#author: claire legrand

[queerlit]

Six Spooky Queer Novels

Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova

Photo Source Alex is a bruja and the most powerful witch in her family. But she's hated magic ever since it made her father disappear into thin air. So while most girls celebrate their Quinceañera, Alex prepares for her Deathday―the most important day in a bruja's life and her only opportunity to rid herself of magic. But the curse she performs during the ceremony backfires, and her family vanishes, forcing Alex to absorb all of the magic from her family line. Left alone, Alex seeks help from Nova, a brujo with ambitions of his own. -- Amazon

The Gilda Stories by Jewelle L. Gómez

Photo Source The winner of two Lambda Literary Awards (fiction and science fiction) The Gilda Stories is a very lesbian American odyssey. Escaping from slavery in the 1850s Gilda's longing for kinship and community grows over two hundred years. Her induction into a family of benevolent vampyres takes her on an adventurous and dangerous journey full of loud laughter and subtle terror. -- Goodreads

The Drowning Girl by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Photo Source Caitlín R. Kiernan is a master of her craft of dark fantasy-sci-fi horror and The Drowning Girl is an excellent place to start with her books. India Morgan Phelps — aka Imp — begins her first person story by telling the reader that she is schizophrenic and that she’s aware of her own unreliability. This, of course, calls into question the entirety of the book that follows. But this is not a story that asks you to guess whether the supernatural elements are real or whether they are just a product of Imp’s mental health status. Instead, it’s an investigation of how the paranormal — Imp’s encounter with a mysterious figure — interacts with mental illness. This post-modern creepy, if not outright scary story, also features a lesbian relationship between a cis and a trans woman! -- Autostraddle

Ghost Wood Song by Erica Waters

Photo Source Shady Grove inherited her father’s ability to call ghosts from the grave with his fiddle, but she also knows the fiddle’s tunes bring nothing but trouble and darkness. But when her brother is accused of murder, she can’t let the dead keep their secrets. In order to clear his name, she’s going to have to make those ghosts sing. -- Goodreads

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Photo Source Marion: the new girl. Awkward and plain, steady and dependable. Weighed down by tragedy and hungry for love she’s sure she’ll never find. Zoey: the pariah. Luckless and lonely, hurting but hiding it. Aching with grief and dreaming of vanished girls. Maybe she’s broken—or maybe everyone else is. Val: the queen bee. Gorgeous and privileged, ruthless and regal. Words like silk and eyes like knives, a heart made of secrets, and a mouth full of lies. Their stories come together on the island of Sawkill Rock, where gleaming horses graze in rolling pastures and cold waves crash against black cliffs. Where kids whisper the legend of an insidious monster at parties and around campfires. Where girls have been disappearing for decades, stolen away by a ravenous evil no one has dared to fight… until now. -- Goodreads

The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Photo Source Written in his distinctively dazzling manner, Oscar Wilde’s story of a fashionable young man who sells his soul for eternal youth and beauty is the author’s most popular work. The tale of Dorian Gray’s moral disintegration caused a scandal when it first appeared in 1890, but though Wilde was attacked for the novel’s corrupting influence, he responded that there is, in fact, “a terrible moral in Dorian Gray.” Just a few years later, the book and the aesthetic/moral dilemma it presented became issues in the trials occasioned by Wilde’s homosexual liaisons, which resulted in his imprisonment. Of Dorian Gray’s relationship to autobiography, Wilde noted in a letter, “Basil Hallward is what I think I am: Lord Henry what the world thinks me: Dorian what I would like to be—in other ages, perhaps. -- Goodreads

[poppletonink]

Asexual Books

Loveless by Alice Oseman

Sounds Fake But Okay by Sarah Costello and Kayla Kaszyca

Is Love The Answer? by Uta Isaki

City Of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

This Doesn't Mean Anything by Sarah Whaler

Ace: What Asexuality Reveals About Desire, Society, and the Meaning Of Sex by Angela Chen

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Vanilla by Billy Merrell

Paper Planes by Jennie Wood

Being Ace: An Anthology Of Queer, Trans, Femme, and Disabled Stories of Asexual Love and Connection by Various Authors

Let's Talk About Love by Claire Kann

Rick by Alex Gino

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt

Love, Ace & Monsters: An Ace Anthology by Various Authors

Summer Of Salt by Katrina Leno

[christophernolan]

Fantasy books by female authors that deserve more praise and recognition and are so SO MUCH better than whatever SJM writes.

The Sun Sword series | Michelle West

A hundred thousand kingdoms | NK Jemisin

The killing Moon | NK Jemisin

An ember in the Ashes | Sabaa Tahir

Shatter Me | Taherah Mafi

Furyborn | Claire Legrand

The bone season | Samantha Shannon

Darker shade of Magic | VE Schwab

The invisible life of Addie LaRue | VE Schwab

Realm of the Elderlings | Robin Hobbs

Sands of Arawiya | Hafsah Faizal

The Daevabad Trilogy | SA Chakraborty

Year of the Reaper | Makiia Lucier

The bear and the Nightingale | Katherine Arden

The Night Circus | Erin Morgenstern

Descendent of the Crane | Joan He

The bridge Kingdom | Danielle Jensen

Dark Shores | Danielle Jensen

Falling Kingdoms | Morgan Rhodes

Range of Ghosts | Elizabeth Bear

Children of blood and Bone | Tomi Adeyemi

The Wrath and the Dawn | Renee Ahdieh

Lumatere Chronicles | Melina Marchetta

The Alchemists of Loom | Elise Kova

[the-modern-typewriter]

Yo, I've seen your book rec posts on and off for a while, and I was wondering if you could (if you have time ^.^ if not, that's cool too) throw up a list of your favorite lgbt/neurodivergent/unique protagonist books? I don't think I've ever read a book outside of fanfiction where the lead/s weren't just some form of 'normal' or straight or whatever. Also, since you're one of my favorite authors I feel like I'd be more inclined to give one of them a go lol ^.^'

There are an increasing number of diverse books out there!

Here are some of my personal favourites in no particular order, by which I mean I have rated them 4 stars (I really liked it) or 5 stars (it was amazing) and then curated the list some more on top of that. E.g. I might have thought it was amazing at the time, but if I can't tell you anything that happened in the story years after reading it, it's not on the list. That doesn't mean it's not worth reading, just that I have a bad memory so if I remember it definitely did something right!)

You can find more books I've read on my Goodreads. There are books that fit what you've asked for on there, it just doesn't fit my personal curated favourites list!

LGBTQ books

The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (m/m)

If We Were Villains by M.L Rio (m/m)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass and Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (f/f + ace)

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (f/f - non fiction)

Salt Slow by Julia Armfield (f/f)

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin (m/m)

Nightwood by Djuna Barnes (f/f - though be warned, this is a weird one! Rated highly more because I can't get it out of my head than that I liked it)

Tipping the Velvet and Fingersmith by Sarah Waters (f/f)

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Peter Darling by Austin Chant (m/m, trans)

The Binding by Bridget Collins (m/m)

The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J Klune (m/m)

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth (f/f)

The Greenhollow duology by Emily Tesh (m/m)

These Violent Delights by Micah Nemerever (m/m)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (f/f)

(Obligatory read MY BOOK The God Key (m/m) here!) Obviously, this is my favourite ;)

Unique/Interesting protagonists:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

I Am Not A Serial Killer by Dan Wells

Middlegame by Seanan McGuire (Her Wayward Children series is also great and has a lot of LGBTQ rep!)

The Kiss Quotient by Helen Hoang (MC has Asperger's)

A Spindle Splintered by Alix.E. Harrow (terminally ill MC, also f/f)

Fugitive Pieces by Anne Michaels

House of Leaves by Mark.Z. Danielewski

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time by Mark Haddon (Autistic MC)

Disfigured: On Fairytales, Disability and Making Space by Amanda Leduc (nonfiction)

[averyqueerhalloween]

Horror & Thriller Books with Queer characters: 🏳️‍🌈🎃

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh

Ace Of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

Burn Down, Rise Up by Vincent Tirado

Interview With The Vampire by Anne Rice

The Coldest Touch by Isabel Sterling

Murder Takes The High Road by Josh Lanyon

A Dowry Of Blood by S.T Gibson

The Taking Of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass

Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo

Catherine House by Elizabeth Thomas

Manhunt by Gretchen Felcker-Martin

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

A Lesson In Vengeance by Victoria Lee

The Diviners by Libba Bray

Her Body And Other Parties by Carmen Maria Machado

The Route Of Ice And Salt by José Luis Zárate

The Dead And The Dark by Courtney Gould

The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros

The Picture Of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

Carmilla by Sheridan Le Fanu

Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Queen Of Teeth by Hailey Piper

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon

What Moves The Dead by T. Kingfisher

The Cabin At The End Of The World by Paul Tremblay

It Came From The Closet by Various Authors

House Of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

What Moves The Dead by Ursula Vernon

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

Night Of The Living Queers by Various Authors

Just Like Home by Sarah Gailey

They Drown Our Daughters by Katrina Monroe

Graveyard Of Lost Children by Katrina Monroe

The River Has Teeth by Erica Waters

Hell Followed With Us by Andrew White

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew White

Dead Flip by Sara Farizan

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya Macgregor

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca

Everything The Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca

Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth

The Monster of Elendhaven by Jennifer Giesbrecht

White Is For Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

The Promise of Lost Things by Helena Dunbar

Prelude For Lost Things by Helena Dunbar

My Dear Henry by Kalynn Bayron

All The White Spaces by Ally Wilkes

As I Descended by Robin Talley

This Is Where We Talk Things Out by Caitlin Marceau

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

🔎 YA Under the Radar 7 🔍

I have been working on this list in the series all year 😂 it just took me that long to read a decent amount of underrated YA - but I got there in the end and I'm pretty happy with the recs on this list 🥰

there are rainbow flags next to LGBT+ rep, wheelchair symbols next to disability rep and koalas next to Australia YA simply because there's a lot of that on this particular list

so take a gander and maybe consider picking up a title or two (or ten) in 2024 to support lesser-known authors and books 😊

Take Me With You When You Go by David Levithan & Jennifer Niven 🏳️‍🌈

Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R Shrum & Sara Waxelbaum 🏳️‍🌈♿️

Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli 🏳️‍🌈

To Break a Covenant by Alison Ames 🏳️‍🌈

It Looks Like Us by Alison Ames 🏳️‍🌈

Scout’s Honor by Lily Anderson 🏳️‍🌈

Grace Notes by Karen Comer 🐨

The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch 🏳️‍🌈

Blood Moon by Lucy Cuthew

After Dark With Roxie Clark by Brooke Lauren Davis

Blind Spot by Robyn Dennison 🐨

Melt With You by Jennifer Dugan 🏳️‍🌈

The Lake House by Sarah Beth Durst

Where You See Yourself by Claire Forrest ♿️

What We Harvest by Ann Fraistat

All Eyes On Us by Kit Frick 🏳️‍🌈

When We Were Magic by Sarah Gailey 🏳️‍🌈

The Lightness of Hands by Jeff Garvin ♿️

Then Everything Happens at Once by M-E Girard 🏳️‍🌈♿️

The Buried by Melissa Grey 🏳️‍🌈

Because of You by Pip Harry 🐨

The Lost Girls by Sonia Hartl 🏳️‍🌈

Howl by Shaun David Hutchinson

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D Jackson

Jay’s Gay Agenda by Jason June 🏳️‍🌈

Out of the Blue by Jason June 🏳️‍🌈

Riley Weaver Needs a Date to the Gaybutante Ball by Jason June 🏳️‍🌈

Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko 🏳️‍🌈

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala 🏳️‍🌈

Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee

It Will End Like This by Kyra Leigh

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Ryan and Avery by David Levithan 🏳️‍🌈

Starlings by Amanda Linsmeier 🏳️‍🌈

The Drowned Woods by Emily Lloyd-Jones

A Scatter of Light by Malinda Lo 🏳️‍🌈

We Didn’t Think It Through by Gary Lonesborough 🐨

Sadie Starr’s Guide to Starting Over by Miranda Luby 🐨

None Shall Sleep series by Ellie Marney 🐨

The Girls Are Never Gone by Sarah Glenn Marsh ♿️

Our Last Echoes by Kate Alice Marshall

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall 🏳️‍🌈

The Narrow by Kate Alice Marshall 🏳️‍🌈

Dark and Deepest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore

Mask of Shadows duology by Linsey Miller 🏳️‍🌈

Sugar by Carly Nugent ♿️🐨

All Our Hidden Gifts trilogy by Caroline O’Donoghue 🏳️‍🌈

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

Lucky Girl by Jamie Pacton

The Vermilion Emporium by Jamie Pacton

Accidental by Alex Richards

Some Kind of Animal by Mar Romasco-Moore

Luminous by Mara Rutherford

The Poison Season by Mara Rutherford

The Midnight Lie duology by Marie Rutkoski 🏳️‍🌈

Can’t Take That Away by Steven Salvatore 🏳️‍🌈

When You Call My Name by Tucker Shaw 🏳️‍🌈

If You Still Recognise Me by Cynthia So 🏳️‍🌈

Our Year of Maybe by Rachel Lynn Solomon ♿️

Breathe and Count Back From Ten by Natalia Sylvester ♿️

Cold by Mariko Tamaki 🏳️‍🌈

Outrun the Wind by Elizabeth Tammi 🏳️‍🌈

The Weight of a Soul by Elizabeth Tammi

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas ♿️

Violet Ghosts by Leah Thomas 🏳️‍🌈

The Comedienne’s Guide to Pride by Hayli Thomson 🏳️‍🌈🐨

The Siren, the Song and the Spy by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

Sweet and Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley 🏳️‍🌈

Sofi and the Bone Song by Adrienne Tooley 🏳️‍🌈

Nothing Sung and Nothing Spoken by Nita Tyndall 🏳️‍🌈♿️

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White 🏳️‍🌈

This Is the Way the World Ends by Jen Wilde 🏳️‍🌈♿️🐨

Where You Left Us by Rhiannon Wilde 🏳️‍🌈🐨

Two Can Play That Game by Leanne Yong🐨

Katzenjammer by Francesca Zappia

[melanielocke]

Book recommendations: horror

Horror & fantasy romance ended up in a tie in my poll. I chose to do horror first mainly because the book I'm reading right now will be on the fantasy romance first and I need to finish it first.

I have been reading some horror lately. It's not my most read genre, but I have a big enough pile that I could pick out the ones I think are really good. Most of these aren't necessarily so scary it keeps you up at night, but they can be eerie, very atmospheric, dark and occasionally very messed up. I'll mention the type of horror and what kind of scary elements are in there. All of these are YA, I don't have many adult horror books on my shelf.

I'll start with House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland

Iris is the youngest of the three Hollow sisters. When they were young, the three sisters disappeared from a busy street. It should have been impossible, but there was no trace of them. A month later they reappeared, changed, and with no memory of what happened to them. Iris has tried to forget what happened, and stay away from the weirdness that followed. But when her oldest sister Grey goes missing, Iris and middle sister Viv go looking for her. If they want to find Grey, they will have to uncover the mystery of the past.

This book is creepy and has a rather horrifying twist near the end when you learn what really happened in the past. I think this is one of the scarier books on this list, but it's done really well, with monsters chasing Iris and her sister around and an eerie parallel world

Rep: bi main character, lesbian side character; Korean side character

Other books from this author: The Invocations (horror, coming early 2024); Our Chemical Hearts (contemporary), a semi-definitive of worst nightmares (fabulism)

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Two hundred years ago in small Oregon town Sparrow, three sisters were accused of witchcraft. Stones bound to their feet, they were thrown into the harbor and drowned. Ever since then, the sisters have returned once a year as ghosts. They each possess one young girl in town and kill one boy.

The town has long accepted their fate and Penny is no different. But then Bo Carter enters the town, unaware of the danger he's just stepped into. Penny can't trust him, but she wants to save him from the danger just the same.

This book has one big twist. It's not super scary perse, nor is there any gore, but very atmospheric and that's where this author excels. Would recommend it for people who aren't used to reading horror.

Winterwood is the next book by Shea Ernshaw

Once again set in a small, isolated town in Oregon, this book follows Nora Walker, a girl descended of a line of witches. She is connected to the Wickerwoods, dangerous haunted woods that only she can enter during full moon to collect lost things.

In the middle of winter, with the power out and all connection to the outside world lost, Nora finds a boy in the Wickerwoods. Oliver went missing from the Camp for Wayward Boys weeks ago. By all accounts, he should be dead and yet she found him. Oliver has no memory of what happened the past weeks.

Nora quickly bonds with him, but realizes she has to uncover the mystery of what happened to him and how he could survive so long in the woods. And it soon turns out Oliver was not the only boy who went missing.

Much like the Wicked Deep, this book excels in its atmosphere and the way it portrays a very creepy forest. It has an interesting plot twist, though not as strong as the one in the Wicked Deep. It's not keep you up at night scary, and also has a lot of focus on the romance.

Other books from this author: Long Live the Pumpkin Queen (Nightmare before Christmas book); A History of Wild Places; A Wildnerness of Stars

Next: Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand

This book is set on the isolated island of Sawkill rock, where girls have been going missing for decades, stolen away by evil no one has dared fight... until now.

Marion is new to Sawkill rock, trying to escape the tragedy that befell her family

Zoey's best friend was the last girl to disappear, and she is determined to find out what happened, and if Val has anything to do with it

Val is the queen bee, the daughter of the richest woman on the island. But she has a dark secret.

This book was not entirely what I expected when I bought it, but I loved it. This one is rather creepy, I think, though not what would keep me up at night (to be fair, movies are more likely to keep me up than books due to being scary). It creates an isolated atmosphere, but another strong point in this book is the relationships between the three girls and the development there. Marion and Zoey become friends and team up to uncover the mystery when Marion's sister disappears. Zoey hates Val. But Marion might have feelings for Val.

Rep: Sapphic relationship, Zoey is Black and asexual

Also by this author: Furyborn trilogy (epic fantasy); Extasia (horror); Winterspell (Nutcracker retelling)

House of Salt and Sorrow by Erin A. Craig

This is a retelling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses

Annaleigh is one of twelve sister. Or, she used to be. Four of them are dead due to strange accidents, and people are saying her family is cursed. Annaleigh becomes more and more suspicious that her sister's death were no accidents.

Then, her sisters start sneaking out, going to glittering balls and dancing the night away. Annaleigh does not know if she can come with them or stop them, because where are they really going and who are they dancing with?

If Annaleigh does not find out what happened to her sisters soon, she might be the next one to die.

It's been long enough that I do not remember exactly what happened in this book, but I do remember that it was eerie and there was an interesting plot twist when Annaleigh finds out where they really go dancing.

The book stands on its own, but there will be a companion coming out this year, House of Roots and Ruin, which follows one of Annaleigh's sisters

Also by this author is Small Favors

I read this solely because someone told me it would make a good comp title for the book I'm querying, and this is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin.

Ellerie is the daughter of a beekeeper in Amity Falls, a small town surrounded by mountains. They're very isolated and have to go on supply runs to a bigger city to make sure they have what they need. But during a supply run, all people on it die. More and more strange things start happening, slowly building up. Monsters in the woods, people acting strange.

Ellerie finds herself in a race against time to save herself and the people she loves before her town goes up in flames.

This book has a kind of strange pacing. The last part has a lot happening, but before then it's all a very slow build up. Most of the incidents with monsters, Ellerie does not witness, she hears about it second hand. She befriends a strange boy who has come to town as a trapper, catching animals in the forest to sell their hides. He won't give her his name, making me instantly suspicious, but their relationship builds up for such a long time that I was constantly questioning if he could be trusted or not.

My biggest criticism of this book is that I could not tell you when it was set. It took me a while to figure out it was America, though the religious small town feels very American to me, but I couldn't tell you the time period. Likely historical. But when? Who knows, certainly not me.

The Honeys by Ryan La Sala

Mars and his twin sister Caroline have always been inseperable. But that summer, Caroline went to Aspen summer school alone. Mars no longer felt welcome there due to his gender fluidity. But when Caroline dies unexpectedly, Mars decides to take her place at the camp to feel more connected to her. It does not go as expected, and Mars quickly remembers why he stopped going. But he befriends Caroline's old friends, a group of girls called the Honeys because of the bees they tend to. But he soon finds something is seriously wrong in the camp, and it might very well have caused his sister's death.

This is a book about grief for a large part, and I think inspired by the author's own grief for his sister. I especially loved the way the Honeys were characterized in this book, and their friendship with Mars, and the story is also about a very femme queer person being accepted within a group of feminine girls.

Rep: gender fluid MC; queer side characters

Also by this author: Reverie (contemporary fantasy); Be Dazzled (contemporary); Beholder (horror, coming in October)

The Dead and the Dark by Courtney Gould

The Dead and the Dark is a paranormal/horror mystery set in a small town in Oregon. Because apparently Oregon is where all the spooky paranormal mystery things happen? I don't know, it seems to be a popular location

Logan's two dads host a ghost hunting show together, and have traveled to this town, which is also their hometown, for the new season. But teenagers are disappearing and there might be something really spooky going on here, and Logan has the feeling her dads are keeping secrets from her.

Ashley is a girl who has lived in this town her entire life, and her boyfriend was the first to go missing. Now, Logan is her only hope to find him.

This is a sapphic story as well as a paranormal mystery, but the emphasis is more on the mystery, I think. There are ghosts in here and a pretty sinister and quite creative explanation for what is happening in this town and why.

Rep: sapphic relationship, main character has gay dads

Last on this list is Hell Followed with Us by Andrew Joseph White

Trans boy Benji is on the run from a cult. A fundementalist sect that unleashed Armageddon, killing most of the population. They believe that one chosen one will end the world for them and they made the ultimate bioweapon to do this.

Benji is rescued by the teens from the ALC, a queer youth center, and their leader Nick. Benji is immediately drawn to Nick, he's slowly changing into a monster capable of destroying the world and Nick knows.

Still, Nick allows him to stay with them as long as he can control the monster and use it to fight on their behalf.

This is I think the goriest book on this list, with lots of details on the ways Benji is slowly transforming into a monster. It's written by an autistic trans man. Benji is trans, while Nick is autistic. There is a lot of creepy fundamentalist religion in this book, as Benji was raised in the cult and their whole idea is that they should kill everyone not part of their world with their bioweapons.

Also from this author: The Spirit Bares its Teeth (coming September)

@alastaircarstairsdefenselawyer @life-through-the-eyes-of @astriefer @justanormaldemon @ipromiseiwillwrite @a-dream-dirty-and-bruised @amchara @all-for-the-fanfiction @imsoftforthomastair @ddepressedbookworm @queenlilith43 @wagner-fell @cant-think-of-anything @laylax13s @tessherongraystairs @boredfangirl16 @artist-in-soul @beyondlifebeyonddeath @ikissedsmithparker

[ahb-writes]

Writing Problem: The Female Part Is Underwritten

Problem: The Female Part Is Underwritten

Solution: Frame and establish female characters who are their own and who can hold their own. Obviously, character-building must be done with care, but the emphasis on writing female characters well is not misplaced. Authors in the majority of those published often get away with female characters that are relegated to the role of the conveniently unprotected, the buddy, the substitute wife/girlfriend, the pawn/sacrifice, the hot chick, and/or the stoic action lady who can do anything because that makes her cool.

Write female characters with their own intelligences, experiences, shortcomings, and successes. These characters must come into their own organically, and they must engage the narrative (and readers) in a way that demonstrates their value without siphoning their agency.

Writing Resources:

Make Them Female (Horrible God)

The Importance of The Unlikable Heroine (Claire Legrand; ahbwrites)

100 Character Development Questions to Inspire Deeper Arcs (Now Novel)

We Need to Talk About Cold Women (HuffPost)

Writing a "Strong Female Character" That Isn't Heartless (Writing Questions Answered)

Strength is Relative: Female Characters, Gender Stereotypes, and Writer Authority (ahbwrites)

The Heroines of YA Dystopias Have All These Traits in Common (Refinery29; ahbwrites)

Female Characters to Avoid in Your Writing: An Illustrated Guide (The Caffeine Book Warrior; ahbwrites)

On Mary Sue (How to Fight Write; ahbwrites)

Core Principles of Crafting Protagonists (September C. Fawkes)

4 Ways to Unlock Your Character's Unique Voice (The Novel Smithy)

❯ ❯ Adapted from the writing masterpost series: 19 Things That Are Wrong With Your Novel (and How to Fix Them)

[vavuska]

Books similar to The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood:

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett and Extasia by Claire Legrand are both distopyas dense of religious fanatism and women's segregation, in which sexism and sexual prejudice are associated with various aspects of religion (e.g. belief, faith, and fundamentalism). This novel shows also how higher religious fundamentalism is associated with internalized misogyny and passive acceptance of traditional gender roles, and both hostile and benevolent sexism.

In The Grace Year the stereotype of a women as source of sin was laid down by the dominant religious authorities before the inception of widespread violence led by women against women, but after all the violence and blood, women learn the importance of sorority, female friendship and start to support and help each others.

The main source of conflicts are ribbons, which, in The Grace Year, are the sign of a women lifestage and the bride's ribbon is a valued price among most of the girls of the age of Tierney, the protagonist. The bride ribbons create a competition between girls to get bachelor’s attention, self-objectification, and humiliation toward each others. Although the competition eventually destroys most of them, this characteristic offers pleasure to those who survived their Grace Year. Tierney learns to survive on her own, learns that the religious values she was thought were wrong and learns also to appreciate her peer's friendship.

Extasia adds witchcraft and supernatural elements, but the main character (Amity) believes deeply in social conservatism—Amity has a preference for stability, conformity and the status quo— which is often a key trait of the religious experience, but also betrays deep feeling of self-hate.

In Extasia, the very patriarchal structures that decry witchcraft – the Puritan church in which the characters lives in and escapes from, the male headship to which the community so desperately cling, the insistence, in the face of repeated violence, on the sin of her mother – are the same structures that inevitably foreclose the options of the lead character, Amity.

To this two, I will mention also The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson. In this novel, Immanuelle, a young woman living in a rigid, puritanical society, discovers dark powers within herself. This book is very similar to Extasia, but not such as good: Amity character is way more believable than Immanuelle and shows way more comprehension of the injustices committed in the name of the religion. The cult in Extasia contains more original elements and believing than the one in The Year Of The Witching, which seems more a copy-paste of mormon radical close-communities, including the elements of racial prejudice. Both Immanuelle and Amity live in the disdain of their own community because of the sins committed by their mother, which were both punished for their love affairs, but when Amity is a girl-of-action and actively search for mercy and witchcraft, Immanuelle is cursed - literally - by passivity and events occurs without her active consents, including the defection of the evil antagonist. Also, female friendship doesn't take place among the main themes and the book suffer a lot of the male love-interest help.

The Grace Year by Kim Liggett

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

In Garner County, girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, to drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for a chance to grab one of the girls in order to make a fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Extasia by Claire Legrand

Her name is unimportant.

All you must know is that today she will become one of the four saints of Haven. The elders will mark her and place the red hood on her head. With her sisters, she will stand against the evil power that lives beneath the black mountain--an evil which has already killed nine of her village's men.

She will tell no one of the white-eyed beasts that follow her. Or the faceless gray women tall as houses. Or the girls she saw kissing in the elm grove.

Today she will be a saint of Haven. She will rid her family of her mother's shame at last and save her people from destruction. She is not afraid. Are you?

The Year Of The Witching by Alexis Henderson

In the lands of Bethel, where the Prophet’s word is law, Immanuelle Moore’s very existence is blasphemy. Her mother’s union with an outsider of a different race cast her once-proud family into disgrace, so Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol, and lead a life of submission, devotion, and absolute conformity, like all the other women in the settlement. But a mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood surrounding Bethel, where the first prophet once chased and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still lurking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the journal of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood. Fascinated by the secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realizes the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And she starts to understand that if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her.

[books-with-shriya]

Top Reads of September/October and TBR

Hey Guys! Happy one early day Halloween!! I've read a few pretty awesome books in these past two months and I wanted to share them!

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong: This whole book was a *chef's kiss* I was waiting for this book for so long to come out, and I finally got the chance to read it mid-September! This whole book was such a beautiful but anticipating journey and I loved every second of it! The trope was so awesome, I love good enemies to lovers, but this was even better- it was enemies to lovers to enemies to lovers, and so on!!! The detail put into this book was phenomenal and the characters were written so well 😭😭 This book was one of my favorites that I have read from Chloe Gong and I highly recommend it.

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand: I loved this book a lot too, I previously read maybe a year or two ago the Empirium Trilogy by the same author and it was a captivating but really awesome series and I also totally recommend! Anyways, back to this book, I am a sucker for a well-written fantasy book. This book was everything and more and I really just loved reading it every second. Except maybe..the beginning, tbh it was a little slow at the start and in some parts of the book but the other parts in the book made up for it so it was fine. Overall just a great fantasy read, but it is quite long but don't give up cuz it really is worth it!

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith: **TW: IT HAS SA AND RAPE IN IT**** I will admit that this was a reread, oops, but it really was worth mentioning. This book is an emotional wreck at times and just throw the book at the wall at times. There are so many emotions and feelings and just everything happening at once in this book. I really love this book and how it captures the life of someone who has gone through being sexually assaulted and the emotional, mental, and physical baggage that comes with it. Edy is such a well-written character and you can see how detached she becomes slowly through the years but some events just really drag her back into reality, and I also love some of the friendships she shares with other characters in this book. Overall, just a great fantastic book, but prepare to have tissues, you may need it....

TBR:

The Hurricane Wars by Thea Gaunzon: UGHHHH I'M SO EXXITED TO FINALLY GET MY HANDS ON THIS BOOK!!! As soon as I read the summary on Google Books, I literally fell in love.. Its literally the best everything all in one: Powers (YAY), Royalty, Possibly Enemies to Lovers, and just so much more. And then I read the preview yesterday and I am just so in love and so impatient. I have been slacking on reading lately so hopefully this is a great picker-upper for me, I'm betting it will though 🤞

Foul Heart Hunstman by Chloe Gong: OOOH I AM SO EXITED!!! I loved the first book of this series and just *jaw drop* at the whole book. But its Chloe Gong, so what else could we expect. Literally in love with these characters and I just can't wait to see how this plot continues and the characters develop. Also hoping this book will get me out of my reading slump :)))

The Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros: I want to read this book but I am quite skeptical of it ngl. I've read some interesting reviews...but also some mixed ones, and some mentioning that it seems a little similar to another series... I did read the preview and it seemed fairly interesting so I'll give it a try, hopefully its good, fingers crossed though.

I'll probably also reread some books throughout the month but I'll update you guys on my reading, and I also wanna try posting more consistently, also lemme know any things you guys want me to write about :)))

~Shriya 💗

[displayheartcode]

Mid-Year Book Freakout 2023

Tagged by @libraryleopard because she knows that I’m always reading something :-) And that I’m also procrastinating with my TBR list…

Tagging: @lavenderfables, @breha, @hauntedmoors, @pociondeodio, @folatefangirl , @longsightmyth, and @oswlld

Best book you’ve read so far this year

One of the best books I’ve read this year has been The Secret Summer Promise by Keah Brown. It’s about Andrea, recovering from a round of cerebral palsy-related surgeries, who makes a bucket list for the best summer ever. Except for one tiny snag about the girl she has crush on… I’m loving contemporary YA so much these days because of books like this! Andrea’s family dynamic is wonderful, and the disability rep is causally everywhere.

Best sequel you’ve read so far this q

Painted Devils by Margaret Owen! The first book was such a fantastic retelling of The Goose Girl that I had no clue how the sequel would exceed my expectations. AND THEN OH MY GOD WHAT A RIDE. I was jet-lagged from Ireland and just stayed in my room, so absorbed in the book that I almost forgot to eat.

New release you haven’t read yet

I’ve been told Lone Women by Victor LaValle is very much for me. If the reviews of his novellas are a sign, then I’m going to love this book.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

A Shot in the Dark by Victoria Lee! I love their horror/fantasy novels, so I’m very excited to read their romance debut. A copy has been pre-ordered and the book tour ticket has been bought.

Biggest disappointment

A Crown of Ivy and Glass by Claire Legrand was just okay. The ending felt too similar to Sawkill Girls, and the whole book was like three different ones smushed together for EXTRA PLOT. At least the prose was pretty.

Biggest surprise

Pretty much everything about Yellowface by RF Kunag. You have a white woman on a one-way spiral of utter failure and a system that encourages her to make these choices. It’s a wild ride of a book. I cannot stress how accurate of a satire it is, too.

Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

GennaRose Nethercott! Thistlefoot was a delight! So much of my digital copy of highlighted because of how beautiful I find the narrative voice.

Newest fictional crush/newest favorite character

Agent Fatma el-Shara’awi (from A Master of Djinn), I am free at seven.

Book that made you cry

I didn’t exactly cry, but There Flies the Witch by Mayonn Paasewe-Valchev made me misty-eyed. Only middle grade books have this power over me.

Book that made you happy

The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston had me downright giggling in public. New favorite twist on the second chance romance trope!

[finalgirlfall]

"Parents, police, reporters, they won't help you. You'll be on your own. And it probably won't work. You'll get stuck too. She'll have you. And if you get out, you won't remember enough to tell anyone, and even if you do end up remembering, you won't want to, and you won't want to say anything. You'll be too afraid. Like me. And if you don't get out, you'll never, ever leave."

— The Cavendish Home for Boys and Girls, Claire Legrand

Scream queens are damsels, perpetually in distress. The final girl is no damsel. She doesn't scream to call a man in to help her. No, she takes this lumbering beast down herself. Specifically, she's the only who can. The authorities can't, bullets can't, but the final girl, when all the chips are down, when this campaign of terror has reached a fever pitch, she finally—unlike everyone else—turns around and fights. The reason she can is that she's the built-in governor on the slasher's cycle of violence. How werewolves have silver, vampires have daylight, and zombies have headshots? What the slasher has is the final girl.

— "Let's All Be Final Girls," Stephen Graham Jones

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Lightbringer | Author: Claire Legrand | Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire (2020)

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 1/5

Book Blurb: New York Times bestselling author of Furyborn, Claire Legrand, makes her stunning adult debut with A Crown of Ivy and Glass, a lush, sweeping fantasy-romance series starter that's perfect for fans of Bridgerton and A Court of Thorns and Roses.

Lady Gemma Ashbourne seemingly has it all. She's young, gorgeous, and rich. Her family was Anointed by the gods, blessed with incredible abilities. But underneath her glittering façade, Gemma is deeply sad. Years ago, her sister Mara was taken to the Middlemist to guard against treacherous magic. Her mother abandoned the family. Her father and eldest sister, Farrin—embroiled in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family—often forget Gemma exists.Worst of all, Gemma is the only Ashbourne to possess no magic. Instead, her body fights it like poison. Constantly ill, aching with loneliness, Gemma craves love and yearns to belong.Then she meets the devastatingly handsome Talan d'Astier. His family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and Talan, the only survivor, is determined to redeem their honor. Intrigued and enchanted, Gemma proposes a bargain: She'll help Talan navigate high society if he helps her destroy the Basks. According to popular legend, a demon called The Man With the Three-Eyed Crown is behind the families' blood feud—slay the demon, end the feud.But attacks on the Middlemist are increasing. The plot against the Basks quickly spirals out of control. And something immense and terrifying is awakening in Gemma, drawing her inexorably toward Talan and an all-consuming passion that could destroy her—or show her the true strength of her power at last.

Review:

A beautiful and rich Lady who wants nothing more than to heal herself makes a deal with a handsome man with a ruined reputation, in exchange for healing her she’ll help him fix his family reputation by working together. Gemma Ashbourne is a Lady, she is young, beautiful, and rich... the only problem? She is the only person in her family with no magic and she can’t use her magic because it poisons her body. Gemma feels like she’s lonely and wants to be loved, she feels like no one pays attention to her, instead giving it to her sister who traded places with her to take up a position. Gemma then meets Talan d’Astier, an absolutely handsome guy who’s family destroyed themselves, seduced by a demon, and leaving Talon the only survivor and he wants to regain his family honor and navigate high society. Gemma’s family is also in a deadly blood feud with the mysterious Bask family. This was advertised as a mix of Bridgerton and ACOTAR, but what it honestly was... was boring. I found Gemma to be so insufferable and honestly was not feeling the romance or the story at all. I found myself constantly skimming and wanting to DNF the book but stuck through til the end, and despite this being the first book in the trilogy I will not be reading any of the following books. Gemma’s sister Farrin was a much more interesting character and I would have preferred a book about her rather than Gemma if I’m being honest. I liked that Talan, as a love interest, was very empathetic toward’s Gemma’s chronic pain and was there to soothe her, but otherwise I just didn’t care all that much for their romance. Overall, sadly this one was not for me, and despite how intrigued I was by the premise, it just fell flat. However, despite that, if you do like young adult fantasy romances with a bit of historical/bridgerton-esque tones, give this one a go, maybe it’ll work out better for you than it did for me.

*Thanks Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casablanca, Sourcebooks Casablanca for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[separatist-apologist]

4,6 and 14 pls

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year?

I know I'm the last person to realize, but N.K Jemisin came onto my radar this year and I intend to read a LOT more of her books.

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to?

The Furyborn books by Claire Legrand. My irl best friend suggested these books and because I'd die for her, I bought all three at once...and then never read them. I intend to for 2023.

What were your least favorite books of the year?

Haters bookclub you say??? God where to BEGIN?

If I've said it once, I've said it a million times but Zodiac Academy. No elaboration needed, this horse is dead

The Four Horsemen series. I am tired of being told that I didn't like these because I don't understand dark romance. ME? I understand it fine- the author is a bad storyteller and at not point made her romance believable. These humanity destroying angels get their girls by being hot- thats actually not tension, plot, or craft. That's just an artist drawing 6 pack abs. I think the art is hot, too. It's what sucked me in. The series is shitty, does not deserve the hype

Kingdom of the Wicked + all books that came after. LOLing at tiktok crying about how bad the last book is um babes they were ALL bad, you just got tricked by hot a guy with dark hair. The problem is that at some point, he needs a personality and none of these authors know how to give him one. Dark hair and tattoos are actually NOT personalities and having read the first book + half the second, these deserved zero hype

People We Meet on Vacation- when will Emily Henry be stopped? Score one for the friendzone, score 0 for my impulse buy when I was at Target.

From Blood And Ash + the other books. Look. When are we going to discuss the absolute antisemitism that ribbons through these books? I guess its fine since Casteel is so hot, but lets not pretend the whole shadow elite drinking the blood of innocents for eternal youth/power isn't just repackaged blood libel because it absolutely is. Ignoring that, JLA is a bad writer with no editor pumping out book after book to bleed her fandom dry. How many 500 page books of no plot are people willing to read before they move on?

[p-taryn-dactyl]

C, R, S, T for the ask game

hi! thank you bestie for sending these in :)

C: what character do you identify with most?

tony stark, daniel jackson, and yelena belova. i may not be a genius, billionaire, playboy, or philanthropist but i am sarcastic, have anxiety, and self sacrificing sooo. i love history, occasionally wear my glasses, and like to argue with authority. i was raised from birth to be an assassin- wait no. i just love yelena, my personality and hers overlap so much i could sue marvel for not giving me credit.

R: are there any writers (fanfic or otherwise) you consider an influence?

book author wise, i consider rick riordan to be a heavy influence bc i love his books and how his narration is personal to the point you actually feel like you know his characters like you would a best friend. also, claire legrand. the empirium trilogy was beautiful and the world building was just…wow. i hope that one day i’ll be able to write a book like how she wrote hers bc every page of those books felt like i had traveled to another world. fanfic author wise, i try not to let writers on here influence my style bc i feel like i’m stealing from them but the three authors that I distinctly remember reading a fic of theirs (the very first fics i read when i first got tumblr) are @beautifulbows924 @zafirosreverie and @the-scarlet-witch-22 . i have so many favorite writers on here, many of which are my mutuals, but i have a very vivid memory from each of these writers in which i felt like i was reading a novel while reading their works. i also hope that my fics will one day be as amazing as theirs bc they’re amazing.

S: any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

whatever the hell malec was, bc thats the shit right there. i am a sucker for enemies-to-lovers, hanahaki disease, uhhhh idk if this counts but i love angst fics where two characters are in love with each other but they both think the other isn’t so they flirt/date with other people until one cant take it anymore and like blows up at the other causing them to realize they’re both idiots. MASQUERADE BALLS. Spirk.

T: any fandom tropes you can’t stand?

best friends-to-lovers. i absolutely abhor that trope (unless it’s percabeth). that weird thing where two characters think they’re related after being together but they still love each other so it’s forbidden (i’m looking at you cassandra clare, love ya, but what the heck) sparkly vampires, the whole debate over whether or not the MC should end up with the good or bad boy but the good boy is always a childhood friend and the bad boy rides a motorcycle, wears a leather jacket, and says occasionally problematic things. and of course the MC ends up with the bad boy bc he has black hair and blue eyes (this is in no way an insult towards alec lightwood, he is my son)

i couldn’t really think of that many tropes so if there’s one you want to know my opinion about, send it in and i’ll tell you!!

<3