Roar Cat Reads

Tag: sapphic

  • Cosmoknights #1 by Hannah Templer

    Cosmoknights #1 by Hannah Templer

    Genre | Science Fiction Graphic Novel
    Page #s | 216
    Publishing Date | September 2019

    For this ragtag band of space gays, liberation means beating the patriarchy at its own game.

    Pan’s life used to be very small. Work in her dad’s body shop, sneak out with her friend Tara to go dancing, and watch the skies for freighter ships. It didn’t even matter that Tara was a princess… until one day it very much did matter, and Pan had to say goodbye forever. Years later, when a charismatic pair of off-world gladiators show up on her doorstep, she finds that life may not be as small as she thought. On the run and off the galactic grid, Pan discovers the astonishing secrets of her neo-medieval world… and the intoxicating possibility of burning it all down.

    Goodreads

    Be gay, do crime…by fighting the patriarchy in space! Cosmoknights is a webcomic turned printed comic that is a bright, beautiful, and fun story that takes old stories of knights jousting for the hand of a princess and turns it into a capitalistic, patriarchic practice that can only be taken down by a band of lesbian athletes, mechanics, and hackers.

    I’ve only read the first book, though there are two printed as of right now, and we primarily get the set up and team unification in this section of the comic. There’s some nice backstory for two of the characters, and I hope we get more information about the rest of the group as we move forward. It’s a familiar enough setting while also being charmingly set amongst varying planets with high-tech Blitzball-esque tournaments.

    The coloring on the pages is bright and alluring, the story is fun with a side of societal critique, and the characters are diverse and interesting. Definitely a go-to for anyone looking for a quick, gay read!

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

  • Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

    Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean

    Genre | Fantasy Horror
    Page #s | 298
    Publishing Date | August 2022

    Out on the Yorkshire Moors lives a secret line of people for whom books are food, and who retain all of a book’s content after eating it. To them, spy novels are a peppery snack; romance novels are sweet and delicious. Eating a map can help them remember destinations, and children, when they misbehave, are forced to eat dry, musty pages from dictionaries.

    Devon is part of The Family, an old and reclusive clan of book eaters. Her brothers grow up feasting on stories of valor and adventure, and Devon—like all other book eater women—is raised on a carefully curated diet of fairytales and cautionary stories.

    But real life doesn’t always come with happy endings, as Devon learns when her son is born with a rare and darker kind of hunger—not for books, but for human minds.

    Goodreads

    I had a hard time getting into Book Eaters for the first hundred pages until the alternating time lines began to dramatically affect each other; then I couldn’t put it down! Set in a world where otherworldly Families made of book eaters (yup, literally creatures who eat books to survive) maintain their bloodlines through patriarchal bullshit, this book follows Devon, a book eater who will do anything, and double cross anyone, to protect her son, who is a rare and dangerous mind eater.

    The plot itself is propulsive, but the themes are where this book really shone for me. Let’s start with that patriarchal bullshit I mentioned. Book eaters are rare creatures, and female book eaters are the rarest of all. They are therefore treated with extreme care and fed only fairy tales until they are old enough to “marry” into another Family, birth a child, and leave for another “marriage.” It’s horrifying! But I’ve never seen a work of fiction handle that particular patriarchal message of “we control you because you’re special” so well.

    Most importantly, this is a book about monstrous love. Devon commits actual atrocities to protect her son, and the book never lets her wave away the moral or emotional consequences. Instead, she acknowledges that she is in impossible situations, and that she willingly chooses to prioritize the wellbeing of her son over everyone else, including innocent bystanders. I loved that her motherly love was not allowed to be above reproach, which actually led it a weird beauty all its own.

    “Everyone is scared of me, even the other mind eaters here. You’re not scared of me because you’re an even bigger, meaner monster than me… You’d eat the whole world to help me out and I think I’d do that for you, too. You’re my monster and I’m yours.”

    Book Eaters

    What Makes This Book Queer?

    Devon is a queer woman; her role within the Family essentially being a breeder, she doesn’t realize her own preferences matter until she breaks free of the system. It’s an interesting take, since homophobia doesn’t seem to exist amongst the book eaters, but repressing your desires for the sake of duty definitely does.

    Additionally, one of the few people Devon befriends identifies as asexual, and there’s a lovely conversation between the two where she asks what that means. It’s probably a great introduction to readers who aren’t too familiar with the term.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you love moral complexity and a new take on magical realism, Book Eaters is for you!

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

  • The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

    The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School by Sonora Reyes

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 400
    Publishing Date | May 2022

    Sixteen-year-old Yamilet Flores prefers to be known for her killer eyeliner, not for being one of the only Mexican kids at her new, mostly white, very rich Catholic school. But at least here no one knows she’s gay, and Yami intends to keep it that way.

    After being outed by her crush and ex-best friend before transferring to Slayton Catholic, Yami has new priorities: keep her brother out of trouble, make her mom proud, and, most importantly, don’t fall in love. Granted, she’s never been great at any of those things, but that’s a problem for Future Yami.

    The thing is, it’s hard to fake being straight when Bo, the only openly queer girl at school, is so annoyingly perfect. And smart. And talented. And cute. So cute. Either way, Yami isn’t going to make the same mistake again. If word got back to her mom, she could face a lot worse than rejection. So she’ll have to start asking, WWSGD: What would a straight girl do?

    Told in a captivating voice that is by turns hilarious, vulnerable, and searingly honest, The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School explores the joys and heartaches of living your full truth out loud.

    Goodreads

    The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School hit me with my exact preferred mix of YA lightness and drama. Yami is a teen who’s been burned by coming out to her best friend and has the chance to start over at a new school…only there’s a hot girl who’s out and making it really hard for Yami to pretend to be straight. Silly shenanigans! Yami’s brother is bisexual and dating a boy, and she pretends to date him so their parents won’t find out about either of their sexualities. More silly shenanigans!

    But there are also truly deep themes here of religious trauma, mental illness and self-harm, class comparisons, and a family’s homophobic conditional love. Each is handled seriously and deftly, creating a story that is truly multi-faceted and realistic. There are happy endings, but not A Happy Ending in which everything works out in every way for everyone.

    The romance at the center of the book is very good, but the true marker of a good YA book to me is if there are equally important relationships to the main character. This is definitely the case here, as Yami deals with a former best friend, her beloved brother, her overworked mother, her deported father, her new friends at a new school, and Bo, her new crush. Each relationship shapes Yami and has its own resolution. I loved it!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School is the YA book to give to your friend who says they’re over YA books.

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

  • The Midnight Lie and The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski

    The Midnight Lie and The Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski

    Genre | YA Fantasy
    Page #s | 358 and 384
    Publishing Date | March 2020 and September 2021

    Where Nirrim lives, crime abounds, a harsh tribunal rules, and society’s pleasures are reserved for the High Kith. Life in the Ward is grim and punishing. People of her low status are forbidden from sampling sweets or wearing colors. You either follow the rules, or pay a tithe and suffer the consequences.

    Nirrim keeps her head down and a dangerous secret close to her chest.

    But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away who whispers rumors that the High Caste possesses magic. Sid tempts Nirrim to seek that magic for herself. But to do that, Nirrim must surrender her old life. She must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted.

    Set in the world of the New York Times–bestselling Winner’s Trilogy, beloved author Marie Rutkoski returns with an epic LGBTQ romantic fantasy about learning to free ourselves from the lies others tell us—and the lies we tell ourselves.

    Goodreads

    I fell in love with Rutkoski when I read The Kronos Chronicles years ago, and it was such a fun experience to rediscover her and find that her writing has become super queer! The Midnight Lie and The Hollow Heart are a fantasy duology about magic, oppression, and revenge with a lot to say about how people respond to abuse.

    I have very mixed feelings about these books. On one hand, I tore through them both; the dialogue sparkles (particularly in the first book), the worldbuilding is engaging, and the plot advances quickly (too quickly in the second book). On the other hand, plot twists hinge on my pet peeve, miscommunication, and the second book introduces an entirely new world that only gets half the book’s attention but was fully more interesting to me.

    Some of the broader strokes aren’t tight or clean enough, but it’s the details in which Rutkoski excels. Nirrim’s character development is compelling as she resists seeing and then realizes her abuse (both personally and systemically). Her reactions felt very human, by which I mean they are often messy and not “correct.” Sid has shades of manic pixie in the first book, but she is fully fleshed out in the second. Her rebellion against her parents without actually talking to them about what they want for her was excruciating but very teenager. And her parents! Where is THEIR story? I want it.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    The Midnight Lie and The Hollow Heart are perfect books to read if you want a quick, queer, fantasy palate cleanser.

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

  • Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

    Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 276
    Publishing Date | January 2016

    Juliet Milagros Palante is leaving the Bronx and headed to Portland, Oregon. She just came out to her family and isn’t sure if her mom will ever speak to her again. But Juliet has a plan, sort of, one that’s going to help her figure out this whole “Puerto Rican lesbian” thing. She’s interning with the author of her favorite book: Harlowe Brisbane, the ultimate authority on feminism, women’s bodies, and other gay-sounding stuff.

    Will Juliet be able to figure out her life over the course of one magical summer? Is that even possible? Or is she running away from all the problems that seem too big to handle?

    With more questions than answers, Juliet takes on Portland, Harlowe, and most importantly, herself. 

    Goodreads

    One of my friends said this is her favorite book, and I totally see why! Juliet Takes a Breath is an excellent novel/primer about queerness, West Coast liberalism, and the perils of white feminism. When a Puerto Rican young woman from New York moves to Portland to intern with a feminist author, she learns a lot about the world and herself.

    This is an educational book, in that Juliet is absorbing feminist and womanist culture with wide eyes and lots of details. But the lessons portrayed are wonderfully written with either poignancy or humor (or both). I laughed so much at Juliet listening with awe and confusion to the world’s most polite argument between polyamorous lesbians.

    For being a fairly overt book in terms of showcasing queer feminist ideas, it’s also wonderfully nuanced. Juliet’s friends and family urge her to be careful in idolizing a white woman, and they urge her to dig into black and brown queer feminist spaces. I won’t give away what happens, but I thought her experience was so honest. There aren’t easy answers given, and there are no villains, even if Juliet does realize that some changes are necessary moving forward.

    As a Great Plains kid who moved to Vancouver as an adult, I was delighted by the wonderful and wacky Pacific Northwest represented here. I can only imagine that a Latinx person in a similar situation would feel even more seen and understood, and for that I adore this book.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Juliet Takes a Breath is the book for you if you want to see intersectional feminism flawlessly portrayed within a sweet coming-of-age lesbian story.

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

  • The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

    The Falling in Love Montage by Ciara Smyth

    Genre | YA Contemporary Fiction
    Page #s | 368
    Publishing Date | June 2020

    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.

    Goodreads

    The Falling in Love Montage is a YA contemporary fiction sapphic love story that offers a realistic message about the worthiness of love despite its ephemerality. I have to admit that it took me a minute to get into the story, because Saoirse is a brat. She’s a cranky, moody teen, and I felt myself related more to her father than to her for a good portion of the story. However, more than most moody teens, Saoirse has good reason for her outbursts. In addition to the typical angst that comes from transitioning out of secondary school and coping with a breakup, her mom has been placed into a care home due to early-onset dementia and her dad is dating someone new.

    All of this has led Saoirse to attempt the classic “Avoid pain by avoiding intimacy” gambit. When she meets Ruby, who is visiting for the summer, they agree that they just want a romance that is light, fun, and totally on the surface. But feelings take hold, and Saoirse has to wrestle with whether or not it’s worth opening your heart when you know there is an end date to the experience.

    I really appreciated the nuance of this book. Both Saorise and her father are coping with the tragedy of her mother’s condition, and they help and hurt each other in realistic ways as a result. Love is allowed to be complicated, and it’s Chosen Love rather than True Love that is the star here.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    If you want a quick read with a lot to say, The Falling in Love Montage is for you!

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

  • Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

    Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

    Genre | Fantasy
    Page #s | 318
    Publishing Date | February 2022

    Worn out after decades of packing steel and raising hell, Viv the orc barbarian cashes out of the warrior’s life with one final score. A forgotten legend, a fabled artifact, and an unreasonable amount of hope lead her to the streets of Thune, where she plans to open the first coffee shop the city has ever seen.

    However, her dreams of a fresh start pulling shots instead of swinging swords are hardly a sure bet. Old frenemies and Thune’s shady underbelly may just upset her plans. To finally build something that will last, Viv will need some new partners and a different kind of resolve.

    A hot cup of fantasy slice-of-life with a dollop of romantic froth.

    Goodreads

    I need there to be innumerable books like Legends & Latte, a cozy coffee shop AU set in a fantasy D&D setting. Viv the butch orc barbarian uses a magical item she got from her adventuring to start a new, peaceful life as a barista. Coffee is, you see, a mostly unknown gnomish invention, so her introduction of it (as well as sweet pastries) to a small fantasy town rocks the citizen’s minds and taste buds.

    The heart of this book is its characters and the simple but lovely relationships that develop between them. It’s slow burn sapphic love between coworkers, it’s old friends and rivals crashing into a new life, it’s mysterious mob bosses, it’s gruff construction workers turned friends.

    Honestly, if “D&D party runs a coffee shop” sounds appealing to you, then that’s all that’s needed. The only other thing worth saying is that the audiobook is read by author Travis Baldree, and I really enjoyed it!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Give Legends & Lattes to your D&D party member who just wants to start small business and romance friends in your game.

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

  • She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

    She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

    Genre | YA contemporary fiction
    Page #s | 288
    Publishing Date | April 2021

    High school nemeses fall in love in this queer YA rom com perfect for fans of Becky Albertalli and Casey McQuiston.

    After losing spectacularly to her ex-girlfriend in their first game since their break up, Scottie Zajac gets into a fender bender with the worst possible person: her nemesis, the incredibly beautiful and incredibly mean Irene Abraham. Things only get worse when their nosey, do-gooder moms get involved and the girls are forced to carpool together until Irene’s car gets out of the shop.

    Their bumpy start only gets bumpier the more time they spend together. But when an opportunity presents itself for Scottie to get back at her toxic ex (and climb her school’s social ladder at the same time), she bribes Irene into playing along. Hijinks, heartbreak, and gay fake-dating scheme for the ages. From author Kelly Quindlen comes a new laugh-out-loud romp through the ups and downs of teen romance.

    Goodreads

    An enemies to lovers fake dating sapphic book, you say? She Drives Me Crazy was basically made for me! This is such a cute, fun read about a high school basketball player getting revenge on a toxic ex by pretending to date the cheerleader…until feelings develop. I will never get tired of this trope.

    In addition to the tropey fun, there are some slightly heavier themes that are handled well. Scottie is still hung up on her ex-girlfriend despite knowing she was unhealthy. It’s a realistic response to first love that I appreciated seeing represented, though I was also very glad when she finally gets over the relationship! Additionally, there is a lot of talk about assumptions, especially where Irene is concerned. As a Homecoming Queen cheerleader, she seems to have it all, but she is very aware of the stereotypes she faces as a Desi woman, a queer woman, and a cheerleader who believes in the skill and athleticism of her sport.

    This is a small thing, but I find it so nice that YA books are trending toward stories of “my family knows I’m queer, and they’re supportive.” The drama comes from more universal experiences of love, growth, and high school rather than coming out. I don’t want books where families struggle with a child coming out to disappear, but I’m glad we’re also normalizing healthy, supportive families!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    She Drives Me Crazy is the sapphic high school rom com that you’ve been waiting for!

    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!

  • Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

    Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh

    Genre | Fantasy Graphic Novel
    Page #s | 256
    Publishing Date | February 2021

    Fresh out of shipwreck wine, three tipsy mermaids—Pearl, Tooth, and Eez—hit on the idea of magically masquerading as humans and sneaking onto land to indulge in much more drinking and a whole lot of fun right in the heart of a local seaside tourist trap. But the good times abruptly end the next morning when, through the haze of killer hangovers, the trio realizes they never actually learned how to break the spell, and are now stuck on land for the foreseeable future. Which means everything from: enlisting the aid of their I-know-we-just-met-but-can-we-crash-with-you bartender friend, struggling to make sense of the human world around them, to even trying to get jobs with zero skill sets . . . all while attempting to somehow return to the sea and making the most of their current situation with tenacity and camaraderie (especially if someone else is buying).

    Goodreads

    Thirsty Mermaids is an absolutely delightful graphic novel that is the very pinnacle of queer chaos. Our three main characters are queer stereotypes both in personality and in body shape, and I love them all with my whole heart. First as mermaids, then as very confused humans, they just want to have a good time and be there for each other.

    One of my favorite things about this book is the body neutrality presented. It’s a cartoon, so sizes are exaggerated, and every person represented is just rocking their body exactly as they want to – albeit with some wobbly legs when they first walk on land.

    The other excellent thing about this story is how it portrays the inherent idiocy of capitalism. The three mermaids struggle to survive and bumble their way into jobs and out of sticky situations (how were they supposed to know that magic card they found in the stolen shorts was someone else’s money?). It’s ridiculous, funny, and a good argument for a living wage.

    This is a celebration of queer community, and as such, it doesn’t stop with the mermaids. They are welcomed into the home of a trans woman, and although she saves them time and again, they also save her by welcoming her into their ragtag, loving family. It’s super cute and an excellent read.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Give Thirsty Mermaids to literally any queer person. It’s excellent!

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

  • With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

    With Teeth by Kristen Arnett

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

    From the author of the New York Times-bestselling sensation Mostly Dead Things a surprising and moving story of two mothers, one difficult son, and the limitations of marriage, parenthood, and love

    If she’s being honest, Sammie Lucas is scared of her son. Working from home in the close quarters of their Florida house, she lives with one wary eye peeled on Samson, a sullen, unknowable boy who resists her every attempt to bond with him. Uncertain in her own feelings about motherhood, she tries her best–driving, cleaning, cooking, prodding him to finish projects for school–while growing increasingly resentful of Monika, her confident but absent wife. As Samson grows from feral toddler to surly teenager, Sammie’s life begins to deteriorate into a mess of unruly behavior, and her struggle to create a picture-perfect queer family unravels. When her son’s hostility finally spills over into physical aggression, Sammie must confront her role in the mess–and the possibility that it will never be clean again.

    Blending the warmth and wit of Arnett’s breakout hit, Mostly Dead Things, with a candid take on queer family dynamics, With Teeth is a thought-provoking portrait of the delicate fabric of family–and the many ways it can be torn apart.

    Goodreads

    With Teeth portrays motherhood from an almost horror novel perspective, and I don’t know about you, but I am here for it! There is such a sense of dread throughout, but – spoilers! – for any of my fellow hypersensitive scaredy cats out there….It doesn’t get as dark as I feared it was going to. It’s just deliciously head-twisty and absolutely f***ed.

    I love a book a with an unreliable narrator, and Sammie is unreliable to the extreme. Her POV is aggressively claustrophobic, which makes the short scenes from other characters that are sprinkled between chapters so valuable. We are primed to see the world through Sammie’s eyes, and it is a shock to see how wrong she is about how people see her or what is true about her son. It’s great storytelling and an indictment on how we all can view our own situation so inaccurately.

    This is a story about motherhood generally, but it’s also specifically about queer motherhood. Sammie and Monika feel pressure to be the queer parents with a model family, and ironically, it is this imposed pressure that creates many of the problems they seek to avoid. Relatable. Much like Detransition, Baby, I am so excited to see more books about queer people and relationships that are messy and unhealthy. And boy, are Sammie and Monika unhealthy. Their relationship is painfully realistic, from the small habits that grow increasingly intolerable over time to the solutions that are bandaids over unaddressed gaping wounds.

    This is a small thing, but another realistic plot that I really enjoyed was seeing Sammie date while going through a separation. Her affections are split, and she never knows what she really wants, but it is acknowledged that love can develop slowly even in these conditions.

    I’ve talked a lot about the queer relationship in the book rather than the mothering relationship between Sammie and Samson, which is pretty on brand for me. The thing is – it’s so twisted and earnest and painful and complicated! Sammie’s life is consumed by her son, and she hates him for it while being unwilling to make changes that could help. She’s a terrible mother, and he’s an ambiguous kid, but their story is incredibly compelling and distressingly recognizable.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Give With Teeth to someone who loves books that dissect culturally untouchable topics with honesty and incredible writing.

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

  • Matrix by Lauren Groff

    Matrix by Lauren Groff

    Genre | Historical Fiction
    Page #s | 260
    Publishing Date | September 2021

    Lauren Groff returns with her exhilarating first new novel since the groundbreaking Fates and Furies.

    Cast out of the royal court by Eleanor of Aquitaine, deemed too coarse and rough-hewn for marriage or courtly life, 17-year-old Marie de France is sent to England to be the new prioress of an impoverished abbey, its nuns on the brink of starvation and beset by disease.

    At first taken aback by the severity of her new life, Marie finds focus and love in collective life with her singular and mercurial sisters. In this crucible, Marie steadily supplants her desire for family, for her homeland, for the passions of her youth with something new to her: devotion to her sisters, and a conviction in her own divine visions. Marie, born the last in a long line of women warriors and crusaders, is determined to chart a bold new course for the women she now leads and protects. But in a world that is shifting and corroding in frightening ways, one that can never reconcile itself with her existence, will the sheer force of Marie’s vision be bulwark enough?

    Equally alive to the sacred and the profane, Matrix gathers currents of violence, sensuality, and religious ecstasy in a mesmerizing portrait of consuming passion, aberrant faith, and a woman that history moves both through and around. Lauren Groff’s new novel, her first since Fates and Furies, is a defiant and timely exploration of the raw power of female creativity in a corrupted world.

    Goodreads

    I read this book shortly after reading Thomas Cahill’s nonfiction book Mysteries of the Middle Ages: The Rise of Feminism, Science and Art, and WOW is that a great combination! In Matrix, historical figures are fictionalized and fleshed out in a way that makes the time period (early 12th century) accessible and relatable.

    Marie has the misfortune to be both a bastardess and as a tall, masculine woman. She is therefore exiled from polite society to an abbey, where she finds she is able to wield female power in a time when women were powerless. Echoing the historical figure of Hildegard of Bingen, Marie raises her abbey from obscurity to influence and deals with the subsequent discontent this raises. It’s an awesome example of historical feminism that is not anachronistic.

    In fact, this book is as much about life in the middle ages as it is about Marie; the joys and, more often, the squalor of life is vividly portrayed, and the threat of death from the simplest of sources is ever-present. Additionally, Marie is not a religious woman, but religion is baked into the fabric of society and is therefore inescapable. She grows to love the abbey and its nuns, and her relationship to visions and sacraments walks a fascinating fine line between appreciation and power.

    This is a blog about queer books, and so far this review might seem to imply a lack of queerness. Don’t worry! The abbey is full of women who have pledged themselves to chastity, but the medieval conception of this promise is limited to foregoing the pleasures of men. My absolute favorite part is the portrayal of courtly love from a woman’s point of view, as Marie loves Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine from afar and with all the devotion of the most loyal knight.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Matrix is a nerdy book, but it’s going to fulfill a very specific niche for my sapphic history buffs!

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

  • Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

    Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

    Genre | Science fiction and fantasy
    Page #s | 372
    Publishing Date | September 2021

    Good Omens meets The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet in this defiantly joyful adventure set in California’s San Gabriel Valley, with cursed violins, Faustian bargains, and queer alien courtship over fresh-made donuts.

    Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six.

    When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate.

    But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

    As the lives of these three women become entangled by chance and fate, a story of magic, identity, curses, and hope begins, and a family worth crossing the universe for is found.

    Goodreads

    Light from Uncommon Stars should have been my jam, but unfortunately, I just never connected with the book. I mean, with a summary like “Ageless bisexual alien from space who now runs a donut shop falls in love with a middle-aged Japanese lesbian who sells souls to a demon in exchange for her own back, and if that weren’t enough, there’s also a runaway trans girl who becomes a violin prodigy,” I was all in! I am so mad that this perfect idea didn’t land better for me.

    The good stuff is on the tin – it’s a wild mashup of genres that work together because why not? The diversity is all-encompassing, and no one blinks when the alien lady reveals that her true form is purple with two elbows.

    Where it falters is a little harder to parse out. Personally, I was not a fan of the way it was written. There are a lot of short scenes from a lot of perspectives. I prefer a story that digs deeper into one, maybe two, points of view. More than that, I found the internal logic of the book lacking in some ways. I’m down for a wild ride with unexpected standards of behaviour, but they need to be consistent. For instance, Lan bloops her son Marcus out of (temporary) existence for murdering two people (this is seriously downplayed, by the way), and no one cares. But Lan’s subsequent desire to duplicate her AI daughter to take him to space leads to a freak out from multiple people that ends with her atoning for this egregious decision. I love that the book pushes back on the personhood of AI, but then…shouldn’t Marcus also be valued similarly?

    I also couldn’t fully track with the book’s handling of trans trauma. On the one hand, I admire Aoki’s unflinching depiction of a trans girl’s abusive family, abusive friends, and the ways in which she resorts to sex work to get by. It was not my favorite, because this is a vaguely feel-good book in most other areas, and then BAM, rape. But the book ends with a throwaway line that Katrina is living with a rich guy who we saw greet her by sexually assaulting her? That’s not a satisfying ending from my perspective.

    In the end, I wasn’t a fan of this book, but everyone else seems to adore it, so perhaps I am missing something!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Honestly, I don’t know! Popular Books of 2021 lists are saying to give it to everyone, but I truly didn’t like it. Try it if you’re intrigued, I guess!

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

  • Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju

    Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju

    Genre | YA Contemporary fiction
    Page #s | 374
    Publishing Date | May 2019

    Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother’s unexpected departure. After a bewildering encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of town.

    Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

    Goodreads

    Kings, Queens and In-Betweens is a sweet coming-of-age story about a queer girl in a small town who discovers the drag scene and community. Nima is a painfully awkward person, and I laughed out loud at her panicked reactions multiple times (as well as almost needing to throw the book across the room in sympathy embarrassment at one particularly cringeworthy scene). She is totally endearing, and it is a joy to watch her gain confidence in her relationships and performances.

    I so appreciate books that don’t make coming out a huge deal, but at the same time, I know it’s important to acknowledge the real consequences some people face when sharing their identity with others. This book covers both experiences, with Nima’s friends and family being accepting and inclusive (in fact, she has parent drama that is NOT about coming out – a marvel!) and side character Gordon experiencing intense homophobia from his father. I think this approach is incredibly important, as it shows that negative expereinces do not have to be the norm by also modeling healthy familial love.

    I also loved that, although Nima’s friends and family accept her and her attraction to women, she still finds a special kind of relationship with the queer community that she becomes a part of. There is something about the power of being with people who share your identity to make you feel safe, seen, and powerful in a very unique way. These different kinds of relationships don’t have to be in competition, and I appreciated that Boteju purposefully merged the two worlds.

    While this book does capture the magic of queer community, I did find the character of Deidre leaned a little too far into the “drag queen fairy godmother” territory. She is constantly available to help Nima out of one scrape or another, and we don’t get a real sense of her personal friendship group or community. She’s over ten years older than Nima and co! I want her to have a vibrant social life with peers!

    Aside from that minor quibble, this book is just so enjoyable. Pick it up and give it a read!

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    Gift Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens to your cousin from Rural Town for them to read on the way to the drag performance you take them to.

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

  • The Better to Kiss You With by Michelle Osgood

    The Better to Kiss You With by Michelle Osgood

    Genre | Fantasy Romance
    Page #s | 182
    Publishing Date | April 2016

    In the rare moments when Deanna Scott isn’t working as the moderator for Wolf’s Run, an online werewolf role-playing game, she wanders the local forest trails with her golden retriever, Arthur, and daydreams about Jaime, the attractive, enigmatic woman who lives upstairs. As Wolf Run’s ‘den mother,’ Deanna is accustomed to petty online drama. But when threats from an antagonistic player escalate, Deanna wonders if her awesome online job could be riskier than she d ever imagined and if her new girlfriend knows more about this community than she had realized.

    Goodreads

    The Better to Kiss You With is a fun lesbian romance with great characters and exactly the right amount of “Yes, there are werewolves, but it isn’t melodramatic.” Let’s be honest, it’s hard to begin anywhere other than werewolves, once you know they’re going to be in a romance novel. For starters, and this would have been very important information to me before reading – there is no sex between human and werewolf!

    Instead, we get a really cute story of two lesbians meeting in their building’s hallway, going on sweet dates and having hot sex. There are semi-dramatic, semi-tongue in cheek hints that one of them may be a werewolf, but the actual reveal leans much more into a protective metaphor than a sexy metaphor. And I cannot stress this enough – the characters are all a little embarrassed to find themselves in a werewolf story. Like, they realize it’s weird, and they’re going to talk about all of the repercussions that would naturally come up, but it’s going to be with humor and teasing.

    The other aspect of the werewolf thing is that Deanna runs a role-playing game server based on werewolves in Vancouver (sign me up!), and she winds up dealing with an internet troll – er, werewolf – who is an online predator AND actual predator. This metaphor worked for me so well! I also loved Osgood’s takedown of this guy, as she refuses to give him the dignity of being hot or skillful. He’s just a violent a$$hole that needs to be taken care of.

    I would be remiss if I didn’t mention how much I loved Deanna’s relationships outside of girlfriend Jaime, by which I mean with her dog and her best friend. They are fully realized characters who are equally meaningful to her safety and well-being. While I love a good all-encompassing romance, I worry about characters whose sense of self wholly depends on a significant other.

    Who Do I Recommend This Book To?

    The Better to Kiss You With is the book to give to your sapphic friend who wants a fun, quick, sexy read!

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