• All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: I Knew Him

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    In his senior year of high school, Julian has one goal: be invisible. All he wants is to study hard, play basketball, and pretend he’s straight for one more year. Then, he can run away to university and finally tell the world he’s bisexual. And by “the world,” he means everyone but his mom and best friend. That’s two conversations he never wants to have.

    When he’s talked into auditioning for the school’s production of Hamlet, Julian fears that veering off course will lead to assumptions he’s not ready to face. Despite that, he can’t help but feel a connection to this play. His absent father haunts him like a ghost, his ex is being difficult, and he’s overthinking everything. It’s driving him crazy.

    The decision to audition leads Julian on an entirely different path. He’s cast as Hamlet, and the boy playing Horatio is unlike anyone Julian has met before. Mysterious and flirtatious, Sky draws Julian in, even though he fears his feelings at the same time. As the two grow closer, Julian begins to let out the secrets he’s never told—the ones that have paralyzed him for years. But what will he do if Sky feels the same way?

    I Knew Him

    Abigail de Niverville

    Rating: 4/5 🌈
    Published: 15th April 2019
    Goodreads
    Rep: bi mc, gay half-Filipino li, lesbian side character, gay side characters (bi author)

    And it didn’t matter to me who knew and didn’t. If people asked questions, I’d answer. I’d let them come to their own conclusions otherwise. I owed this world nothing. The only person I owed anything to was myself.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Upcoming Releases with Excellent Tropes

    You know how there are some big tropes that are just autoread for you? But then it turns out that 9 times out of 10 that trope is just done with a heterosexual couple and you’re like please for once will someone make this trope gay (because we all know even the best tropes become a thousand times better when they’re gay).

    Well then, you’re in luck! Because this list is ten upcoming (gay) releases that use all the best tropes. Here we have fake dating, hate to love, found family, second chance romance, friends to lovers, and that one where they’re project partners.

    But, yes, they’re all as-of-yet-unreleased. Sorry.

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

    Film Recs: Short Gay Features

    Sometimes you just don’t have a lot of time, but you still want to Feel something, to make your gay heart beat faster. That’s when short movies come into play! Packing an emotional punch into a fifteen minutes long story? That’s art. And everyone can spare a quarter of an hour to watch a tiny little thing like that, right?

    I’m starting the list with a title you all hopefully already know, but it’s always good to bring back our faves! And then it’s just a little bit of everything, to be honest.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Historical

    Hello from Cornwall! Or not really, because this is a scheduled post and I am currently probably dragging my family around yet another castle (they should never have let me plan the trip, is all I’m saying). It’s probably apt, then, that my rec list is going to be full of history!

    Historical LGBT books are a bit of a minefield, I think we can all agree. You think you’ll have come across a good one, and then all of a sudden, it’s either a) tragic, b) buries its gays (because no gay people ever had a happy ending in the past, did they?), or c) does both. So, of the utmost importance on this list, is that the book isn’t overly tragic all the way through, and it absolutely does not bury its gays.

    So, with that in mind, here are ten historical LGBT books for you!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: High Fantasy

    Have you ever noticed how a lot of fantasy with LGBT characters tends to be urban fantasy? Obviously, that’s no bad thing, but sometimes you just want to read about LGBT characters in high fantasy settings. (Or, let’s be real, you want to read high fantasy settings without the casual homophobia, but apparently that’s too hard for some people to write. Not that I’m bitter, but.) Because it’s fantasy, so why shouldn’t we be there too?

    So here are ten high fantasy books with LGBT mains. Brief disclaimer before I begin: there are three books on here I haven’t read, but people I trust have reviewed them highly (and also I plan to read them asap).

    Related: LGBT High Fantasy, part two
  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Witches (And Other Magic-Doers)

    LGBT people are magic, so obviously I had to do a rec list of LGBT books with witches (and various other magic-doers). Shamefully, I haven’t read all that many (that I’m willing to rec. There is that One Series We Don’t Talk About as well, but it’ll be a cold day in hell when I rec that), so some of the ones on here are ones people I trust have loved, or ones that aren’t yet published.

    But, because they’re about witches (and other magic-doers), and they’re LGBT, I can guarantee* that they’ll be amazing.

    *Please don’t actually hold me to this, thanks.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Favourite Love Confessions

    It’s niche rec list time! I asked, and you voted, so here it is: ten of my favourite love confessions. In LGBT lit, only, obviously.

    A good love confession can leave you with such a warm feeling inside, and make even the hardest of hearts feel almost like they don’t mind romance (disclaimer: I don’t actually know this). So, clearly, I had to spread the love (lol). And that warm feeling.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books Taking Place in Space

    Not gonna lie, Charlotte was the one who came up with today’s theme. Bur surprisingly she only helped me choose I think one title? But yes, see, we work together to bring you only the best stuff!!

    Anyway, finding sci-fi books that specifically take place in space and not just in the future on a very different Earth… It’s not the easiest thing in the world. Especially, when one needs those books to have LGBT rep. Like one does. Always.

    But I hope I did a decent job and you will find something of interest here! Let’s dive in!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Quietly Magical Books

    I am, as ever, looking for ways to procrastinate doing work (usually reading professional practice articles, because Christ how dry can you make an already really dry subject, but anyway). So I figured I’d make a rec thread of quietly magical and gay books. Because I didn’t think I had that enough to turn into a rec list. But! Lo and behold, I did. So. That’s what you’re going to get. Books which are quietly magical (and gay, because this is a LGBT only site. No straights allowed here). (And also, this is a genre that there seem to be a lot of books where you go, hey I didn’t realise that was gay. Just trying to raise awareness here.)

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books with Black Characters

    Like I said in my last rec list – 10 upcoming books by Black authors – I wanted to celebrate Black History Month with some appropriate recommendations. So this is why today I decided to talk about books that feature Black characters. I tried to only choose titles with Black main characters, but I will admit in the end a few of the books have a Black love interest. Which, if you think about it… those are still kind of main characters…

    Three out of ten books I’m recommending today are actually graphic novels, for some novelty. And three are novellas. There’s young adult and new adult, there’s fantasy and contemporary, and historical fiction… Today, you get a little bit of everything!!

    Okay, so let’s jump in!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Enemies to Lovers

    We all know how good a trope enemies (or rivals) to lovers can be when it’s done right. It has that perfect intensity and tension, and the point where they realise that actually they don’t hate each other any more and you get pining? Absolutely brilliant. So, of course, I had to do a rec list (and also, this was what was voted for on Twitter). There’s actually a lot of overlap between this list and some other ones, mostly because when a book has one of my favourite tropes it tends to hit a few more at the same time. And also. Because it’s a favourite trope, if the book is good it normally rockets onto my favourites shelf.

    So, without further ado, the list.

    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.)

    And hey, there’s now a second part to this, with ten more books!

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Novellas

    We all have those days where you have an oh shit moment and realise you’re behind on your Goodreads challenge and what are you going to do??? Well. I have for you here a guaranteed way of boosting your numbers. Read loads of novellas! (Although, to be honest, I don’t really know what constitutes a “novella” and what’s a short story or even a novelette, but that’s a whole other kettle of fish.) Anyway, these are some of the best ones I’ve read (and they’re all gay, of course).

  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Red, White & Royal Blue

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    A big-hearted romantic comedy in which the First Son falls in love with the Prince of Wales after an incident of international proportions forces them to pretend to be best friends…

    First Son Alex Claremont-Diaz is the closest thing to a prince this side of the Atlantic. With his intrepid sister and the Veep’s genius granddaughter, they’re the White House Trio, a beautiful millennial marketing strategy for his mother, President Ellen Claremont. International socialite duties do have downsides—namely, when photos of a confrontation with his longtime nemesis Prince Henry at a royal wedding leak to the tabloids and threaten American/British relations.

    The plan for damage control: staging a fake friendship between the First Son and the Prince. Alex is busy enough handling his mother’s bloodthirsty opponents and his own political ambitions without an uptight royal slowing him down. But beneath Henry’s Prince Charming veneer, there’s a soft-hearted eccentric with a dry sense of humor and more than one ghost haunting him.

    As President Claremont kicks off her reelection bid, Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret relationship with Henry that could derail the campaign and upend two nations. And Henry throws everything into question for Alex, an impulsive, charming guy who thought he knew everything: What is worth the sacrifice? How do you do all the good you can do? And, most importantly, how will history remember you?

    Red, White & Royal Blue

    Casey McQuiston

    Rating: 4.5/5 🌈
    Published: 14th May 2019
    Goodreads
    Rep: Mexican-American bi mc, gay li with depression, female bi side characters, non-white side characters, trans lesbian side character

    Give yourself away sometimes, sweetheart. There’s so much of you.

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: The Great Big LGBT Rec List (IV)

    Today is the day (for better or for worse). We’ve reached the last part of our recs list (sad face). You can find the rest of the list here. I’m really not sure what to say here, because it’s all been said, and I just feel like saying more would mean talking out my arse, so like. On to the books!

    A brief reminder of the key:

    lesbians & wlw relationships: ☀️
    gays & mlm relationships: 🌿
    bisexual characters: 💎
    trans, genderqueer, non-binary, gnc characters: 🌷
    LGBT authors: 🌈
    poetry: 🌉

  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: The Great Big LGBT Rec List (III)

    I really hope I can say “here comes the post you’ve all been waiting for!!” and be right… Well, the post does come, so I’m already halfway there… In any case! Like the title says, this is part 3 of our very big and very great, and very much made up of books by & for the LGBT community recommendations list!

    Today I give you books number 51 all the way to 75. There’s only one post in this series left! (So far. Charlotte & I hope you guys would be interested in more posts like this when we hit our next followers milestone!)

    Question we already asked on twitter (here): would you be interested in a Q&A, to get to know Charlotte and me better? Let us know in the comments!

    Before you dive in, make sure you read part one and part two of our Great Big LGBT Rec List! And take one more look at how we mark the rep in this series:

    lesbians & wlw relationships: ☀️
    gays & mlm relationships: 🌿
    bisexual characters: 💎
    trans, genderqueer, non-binary, gnc characters: 🌷
    LGBT authors: 🌈
    poetry: 🌉