Dragons seem to be having a pop culture moment once again, whether it’s on your TV or on your bookshelf, as alluring shapeshifters or war steeds. In a crowded field, Moniquill Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath holds its own as a unique take on classic fantasy tropes. Set in an alternate version of 1800s Massachusetts, theRead More
Girls Gangs with Fire Magic: When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-yi Lee
Wen-yi Lee’s debut, The Dark We Know, a YA horror, was one of my favorite books of last year. So, when I learned she had an adult fantasy coming out, I was already excited, but the premise of a lesbian girl gang in 1970s Singapore (with magic!) made this one of my most anticipated releases ofRead More
Old Gods, New Cities, and An Arsonist’s Lullaby: When They Burned the Butterfly by Wen-Yi Lee
One of my favorite tropes in fantasy is magic linked to body horror. Especially more so when it is treated as a volatile resource, calling into question the price of chasing power. Naturally, I had a fantastic time with Wen-Yi Lee’s When They Burned the Butterfly (October 21, 2025): a bloody, fiery saga about the horror andRead More
The Magic of Community: Brooms by Jasmine Walls and Teo DuVall
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Brooms is a YA graphic novel created by Jasmine Walls (writer) and Teo DuVall (illustrator) and published in 2023 by Levine Querido. It is set in an alternate 1930s Mississippi where magic flows all around, but is heavily restricted. Only certain people are allowed toRead More
Shakespeare, Fae, and Orisha: That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link At the age of sixteen, Joan Sands possesses exceptional craftsmanship skills that she employs to create and maintain the stage blades for The King’s Men, a theatrical troupe led by William Shakespeare. Joan’s remarkable blade-crafting ability is rooted in her magical power to manipulate metal, bestowed upon her by her guiding deity,Read More
Ungovernable Gender Chinese Fantasy: The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link When a book is described as being about ruthless bandits with unseemly femininity and ungovernable gender, let’s just say that I had little to no choice in devouring every single page of The Water Outlaws by S.L. Huang. It’s a queer martial arts political epic fantasy retelling of a Chinese classic called Water Margin. ButRead More
A Queer Indigenous Fantasy with Dragons: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The people on the remote island of Masquapaug have lived out of the eye of the colonizers, the Anglish, for many years. That is, until fifteen-year-old Anequs is selected by a dragon hatchling, quickly gaining the ire of the Anglish authorities who have strict parameters around who and how someone might possessRead More
A Bisexual, Magical, Asian American Take on Gatsby: The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo, Narrated by Natalie Naudus
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link In this retelling of The Great Gatsby, Jordan Baker narrates the story from the perspective of a queer, Asian woman adopted by a white couple. Although she runs in elite circles with Daisy and Tom, she is treated as an exotic pet, left on the outside even whenRead More
Vic reviews The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link I will be completely honest—I really do not care very much for The Great Gatsby. This book, however, far exceeds its source material (*gasp* sacrilege!). This is everything I want out of a retelling of a classic novel, and I am so glad I read it. Nghi Vo’s The ChosenRead More
Maggie reviews Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link With a frenetic, Roaring Twenties-type vibe, Wild and Wicked Things by Francesca May is set in a post-WWI society where half of society is trying desperately to recover from the devastation of the Great War, and the other half is trying desperately to party hard enough that they forget thereRead More