It takes a while for Draw the Line to hit its stride, but once it does, this book tells a great story about a closeted gay teen, the importance of community, and the power of art to communicate, to destroy, and to heal. There is a romance — although, as is somewhat appropriate for a story about teens, it’s probably a “Happy for Now” as opposed to a “Happily Ever After.” Draw the Line is … Continue reading Draw the Line by Laurent Linn
NB: It’s Flashback Friday! Given Sarah’s recent love of Labyrinth Lost, it seemed fitting to resurrect another YA, urban fantasy with a diverse heroine that she happened to enjoy. This review was originally published July 15, 2015. Shadowshaper is a freaking incredible novel. It’s a bit outside my reading tastes because it’s urban fantasy and it’s for teen readers, a vein of YA I haven’t read much of. But it’s also got a huge portion of my catnip because it includes … Continue reading Shadowshaper by Daniel José Older
Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier were bright lights of the Lost Generation in post-WWI Paris. Although they were very private about their personal lives, their romance inspired and sustained both of them in their literary careers. Both were writers, publishers, and translators, but their greatest influences on literature were the result of their tireless economic and social support of the writers and artists of the era. Sylvia was born in Maryland. Her father was a … Continue reading Real Life Romance: Sylvia Beach and Adrienne Monnier
The Infinite Loop is a comic book series consisting of six issues. The limited number of issues allows for a single, contained story with a happy ending that should make romance readers very happy. The last issue was released on September 30th, 2015, so you can get that nice satisfying feeling of eating up all the issues at once, if, like me, you’re a comics binger. The comic is a romance between two women, and … Continue reading The Infinite Loop by Pierrick Colinet and Elsa Charretier
Carmilla is an early vampire novel (it heavily influenced Dracula, which was written twenty-six years later). More specifically, it is Victorian Lesbian Vampire Erotica. People who think the Victorians were prudes clearly haven’t read Carmilla, in which a lesbian vampire seduces her victim night after night and day after day with “languid” movements and many “caresses.” To be honest, I pretty much just summed up the plot for you in the paragraph above. The narrator, Laura, is … Continue reading Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
The movie Stonewall, directed by Roland Emmerich, premiers September 25, 2015. This movie has been the center of controversy regarding its cast and trailer. While the jury is still out on the finished product, the trailer and plot synopsis focuses on a white, cisgender man. Transgender people and people of color, if included at all, seem to be relegated to supporting roles. Notably, famous Stonewall participant Sylvia Rivera isn’t listed in the IMBD page at all. … Continue reading Kickass Women in History: Sylvia Rivera
Lumberjanes is one of those comics that everyone says I should read. Well, I got my hands on Volume One, and then I bought every other issue I could snag at the time (I made it through Issue #17) and I can officially say that all those people are right – you should read Lumberjanes, not because it is feminist and LGBT positive (although that’s awesome), but because it is so much fun. Lumberjanes is about … Continue reading Lumberjanes by Shannon Watters, Grace Ellis, and N.D. Stevenson
Sense 8 is a weird mess of a show that is notoriously slow to grab its viewers’ attention. Most people either love it or hate it by episode three or four. I was completely apathetic at the end of Episode 1 and fanatically obsessed by the end of Episode 2. What hooked me? The romances, and how the romances hook into the idea that people need to connect to other people in order to emotionally … Continue reading Sense8: Like Whoa, Love is Amazing, AMIRITE?
A few weeks ago, I was telling folks on Twitter that I’d made a rather large dork of myself (not like that’s at all difficult) by begging a publisher to approve a NetGalley request for a New Adult F/F novel about actors on a teen drama. Someone pointed my ridiculousness out to the author, who contacted me very kindly and sent me an ARC – which was very cool of her – and so I … Continue reading Under the Lights by Dahlia Adler
We here at the Hot Pink Palace of Bitchery are thrilled about yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling regarding marriage equality. The Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution guarantees a right to same-sex marriage. In the words of Justice Anthony M. Kennedy: No union is more profound than marriage, for it embodies the highest ideals of love, fidelity, devotion, sacrifice, and family. In forming a marital union, two people become something greater than once they were. As … Continue reading The Bitches Celebrate Marriage Equality!
I have to admit right up front that I would not have picked this book if I had been one of the first to sign up for Smart Bitches’ RITA Reviews instead of one of the last. But holy cow, am I glad I did. Nate is an old man in a wheelchair who has had a stroke and is living with his daughter. His grandson has come by to take him out to Times Square to listen … Continue reading The Bells of Times Square by Amy Lane
