Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Nell Stevens’s debut novel, Briefly, A Delicious Life (2022), is a stunning historical novel about a centuries-old ghost who falls in love with one of history’s most infamous writers. The novel is told from the perspective of Blanca, a ghost who has been fourteen for hundreds of years by theRead More
Rachel reviews Devotion by Hannah Kent
From the highly acclaimed author of Burial Rites and The Good People comes Hannah Kent’s latest novel, Devotion (2021), a historical lesbian fiction set in 1830s Prussia that has quickly become one of my favourite reads of the year. Beginning in Prussia in 1836, the novel is the bildungsroman of Hanne, a fifteen-year-old girl who quickly finds herself pulled further andRead More
Rachel reviews Not Good For Maidens by Tori Bovalino
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link A retelling of one of the nineteenth century’s queerest poems, Tori Bovalino’s new novel Not Good for Maidens (June 21, 2022) is a fast-paced paranormal adventure-thriller that quickly became one of my favourite books of the year. The novel adapts and retells Christina Rossetti’s famous Victorian poem, “Goblin Market” (1862). NotRead More
Rachel reviews When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link A totally surprising, whimsical, and powerful new novel, When We Lost Our Heads by Heather O’Neill (HarperCollins 2022), is a queer historical fiction that is a must-read this summer! The novel focuses on the complicated friendship between Marie Antoine, the wealthy heiress to her father’s Montreal sugar factory, and SadieRead More
Rachel reviews Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Stunning, poignant, and totally unputdownable, Julia Armfield’s debut novel Our Wives Under the Sea (Picador 2022) is one of my favourite queer novels of 2022! Our Wives Under the Sea is a dual-perspective narrative that follows both Miri and her wife Leah. Miri’s chapters narrate Leah’s return from a deep-sea missionRead More
Rachel reviews Girls Can Kiss Now: Essays by Jill Gutowitz
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Hilarious, poignant, and stunningly clever, Jill Gutowitz’s essay collection Girls Can Kiss Now was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022 and it definitely did not disappoint! When I talk about this book (which is often), it usually goes something like this: “I’m reading this book, it’s called Girls CanRead More
Rachel reviews Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Readers might know Marie Rutkoski’s work from her young adult Winner’s Curse trilogy (2014-2016) or her more recent f/f fantasy series, Forgotten Gods. However, Rutkoski’s first novel for adults, Real Easy, is a departure from her usual fantasy fiction while still including queer female characters at the centerRead More
Rachel reviews The Lost Time Accidents by Síle Englert
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link An incredibly complex and stunning poetic debut, Síle Englert’s collection The Lost Time Accidents (Icehouse Poetry 2021) is a must-read. This collection of poems, divided into three distinct parts, unpacks a number of central themes such as gender, sexuality, objectification, fantasy, reality, motherhood, childhood, and many more. Icehouse writes thatRead More
Rachel reviews No Gods, No Monsters by Cadwell Turnbull
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Caldwell Turnbull’s No Gods, No Monsters (Blackstone Publishing 2021) is an absolutely unputdownable blend of science fiction and fantasy set in a dark (and queer) world where all manner of creatures live and walk. The central plot of the novel focuses on Laina, who receives news one morning that herRead More
Rachel reviews Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Described as Pacific Rim meets The Handmaid’s Tale, Xiran Jay Zhao’s Iron Widow (Penguin Random House, September 21st 2021) is a must-read blend of Chinese history and science fiction that also combines compelling writing with an original plot. Although the plot of this YA novel is complex andRead More