• All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Adult Fantasy

    15 August, 2020

    Full disclosure, this year has been bad for me in terms of reading and loving YA fantasy. Yes, I have loved some, but also I’ve been bored as anything by others. So I’ve turned a fair bit to adult fantasy — mostly avoiding all the white cishet men writing it, of course.

    This is not a definitive list of all the LGBT adult fantasy novels I have loved, of course. I went to write down possible entries to this list and ended up with about twice as many that I loved, and maybe three or four times as many that I would rec. But these are ten of my favourites.

    So, dive in, and I hope you find something to enjoy here!

    See also: Adult LGBT Sci Fi Books
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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Books With Less Than 400 Goodreads Ratings (I)

    12 July, 2020

    A bit of a different post for you today in that it’s not really got a theme as such. Instead I went for books that I’d rec that have fewer than 400 ratings (criminally) on Goodreads (as voted for on twitter, actually).

    There is a somewhat…eclectic mix here, for sure. But I hope it’s such that you will be able to find something you’re interested in, no matter what you’re looking for.

    Oh, and I tried my best to include books that didn’t have so few ratings just because they had only recently been released.

    So check it out!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders

    6 July, 2020
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    From the author of the critically acclaimed Dominion of the Fallen trilogy comes a tale of dragons, and Fallen angels—and also kissing, sarcasm and stabbing.

    Lunar New Year should be a time for familial reunions, ancestor worship, and consumption of an unhealthy amount of candied fruit.

    But when dragon prince Thuan brings home his brooding and ruthless husband Asmodeus for the New Year, they find not interminable family gatherings, but a corpse outside their quarters. Asmodeus is thrilled by the murder investigation; Thuan, who gets dragged into the political plotting he’d sworn off when he left, is less enthusiastic.

    It’ll take all of Asmodeus’s skill with knives, and all of Thuan’s diplomacy, to navigate this one—as well as the troubled waters of their own relationship….

    A sparkling standalone book set in a world of dark intrigue.

    Of Dragons, Feasts and Murders

    Aliette de Bodard

    Published: 7th July 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: Vietnamese bi mc, gay side character

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    Blog Tour: Queen of Coin and Whispers

    4 July, 2020

    Something exciting for you today as we are part of the blog tour for Helen Corcoran’s Queen of Coin and Whispers which released last month. If you haven’t read it yet, and you’re looking for a sapphic royal fantasy with a slowburning romance and political machinations, this book is for you!

    For this tour stop, I figured I would make a mix for the book, complete with reasons why I added each song. Or at least, I tried to give reasons. Sometimes it’s just about how the song feels…

    Before we begin though, you can check out all of the other stops on the tour here and read my review of the book here.

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    ‘She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade.’

    When teenage queen Lia inherits her corrupt uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings a new spymaster into the fold … Xania, who takes the job to avenge her murdered father.

    Faced with dangerous plots and hidden enemies, can Lia and Xania learn to rely on each another, as they discover that all is not fair in love and treason?

    In a world where the throne means both power and duty, they must decide what to sacrifice for their country – and for each other …

    Queen of Coin and Whispers

    Helen Corcoran

    Published: 1st June 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: lesbian mcs

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  • Book of the Month,  Literature

    Book of the Month: Spellbound: A Graphic Memoir

    3 July, 2020

    It’s a new month, which means a new book of the month! As ever, there were so many potential books to choose from, so, if you want to see what we sadly couldn’t choose, keep an eye out for our August releases post later in the month.

    That said, here is what we did choose. And hopefully it’s introducing you to a whole new book!

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

    Blog Tour: The Falling in Love Montage

    12 June, 2020

    Lesbians everywhere, hello, I have a gift for you! Well for other people, too, but lesbians specifically… I’m part of the blog tour for The Falling in Love Montage organised by Fantastic Flying Book Club! This means that not only do I have a review for y’all, but also a giveaway and a playlist!

    Saoirse doesn’t believe in love at first sight or happy endings. If they were real, her mother would still be able to remember her name and not in a care home with early onset dementia. A condition that Saoirse may one day turn out to have inherited. So she’s not looking for a relationship. She doesn’t see the point in igniting any romantic sparks if she’s bound to burn out.

    But after a chance encounter at an end-of-term house party, Saoirse is about to break her own rules. For a girl with one blue freckle, an irresistible sense of mischief, and a passion for rom-coms.

    Unbothered by Saoirse’s no-relationships rulebook, Ruby proposes a loophole: They don’t need true love to have one summer of fun, complete with every cliché, rom-com montage-worthy date they can dream up—and a binding agreement to end their romance come fall. It would be the perfect plan, if they weren’t forgetting one thing about the Falling in Love Montage: when it’s over, the characters actually fall in love… for real.

    The Falling in Love Montage

    Ciara Smyth

    Published: 9th June 2020
    Goodreads | Barnes and Noble | iBooks | Book Depository | Kobo | Indiebound
    Rep: lesbian mc & li, lesbian side character

    Find the full schedule for the blog tour here!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Four Profound Weaves

    31 May, 2020
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    Wind: To match one’s body with one’s heart
    Sand: To take the bearer where they wish
    Song: In praise of the goddess Bird
    Bone: To move unheard in the night

    The Surun’ do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But Uiziya now seeks her aunt Benesret in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.

    Among the Khana, women travel in caravans to trade, while men remain in the inner quarter as scholars. A nameless man struggles to embody Khana masculinity, after many years of performing the life of a woman, trader, wife, and grandmother.

    As the past catches up to the nameless man, he must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya, and Uiziya must discover how to challenge a tyrant, and weave from deaths that matter.

    Set in R. B. Lemberg’s beloved Birdverse, The Four Profound Weaves hearkens to Ursula Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness. In this breathtaking debut, Lemberg offers a timeless chronicle of claiming one’s identity in a hostile world.

    The Four Profound Weaves

    R. B. Lemberg

    Published: 4th September 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: trans mcs, nonbinary side character, past polyamory
    CWs: deadnaming, misgendering, transphobia

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Sapphic YA Contemporary (II)

    22 April, 2020

    It’s been a while since I last did one of these, and I have since read a fair few sapphic books. So, with the second resurgence of the f/f twitter discourse in a week, obviously my only recourse is to rec posts.

    And here I am.

    I also figured I’d go back to YA contemporary because, duh, I know more of them. But to mix things up a little, I’ll add a couple of upcoming ones you can support!

    As ever, all the previous posts are here. The previous contemporary rec list can be found here.

    Also as ever, it’s actually f/f or otherwise sapphic books.

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Scribd LGBT Starter Pack

    13 April, 2020

    It’s quarantine day 2839394, you already baked your sourdough bread, learned how to embroider, cleaned all the grout in your flat, and – in a ideal world – finished all the books on your bookshelves. What to do now, you ask? Read more, of course!

    Because we’re all tight on funds right about now, I would like to remind you that Scribd is offering a 30 days free trial on their whole library. If you’re not familiar with the website, this post would be a good place for you to get going. I tried to include a variety of genres in this list, but like it says in the title, it literally is just a starter pack.

    (And if you’ll use my invite link, you will actually get two months off and I will get one, too. It’s a win-win situation.)

    Final note: I very much encourage you to leave reviews of the books you’ll read on amazon and/or goodreads, and buying your own copies, if you can afford it. Or requesting them at your local library once it’s open again!

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: The Stone of Sorrow

    6 April, 2020
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    In a land of myth and ice, seventeen-year-old Runa Unnursdóttir is not the runecaster her clan has been hoping for. She spends her days daydreaming of sailing away and exploring the world instead of studying the runes and learning her spells. The villagers consider her odd, in looks and in manner. She’s nothing like her talented sister, Sýr, keeper of the sacred moonstone that ensures the village’s continued survival. But when a rival clan led by an evil witch raids the village and kidnaps her sister, Runa is forced to act. With a fallen Valkyrie by her side, and the help of a gorgeous half-elf Runa is not quite sure she can trust, the apprentice must travel to the site of an ancient runecasting competition to try to win back the magical gem. But the journey will not be easy; the three unlikely companions encounter malevolent and supernatural creatures at every turn. Somehow, Runa must summon the courage and strength to face her destiny, a destiny she never wanted. Or die trying.

    The Stone of Sorrow

    Brooke Carter

    Published: 7th April 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: nonbinary character, wlw characters

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  • All Recommended,  Book Recs,  Literature

    Book Recs: Mysteries

    20 March, 2020

    I’m a simple reader: give me a good mystery and I will be satisfied. Make it gay and I will be over the freaking moon. And I’ve finally read enough excellent mysteries that I can make a rec list of them!

    I have fairly high standards for mysteries, I’ll admit. I mean, I want something where I could potentially guess the culprit myself for a start. But not too easily. Basically I have to be able to follow along but also have some element of actual mysteriousness. I told you it was high standards.

    But that, of course, means that all the books on this list are especially excellent (not that they wouldn’t be otherwise but. Stringent criteria and all).

    So, onwards.

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  • All Reviews,  Literature

    ARC Review: Queen of Coin and Whispers

    15 March, 2020
    42442934._sy475_

    ‘She loved me as I loved her, fierce as a bloodied blade.’

    When teenage queen Lia inherits her corrupt uncle’s bankrupt kingdom, she brings a new spymaster into the fold … Xania, who takes the job to avenge her murdered father.

    Faced with dangerous plots and hidden enemies, can Lia and Xania learn to rely on each another, as they discover that all is not fair in love and treason?

    In a world where the throne means both power and duty, they must decide what to sacrifice for their country – and for each other …

    Queen of Coin and Whispers

    Helen Corcoran

    Published: 23rd April 2020
    Goodreads
    Rep: lesbian mcs, lesbian, gay & bi side characters

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