Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Natalie Naudus’s debut novel Gay the Pray Away is a young adult romance set in present day, centered around 17 year old Valerie, who is closeted in a very strict religious upbringing (*cough cough* a cult), so if you have childhood religious trauma, megaRead More
Cult Leader, Zealot, or Savior?: The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Misery Nomaki (she/they) wields the power to manipulate holystone, an ability only saints or those void-touched have. She believes she is void mad, while the angel that guides her, Ruin, tells her she is the next Messiah. But regardless of what is the truth,Read More
An Emotional Demon Hunter Romance: The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Tamara Jerée’s The Fall That Saved Us centers around Cassiel, a former demon hunter who has left her abusive family behind in favor of a quiet life in a little bookshop she now runs. When a succubus named Avitue shows up one day, the two fallRead More
A New Classic of Queer Memoir: Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! I have had Hijab Butch Blues by Lamya H on my list since it came out, and I am so glad my library hold on it finally came in. Lamya narrates a series of essays tying together her queer coming of age and herRead More
An Ode to Burning it All Down: The Genesis of Misery by Neon Yang
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Have you ever been seized with the inexplicable urge to destroy an intricate and beautiful object? But you don’t; you just sit with that strange, uncomfortable urge twisting in your chest and gnawing away at your heart. That’s a bit like what reading The GenesisRead More
Queer F/F Rom-Com for National Hispanic Heritage Month: The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School had been on my reading list for way too long and I am so glad I finally opened it up to celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October 15)! The sweet characters, nuanced coming-of-age and coming out story, and will-they-or-won’t-they first F/F romance had me hookedRead More
A Queer M/F Romance of Healing and Reconciliation: A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link This novel is a masterful exploration of various themes, ranging from consent and communication during intimate moments to faith, substance abuse, and power dynamics. The author’s ability to delve into these topics with depth and sensitivity truly impressed me. The novel shines in its approach to consent and communication during sexual encounters.Read More
Childhood Nostalgia is a Trap: Mister Magic by Kiersten White
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link I wasn’t sure if I would review this for the Lesbrary at first, because although the main character mentions that she’s bisexual at the beginning, it didn’t seem to come up again. Once I finished it, though, I realized that queerness is essential to the underpinning of the story. (There are alsoRead More
A Cult in the Woods—Or Worse? The Wicked Unseen by Gigi Griffis
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Audre doesn’t fit well in the conservative small town to which she’s moved. She’s from New York City. She’s a lesbian. She’s a determined skeptic. And she’s the daughter of an occult researcher and a mortician. So when the preacher’s daughter, Elle, disappears, suspicion falls on Audre’s family. She works to findRead More
Rachel reviews The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Described as a cross between Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, Tara Isabella Burton’s novel The World Cannot Give (2022) is a dark, Gothic, and powerful meditation on the dangers of desire and the consequences of ambition. The novel follows Laura Stearns as she arrives at St.Read More