• All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Sea Wolf

    22 July, 2021

    If you haven’t read any books by Anna Burke, I’m going to need you to turn around and leave this site to go rectify that immediately. Anna Burke writes exclusively lesbian books, and they are, honestly, the best. Today I’m reviewing her upcoming release (which is the sequel to Compass Rose, so there will be some, vague spoilers!), out on 27th July, and one you won’t want to miss.

    In the year 2514, the only thing more dangerous than the seas is those who sail them.

    Life aboard the mercenary ship Man o’ War is rarely dull as hurricanes, swarms of jellyfish, and man-eating squid pose daily doses of danger. As intrigue and subterfuge from enemies old and new begin to surround its captain, the infamous Miranda Stillwater, even an uncanny sense of direction won’t be enough to help Compass Rose navigate these dangerous straits. As dark secrets bubble to the surface and everything she’s fought so hard for begins to crumble, Rose learns the hard way that she’ll have to rely on the only person who can save her from certain disaster. Unfortunately, that person is Compass Rose herself.

    This swashbuckling 26th-century adventure novel is smart, colorful and quirky, yet it manages to deliver a healthy dose of heart, humor, and humility on every single page.

    Sea Wolf

    Anna Burke

    Goodreads

    Rep: lesbian mc & li, lesbian side characters
    CWs: gore, violence, amputation
    Release: 27th July 2021

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: 2021 Sapphic Releases (July to December)

    20 July, 2021

    Hopefully July is treating you all well so far (I’m sat here, watching torrential rain)! Today’s post is one that, with luck, you’ve all been anticipating. Anna posted about YA releases on Friday, and now I’m posting about the sapphic releases of the second half of 2021 (bi releases will be up in a few days too, so keep an eye out!). Not all of these have sapphic main characters, but they do feature (to the best of my knowledge) somewhat prominent sapphic characters at least.

    You can, of course, find January to June’s releases here.

    Undoubtedly I have missed books (we all know that, as soon as I post this, there’ll be five more to add, minimum), so I’ll be checking back on the post pretty regularly to add more.

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  • All Releases,  Book Releases,  Literature

    Book Releases: LGBT YA Books of July-December 2021

    17 July, 2021

    Hopefully I got y’all used to those YA posts enough that you were actually waiting for this one. If not, just don’t tell me. But if yes, sorry for the wait and enjoy! There are over 105 LGBT YA books here, surely you will find at least a dozen or two to fall in love with.

    And like always, a rainbow emoji indicates that the book is by an LGBT author.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Blog Tour: Up All Night

    12 July, 2021

    Today’s our stop on the blog tour for Up All Night, a YA anthology where each story is set over the course of a single night. Obviously, we have been excited about this one since we first heard of it so, on the off chance that you’re not as excited as us, let us try convince you why you should be!

    And, as ever, there’s a mix to listen to at the end!

    When everyone else goes to bed, the ones who stay up feel like they’re the only people in the world. As the hours tick by deeper into the night, the familiar drops away and the unfamiliar beckons. Adults are asleep, and a hush falls over the hum of daily life. Anything is possible.

    It’s a time for romance and adventure. For prom night and ghost hunts. It’s a time for breaking up, for falling in love—for finding yourself.

    Stay up all night with these thirteen short stories from bestselling and award-winning YA authors like Karen McManus, Tiffany D. Jackson, Nina LaCour, and Brandy Colbert, as they take readers deep into these rarely seen, magical hours.

    Up All Night

    ed. by Laura Silverman

    Goodreads

    Rep: bi disabled mc, sapphic mc, nonbinary li, Jewish bi mc, Black gay mc, Indian American gay li, gay, lesbian, bi & nonbinary characters
    CWs: child sexual abuse, domestic abuse, infidelity, car crash, death of a parent, self harm
    Release: 13th July 2021

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Rise to the Sun

    6 July, 2021

    Today is the (US) publication day of Leah Johnson’s sophomore novel, Rise to the Sun, a summery, sunshiney contemporary romance set at a music festival. If you’re looking for a book to read at the beach, if you’re looking for a book that’ll make you feel as though it’s summer, even as it’s grey and rainy outside, then this is the book for you. And you can pick it up right away!

    But if you want a little more reason for reading this, check out this review! You can also follow Leah on twitter (which you absolutely should).

    And don’t forget to listen to the mix at the end of this post while you read (or, really, just Joy Oladokun…)!

    Three days. Two girls. One life-changing music festival.

    Olivia is an expert at falling in love . . . and at being dumped. But after the fallout from her last breakup has left her an outcast at school and at home, she’s determined to turn over a new leaf. A crush-free weekend at Farmland Music and Arts Festival with her best friend is just what she needs to get her mind off the senior year that awaits her.

    Toni is one week away from starting college, and it’s the last place she wants to be. Unsure about who she wants to become and still reeling in the wake of the loss of her musician-turned-roadie father, she’s heading back to the music festival that changed his life in hopes that following in his footsteps will help her find her own way forward.

    When the two arrive at Farmland, the last thing they expect is to realize that they’ll need to join forces in order to get what they’re searching for out of the weekend. As they work together, the festival becomes so much more complicated than they bargained for, and Olivia and Toni will find that they need each other, and music, more than they ever could have imagined.

    Packed with irresistible romance and irrepressible heart, bestselling author Leah Johnson delivers a stunning and cinematic story about grief, love, and the remarkable power of music to heal and connect us all.

    Rise to the Sun

    Leah Johnson

    Goodreads

    Rep: Black bi mc, Black lesbian mc, Black sapphic side character
    CWs: suspected shooting, revenge porn
    Release: 6th July 2021

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: For the Love of April French

    4 July, 2021

    July’s book of the month is a welcome addition to the subgenre of romance that features trans main characters. If you find yourself loving YA trans lit, but pining for something more adult to go along with that, then you’ll want to check this book out. So without further ado, scroll on to find out more!

    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: July 2021

    30 June, 2021

    It’s the end of June, which means that it’s that time again! Sadly, unlike the past couple of months, July’s releases don’t break 100 (or sort of gladly, if you’re me, and having to write up the post), but there are some truly exciting releases here.

    Also exciting is our new layout for the posts! Instead of just giving you a long list with dates, we’ve split the list into genres, so you can just search for whichever genre you want to read. (And see just how few there are for some… 😒)

    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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  • Literature,  Most Anticipated & Best

    Most Anticipated 2021 Releases: July to December

    29 June, 2021

    It’s that time of year again when we put an impossible task before ourselves: choose only one (1) book per month you’re most excited about. When we know and are waiting for dozens of them? It’s like choosing a favourite pet.

    It’s a tiny bit easier because we also have a rule: neither of use is allowed to choose a book we have already read an arc of. And since we were very lucky this year with advanced copies, the pool to choose from was a tiny bit smaller. This is why you won’t see The Hollow Heart or A Marvellous Light, or Iron Widow here, to name just a few…

    This is all to say that a ridiculous number of great LGBT books is being published this year, and below are six we (haven’t read yet and) are most excited about. And here’s what we were waiting for in the first half of the year!

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: 100+ Books by Trans & Non-Binary Authors

    26 June, 2021

    Today’s post is a collaboration with a group of bloggers. The idea came from Mols and she reached out to a number of trans and nonbinary bloggers, in hopes of creating a truly giant rec list of books. So here we are, with over 100 titles!

    To see the full list, though, and not just my contribution, you have to check out everyone’s posts! So head over to those lovely people: Mols @ Mols by Moonlight, Artie @ ArtieCarden, Ocean @ Oceans of Novels, Anniek @ Anniek’s Library, Bertie @ Luminosity Library, Andee @ Mouse Reads, Danni @ The Rush of a Book, Vee @ Vee_Bookish!

    Please keep in mind, all the books are written by trans and/or nonbinary authors, but not every single one of them features such rep.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: Neurodiversity and Disability in LGBT Lit

    24 June, 2021

    The final post in our intersection series is here! Today we’re looking at books which feature neurodiverse or disability rep. That does, of course, give us a vast array of stories to choose from, and we couldn’t represent every possible facet of it in a single post. As such, perhaps even more than the lists, this is very much a starter pack. And if you don’t see a more popular one on here, that you might have been expecting, that’s just because we wanted to highlight those which aren’t often recced.

    Everything else we’ve featured in this series can be found here: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: LGBT Lit and Faith

    22 June, 2021

    The penultimate rec list in this series is one that covers LGBT lit in which faith and religion play a big role (but isn’t always the sole focus, mind). We’ve done our best here to feature as many religions as possible, but, as you might expect, some are (as ever) easier to find than others. The sections are sorted alphabetically (with a miscellaneous section which represents books covering multiple religions) so are easily searchable.

    The series so far: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    We didn’t find much more examples (outside of Islam, Christianity, and Judaism), but here, have this documentary about a lesbian Taoist priestess and her daughter.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: Indigenous LGBT Lit

    21 June, 2021

    This was probably the trickiest list so far. We wanted to cover as many different indigenous peoples as we could—obviously limited by what’s published and/or available and/or translated—of which, there are some easier to find than others (as is probably clear). There’s also a fair amount of overlap with at least some of the previous lists, so we’ve tried not to duplicate books (although authors may feature more than once here, and across lists).

    This list is a little bit different to the previous ones. We aren’t marking with flags, or including an emoji to indicate diaspora. Instead, we’ll split the list by continent, and make a note for specifics. As such, this is going to be a longer list than previous ones (although undoubtedly you’ll spot where we couldn’t find any books).

    And once again, briefly, some links to the series so far: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Latine lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    And more links! Hausa lit, New Zealand lit (not all indigenous), some Sami lit (although not translated into English), North American lit (and here).

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: Latine LGBT Lit

    20 June, 2021

    Next up in our intersectional rec posts is Latine lit! We’ve done our best to cover as much of Latin America as possible here, but once again, what we can offer depends very much on what we can find and, as such, you’ll see pretty clearly where the gaps are. But. We hope you find something to enjoy on here! And there are plenty of links to search further (& if you speak Spanish, you’re in luck, we found some untranslated lit too!).

    As before, we’re using flags to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    And once again, briefly, some links to the series so far: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Southeast Asian lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    As ever, more links: this Mexican book, which remains untranslated (boo), Chicana/Latina lesbians, Latine YA books, 9 books to read before you die, this Venezuelan book, again untranslated, some untranslated Ecuadorian essays, Puerto Rican lit (not all LGBT, but some by nonbinary authors), this (translated into German and French) book of stories about Argentine trans women, more Latin American authors, and some poets!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Blog Tour: The Wolf and the Woodsman

    18 June, 2021

    Today’s our stop on the blog tour for The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid! If you haven’t already come across this book, well. You are missing out massively. A gorgeously atmospheric and slowburning, Jewish and Hungarian fantasy, if you read a single adult fantasy novel this year, it should be this one. (And if you catch me saying that about several others too? No, you don’t <3)

    So, sit yourself comfortably and have a read of exactly why we think you should be reading this book. And don’t forget to follow Ava on instagram!

    (And when you admit we’re right, and pick this book up, make sure you do so listening to Anna’s mix.)

    In the vein of Naomi Novik’s New York Times bestseller Spinning Silver and Katherine Arden’s national bestseller The Bear and the Nightingale, this unforgettable debut— inspired by Hungarian history and Jewish mythology—follows a young pagan woman with hidden powers and a one-eyed captain of the Woodsmen as they form an unlikely alliance to thwart a tyrant.

    In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

    But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other. Except he’s no ordinary Woodsman—he’s the disgraced prince, Gáspár Bárány, whose father needs pagan magic to consolidate his power. Gáspár fears that his cruelly zealous brother plans to seize the throne and instigate a violent reign that would damn the pagans and the Yehuli alike. As the son of a reviled foreign queen, Gáspár understands what it’s like to be an outcast, and he and Évike make a tenuous pact to stop his brother.

    As their mission takes them from the bitter northern tundra to the smog-choked capital, their mutual loathing slowly turns to affection, bound by a shared history of alienation and oppression. However, trust can easily turn to betrayal, and as Évike reconnects with her estranged father and discovers her own hidden magic, she and Gáspár need to decide whose side they’re on, and what they’re willing to give up for a nation that never cared for them at all.

    The Wolf and the Woodsman

    Ava Reid

    Goodreads

    Rep: sapphic characters
    CWs: magic requiring self harm, eye horror, gore, dismemberment, torture, animal deaths, antisemitism, ethnic cleansing, child abuse
    Release: 8th June 2021

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    In the Intersection: Southeast Asian LGBT Lit

    17 June, 2021

    The last of our lists covering Asia (if only because with the remaining regions we’d probably struggle to get 30 books), today we’ve got for you 30 books by Southeast Asian authors. I’m kind of running out of things to say in this introduction, since it’s much the same as previous posts: we haven’t read all of them, so it’s more a collection, than a rec list. So yeah. Enjoy.

    As before, we’re using flags to mark a country of origin (where possible) and a separate emoji (🏹) to mark if the author is a diaspora author.

    And once again, briefly, some links to the series so far: Black, African & Caribbean lit, East Asian lit, West Asian lit, South Asian lit, Latine lit, Indigenous lit, religion in lit, and neurodiversity & disability in lit.

    And more links! Indonesian lit (primarily in Indonesian), Malaysian lit, Singaporean lit (and also here), and variously here.

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