As part of our Pride month celebrations, we decided that we weren’t going to write any posts for this blog. So, instead, we decided to hand it over to you guys! This first guest post is from Emma and features her favourite underrated books, so dive right in!
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ARC Review: If You Still Recognise Me
You may recall a few months back, we revealed the (gorgeous) cover for Cynthia So’s If You Still Recognise Me. Well, today’s finally the day that you can read it! But if, for whatever (foolish) reason, you’re not convinced yet, let us help you out!
And don’t forget, you can follow Cynthia on twitter.
Elsie has a crush on Ada, the only person in the world who truly understands her. Unfortunately, they’ve never met in real life and Ada lives an ocean away. But Elsie has decided it’s now or never to tell Ada how she feels. That is, until her long-lost best friend Joan walks back into her life.
In a summer of repairing broken connections and building surprising new ones, Elsie realises that she isn’t nearly as alone as she thought. But now she has a choice to make…
If You Still Recognise Me
Cynthia So
Rep: British Chinese bi mc, British Chinese lesbian side character, British Indian sapphic side character, biracial Black sapphic side character, Vietnamese nonbinary bi side character, Chinese side characters, Chinese gay side character, gay & sapphic side characters
CWs: past toxic relationship, homophobia
Release: 9th June 2022 -
Book of the Month: Infamous
June’s book of the month is specifically for fans of historical romcoms. If you haven’t read Lex Croucher’s Reputation, firstly you should go away and do that, and secondly you should get extra excited for their next book, Infamous. It’s not one you want to miss out on, trust me!
Sorry to anyone on the other side of the pond, though, as you’re going to have to wait until next March for this one (though, there are ways and means of getting hold of it…should you find yourselves (understandably) too impatient).
So, ready to be convinced? Read on!
Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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Book Recs: Anna’s Favourite Love Confessions
A long time ago Charlotte made a rec list of her favourite love confessions in LGBT books, and I decided it’s high time for me to make one as well. Let’s be honest, don’t we all read book just waiting for characters to make a beautiful romantic speech? Give us reasons to happy-cry!
Also, I just want to be clear that I absolutely agree with all of Charlotte’s choices (the ones from books I’ve read, that is), and especially The Pursuit Of… & Midnighter and Apollo. They would be on my list, as well, but I don’t wanna repeat her.
Related: Charlotte’s Favourite Love Confessions
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Book Recs: LGBT Graphic Novels (IV)
We’re switching it up a little with the graphic novel rec posts now. Anna’s taken care of the previous three, so now it’s my turn to rec you a few things that they haven’t read (yet). If you want to take a look at what they put in those posts, you can see them here: one, two, three. And if you’re interested in what I have to add to that, scroll on!
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ARC Review: Summer’s Edge
Thriller fans listen up: if you haven’t had Summer’s Edge on your radar before, now is the time to rectify that. Looking for the kind of thriller that thrills you? Gets your heart pumping and your blood racing? Well, you’ll want to have your eye on this one. Don’t believe me? Let me explain why…
And of course, you should follow Dana on twitter.
I Know What You Did Last Summer meets The Haunting of Hill House  in this atmospheric, eerie teen thriller following an estranged group of friends being haunted by their friend who died last summer.
Emily Joiner was once part of an inseparable group—she was a sister, a best friend, a lover, and a rival. Summers without Emily were unthinkable. Until the fire burned the lake house to ashes with her inside.
A year later, it’s in Emily’s honor that Chelsea and her four friends decide to return. The house awaits them, meticulously rebuilt. Only, Chelsea is haunted by ghostly visions. Loner Ryan stirs up old hurts and forces golden boy Chase to play peacemaker. Which has perfect hostess Kennedy on edge as eerie events culminate in a stunning accusation: Emily’s death wasn’t an accident. And all the clues needed to find the person responsible are right here.
As old betrayals rise to the surface, Chelsea and her friends have one night to unravel a mystery spanning three summers before a killer among them exacts their revenge.
Summer’s Edge
Dana Mele
Rep: lesbian mc, bi mc
Release: 31st May 2022 -
ARC Review: The Science of Being Angry
If you’ve followed us on the blog for a while, you probably noticed that we’re fans of Nicole Melleby’s books. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that we very much wanted to read her latest as soon as possible. And like always, Nicole did not disappoint! Read our review to learn why you should buy yourself a copy, if you haven’t preordered it before!
And of course, follow Nicole on twitter.
Related: How to Become a Planet review, our best books of 2021 and of 2020.
Eleven-year-old Joey is angry. All the time. And she doesn’t understand why. She has two loving moms, a supportive older half brother, and, as a triplet, she’s never without company. Her life is good. But sometimes she loses her temper and lashes out, like the time she threw a soccer ball—hard—at a boy in gym class and bruised his collarbone. Or when jealousy made her push her (former) best friend (and crush), Layla, a little bit too roughly.
After a meltdown at Joey’s apartment building leads to her family’s eviction, Joey is desperate to figure out why she’s so mad. A new unit in science class makes her wonder if the reason is genetics. Does she lose control because of something she inherited from the donor her mothers chose?
The Science of Being Angry
Nicole Melleby
Rep: sapphic mc with anger management issues, sapphic li, lesbian parents
TW: blood, bullying, panic attacks
Release: 10th May 2022 -
ARC Review: Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor
Buckle up folks because Xiran Jay Zhao is back with another book, their middle grade debut, and they’re back with a bang! If Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor wasn’t on your radar before, make sure it’s there now. If you like books in the vein of Percy Jackson, this is one for you.
And don’t forget, you can follow Xiran on twitter.
Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open.
The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.
And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor
Xiran Jay Zhao
Rep: Hui Chinese American Muslim gay mc
Release: 10th May 2022 -
Book of the Month: The Loophole
For May’s book of the month, we picked one we’re both excited for. I mean, who wouldn’t be highly anticipating a book about a boy, the genie who grants him three wishes, and a romp around the world in search of his boyfriend? You know I’m right.
So have a look at the book below and don’t forget to follow Naz on twitter (and, obviously, preorder)!
Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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Book Recs: High Fantasy (III)
With no clue what new rec list to possibly do, I turned back to an old(er) one to refresh. I last did a high fantasy rec list back in March 2021, and before that, April 2019, both of them before a number of books I now consider favourites were even released. So, what better time to do an update than now? And here we are, with 10 high fantasy recs for your delectation and delight!
And hey, a lot of those titles are available on Scribd, so if you want to check out that service but don’t have an account yet, use my invite code to get 2 months for free! (This also gives me one free month.)
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Book Recs: LGBT Witches and Other Magic-Doers (II)
It’s been three years since Charlotte has done the original post, and we decided that’s long enough for me to update her recs a little bit. Actually, it is always interesting to see which books for any given topic she recommends vs. me. There’s a lot of overlap, but our tastes aren’t identical.
Anyway, if you’re craving some gay magic? Enjoy!
And hey, a lot of those titles are available on Scribd, so if you want to check out that service but don’t have an account yet, use my invite code to get 2 months for free! (This also gives me one free month.)
Related: LGBT Witches and Other Magic-Doers (part I) & Get Your Spook On
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Book Recs: LGBT Contemporary or Literary Fiction
Contemporary and/or literary fiction is, I’ll admit, a genre I struggle with. On the whole, I find it bores me so finding books within it that I enjoy is… occasionally a futile-seeming exercise. However. I thought I’d challenge myself for you today and put together a rec list of the genre so, here we are! If you’re as little enamoured by this genre as I am, let me suggest these few exceptions to maybe change your mind.
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ARC Review: Blaine for the Win
After reading and loving The Sky Blues in 2021, Blaine for the Win was one of our most anticipated reads of 2022, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. Trust us when we say you don’t want to miss out on it. But if you need a few more reasons than that, check out our review below!
And don’t forget, you can follow Robbie on twitter.
High school junior Blaine Bowers has it all—the perfect boyfriend, a pretty sweet gig as a muralist for local Windy City businesses, a loving family, and awesome, talented friends. And he is absolutely, 100% positive that aforementioned perfect boyfriend—​senior student council president and Mr. Popular of Wicker West High School, Joey—is going to invite Blaine to spend spring break with his family in beautiful, sunny Cabo San Lucas.
Except Joey breaks up with him instead. In public. On their one-year anniversary.
Because, according to Joey, Blaine is too goofy, too flighty, too…unserious. And if Joey wants to go far in life, he needs to start dating more serious guys. Guys like Zach Chesterton.
Determined to prove that Blaine can be what Joey wants, Blaine decides to enter the running to become his successor (and beat out Joey’s new boyfriend, Zach) as senior student council president.
But is he willing to sacrifice everything he loves about himself to do it?
Blaine for the Win
Robbie Couch
Rep: gay mc, Vietnamese American bi li, Black sapphic character, Latina sapphic character, gay side characters
Release: 12th April 2022 -
Book of the Month: Twelfth
Are you a fan of middle grade books? Are you a fan of middle grade mystery books? Well then, today we have the book for you! It’s out in a month and a half and, honestly, it should be shooting to the tops of your TBRs. So, have a read about it, and let us know how excited you are!
And as always, you can, of course, also follow Janet on instagram.
Related: Don’t forget all releases can be found in our monthly lists here.
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ARC Review: Wild and Wicked Things
Finally, it’s almost time for one of our most anticipated books of the year to be out in the world! The lesbian witchy retelling of The Great Gatsby that exceeds every expectation anyone had about it! Adult fantasy keeps gifting us in the most surprising of ways.
You could still preorder a copy of Wild and Wicked Things, and in the meantime don’t forget to follow Fran on twitter, if you’re not already!
Related: interview with Fran & most anticipated LGBT releases of 2022
In the aftermath of World War I, a naive woman is swept into a glittering world filled with dark magic, romance, and murder in this lush and decadent debut.
On Crow Island, people whisper, real magic lurks just below the surface.
Neither real magic nor faux magic interests Annie Mason. Not after it stole her future. She’s only on the island to settle her late father’s estate and, hopefully, reconnect with her long-absent best friend, Beatrice, who fled their dreary lives for a more glamorous one.
Yet Crow Island is brimming with temptation, and the biggest one may be her enigmatic new neighbor.
Mysterious and alluring, Emmeline Delacroix is a figure shadowed by rumors of witchcraft. And when Annie witnesses a confrontation between Bea and Emmeline at one of the island’s extravagant parties, she is drawn into a glittering, haunted world. A world where the boundaries of wickedness are tested, and the cost of illicit magic might be death.
Wild and Wicked Things
Francesca May
Rep: lesbian mc, nonbinary lesbian mc, bi side character
CWs: domestic violence, child abuse, magic requiring self harm, blood
Release: 29th March 2022
