I’ve never read a book that would fall into the “low-angst romance” category, until I picked up The Secret Crush Book Club by Karmen Lee. The book is the third in a series that takes place in a quaint small town called Peach Blossom. This Black sapphic romance follows two women in their late 20s, Dani and Zoey,Read More
A Cozy Queer Christmas Romance for Fans of The Holiday: I’ll Be Gone for Christmas by Georgia K. Boone Review
I watch The Holiday every December, so when I heard about a sapphic book coming out with the same premise—two strangers swap houses over the holidays and fall in love with people from each other’s lives—I knew I had to pick it up. As you’d expect, we have two main characters: Clover, who left herRead More
A Queer Black Holiday RomCom: There’s Always Next Year by George M. Johnson and Leah Johnson
This book feels like a teen holiday romcom movie in book form—if those movies ever starred queer Black main characters. We switch between two points of view: Dominique, who took off to New York City to chase his influencer dreams; and Andy, his cousin, who stayed in their hometown and is pursuing her career goalRead More
Love and Rocket Science: To the Moon and Back by Eve Noble
Finally, someone taps the vast romantic potential of mathematics and physics. To The Moon is a historical fiction novel set during the Space Race following two NASA employees: Katrina Ivanova, a mathematician and Soviet turncoat, and Gloria Johnson, a brilliant Black physicist stuck working as a secretary for her white peers. Katrina fled from the SovietRead More
A Lesbian Vampire Classic: The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
I picked up The Gilda Stories a few years ago after it was published as a Vintage Classic in 2023: 32 years after its release. I was curious to see what book had been blurbed by Sarah Waters and excited by the fact it was a black lesbian vampire story. To describe it with thoseRead More
Falling in Love in a Historic Theater: If We Were a Movie by Zakiya N. Jamal Review
When I read YA, particularly contemporary YA and most especially sapphic contemporary YA, I always approach it from the perspective of my sixteen-year-old self. If this book had existed when I was a teenager, what would I have thought of it? Zakiya N. Jamal’s If We Were a Movie would have caught my attention right from the Hannah MontanaRead More
A Must Read for Fans of Carmen Maria Machado: Sympathy for Wild Girls: Stories by Demree McGhee Review
This is a collection of stories about queer Black women that is going to live in my head for a long time. The opening story is about a young woman who has been raised on stories about violence and murder of Black girls like her at the hands of men. She’s consumed by this narrative,Read More
Sci-Fi as Protest: Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
I don’t think I’ve ever been so pulled into a novel by the dedication, author’s note, and epigraph. (The epigraph to Part One is “i did not come to preach of peace / for that’s not the hunted’s duty.” -Danez Smith.) In the author’s note, Johnson explains the inspiration behind this book coming from her time participating in the 62-day sit in at Nashville’s Tennessee State Capitol. I found myself writing down multiple quotations, including…
A Noir Mystery with Angels and Demons: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk Review
In 1940s Chicago, a serial killer known as the White City Vampire spreads fear as everyone wonders who his next victim will be. Helen Brandt, an exiled magician deemed a warlock for her crimes against the Brotherhood, is on the case. But as the mystery unfolds, her past comes back to haunt her, and sheRead More
A Triumph of Sapphic Sci-Fi Romance: No Shelter But The Stars by Virginia Black Review
My first love was science fiction. I was raised in a Star Trek family, my favorite video game is Mass Effect, and The Expanse is my favorite TV show. However, it’s taken me a while to combine my love of science fiction and my love of romance in the books that I read. I have recently rectified this with VirginiaRead More
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