As the daughter of an Austenite, I feel compelled to read all queer Pride and Prejudice retellings. The heroine of Just as You Are was one of the most annoying versions of Elizabeth Bennet that I’ve read–anxious, judgmental, and self-absorbed at times. But I enjoyed Just as You Are once I let go of expecting this to align in any real way with the emotional world of Pride and Prejudice, and rode the wave of … Continue reading Just as You Are by Camille Kellogg →
When I saw the half-naked men in promos for gay rom-com Fire Island, I erroneously assumed it was a reality dating show. That placed Fire Island in my mental queue just after finishing Love is Blind Brazil. Meaning moderately high, but not at the top of my To Watch list. But then Sarah told me it was actually a reinterpretation of Pride and Prejudice about a group of friends who vacation stay with their lesbian … Continue reading Movie Review: Fire Island →
Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith is a low-key but enrapturing graphic novel about Nisha, Davene, Kim, and Cookie, a group of Black women with deep and caring friendships. Each story lovingly depicts their hair care rituals while also revealing the soulful mundanity of the processes they engage in to care for themselves and others. Wash Day Diaries is as much about the relationship between the beauty rituals of these women and … Continue reading Wash Day Diaries by Jamila Rowser and Robyn Smith →
Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed by Saraciea J. Fennell (ed.) is tough for me to grade. As many of the other reviewers have mentioned in the past, anthologies can be a struggle to evaluate because invariably some stories are going to resonate more than others. But also I struggled because, despite being Latina, I did not feel like the target audience for this book. The primary aim of this anthology of essays is breaking down … Continue reading Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed edited by Saraciea J. Fennell →
Payback’s a Witch was a fun, spooky, sexy way to kick off my autumnal reading. With enjoyable characters with clear development, a sultry queer romance, a delightfully magical setting, and beautiful prose, there’s lots and lots to like here. At the outset of the story, Emmy Harlow is returning to her magical hometown of Thistle Grove after a whopping nine-year absence, during which time she has not seen any of her family or childhood friends … Continue reading Payback’s a Witch by Lana Harper →
How can it be that it has taken me this long to discover Thirsty Mermaids, the graphic novel by Kat Leyh? This bawdy, body positive, inclusive story is my new favorite, and I’ve been reading a lot of mermaid stuff recently so that’s saying a LOT. When mermaids Pearl, Tooth, and Eez decide to use magic to become human, they only plan to be human for long enough to get some booze. But once Eez … Continue reading Thirsty Mermaids by Kat Leyh →
Grey Dawn is an odd little book. It didn’t quite gel for me, but I admired its gumption. It’s always lovely to see an attempt to do something new with a story even if it doesn’t quite come together, and it had a lot of heart. The book takes place in two time periods, both in Philadelphia. In 1858, Chloë and Leigh met. In Chloë’s words: We were an unlikely pair: she, born in a … Continue reading Grey Dawn by Nyri A. Bakkalian →
O hai! Hello there! Come join the webtoon emporium that’s been helping me keep content and mellow. Towards the end of the Hell Year, my brain decided to tell everything other than web toons to fuck off. Even *gasp* novels??? What is this buffoonery??? However, I’m far enough on my mental health journey that I didn’t fight this and oh GOD did I fall into a rabbit hole. Which is why I will now take … Continue reading Sneezy Loves Webtoons: The Sea in You By Jessi Sheron →
With thanks to Tara. The Love Study is a romance between Declan, who swore off romance after leaving his boyfriend at the altar six years ago, and Sidney, who has no interest in dating, but who does have a YouTube channel called ‘Your Spinster Uncle’ where they provide relationship advice. (Sidney is gender nonconforming and prefers they/them pronouns). Declan might be commitment-phobic, but he is also 29 and beginning to wonder if he would, in … Continue reading The Love Study by Kris Ripper →
All I needed to know about Thornfruit was that it was an F/F secondary-world fantasy novel with lots of mutual pining before I one-clicked the hell out it. I am happy to report that, having finished the book, I really enjoyed it! Thornfruit is the story of two young women living on a tidally locked planet in the perpetually-sunlit city of Arishdenan. One girl, Alizhan, is a neuroatypical, face-blind, powerful mind-reader who works as a … Continue reading Thornfruit by Felicia Davin →
I love modern-day witches. I love queer romance. I love mysteries. I’m not typically a huge YA reader, but I like the first three things enough to give queer YA witch romance mystery These Witches Don’t Burn a try. While this book was not without its flaws, there was something quite fresh-feeling about These Witches Don’t Burn that I appreciated. It took a lot of common YA tropes, such as “I’m trying to be a … Continue reading These Witches Don’t Burn by Isabel Sterling →
