Showing posts with label LGBTQIA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LGBTQIA. Show all posts

Sunday, 7 July 2019

Pride Weekend - My Most Anticipated Queer Reads!

Once again - happy Pride to all! I'm back after my post yesterday which listed my favourite LGBTQ+ reads to date, and I'm now going to take a look at what is coming up! It actually makes me so happy knowing that so many wonderful queer reads are coming out in the future, as I am always here for diversity in literature! I think we all want to feel represented when reading books and though there are plenty of cis, white girls for me to choose from, I would love to read less about neuro-typical straight girls, and more about anxiety-ridden bisexuals!



So here goes - click on the covers to be taken to the Goodreads page!

It's been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and pulled Hetty's life out from under her.

It started slow. First the teachers died one by one. Then it began to infect the students, turning their bodies strange and foreign. Now, cut off from the rest of the world and left to fend for themselves on their island home, the girls don't dare wander outside the school's fence, where the Tox has made the woods wild and dangerous. They wait for the cure they were promised as the Tox seeps into everything.

But when Byatt goes missing, Hetty will do anything to find her, even if it means breaking quarantine and braving the horrors that lie beyond the fence. And when she does, Hetty learns that there's more to their story, to their life at Raxter, than she could have ever thought true.

Lesbian horror fiction is just...such a mood. The sickness in this sounds so intriguing and alongside that gorgeous cover, I am in love.

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Before the days of going toe-to-toe with the Avengers, a younger Loki is desperate to prove himself heroic and capable, while it seems everyone around him suspects him of inevitable villainy and depravity . . . except for Amora. Asgard's resident sorceress-in-training feels like a kindred spirit-someone who values magic and knowledge, who might even see the best in him.

But when Loki and Amora cause the destruction of one of Asgard's most prized possessions, Amora is banished to Earth, where her powers will slowly and excruciatingly fade to nothing. Without the only person who ever looked at his magic as a gift instead of a threat, Loki slips further into anguish and the shadow of his universally adored brother, Thor.


When Asgardian magic is detected in relation to a string of mysterious murders on Earth, Odin sends Loki to investigate. As he descends upon nineteenth-century London, Loki embarks on a journey that leads him to more than just a murder suspect, putting him on a path to discover the source of his power-and who he's meant to be.

Did someone say Marvel? Did someone say 19th Century London? DID SOMEONE SAY PANSEXUAL, GENDERFLUID LOKI? Here. For. It.

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They say the thirst of blood is like a madness - they must sate it. Even with their own kin.

On the eve of her divining, the day she'll discover her fate, seventeen-year-old Lil and her twin sister Kizzy are captured and enslaved by the cruel Boyar Valcar, taken far away from their beloved traveller community.

Forced to work in the harsh and unwelcoming castle kitchens, Lil is comforted when she meets Mira, a fellow slave who she feels drawn to in a way she doesn't understand. But she also learns about the Dragon, a mysterious and terrifying figure of myth and legend who takes girls as gifts.


They may not have had their divining day, but the girls will still discover their fate...

This cover has me drooling. As does the vampire-filled synopsis. I love the idea of an LGBTQ+ deep-dive into the story of the brides of Dracula. Honestly, this is one of my most anticipated upcoming releases.

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Abandoned by a single mother she never knew, 16-year-old Raya—obsessed with ancient myths—lives with her grandmother in a small conservative Texas town. For years Raya has hidden her feelings for her best friend and true love, Sarah. When the two are caught in an intimate moment, they are sent to Friendly Saviours: a re-education camp meant to “fix” them and make them heterosexual. Upon arrival Raya vows to assume the mythic role of Orpheus to save them both and to return them to the world of the living, at any cost. 


In a haunting voice reminiscent of Sylvia Plath, with the contemporary lyricism of David Levithan, Orpheus Girl is a mythic story of dysfunctional families, first love, heartbreak—and the fierce adolescent resilience that has the power to triumph over darkness and ignorance.

This book looks amazing and I love the synopsis purely for it's homage to Greek myths, my favourite kind!

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A secret beats inside Anna Thatcher's chest: an illegal clockwork heart. Anna works cog by cog -- donning the moniker Technician -- to supply black market medical technology to the sick and injured, against the Commissioner's tyrannical laws.

Nathaniel Fremont, the Commissioner's son, has never had to fear the law. Determined to earn his father's respect, Nathaniel sets out to capture the Technician. But the more he learns about the outlaw, the more he questions whether his father's elusive affection is worth chasing at all.

Their game of cat and mouse takes an abrupt turn when Eliza, a skilled assassin and spy, arrives. Her mission is to learn the Commissioner's secrets at any cost -- even if it means betraying her own heart.


When these uneasy allies discover the most dangerous secret of all, they must work together despite their differences and put an end to a deadly epidemic -- before the Commissioner ends them first. 

I want to read more sci-fi! Especially if it's LGBTQ+, and this one not only contains a lesbian romance, but also an ace MC!

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This modern, groundbreaking YA anthology explores the complexity and beauty of interracial and LGBTQ+ relationships where differences are front and centre.


"When people ask me what this anthology is about, I’m often tempted to give them the complicated answer: it’s about race, and about how being different from the person you love can matter but how it can also not matter, and it’s about Chinese pirate ghosts, black girl vigilantes, colonial India, a flower festival, a garden of poisons, and so, so much else. Honestly, though? I think the answer’s much simpler than that. Colour outside the Lines is a collection of stories about young, fierce, brilliantly hopeful people in love."

After reading 'Proud' I really want to read another curated collection, and this one has caught my eye because it focuses on PoC characters and interracial relationships!

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I am so hyped for these reads and know that there'll be plenty more to get excited about in the future too! Let me know what queer reads you are anticipating in the future!

Saturday, 6 July 2019

Pride Weekend - My Top LGBTQ+ Reads!

So first of all, to everyone (but particularly Brits in London right now), HAPPY PRIDE!

This time of year is very special to me - and I'm devastated that I didn't get to go at all because I was working. It would have meant the absolute world to me if I could have done. But we did a lot of really fun stuff at work, and I still got to dress up!

In honour of the London Pride celebrations, I decided to create a couple of posts based around LGBTQ+ books that I've read and recommend to those that want to diversify their reading, and those that I'm hotly anticipating (which you'll find tomorrow).

So without further ado, here are a few of my fave LGBTQ+ reads...


One of my very first ever M/M romances was Benjamin Alire Sáenz's 'Aristotle & Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe' and I was absolutely addicted to this book. It's beautifully written, emotional, romantic and quickly becoming a classic in the world of LGBTQ+ fiction. I'd definitely recommend to those looking to read more gay YA.

My next chosen novel might be one of my favourite of all time, and I particularly adored Robin Talley's 'Lies We Tell Ourselves' because not only did it portray a gorgeous F/F romance, but it also perfectly captured the essence of racial tension and segregation in the late 1950s. I can't shout enough about how those first few chapters following a group of PoCs simply trying to get to class was one of the most harrowing things to read of all time. If you read and ended up liking this, do also try out Talley's 'As I Descended', a lesbian retelling of Macbeth set at a boarding school. It's fabulous!


Next on the list has to be a more recent read of mine, a collection curated by trans icon Juno Dawson - 'Proud'. You'll find stories, art and poetry-a-plenty in here. All contributors are #OwnVoices and all are fiercely talented. Favourites included 'Penguins' by Simon James Green (gay love and gayer penguins), 'I Hate Darcy Pemberley by Karen Lawler (I am always here for a lesbian retelling of Jane Austen's 'Pride & Prejudice') and 'The Phoenix's Fault' by Cynthia So (LGBTQ+ goodness in an asian historical fantasy setting). Read. This. Book.

For those of you that find graphic novels to be more your thing, then do make time for Alice Oseman's 'Heartstopper'. It is phenomenal. I love the British grammar school setting and the characters are just masterfully crafted. If you've read some of Oseman's novels (I totally recommend it if you haven't), then this focuses on Nick & Charlie from 'Solitaire' but also features Aled from 'Radio Silence' which is a lot of fun! Vol. 1 & 2 are available in paperback (they capture chapters 1-3) but the whole thing so far can be read in WebComic format on tapas.io and tumblr.


I wanted to include some sci-fi & fantasy LGBTQ+ reads too because I find it's often harder to find those - especially very good ones. So let's start with Becky Chambers 'The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet', a space opera that totally made me realise that I should read more sci-fi. I loved the characters in this, each one stole my heart. It is a character-driven novel - slow on the plot - but Chambers found so many new and interesting ways to represent diversity and 'other' while creating each species and I lived for it.

Malinda Lo's 'Ash' is also an absolute gem of a read - deeply rooted in fae magic and a f/f retelling of the classic fairytale 'Cinderella' are just two reasons why this book remains one of my favourites. I loved the sinister take on the fairy Godmother, the similarities and differences to the original story and of course the fact that Lo replaced Prince Charming with Kaisa, the King's Huntress.

And there you have it - a few of my favourite queer reads! What do you think of my choices? Do you have any that you want to shout about? Let me know!