#elatsoe

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: Indigenous authors

This post is combining global Indigenous identities, not soley North American!

Elatsoe - YA fantasy / Lipan Apache / aro-coded ace MC

A Snake Falls To Earth - YA fantasy / Lipan Apache / ace MC

The Summer of Bitter and Sweet - YA contemporary / Indigenous Canadian/Métis / demisexual MC

The Witch King - YA fantasy / Seminole / demisexual LI, ace SC

Godly Heathens - YA fantasy / Seminole / demiromantic MC

Màgòdiz - dystopian/fantasy / I believe the author identifies as 'having Mi'kmaq/Anishinabe heritage while not being registered' / an aroace MC

Muneera and the Moon - folktale anthology / Palestinian / some with ace characters or queerplatonic themes (author also has lots of other short fiction!)

Odd Blood - paranormal romcom / Kanaka Maoli / demisexual MC

The Bone People - litfic / Māori / aroace coded MC

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

info included here is brief! please see my database for full details of the books

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 3

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Radiant Emperor duology (She Who Became the Sun, He Who Drowned the World) by Shelley Parker-Chan

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness…

In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected.

When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother’s identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate.

After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future her brother’s abandoned greatness.

Fantasy, historical fiction, alternate history, epic fantasy, series, adult

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Endorsement from submitter: "The asexual YA book I wish I had as a teen! Feat. ghost dogs!!!"

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Fantasy, mystery, paranormal, magical realism, young adult

[cukrkandl]

my favorite ace mcs in honor of ace week! 💜

jack & co. from aces wild (amanda dewitt)

aled from radio silence (alice oseman)

glorian from a day of fallen night (samantha shannon)

tané from the priory of the orange tree (samantha shannon)

neil from the all for the the game series (nora sakavic)

tori from solitaire & hearstopper (alice oseman)

jo from dear wendy (ann zhao)

victor from the villains series (v.e. schwab)

paige from the bone season series (samantha shannon)

ellie from elatsoe (darcie little badger)

joy from the romantic agenda (claire kann)

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[la-femme-au-collier-vert]

Novels by Native-American authors with or about vampires. You can find list of vampire books across the Latin American diaspora here and across the African diaspora here. Sadly this is the shortest list and speaks to a lack of representation in the traditional publishing world.

[e-b-reads]

"Your six-great-grandmother knew that she was capable of wonderful, dangerous things. That isn't a flaw. It's...enviable." "But she made a mistake, Mom. In the end." "No. She took a risk for love. That isn't a mistake. It isn't even a bad decision."

- Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[who-do-i-know-this-man-s4]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[swoodthis]

Being aroace and wanting to see positive, non-tokenistic rep but only being into fantasy and sci-fi sucks ASS.

Elatsoe and Redeemed Villain Lilith Clawthorn are literally the the only surviving aroace sff characters in ANYTHING that looks even remotely interesting

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

New Releases of April 2024!

I’ve been really excited for Dear Wendy for so long! Can’t wait for it to come out :) I have no clue how I’m going to find time to read everything coming out this month tho 😅

[aroaessidhe]

aro & ace books: with internal illustrations!

Don’t Let The Forest In - YA horror - ace MC - internal/cover art by Jana Heidersdorf

The Wolf Among The Wild Hunt - NA dark fantasy - aroace MC/SC - internal art by Andrew Garin

In The Jaws of an Oak - adult horror/erotica novella - internal/cover art by author

Elatsoe - YA paranormal - aro coded ace MC - internal/cover art by Rovina Cai

Little Thieves - YA fantasy - demi MC/LI - internal art by author

Every Heart A Doorway - NA fantasy novella - ace MC - internal art by Rovina Cai

Fallen Thorns - NA urban fantasy - aroace MC (& SC) - internal/cover art by author

#aspec books / aspec database / tumblr masterpost

info included here is brief! please see my database for full details of the books

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fiction Free-for-All Book Bracket Tournament: Round 1C

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Endorsement from submitter: "The asexual YA book I wish I had as a teen! Feat. ghost dogs!!!"

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

Fantasy, mystery, paranormal, magical realism, young adult

The Nightmare Before Kissmas by Sara Raasch

Nicholas “Coal” Claus used to love Christmas. Until his father, the reigning Santa, turned the holiday into a PR façade. Coal will do anything to escape the spectacle, including getting tangled in a drunken, supremely hot make- out session with a beautiful man behind a seedy bar one night.

But the heir to Christmas is soon commanded to do his duty: he will marry his best friend, Iris, the Easter Princess and his brother’s not-so-secret crush. A situation that has disaster written all over it.

Things go from bad to worse when a rival arrives to challenge Coal for the princess’s hand…and Coal comes face-to-face with his mysterious behind-the-bar hottie: Hex, the Prince of Halloween.

It’s a fake competition between two holiday princes who can’t keep their hands off each other over a marriage of convenience that no one wants. And it all leads to one of the sweetest, sexiest, messiest, most delightfully unforgettable love stories of the year.

Romance, fantasy, holiday, royal romance, adult

[bibliophilecats]

Currently reading: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publisher: Levine Querido

Release date: 16 April 2024

Genre: young adult historical/urban fantasy (70s rural Texas)

If you like:

dogs (ghost dogs!)

various ghost animals, existing and extinct

no romance whatsoever

hope and community in the midst of grief and loss

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back.

Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Content warnings

Colonisation

Loss of close family members

Illness

Natural disasters

Grief

Review

I found out about this book while scrolling through NetGalley, and the second I saw that it was a prequel to Elatsoe, I had to read it.

This is a prequel about Elatsoe's grandmother Shane as a 17 year old girl, but you don't have to read Elatsoe to know what's going on, and both books can be read in either order as standalones.

This book is so well-crafted and thoughtful; it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the story, because the setting and vibe is so different from Elatsoe, and it is a little slower paced, but once I got into the groove, the story flowed over me.

We follow Shane as she tries to figure out the mystery of her mother's and a child's disappearance, and along the way we learn about her history, as well as explore her relationships with her family and friends.

A strong focus of the book is on Shane's grief; grief from losing not only her home and her family members, but also losing her culture and language. This book tackles the harms caused by colonialism, which goes beyond stealing land, but also erases culture and peoples.

At its heart, this book is about family and community. At times Shane may feel alone, like she has to take on her burdens by herself, but her friends and family are always there for her (dead or alive).

I also loved Rovina Cai's lovely illustrations at each chapter heading; they tell a story parallel to the main story, and they add another layer of depth.

Overall, this is book was written full of heart, and it shows <3

[who-do-i-know-this-man-s3]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[bookcub]

i love elatsoe by darcie little badger for so many reasons but after reading a few different disappointing mysteries, i was thinking about how much i loved it, specifically how the mystery is not the "who" but the "how" and "why" and the reveals are so satisfying with the narrative and the themes of the text. *sigh* i love that book so much