Tag: LGBTQ

#TransRightsReadathon Recap

Today is the last day of the #TransRightsReadathon! If you’re on BookTok, Bookstagram, or BookTwitter, then you’ve probably seen people posting all week using this hashtag. The Trans Rights Readathon is a decentralized fundraising effort started by author Sim Kern in response to recent anti-trans legislation being passed or proposed around the country. Using this hashtag, bookish content creators on all social media platforms have pledged to read as many books by trans authors or featuring trans representation as they can between March 20 and March 27, while raising money for organizations that support trans people and trans rights.

3 book covers in a row: FINNA, Tell Me I'm Worthless, and Upright Women Wanted
My #TransRightsReadathon reads

Continue reading #TransRightsReadathon Recap

Review of She Is a Haunting

She Is a Haunting book cover“This house eats and is eaten.” The hunger of a haunted house is encapsulated in this stunning opening line of Trang Thanh Tran’s debut YA horror novel, She Is a Haunting, which comes out tomorrow, February 28. The novel is an innovative take on the haunted house genre, combining the coming-of-age story of a queer teen from an immigrant family with infestational horror that functions to critique colonialism, much like in Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s Mexican Gothic. If either of those themes sound up your alley, you do not want to miss this debut! Continue reading Review of She Is a Haunting

Review of A Lady for a Duke—Queer Regency Romance

A Lady for a Duke coverA brooding duke in a lonely, windswept castle—at first glance, the Duke of Gracewood appears to be your typical Gothic Romance hero. But Viola Carroll already knows the good-hearted and sensitive man that lies beneath this gruff exterior. If only he could see Viola for who she truly was…. A Lady for a Duke is a queer Regency romance that came out last year and is my first experience with the work of the prolific and versatile Alexis Hall, though I’ve long been aware of his stature in the genre. If you love romance novels that pull at your heartstrings and seeing trans characters represented in historical contexts, don’t miss this one! Continue reading Review of A Lady for a Duke—Queer Regency Romance

Not Good For Maidens—A Goblin Market Retelling

Not Good for Maidens coverChristina Rossetti’s “Goblin Market” has always been one of my favorite poems, so when I saw there was a new YA fantasy novel that takes this poem as its premise, I had to pick it up. Not Good for Maidens by Tori Bovalino, which came out last spring, tells the story of two generations of young women who face down the temptations of the infamous goblin market. Continue reading Not Good For Maidens—A Goblin Market Retelling

Review of Lavender House—A Queer Murder Mystery

Lavender House coverWhen the police would rather beat you than help you, who do you call in to solve a murder? The queer communities of 1950s San Francisco are the backdrop to a murder mystery in Lev A.C. Rosen’s latest novel, Lavender House, which came out in October. After being drawn to this book’s gorgeous purple cover every time I passed it, I finally picked it up and it’s been one of my favorite reads of the year! Continue reading Review of Lavender House—A Queer Murder Mystery

Review of A Restless Truth—Magical Murder at Sea

A Restless Truth coverBeing trapped onboard a ship with an unknown murderer is a frightening enough prospect on its own, without adding powerful magic to the mix. Luckily Maud Blyth is just as undaunted in the face of overwhelming odds as her brother Robin. I just reviewed A Marvellous Light, Book 1 in Freya Marske’s The Last Binding trilogy, the other week and went straight from finishing that one to reading the sequel. A Restless Truth, the second book in this fantasy romance series came out at the beginning of November.  Continue reading Review of A Restless Truth—Magical Murder at Sea

A Marvellous Light Review—Edwardian Magicians

A Marvellous Light coverGetting cursed is just about the worst way to find out magic is real… An English baronet finds himself thrown headfirst into the world of magical conspiracies and sorcerer soirees in A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske, which came out last year. I’ve been a long-time fan of Marske’s podcast, Be the Serpent, but only just picked up her first book in preparation for reading the sequel, A Restless Truth, which came out earlier this month.  Continue reading A Marvellous Light Review—Edwardian Magicians

Nona the Ninth Review

The world has ended before, but it could always end again…. The first two books of the Locked Tomb series (Gideon the Ninth and Harrow the Ninth) were two of my favorite books from the last few years, and now Tamsyn Muir is back with the third installment! Nona the Ninth, the penultimate book in this projected quartet, came out earlier this fall and continues to prove that Muir is one of the most creative minds in today’s science-fiction and fantasy scene. Continue reading Nona the Ninth Review

Review of the Greenhollow Duology: Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country

Greenhollow Duology audiobook coverLooking for something short and sweet that will scratch that itch of wanting to run away into the woods with a forest spirit? Then may I recommend the Greenhollow Duology by Emily Tesh. These two novellas, Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country, came out in 2019 and 2020 respectively. But I just read them both together in the lovely audiobook narrated by Matthew Lloyd Davies. Continue reading Review of the Greenhollow Duology: Silver in the Wood and Drowned Country

Review of Yellow Jessamine—Poisons and Possessions

Yellow Jessamine coverWhen you’re a woman alone in a patriarchal world, you claw your way to power by any means necessary. This is the philosophy of Lady Evelyn Perdanu in Caitlin Starling’s 2020 fantasy novella Yellow Jessamine.  Continue reading Review of Yellow Jessamine—Poisons and Possessions