Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! This was a surprise, last-minute entry in my list of favourite reads of 2023! I stumbled on this while researching new releases for Our Queerest Shelves, and I was pleasantly surprised to see it was by a local British Columbia author/artist! I requested itRead More
A Fantasy of Community: Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Legends & Lattes has been reviewed at the Lesbrary before, and it’s certainly gotten a lot of praise online in general, so why do I feel the need to add my own positive review to the mix? I think it’s because the reason IRead More
LA as a Not-So-Urban Jungle: Undergrowth by Chel Hylott and Chelsea Lim
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Seventeen-year-old Mariam finds herself surviving a Los Angeles that has been overrun by a magic jungle of horror. Along the way, she meets a group of other survivors, and together they become a family. But Mariam has her secrets. She magically heals and cannot die thanks to a deal with the devilRead More
Mechanized Deities and Queer Perseverance: Godslayers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link In her acknowledgements at the end of Godslayers, the second book of her Gearbreakers duology, Zoe Hana Mikuta writes, “Okay. So. I’ve been incredibly mean to my characters.” She is spot on. Eris, Sona, and the rest of the cast go through so much in this book. There’s psychological terror, disfigurement, death of close friends, andRead More
A Sapphic Romance at Adult Summer Camp: That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link That Summer Feeling delivers exactly that. A beach read set at an adult summer camp, this read is low angst and very wholesome. The beginning of the book starts out with a bit of chaos: a flashback to the past, a bit of family history to set the stage, and a franticRead More
A Wholesome and Messy Queer Romcom: Wild Things by Laura Kay
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Laura Kay could teach a masterclass on the low-key, wholesome, slightly messy queer rom com, as exemplified in her third novel, Wild Things. El is stuck in a rut, both personally and professionally. Still in her dead-end job at a London newspaper, she spends most of the workdayRead More
Larkie reviews Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Persephone Station is a space romp with everything you could ask: crime bosses, alien life, assassinations at fancy parties, rogue AI, and fancy flying. There’s a ton packed into this book, and even when you think you’ve reached your limit, it turns out that there’s more just around theRead More
Til reviews Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Gearbreakers bounces between high-octane mecha fights, rebellion, intense emotions, and savage banter. It’s a story about a wasteland outside a glittering, high-tech city. It has plot twists and schemes, and characters always willing to break the rules. And somehow, it manages to be overwhelmingly dull. The action scenes shineRead More
Carolina reviews Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
It seems apt to begin 2021, a time of reflection and introspection for many, with a YA novel that feels fresh and timeless at the same time. Malinda Lo’s new novel, Last Night at the Telegraph Club echoes with the same beats as my favorite “baby gay” first lesbian novels (e.g. Annie on My MindRead More
Zoe reviews Beyond II: The Queer Post-Apocalyptic & Urban Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfé R. Monster and Taneka Stotts
Beyond II: The Queer Post-Apocalyptic & Urban Fantasy Comic Anthology edited by Sfe R. Monster and Taneka Stotts is the second of its series, following Beyond: The Queer Sci-Fi & Fantasy Comic Anthology, both of which were highly successful Kickstarter projects. The preface, which never fails to make me tear up, reads “These stories areRead More