21st September 2021

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Historical Romances

    13 September, 2021

    There’s something about a good histrom that just perfectly scratches a certain itch for me. And once I find an author whose books I enjoy, I will binge their entire backlist. That being said, it’s still an area where, at least in tradpub, it’s very cishet and white. So, here I’ve done my utmost to find you 10 recs that are very much not cishet (although they do remain quite white, so if anyone has recs of their own, please do drop them in the comments!). For that time when you just need a good histrom.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Beasts and Beauty

    11 September, 2021

    If you ever have a burning desire for dark and dangerous fairytale retellings, then I have the book for you today, with a review of Soman Chainani’s upcoming Beasts and Beauty, which is out at the end of the month. You can preorder it via Bookshop (UK, US—these are affiliate links), but in the meantime, here’s five reasons you really should be looking forward to this one.

    You think you know these stories, don’t you?

    You are wrong.

    You don’t know them at all.

    Twelve tales, twelve dangerous tales of mystery, magic, and rebellious hearts. Each twists like a spindle to reveal truths full of warning and triumph, truths that capture hearts long kept tame and set them free, truths that explore life . . . and death.

    A prince has a surprising awakening . . .                           

    A beauty fights like a beast . . .

    A boy refuses to become prey . . .

    A path to happiness is lost. . . . then found again.

    New York Times bestselling author Soman Chainani respins old stories into fresh fairy tales for a new era and creates a world like no other. These stories know you. They understand you. They reflect you. They are tales for our times. So read on, if you dare. 

    Beasts and Beauty

    Soman Chainani

    Goodreads

    Rep: gay mcs
    CWs: blood, racism/racial trauma, implied rape, emotional abuse, implied child trafficking
    Release: 28th September 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Final Child

    5 September, 2021

    I’m sure by now you know that I a) love thrillers, and b) love Fran Dorricott’s thrillers. If you don’t? Well, here I am to put you right on that. If you’re looking for something fast-paced and full of action to read this week, then I offer you this one.

    Erin and her brother Alex were the last children abducted by ‘the Father’, a serial killer who only ever took pairs of siblings. She escaped, but her brother was never seen again. Traumatised, Erin couldn’t remember anything about her ordeal, and the Father was never caught.

    Eighteen years later, Erin has done her best to put the past behind her. But then she meets Harriet. Harriet’s young cousins were the Father’s first victims and, haunted by their deaths, she is writing a book about the disappearances and is desperate for an interview. At first, Erin wants nothing to do with her. But then she starts receiving sinister gifts, her house is broken into, and she can’t shake the feeling that she’s being watched. After all these years, Erin believed that the Father was gone, but now she begins to wonder if he was only waiting…

    The Final Child

    Fran Dorricott

    Goodreads

    Rep: lesbian mcs
    CWs: child death, child abduction, gore, amputation, violence, child abuse, past suicide
    Release: 7th September 2021

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: September 2021

    30 August, 2021

    If you know publishing in any capacity, you probably know September is one of the biggest months in terms of output. Which means, after June (for obvious reasons), it’s the gayest month too, proven by the fact that there are over 125 books due out in this month (apologies to your wallets in advance). So, without further ado, let’s get going!

    As ever, you can find all our previous releases posts here and the rainbow emoji indicates an author who id’s as LGBT.

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2019 Books With Non-Cis Protagonists

    21 August, 2021

    Here’s another compilation post about trans & nonbinary books that all came out in one year. This time the year is 2019. Sometimes you just gotta go back in time, right?

    Like always, I decided to only feature books with main characters or love interests who aren’t cis. (Or really important side characters, like parents). Of course, it’s not just YA, there are adult books on this list as well. And it absolutely is not all one genre.

    For this post in particular, I’m sure I have missed some books. Please leave a comment, if you know of any books I should add! And as always, books by LGBT authors have a rainbow emoji next to the title.

    See also: trans & nonbinary books of 2021 and of 2020; 100+ books by trans & nonbinary authors; twitter’s favourite trans books.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Charm Offensive

    18 August, 2021

    Hopefully, by now, you’re already excited about The Charm Offensive. We most definitely were, the moment we learned about it. If, however, you live under a rock, let us introduce you to one of the loveliest books of the year. (And hey, the comparison to Casey McQuiston’s writing? Totally deserved.)

    Anyway, give Alison Cochrun a follow on twitter, and enjoy!

    In this witty and heartwarming romantic comedy—reminiscent of Red, White & Royal Blue and One to Watch—an awkward tech wunderkind on a reality dating show goes off-script when sparks fly with his producer.

    Dev Deshpande has always believed in fairy tales. So it’s no wonder then that he’s spent his career crafting them on the long-running reality dating show Ever After. As the most successful producer in the franchise’s history, Dev always scripts the perfect love story for his contestants, even as his own love life crashes and burns. But then the show casts disgraced tech wunderkind Charlie Winshaw as its star.

    Charlie is far from the romantic Prince Charming Ever After expects. He doesn’t believe in true love, and only agreed to the show as a last-ditch effort to rehabilitate his image. In front of the cameras, he’s a stiff, anxious mess with no idea how to date twenty women on national television. Behind the scenes, he’s cold, awkward, and emotionally closed-off.

    As Dev fights to get Charlie to connect with the contestants on a whirlwind, worldwide tour, they begin to open up to each other, and Charlie realizes he has better chemistry with Dev than with any of his female co-stars. But even reality TV has a script, and in order to find to happily ever after, they’ll have to reconsider whose love story gets told.

    The Charm Offensive

    Alison Cochrun

    Goodreads

    Rep: Indian American gay mc with depression, gay mc with generalised anxiety disorder, OCD & a panic disorder, Chinese American bi side character, lesbian side character, Black ace bi side character with anxiety, gay side character, Muslim pan side character, Black bi side character
    CWs: panic attacks, biphobia (from side character)
    Release: 7th September 2021

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: Ownvoices M/M books of July-December 2021

    16 August, 2021

    Specific labels may vary but all the books in this post have achillean main characters & are written by achillean authors. This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t be reading m/m books which aren’t, roughly speaking, ownvoices. Rather, a place to celebrate the few that are.

    Of course, I’m only human, so if you spot any mistakes or missing titles, let me know!

    See also: ownvoices m/m books of January-June 2021, of January-June 2020 & of July-December 2020.
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books with Ace Protagonists

    11 August, 2021

    Taking a break from making very niche rec lists for a super specific trope used in an even more specific genre! So instead, I’m here today with books from various genres, featuring an even bigger array of tropes, but all of them sharing a specific representation. And yeah, the title gives it away, I know; it’s not a surprise all the books listed below have main characters who are on the asexuality spectrum. Hopefully, the selection is broad enough that everyone finds something for themself!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Zodiac Signs as LGBT Books

    8 August, 2021

    This idea is sort of born of this thread (which was a great thread, if I do say so myself, so there’s a little bit of overlap in some signs…but I’ve mostly tried to add new books), but I decided I wanted to turn it into a blog post featuring all LGBT books, instead of solely sapphic ones. And here we are! This post contains thirty six books, one for the sun, moon & rising for each sign. So, if you’re looking for a way to create a little fun TBR, look no further!

    Of course, I couldn’t start this post without having mentioned Anaïs, who is vastly more knowledgeable of astrology than me, and who helped a lot with fitting the right books in.

    Want to skip to your sign?

    Aquarius | Pisces | Aries | Taurus | Gemini | Cancer | Leo | Virgo | Libra | Scorpio | Sagittarius | Capricorn
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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: The Final Child

    3 August, 2021

    This month’s book of the month was selected highly democratically (i.e. I said, let’s choose this one and Anna said you do you). I have to admit to already having read (and LOVED) this book, so, yeah, I’m a little biased here when I say this is perhaps one of the best thrillers I’ve ever read. It’s tense and terrifying and you’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire time. It’s one I’d suggest you preorder, and if you scroll down, you’ll find out just why I think that.

    (But if that’s got you very excited, I can highly recommend After the Eclipse as well!)

    Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: August 2021

    30 July, 2021

    What do you guys think of our new layout for these posts? We do hope it’s easier to browse when books are at least roughly divided into categories! And when you have around 80 books in one place, it sure does that a while to look through them all…

    As ever, you can find all our previous releases posts here and the rainbow emoji indicates an author who id’s as LGBT.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Like a Love Song

    28 July, 2021

    I’m sure you’re just as excited about this book as we were when we first heard about it. Firstly, it’s Gabriela Martins! (And if you don’t know just how much we love her on this blog, we interviewed her way back & featured her guest post in our one year anniversary celebration.) Secondly, who doesn’t love fake dating? So if you’re looking for a summery read (whether it’s summer where you are, or you wish it was), then this book will be for you.

    This debut paperback original romance follows a Latina teen pop star whose image takes a dive after a messy public breakup, until she’s set up with a swoon-worthy fake boyfriend.

    Fake boyfriend. Real heartbreak?

    Natalie is living her dream: topping the charts and setting records as a Brazilian pop star…until she’s dumped spectacularly on live television. Not only is it humiliating—it could end her career.

    Her PR team’s desperate plan? A gorgeous yet oh-so-fake boyfriend. Nati reluctantly agrees, but William is not what she expected. She was hoping for a fierce bad boy—not a soft-hearted British indie film star. While she fights her way back to the top with a sweet and surprisingly swoon-worthy boy on her arm, she starts to fall for William—and realizes that maybe she’s the biggest fake of them all. Can she reclaim her voice and her heart?

    Like a Love Song

    Gabriela Martins

    Goodreads

    Rep: Brazilian mc, Jewish bisexual li, lesbian Pakistani American side character, bisexual Brazilian American side character
    Release: 3rd August 2021

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