Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Sunny St. James has a new lease on life. In her case, this is literal after she receives a heart transplant and finally, finally has a chance to have something close to a normal summer. Swimming in the ocean, staying up late to watchRead More
A Sweet Middle Grade Coming-of-Age: Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Ivy Aberdeen’s life was already chaotic between her newborn twin brothers, her older sister’s odd behavior, and Ivy struggling with her own confusing feelings for girls that she can’t quite name. But then her family home is swept away by a tornado and Ivy’sRead More
Quinn Jean reviews The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
[Warning: this review contains plot spoilers and discussions of violence and bigotry depicted in the novel; namely major characters experience misogyny, racism and homophobia in 18th century European and North African settings. Also this book is a sequel to Lee’s The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue so beware default spoilers for that book too].Read More
Quinn Jean reviews Amelia Westlake by Erin Gough
[warning: this review references sexual harassment, bullying and victim blaming as depicted in the novel] If you’ve ever wanted to read an intersectional feminist lesbian love story about teenage girls pulling off a political art hoax, then this is the book for you. In all seriousness, this is a brilliantly written novel about two veryRead More
Quinn Jean reviews The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza by Shaun David Hutchinson
[Please note: this novel contains occasional depictions of violence and this review mentions these in the first and final paragraphs] Like its eponymous heroine, The Apocalypse of Elena Mendoza defies categorisation. Hutchinson’s novel never doubts the reader’s intelligence and jumps right into the centre of events at the start. Elena Mendoza is introduced as aRead More
Quinn Jean reviews All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens Throughout The Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell
[This review contains very vague spoilers (no specific plot points, though) and mentions of violence] This exceptional short story collection, edited by Saundra Mitchell, is a sterling addition to WLW fiction. The vast majority of the seventeen stories included involve major WLW characters and without fail, every tale is breathtakingly beautiful. The historical settings rangeRead More
Quinn Jean reviews Taking Flight by Siera Maley
[This review contains spoilers and a brief mention in paragraph four of homophobic abuse and alcoholism in the novel.] Taking Flight is a young adult coming-of-age novel by Siera Maley where lesbian LA-born and bred high school senior Lauren gets in trouble for skipping school and is sent to live with a middle-aged Christian youthRead More
Quinn Jean reviews Stir-fry by Emma Donoghue
Trigger Warning: this novel depicts sexual harassment of underage people by an adult, discussed in this review’s fourth paragraph. Also spoiler warning for several important plot points in this review. Stir-Fry is an impressive debut novel, presenting a very relatable and thoughtful protagonist in Maria while also rejecting several tropes usually found in contemporary young adult novelsRead More
Korri reviews Sister Mischief by Laura Goode
Sister Mischief is a coming of age young adult novel about a group of friends who form the titular hip hop group in the predominantly white suburb of Holyhill, Minnesota. It’s narrated by wordsmith Esme, whose footnotes scattered throughout the book reveal the contents of text messages, lyrics scribbled in her notebook, and drop backstoryRead More
Al Rosenberg reviews Shoulders by Georgia Cotrell
Shoulders seems like a fictionalized memoir, but reads like a conversation with an old friend. Georgia Cotrell tells the tale of Bobbie Craword, innocent, personable lesbian, and her coming-of-age in the 1970’s. And then it tells of the fallout of all of her decisions in the 1980’s. At moments both heart-warming and anxiety-inducing, Shoulders isRead More