Roar Cat Reads

Tag: Gay

  • The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

    The Sun and the Star: A Nico di Angelo Adventure by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

    Genre | Middle Grade Fantasy & Mythology
    Page #s | 480
    Publishing Date | May 2023

    As the son of Hades, Nico di Angelo has been through so much, from the premature deaths of his mother and sister, to being outed against his will, to losing his friend Jason during the trials of Apollo. But there is a ray of sunshine in his life–literally: his boyfriend, Will Solace, the son of Apollo. Together the two demigods can overcome any obstacle or foe. At least, that’s been the case so far…

    Now Nico is being plagued by a voice calling out to him from Tartarus, the lowest part of the Underworld. He thinks he knows who it is: a reformed Titan named Bob whom Percy and Annabeth had to leave behind when they escaped Hades’s realm. Nico’s dreams and Rachel Dare’s latest prophecy leave little doubt in Nico’s mind that Bob is in some kind of trouble. Nico has to go on this quest, whether Mr. D and Chiron like it or not. And of course Will insists on coming with. But can a being made of light survive in the darkest part of the world? and what does the prophecy mean that Nico will have to “leave something of equal value behind?”

    Nico will have to face demons both internal and external as his relationship with Will is tested to the core in this standalone adventure featuring two of the most popular characters in the Percy Jackson saga.

    Goodreads

    I will apparently never outgrow the Percy Jackson universe, because I utterly enjoyed following Nico di Angelo back into Tartarus with his boyfriend, Will Solace in The Sun and the Star! As always, Riordan reinterprets Greek mythology into modern contexts (troglodytes and stacks of hats – adorable!) that makes these myths feel universal and relevant. Forcing a new couple to confront the darkness, or rather, Darkness aka Nyx, is a wonderful adventure as well as an apt metaphor to growing beyond puppy love into a love that encompasses the totality of a person.

    Riordan isn’t the only author this time around. Mark Oshiro, an out gay man, joins him to bring Nico and Will’s relationship to life in an authentically sweet way. I really admire Riordan for creating queer characters and for bringing in queer creators to tell more in depth stories. I don’t know who wrote what, but I’m assuming it is Oshiro who gives us moments of sweet connection between the two boys as they navigate the Underworld, survive Rivers of Pain, and avoid monsters.

    I’m a sucker for gay romances, and this relationship hit so many of my favorite notes. Rather than being a cute “opposites attract!” narrative about a son of Hades and a son of Apollo, both boys have to wrestle with their fundamental differences. Nico takes Will’s fear of the Underworld personally, fearing that he will have to match Will’s sunny disposition without there being room for his darkness. They learn to support and appreciate each other in very real ways, and I actually think this is a great book on how to process trauma within a relationship. And it’s a middle grade book about Greek myths! Fantastic.

    If you already like the Percy Jackson universe, I don’t have to sell this to you. If you’ve given up, I highly suggest trying this book out. It’s emotionally mature and resonate while keeping much of the silly creativity of the original series.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

    The Feeling of Falling in Love by Mason Deaver

    Genre | Contemporary YA Fiction
    Page #s | 343
    Publishing Date | August 2022

    Just days before spring break, Neil Kearney is set to fly across the country with his childhood friend (and current friend-with-benefits) Josh, to attend his brother’s wedding—until Josh tells Neil that he’s in love with him and Neil doesn’t return the sentiment.

    With Josh still attending the wedding, Neil needs to find a new date to bring along. And, almost against his will, roommate Wyatt is drafted.

    At first, Wyatt (correctly) thinks Neil is acting like a jerk. But when they get to LA, Wyatt sees a little more of where it’s coming from. Slowly, Neil and Wyatt begin to understand one another… and maybe, just maybe, fall in love for the first time…

    Goodreads

    I love a book with a fake dating trope, and there were elements of this story that really worked for me. Unfortunately, its extremely unlikeable protagonist, combined with some highly dubious personal development, made it impossible for me to sink fully into the joy of the trope.

    Neil is a classic self-hating teen who pushes people away when they get too close. He’s uncomfortably rude and selfish, but multiple people find him charming to the point of falling in love with him. I mean, this guy deliberately tracked mud into his dorm room when his roommate specifically asked him to be cleaner, and this roommate apparently is harboring a secret crush on Neil. WHY?

    Anyway, Neil wants to show his hookup Josh just how little he cares about him by pretending to date said roommate Wyatt. Despite JUST being terrified by relational intimacy, he falls in love with Wyatt while fake dating him for approximately three days. He does become marginally nicer, largely because Wyatt insists he be treated with kindness. His character growth also applies to his family, who he loudly complains about throughout his brother’s wedding week until realizing that perhaps they are complex human beings. BUT THEN! Neil attempts a supposedly romantic gesture that just made me think he was as selfish as he’s always been, resulting in an entirely unsatisfactory ending.

    I didn’t love this, if you couldn’t tell. But I did read it quickly, and it’s got some wonderful queer representation and themes in the form of Neil, a trans man, and Wyatt, a pansexual genderqueer kid. We also get some heartbreakingly accurate family dynamics between transphobic grandparents and parents who don’t do enough to defend their kid. That stuff was all great. The plot? Less so.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

    Lavender House by Lev AC Rosen

    Genre | Mystery Historical Fiction
    Page #s | 274
    Publishing Date | October 2022

    A delicious story from a new voice in suspense, Lev AC Rosen’s Lavender House is Knives Outwith a queer historical twist.

    Lavender House, 1952: the family seat of recently deceased matriarch Irene Lamontaine, head of the famous Lamontaine soap empire. Irene’s recipes for her signature scents are a well guarded secret—but it’s not the only one behind these gates. This estate offers a unique freedom, where none of the residents or staff hide who they are. But to keep their secret, they’ve needed to keep others out. And now they’re worried they’re keeping a murderer in. 

    Irene’s widow hires Evander Mills to uncover the truth behind her mysterious death. Andy, recently fired from the San Francisco police after being caught in a raid on a gay bar, is happy to accept—his calendar is wide open. And his secret is the kind of secret the Lamontaines understand. 

    Andy had never imagined a world like Lavender House. He’s seduced by the safety and freedom found behind its gates, where a queer family lives honestly and openly. But that honesty doesn’t extend to everything, and he quickly finds himself a pawn in a family game of old money, subterfuge, and jealousy—and Irene’s death is only the beginning. 

    When your existence is a crime, everything you do is criminal, and the gates of Lavender House can’t lock out the real world forever. Running a soap empire can be a dirty business.

    Goodreads

    Sometimes you don’t even realize a genre needs a queer spin until you suddenly read a book that makes you think, “Oh, this is perfect!” That was Lavender House for me. Telling a murder mystery set in the 1950s from the perspective of a queer cop-turned-private-investigator gave new meaning to many tropes. Why is the PI so jaded? Because he’s a newly outed gay man who lives in a homophobic society and risks daily harassment or worse! Why is the location he’s hired to work in strangely remote and isolated? Because it’s a found family of queer people who do their best to avoid the attention of the outside world! It all makes sense.

    Rosen is a very engaging storyteller. Where the other book of his that I’ve read (Camp) was lighthearted, Lavender House is darker but no less propulsive. I really admired the way he told a story focused on queer people but in a way that felt historically accurate. As for the mystery itself, the hints and twists were fun. Not, to my mind, groundbreaking or entirely surprising, but the story told along the way made up for a so-so reveal.

    As in any murder mystery, the cast of characters makes or breaks the story, and I loved the characters in the Lavender House estate. Whether family or staff, each person on site has a story or secret that could be motivation for murder. I especially liked seeing how gay men, lesbians, and people of varying ages found a way to make peace with their voluntary self-isolation and closeted public existences.

    This is apparently the first of a series, and I cannot wait to see more Evander Mills solving gay crimes. Very fun twist on a classic genre.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you like a quick murder mystery or enjoy reading about queer people surviving in different time periods, check out Lavender House!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Peter Darling by Austin Chant

    Peter Darling by Austin Chant

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 310
    Publishing Date | June 2021

    The Lost Boys say that Peter Pan went back to England because of Wendy Darling, but Wendy is just an old life he left behind. Neverland is his real home. So when Peter returns to it after ten years in the real world, he’s surprised to find a Neverland that no longer seems to need him.

    The only person who truly missed Peter is Captain James Hook, who is delighted to have his old rival back. But when a new war ignites between the Lost Boys and Hook’s pirates, the ensuing bloodshed becomes all too real – and Peter’s rivalry with Hook starts to blur into something far more complicated, sensual, and deadly.

    Goodreads

    Peter Darling is my first five-star book of 2023, and I think it will remain at the top of my favorites throughout the year because it is so exactly my kind of book. The original story of Peter Pan (both J.M. Barrie’s novel and the 2003 film) are dear to my heart for the way they handle escapism, emotional transitions, and loss. All of those themes are present in this reimagining/sequel, with the additional layer of a queer perspective.

    Set ten years after Peter Pan leaves Neverland, he returns as a 20-year-old desperate to reclaim his sense of self as the prince of an island, leader of the Lost Boys and equal adversary to Captain Hook. We slowly learn why he has come back, and you know what? I want to talk about this story clearly, so SPOILERS for a reveal that happens around page 50.

    We learn that Wendy is a trans boy who fled to Neverland to be who he always knew himself to be. Missing his parents, he returns to the Darling family, only to be forced back into his assigned sex at birth. When he returns to Neverland as a young man, he forgets where he came from and revels in the body and role he has always wanted. He also crashes back into a rivalry with Captain Hook that is Very Sexy and had me whiplashed with how quickly I shipped it. Hook is a gay man, because Neverland is the place where those rejected by society can be themselves, totally and freely. It’s so obvious I’m mad this is the first time I’ve thought of Neverland as a queer utopia.

    Peter’s fervor for battle and war, in this context, is portrayed as toxic masculinity that is a cheap and dangerous way for him to feel like a man. We also dive DEEP into the escapism metaphor, as Peter and Hook must decide whether to be the best versions of themselves they can be in Neverland, or return home and risk society’s judgment while being fully and completely themselves.

    Peter Darling captures all of the magic, drama, adventure, and emotionality found in Peter Pan. My soul ached while reading this, and just an hour after closing the book I was contemplating just diving back in for a reread. I cannot recommend this more!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    EVERYONE. If you love Peter Pan and if you are queer, you MUST read Peter Darling.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

    The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 399
    Publishing Date | September 2015

    Tomorrow, on the beach, Baru Cormorant will look up from the sand of her home and see red sails on the horizon.

    The Empire of Masks is coming, armed with coin and ink, doctrine and compass, soap and lies. They’ll conquer Baru’s island, rewrite her culture, criminalize her customs, and dispose of one of her fathers. But Baru is patient. She’ll swallow her hate, prove her talent, and join the Masquerade. She will learn the secrets of empire. She’ll be exactly what they need. And she’ll claw her way high enough up the rungs of power to set her people free.

    In a final test of her loyalty, the Masquerade will send Baru to bring order to distant Aurdwynn, a snakepit of rebels, informants, and seditious dukes. Aurdwynn kills everyone who tries to rule it. To survive, Baru will need to untangle this land’s intricate web of treachery – and conceal her attraction to the dangerously fascinating Duchess Tain Hu.

    But Baru is a savant in games of power, as ruthless in her tactics as she is fixated on her goals. In the calculus of her schemes, all ledgers must be balanced, and the price of liberation paid in full.

    Goodreads

    The Traitor Baru Cormorant is the first book in a trilogy that explores themes of colonialism, power, and whether you can change a corrupt system without also corrupting yourself. It’s a dark story without a happy ending, and I find myself very torn about reading the second two books because I’m not sure if Baru’s betrayals will “be worth it” in the end. But maybe that’s the point.

    This book is fast paced, covering the first two decades of Baru’s life from childhood to young adulthood. When her country is overtaken by the Empire, we get a succinct and heartbreaking depiction of colonization from the colonized’s point of view. Offering advancement and technology with one hand, the Empire offers restrictive moralism and brutal enforcement with the others. As a precocious child, Baru is taken to school to be indoctrinated; however, she holds on to her goal of gaining power within the Empire so that she can one day…liberate her homeland? Destroy the Empire? Her end goal is not entirely clear, and I hope this plot point tightens up in future novels.

    Baru is ruthless and intelligent, which, while hard to stomach sometimes, is also wonderful to see in a young female protagonist. She manages to gain enormous power and sway the fate of a nation as an accountant, which is a really fun twist on a classic story of revolution. Throughout the years that she spends in Aurdwynn, she becomes adept at telling herself that every decision she makes, every person she betrays, is necessary for her end goal. Whether or not you find the plot satisfying will heavily rely upon whether you think she’s right or not. I’m honestly so torn about this book; it was an incredibly engaging read with some thought-provoking themes, but that ending broke my heart!

    What Makes This Book Queer?

    Queerness is central to this book’s premise. Baru comes from a culture in which a traditional family system includes one mother and two fathers. Same-sex relationships are normalized until the Empire appears and declares it immoral. Baru’s own attraction to women must be kept secret as she works for the Empire, to varying success and varying consequences.

    There is an element here of queer rage fighting against the Empire that is not all that dissimilar from Black Sails, and honestly, that comparison suddenly makes me a LOT more interested in continuing this series.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    The Traitor Baru Cormorant is a dark fantasy novel about power and corruption that is perfect for anyone who wants a book that gives them all the feels PLUS a lot of things to think about.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Saga, Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    Saga, Compendium One by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

    Genre | Sci-Fi and Fantasy Graphic Novel
    Page #s | 1328
    Publishing Date | August 2019

    SAGA is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the worlds. When two soldiers from opposite sides of a never-ending galactic war fall in love, they risk everything to bring a fragile new life into a dangerous old universe. Fantasy and science fiction are wed like never before in a sexy, subversive drama for adults. This specially priced volume collects the first arc of the smash hit series The Onion A.V. Club calls “the emotional epic Hollywood wishes it could make.”

    Goodreads

    I read through the first nine volumes of Saga a few years ago, then bought the compendium that includes everything up to the graphic novel’s hiatus in 2018 at ECCC this year. My partner read through it for the first time while we were on vacation, and watching her fall in love with Lying Cat made me read over her shoulder and then…read it all again on my own!

    Spanning years and introducing (and losing) a huge cast of characters, Vaughan and Staples have managed to create an utterly engaging and unique epic adventure with incredibly personal stakes. Saga is a story of family drama and the wars that intrude, whether galactic or personal. Sometimes we get a bounty hunter flying a spaceship away from a time-sucking galaxy baby, and sometimes we get a young family struggling to adjust to life after an unexpected miscarriage. This is a sci-fi and fantasy world that allows for, and honors, both.

    The central characters here are Alana and Marko, former soldiers on opposite sides of a never-ending war who fall in love and have an impossible inter-species baby. They have to go into hiding and raise their child with the help of an unlikely cast of characters, and let me tell you, many of them will break your heart!

    You’re never allowed to forget the stakes of what war entails, and although the book is fairly anti-war, it also engages with meaningful conversations about the impossibility of detaching fully from violence. Indeed, in one of the most emotional storylines of the early volumes, a bounty hunter kills sex traffickers in a way that I found most satisfying. Yet later this act of violence comes back to haunt him, because the cycle of violence, no matter how “necessary” or valorous, will always destroy.

    My favorite thing about this graphic novel is the sheer creativity of the space species we find. Lying Cat is an obvious favorite, and nothing will match my delight when the television-headed robot royals turned out to have a king with a giant screen tv for a face. The chaos and creativity somehow just WORK, and this is a masterclass in science fiction and fantasy that runs on vibes rather than logical systems.

    Hilarious, heartbreaking, and shockingly meaningful, Saga is an epic read that is, thankfully, still ongoing!

    What Makes This Book Queer?

    This is a blog for queer nerdy reads, and so far I’ve only mentioned a straight nuclear family. That giant cast of characters I mentioned includes a diverse array of queer characters, most notably gay reporters from a homophobic planet who heartbreakingly hide their relationship and sometimes perpetuate homophobia to protect themselves. There’s also a trans character who joins the story later whose experience explicitly parallels the little girl narrating the story in absolutely beautiful ways.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Saga is an adult graphic novel with explicit scenes of violence and sex, but with that out of the way, literally everyone should read this. I’d especially give it to someone who is skeptical of graphic novels and the stories that are able to be told in this medium.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

    The Heartbreak Bakery by A.R. Capetta

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 352
    Publishing Date | October 2021

    Syd (no pronouns, please) has always dealt with big, hard-to-talk-about things by baking. Being dumped is no different, except now Syd is baking at the Proud Muffin, a queer bakery and community space in Austin. And everyone who eats Syd’s breakup brownies . . . breaks up. Even Vin and Alec, who own the Proud Muffin. And their breakup might take the bakery down with it. Being dumped is one thing; causing ripples of queer heartbreak through the community is another. But the cute bike delivery person, Harley (he or they, check the pronoun pin, it’s probably on the messenger bag), believes Syd about the magic baking. And Harley believes Syd’s magical baking can fix things, too—one recipe at a time.

    Goodreads

    I did not expect to be emotionally moved by magical baked goods, but here we are! The Heartbreak Bakery celebrates love, whether romantic, communal, or sugar, and it’s the perfect quick read to satisfy a readers’ sweet tooth.

    Syd works at a queer bakery in Austin, TX, and literally everything about this sentence makes me happy. Austin is one of my favorite cities, and its awesomeness (as well as it’s flaws) is captured here so personally. If this is based on an actual queer bakery in Austin, someone please let me know because I want to go there immediately. The Proud Muffin is the queer community we all long for – diverse, inclusive, and full of activities and free desserts.

    Anyway, Syd works there, and accidentally bakes a batch of breakup brownies by pouring heartbreak into them. The rest of the book is a falling-in-love montage while Syd and coworker Harley scramble to reunite couples through even more magical baked goods. I honestly thought this would all turn out to be a “we were reading too much into this and thought magic but it was mundane” situation, but instead the reveal at the end turned out to be thematic and poignant.

    This book does gender non-conforming so well! Syd is agender and wrestles with what this means throughout the book, while Harley is confidently gender fluid and signals their pronouns by pin on any given day. While there is some coming out themes where Syd is concerned, it’s very much about personal understanding rather than societal acceptance. I loved it.

    For a book about falling in and out of love, I only fell in! The Heartbreak Bakery is so much fun.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Want a fun summer read to read at a (literal or imaginative) coffee shop? The Heartbreak Bakery is for you!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

    She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 416
    Publishing Date | July 2021

    Mulan meets The Song of Achilles; an accomplished, poetic debut of war and destiny, sweeping across an epic alternate China.

    “I refuse to be nothing…”

    In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

    In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

    When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

    After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu uses takes the chance to claim another future altogether: her brother’s abandoned greatness.

    Goodreads

    She Who Became the Sun is a fantasy-lite historical fiction that centers gender and ambition against the backdrop of rebellions and war. It is utterly engrossing, drawing readers into the world’s poverty and desperation immediately. Zhu grows up as the only girl left in a starving peasant village, and her uselessness is shoved in her face by everyone all the time. When an opportunity to remake herself as her favored brother comes along, Zhu takes it, and all the world is affected.

    This is a book about gender that goes far deeper than the Mulan comparison frequently thrown around. Yes, Zhu pretends to be a man to enter a monastery and later join the army. But her relation to her femaleness and maleness is very fluid and is hugely impacted by situation. Similarly, another significant character is the eunuch Ouyang. He resents his forced gender presentation, the result of violence in his childhood, but it shapes who he is and how he moves through the world nonetheless. Zhu and Ouyang shatter the gender dichotomy and, while they’re at it, turn sexuality up and down and all around as well. I don’t think it would be incorrect to label Zhu as a sex-positive asexual, which was amazing to see!

    The story of She Who Became the Sun covers over a decade, so this is the kind of fantasy book that rewards investment and shows repercussions of long ago actions. I’m torn on using the label of fantasy, however. There are a couple fantastical elements – the reveal of the divine right to rule, ghosts – but they are very rare and would better be labeled fantasy-lite.

    Lastly, I adored the Buddhist influence on the book. Zhu spends her formative years as a monk and reckons with her growing ambition through that lens. It was fascinating to see the Chosen One narrative filtered through a perspective that desire creates suffering…so how much suffering is Zhu willing to create in her desire to be someone meaningful?

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Give She Who Became the Sun to any reader who loves a deep, gritty dive into character studies and war, especially if they appreciate a uniquely gendered perspective.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood

    The Thousand Eyes by A.K. Larkwood

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 385
    Publishing Date | February 2022

    The sequel to A. K. Larkwood’s stunning debut fantasy, The Unspoken Name, The Thousand Eyes continues The Serpent Gates series–perfect for fans of Jenn Lyons, Joe Abercrombie, and Ursula K. Le Guin.

    Two years ago, Csorwe and Shuthmili defied the wizard Belthandros Sethennai and stole his gauntlets. The gauntlets have made Shuthmili extraordinarily powerful, but they’re beginning to take a sinister toll on her. She and Csorwe travel to a distant world to discover how to use the gauntlets safely, but when an old enemy arrives on the scene, Shuthmili finds herself torn between clinging to her humanity and embracing eldritch power.

    Meanwhile, Tal Charossa returns to Tlaanthothe to find that Sethennai has gone missing. As well as being a wizard of unimaginable power, Sethennai is Tal’s old boss and former lover, and Tal wants nothing to do with him. When a magical catastrophe befalls the city, Tal tries to run rather than face his past, but soon learns that something even worse may lurk in the future. Throughout the worlds of the Echo Maze, fragments of an undead goddess begin to awaken, and not all confrontations can be put off forever…

    Goodreads

    The Unspoken Name is one of my favorite fantasy novels (my review is here), and I was so excited that its sequel, The Thousand Eyes, was just as good! A.K. Larkwood guides readers back into the world with ease, reminding us of important people and places very organically. This time around, the secondary characters are front and center; we get several POVs, most notably from Tal and Shuthmili. While part of me missed the focus on Csorwe, I also enjoyed getting into the heads of her friends and partners, and it was very satisfying to see her through their eyes.

    While the first book is about resisting enforced sacrifice, this sequel is about embracing sacrifice on your own terms. It seems like nearly everyone is (or wants to be) a vessel for a deity, and there are innumerable bargains made along the lines of, “Take my body so long as XXX lives!” It’s a nice balance to the previous book, and it’s lovely to watch characters wrestle with the question of what is worth sacrificing themselves for.

    Speaking of deities! There are so many, and it is so much fun to see the various iterations, the various interactions they have with their vessels, and how their universal thirst for power is actually quite diverse in scope. It was like watching a D&D party full of warlocks navigate their patron bargains in more or less disastrous ways.

    The heart of these books is the characters, though, and especially the sheer number of queer characters. Tal gets fleshed out more, and I adore him. Shuthmili and Csorwe have such a great romance that is somehow sweet and simple whilst enmeshed in gigantically dramatic plots. Sethannai is a wonderful antagonist who I never want to truly die, and Oranna is a complex delight. We also get a new character this time around: the nonbinary teen Tsereg, who is a breath of fresh air. I would read an endless series about these six.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you’re on the hunt for a unique fantasy series with a majority queer cast and a plot that twists and turns over decades…The Unspoken Name and The Thousand Eyes for you!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

    The Passing Playbook by Isaac Fitzsimons

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 304
    Publishing Date | June 2021

    Fifteen-year-old Spencer Harris is a proud nerd, an awesome big brother and a Messi-in-training. He’s also transgender. After transitioning at his old school leads to a year of bullying, Spencer gets a fresh start at Oakley, the most liberal private school in Ohio. 

    At Oakley, Spencer seems to have it all: more accepting classmates, a decent shot at a starting position on the boy’s soccer team, great new friends, and maybe even something more than friendship with one of his teammates. The problem is, no one at Oakley knows Spencer is trans – he’s passing. 

    So when a discriminatory law forces Spencer’s coach to bench him after he discovers the ‘F’ on Spencer’s birth certificate, Spencer has to make a choice: cheer his team on from the sidelines or publicly fight for his right to play, even if it means coming out to everyone – including the guy he’s falling for.

    Goodreads

    The Passing Playbook is a super cute story about a teen boy wrestling with the decision to pass or to live openly as trans in a high school regardless of consequences. He’s going to play soccer and fall in love along the way, so if that sounds fun to you, you’re probably going to love this sweet, quick read!

    This book wants to be an enemies-to-lovers romance, but the animosity between Spencer and Justice at the beginning feels forced and uncharacteristically rude. Once that is dropped and they’re allowed to play out a friends-to-lovers romance, it’s so much better. This is a relationship between a closeted trans boy and a closeted Christian boy – it doesn’t need the added drama. For the majority of the book, their relationship is sweet, tentative, and full of emotion…just what I love to see!

    I always find it necessary to point out when queer characters are already out to their supportive family, and this is one of those books. But there’s an added dimension here that I really liked where Spencer’s parents have fully supported his transition but are still very fearful of allowing him to live an out-and-proud life. This felt very realistic, and it was a nuanced familial dynamic that I appreciated seeing.

    Teen boys are hit or miss for me in YA books, so I was delighted to read a book about a soccer team full of boys who are very sweet and supportive of queer people. The fact that the GSA club at the school is less supportive of trans students was poignant and telling.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    The Passing Playbook is a cute YA romance with a healthy dose of soccer – read accordingly!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Twelfth Moon by Halli Starling

    Twelfth Moon by Halli Starling

    Genre |Romance Novella
    Page #s | 134
    Publishing Date | December 2021

    Elsie’s a small town with a lot of heart. Isn’t that how most small town romance stories begin? But this isn’t any love story. These five stories cross paths and connections, age, gender, sexuality, and different kinds of relationships. Stories like that of Harriet, the owner of Twelfth Moon perfumery and adopted mother to her nephew, Nu. Harriet always figured she’d be single for the rest of her life, but Dela Atwater appearing in her shop one blustery autumn day sparks something within her. A bit of romance and longing she’d long thought buried. 

    And what about Nu, Harriet’s nephew? He’s quickly falling for Miles, who works in the coffee shop next door to Twelfth Moon. The shop is owned by Miles’s brother, Jones, who has his own ideas about sex and lust and romance (or lack thereof). Across town, Maeve is learning how to exist as a widower but when they meet Evie, a spark is lit. And Yuri, Nu’s best friend, is anxiously awaiting the holidays so he can see his girlfriend, Beckett, once more. 

    It’s about hope and joy and queer love in so many shapes and forms, from the author of the dark fantasy/romance novel Wilderwood (“…will shatter readers’ expectations with its bewitching complexities…” – The BookLife Prize).

    Goodreads

    Twelfth Moon is a novella of five intersecting romances set in a small town queer utopia. It is a quintessential comfort read with a handy table of contents that informs readers what pairings to expect as well as where a story falls on a “sweet to smut” scale. Starling shines in her diverse characters and diverse relationships, and I especially loved how often the romantic stars were older women.

    Every shade of the rainbow is represented here! I was most surprised to see a polyamorous non-monogomous pairing celebrated; because this is a romance novel, I was cringing, half expecting them to realize their love for each other would make them want to be only with each other. No! They stay true to their values and preferences while having a great time together.

    Undoubtedly my favorite story was of a widow grieving her dead partner and connecting with someone and feeling romantic sparks for the first time in years. It is a sweet story that acknowledges the importance of honoring relationships while also being open to something new. It also doesn’t push characters into situations that wouldn’t make sense outside of a romance novel. Instead, we get to see a connection form and be happy for her to have found someone else that GETS her in the same way her partner once did.

    Basically, we should all be so lucky as to live in Elsie. Starling has said we might get more from this setting, and I am ready for it!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Gift Twelfth Moon to your friend who wants a queer pick-me-up that can be read during their commute.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

    A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske

    Genre | Fantasy Historical Romance
    Page #s | 377
    Publishing Date | November 2021

    Red White & Royal Blue meets Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in debut author Freya Marske’s A Marvellous Light, featuring an Edwardian England full of magic, contracts, and conspiracies. 

    Robin Blyth has more than enough bother in his life. He’s struggling to be a good older brother, a responsible employer, and the harried baronet of a seat gutted by his late parents’ excesses. When an administrative mistake sees him named the civil service liaison to a hidden magical society, he discovers what’s been operating beneath the unextraordinary reality he’s always known.

    Now Robin must contend with the beauty and danger of magic, an excruciating deadly curse, and the alarming visions of the future that come with it—not to mention Edwin Courcey, his cold and prickly counterpart in the magical bureaucracy, who clearly wishes Robin were anyone and anywhere else.

    Robin’s predecessor has disappeared, and the mystery of what happened to him reveals unsettling truths about the very oldest stories they’ve been told about the land they live on and what binds it. Thrown together and facing unexpected dangers, Robin and Edwin discover a plot that threatens every magician in the British Isles—and a secret that more than one person has already died to keep.

    Goodreads

    What a glorious age we live in! A Marvellous Light is the highest quality of fanfiction in published format, and my teenaged self cannot believe that 1) it happened, and 2) to great commercial success. In the publishing industry, there tends to be a strict differentiation of genre. Fanfic is where people can play, and A Marvellous Light brings all that is best about this quality, revelling in fantasy, romance, and historical fiction at the same time.

    This is a gay love story from start to finish, but it’s also a magical MacGuffin mystery (try saying that five times fast). The magic system in this book is really fun and unique, and I loved the different ways it could be used by those with more or less magical power. The stakes feel genuinely high straight from the start, which is a big reason why this book was a page turner for me.

    The other reason is, well, the romance! I love a good jock/nerd pairing with extrovert/introvert layers, and Edwin and Robin are fabulous together. They admire each other’s differences, worry that these differences will keep them apart, then realize they are stronger together because of their differences. Swoon! And just honestly, give me a thousand characters where they love books more than people…well, okay, maybe ONE person is better than books.

    A last note: although this book is focused on men during a historical time period when men were the focus, there are some awesome female side characters who seem to be set up as main players in future books. I also really loved the fact that our heroes kept realizing that the women around them were doing awesome things, but men just weren’t paying attention. I can’t wait for more of this in the sequel which, if the cover is anything to go by, will center on an f/f pairing!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Give A Marvellous Light to your fanfic-reading friend who really needs to look at something other than a computer screen.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • The Clothesline Swing by Ahmed Danny Ramadan

    The Clothesline Swing by Ahmed Danny Ramadan

    Genre | Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 288
    Publishing Date | June 2017

    The Clothesline Swing is a journey through the troublesome aftermath of the Arab Spring. A former Syrian refugee himself, Ramadan unveils an enthralling tale of courage that weaves through the mountains of Syria, the valleys of Lebanon, the encircling seas of Turkey, the heat of Egypt and finally, the hope of a new home in Canada.

    Inspired by Arabian Tales of One Thousand and One Nights, The Clothesline Swing tells the epic story of two lovers anchored to the memory of a dying Syria. One is a Hakawati, a storyteller, keeping life in forward motion by relaying remembered fables to his dying partner. Each night he weaves stories of his childhood in Damascus, of the cruelty he has endured for his sexuality, of leaving home, of war, of his fated meeting with his lover. Meanwhile Death himself, in his dark cloak, shares the house with the two men, eavesdropping on their secrets as he awaits their final undoing.

    Goodreads

    The Clothesline Swing is a gorgeously written novel about love, death, and the stories we tell to stay alive. Written in overlapping and intersecting stories told by a gay man to his dying lover in their Vancouver home, we slowly learn more about their lives in perfectly timed revelations.

    This is a book about trauma, from being raised with abuse and neglect, to being a gay man in an oppressive culture, to surviving uprisings and war; most importantly, it is about the intersection of all of these things. It is a book about loss, but it is also a book about endurance, about finding pleasure in the midst of pain, and about accepting the things we have suffered.

    Although I found this book difficult to read sometimes because of its heavy subject matter, I was always drawn forward by the beauty and honesty with which Ramadan writes. The relationship at the center of the book is loving, tumultuous, and mundane (and I could equally be referring to Hakawati and his lover or Hakawati and Death here). There is no perfection here, only complex people trying to make sense of a world that has offered mostly pain and suffering.

    One of the most poignant relationships tracked throughout the book is Hakawati’s relationship to his mentally ill mother. We see her through stories, through flashbacks, and finally through her own perspective. She is a beautifully complicated woman, and her transition from villain to victim is stunning and heartbreaking. Without taking away from the very real consequences of being raised by an impulsive and violent woman, we are also invited to empathize with her as woman struggling with mental illness, misogyny, and isolation.

    I also greatly appreciated the complicated depictions of home from a refugee’s point of view. Syria is beautiful, Syria is terrifying, Syria is not what it was…and yet both men at the center of the book return again and again, either physically or mentally. Society often wants to flatten refugees’ experiences into a narrative of rescue, but the truth is far more complicated than that.

    That’s the theme of this book, apparently. Complicated and complex. I so appreciate Ramadan’s ability to guide readers into a world without easy answers, and to leave us there, equipped with a sense of peace and of meaning, if not certainty.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you appreciate an incredibly well-crafted book that deftly handles deep and dark themes, The Clothesline Swing is for you!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz

    Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Saenz

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 516
    Publishing Date | October 2021

    In Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, two boys in a border town fell in love. Now, they must discover what it means to stay in love and build a relationship in a world that seems to challenge their very existence.

    Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once.

    The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss, he’ll have to fight like never before to create a life that is truthfully, joyfully his own.

    Goodreads

    The long awaited sequel to one of my favorite books of all time, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, this book had a lot to live up to! Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World has the same quiet sweetness of its predecessor that builds upon previous themes in very satisfying ways.

    In the first book, Ari learns to love himself and open up to the possibility of romantic love. In the sequel, his willingness to be vulnerable and let other people into his life expands to include family and friends…and even the odd teacher or two. He has always been a squishy heart and thoughtful mind in a sullen body, and it is so lovely to see him share all the parts of himself with others. And for many of them to essentially roll their eyes and say, “Yeah, we knew you were a squishy heart! Thanks for catching up!”

    I also particularly loved seeing Ari, who spends 99% of his time in his head, discover the joys of a having a body. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book about a teenage boy discovering his sexuality in such an open, tasteful, and beautiful way. It helps that his love for Dante isn’t all, or even mostly, about sex. Ever the wise teenager, Ari spends a lot of time mulling over the intricacies and complications of loving someone vs. falling in love with someone. They are committed and thoughtful toward each other in a way that is somehow very believable for two 17-year-olds.

    The whole book has a kind of dreamy, fantastical feel that is most obvious in the fact that there is very little plot happening here. In fact, the piece of plot that the book jacket forewarns you of doesn’t happen until at least 2/3 of the way through the book! It’s mostly just Ari having beautifully honest and poetic conversations with people. I have to admit that I sometimes thought this veered into the unrealistic, as almost no one says anything rude or incorrect (with one notable exception…but even then, Ari and his parents handle it perfectly). I advise readers to go in with the expectation that this is a book about healthy relationships, and enjoy the feast of examples before you.

    On the topic of plot, I will whole-heartedly defend Saenz’s choice to make this YA book’s central conflict NOT “will they stay together” or “will our parents/friends approve of us” but instead, the focus is on, “How do I exist in the world as a gay person (in the 80s)?” This is perhaps a very personal opinion, but I am tired of dramatic coming out stories; however, I also don’t want all of my books to gloss over all of the struggles involved in coming out. I felt that this book balanced these two extremes very well.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you love a book about good people doing good things whilst saying beautiful things, then you have hit the jackpot with Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World!

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!

  • Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

    Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 373
    Publishing Date | September 2021

    When a reaper comes to collect Wallace Price from his own funeral, Wallace suspects he really might be dead.

    Instead of leading him directly to the afterlife, the reaper takes him to a small village. On the outskirts, off the path through the woods, tucked between mountains, is a particular tea shop, run by a man named Hugo. Hugo is the tea shop’s owner to locals and the ferryman to souls who need to cross over.

    But Wallace isn’t ready to abandon the life he barely lived. With Hugo’s help he finally starts to learn about all the things he missed in life.

    When the Manager, a curious and powerful being, arrives at the tea shop and gives Wallace one week to cross over, Wallace sets about living a lifetime in seven days.

    Under the Whispering Door is a contemporary fantasy about a ghost who refuses to cross over and the ferryman he falls in love with.

    Goodreads

    After falling entirely in love with The House in the Cerulean Sea, I couldn’t wait to dive into T.J. Klune’s newest book, Under the Whispering Door. I set my expectations too high, and the cozy novel wound up falling flat for me.

    This isn’t necessarily a bad book, although I will die on the hill that it has a bad ending. Instead, I just felt very “meh” as I read through the story. In a book about life after death, it may seem ridiculous to claim that it didn’t feel very realistic, but. It didn’t. Part of this stems from the fact that the rules about the afterlife are wibbly wobbly at best, and not in a charming Doctor Who way. I kept asking questions of the book, like “Why aren’t there more people coming through this way station?” and even when the book acknowledged this fact itself, the explanation fell flat. The truth is, Klune wanted to write a gay romance between a ghost and a living man, and honestly, more power to him! But that ghost was also not very well written.

    Wallace is comically terrible in his introductory scene, but when he abruptly dies, he quickly loses all of his fire. Again, that sounds pretty reasonable! But I felt that there wasn’t enough of a hint of good in him at the start nor was there enough of his bad qualities there in the end to make his character arc feel cohesive. Speaking of unrealistic characters, all of the people (living and dead) at Charon’s Crossing are snarky but wise, like a Gilmore Girls therapist. It was too much and too little simultaneously.

    That isn’t to say the book is all bad. I loved the ghost dog, messing with those trying to commune with the dearly departed, and the beauty of helping those who die full of pain. Klune’s wit and charm are evident on every page. But despite all of that…I wish I had just reread The House in the Cerulean Sea.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you’re looking for a breezy book with some deep thoughts, you can do worse than Under the Whispering Door.

    Check out our Queer Lil Library for more book recommendations and reviews!