Dami is a genderfluid demonio who wants to become human, in order to do that they have to cancel every deal they ever made as a demonio. And they’ve gDami is a genderfluid demonio who wants to become human, in order to do that they have to cancel every deal they ever made as a demonio. And they’ve got them all but one, the deal they made with a frustratingly cute boy named Silas. Silas agrees to cancel the deal if Dami agrees to help them break a family curse. What could go wrong?
I loved seeing the inclusion of trans and genderfluid characters in a historical story and have it not focus on pain and misery. I love that authors are finally being allowed to tell stories of queer joy and especially stories of queer people of color in a historical setting. Yes, there have been many periods of history where being queer meant you would endure a lot of abuse from other people, but queer people have always been here and have not always lived lives of unending grief and pain.
Read This If You - like a grumpy/grumpy dynamic, enemies to lovers, supernatural beings, happy queers in historical settings, redemption arcs, hidden treasures, curses and curse breaking, trans girls who save the day...more
This was advertised as a queer Philipino Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it lived up to that description!
Cordy made a deal with a demon ten years ago to This was advertised as a queer Philipino Buffy the Vampire Slayer and it lived up to that description!
Cordy made a deal with a demon ten years ago to keep her abusive alcoholic father from killing her. It’s been eating away at her ever since then. Suddenly, on the eve of a big theater production that Cordy is stage managing, the demon shows up and says her bill is due. But instead of taking her soul, he wants her to help him get revenge on a rival demon. Cordy only has a few days to figure out how to do this, and on top of that, she’s trying to figure out how to confess her feelings to Veronica her childhood BFF, and how to deal with the rich asshole kid whose family basically runs the town. This was a fun read, I loved seeing the relationship between Cordy and Fred as it grew and changed. It was really cool seeing how Alex wove Philipino culture and monsters into this story. It had a great plot and I was really hooked and wanted to see how the story was going to turn out. My only real critique is that I think Cordy beat herself up WAY too much about sending her father to hell. He was an abusive asshole who LITERALLY was trying to kill her. I felt like her constant self hate over that was too much.
Favorite Parts - The Maleficent precious moments figurine! And I loved that a lot of action took place literally on the theater stage.
Read This If You - Were a theater kid in school, loved BTVS, like monsters from other cultures and want a fantastic queer monster fighting story...more
Friends, this book was awesome. Big thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for letting me read an ARC copy.
Bury Your Gays is a tale of a queer writer, MishFriends, this book was awesome. Big thanks to Netgalley and Tor Books for letting me read an ARC copy.
Bury Your Gays is a tale of a queer writer, Misha, trying to keep his characters alive in Hollywood where the execs only care about numbers and profits and say the only queer stories worth telling are the ones that end tragically. When he's given an ultimatum to kill off his queer characters in their season finale he puts his foot down and refuses. Soon after weird creepy things start happening to him. Characters from his horror stories start appearing in real life. How far will "The Board" go to force him to step back in line?
Like Camp Damascus before this, Chuck Tingle has written a fantastic horror tale. I love the way he has of taking a story you think you know and upending it to give it a new twist. You really feel for Misha, who is sort of out, but sort of not, especially not to folks back home in Montana. His boyfriend Zeke doesn't get a lot of development, but is a great supporting character anyway. His best friend Tara, the aro ace techie friend from work is AWESOME. I love her fashion and her attitude and things that I won't tell you because spoilers, but dang, she's one of the best things about this story, I'd read more of her story any day.
Favorite Parts: any scene with Tara - also her tech data privacy paranoia is awesome, all the little homages to TV tropes and shows that are worked through the story, the genuine creepy factors in the monsters we get to see.
Read this if you: Are 9,000% done with the "Bury Your Gays trope", Love horror movies, Liked Chuck Tingle's last book "Camp Damascus", don't mind some gore.
TW: horror movie style gore, mention of childhood abuse/neglect, homophobia ...more
Queer Black Author - Hugo Award Winner - I picked this book for our library as part of our effort to focus on under-represented authors in our collectQueer Black Author - Hugo Award Winner - I picked this book for our library as part of our effort to focus on under-represented authors in our collection.
Things I liked in this novella - the word based magic system was really interesting, not something I’d seen done a lot before, magical disappearing tattoos, interesting and horrifying take on demonic possession, and overthrow of toxic corporations.
This novella took on a huge task of building an entire complex fantasy world and political system in a very short space. I applaud it for the ideas that clearly went into it, but it was a little too much to fit into such a compressed space. This story was more suited for a novel length book, I was left struggling a lot to remember a lot of unfamiliar places and names of different factions and actors. I really wanted to know more about the magic system and the little pieces we got of characters backgrounds felt a little bit rushed and under developed.
The whole idea of demonic possession to create a super soldier was really original. I don’t think I’ve read that anywhere and it was so well done! I saw on the author’s website that this might just be the first of a novella series and I am interested enough to read the next one.
Read this if: you loved “This is How You Lose the Time War” and want to see a queer black male take on it, love political sci fi thrillers and don’t mind some not quite baked world building, Love Enemies to Rivals to Lovers, like a “I’ve been lied to my whole life and now it’s time to make it right” moment. ...more
Big Thank You to @booksirens for giving me a free review copy of Frost Bite by Angela Sylvaine!
When I read the description that said “set in the 90s” Big Thank You to @booksirens for giving me a free review copy of Frost Bite by Angela Sylvaine!
When I read the description that said “set in the 90s” and “an army of infected prairie dogs” I was hooked. That sounded fantastic, plus aliens. Gimmie. And it did not disappoint! Realene is overwhelmed by her life. Just as she was hoping to escape small town life to go to med school her mom slips into dementia and needs to be cared for. Oh yeah, and a meteor crashes into a field behind her house and unleashes a zombie plague that is being spread through infected prairie dogs. Not helping matters is the local mega church which has decided that this is the sign of the end times and keeps trying to murder anyone trying to stop the zombies. Together with the help of her childhood best friend Nate, Raelene is determined to face her problems head on and save the day since no one else is doing anything about it. I loved the fact that this took place in winter in North Dakota and they didn’t forget how COLD it would be and how hard it would be to have car chases on icy roads! Setting was very well done. Big love for the fact that Raelene ate all the 90s snack foods, and the music on the radio was all from my high school years. Did I mention there was a Blockbusters video rental shop? Pick this one up for a fun zombie movie style horror lite story. There is an epic chase scene involving a snow plow. Loved it. TW: zombie animal death, human death, death of parents, religious fundamentalism and cults, kidnapping....more
Okay, so I read this one, because I kept seeing it mentioned. But I have to admit I didn’t love it. It’s a bit too literary fiction for me. It’s got tOkay, so I read this one, because I kept seeing it mentioned. But I have to admit I didn’t love it. It’s a bit too literary fiction for me. It’s got that “everyone is miserable all the time” depressing vibe. I often feel like these books are meant for straight folks to read to develop empathy for queer folks. But I get pissed off at the idea that you’ve got to read stories of suffering in order to be like “Oh yeah, queer folks are people too. Wow!” *insert eyeroll*
Anyway, I did like the creepy vibe of someone slowing changing into something else. This story was a tragedy that we got to watch unfolding in slow motion from only Miri’s point of view. I listened to it as an audiobook version and I should have just read it, because I read print so much faster and it would have been over faster. HOWEVER, I did want to know what was going to happen, so I did read the whole thing, it was compelling in that way at least.
So yeah, I don’t recommend this to my fellow queers....more
I struggled with this book to start. I had a hard time with Gem. I didn’t like them very much. Their reaction was very understandable given all of theI struggled with this book to start. I had a hard time with Gem. I didn’t like them very much. Their reaction was very understandable given all of their trauma, but I didn’t connect with them. However, the plot is GOOD.
Gem Echols is a nonbinary Seminole teen living in the tiny town of Gracie, Georgia. Part of a pantheon trapped on earth being reborn into generation after generation and some of them recalling their previous lives and some not. It was a fascinating concept. Gem can’t recall their past and struggles to reconcile what Willa Mae is telling them about them being in love over thousands of years and over dozens of lifetimes. And how does Enzo, the guy that Gem has been in love with for years in this lifetime, fit into this picture? Can there be room for a human in a relationship between gods? Does a human life matter in such a grand scale?
I didn’t pay enough attention at the start so I missed that the book is part of a duology, but now I will DEFINITELY be picking up the second book when it comes out....more
This book was a tasty little snack. It was just the right amount of scary and tension for me. It's sort of like Alien, only the lead female doesn't haThis book was a tasty little snack. It was just the right amount of scary and tension for me. It's sort of like Alien, only the lead female doesn't have to run around in her underwear most of the time. And there wasn't a cat.
I really liked Jack, she was very well realized. I liked getting to see inside her head and feel her feelings with her. She was scared of this very terrifying situation, but she handled it. She didn't have to be this superhero character who was never afraid and always in control. She responded like a person would. We saw her at her most vulnerable, but still standing up and doing what she had to do, acting as the captain while the real captain hid in his cabin.
I don't always like these kind of space ship with a threat stories because I hate when people start turning on each other, but this one didn't have that and it was good. If you're into space horror, give this one a read, it's nice and short!...more
This was a solidly decent book of poetry for middle schoolish age kids I think. And I swear I didn't read their dI received this ARC from Book Sirens.
This was a solidly decent book of poetry for middle schoolish age kids I think. And I swear I didn't read their description ahead, but it IS like Shel Silverstein and Neil Gaiman collaborated on some creepy poetry and hired the illustrator for Scary Stories to tell in the Dark to do the art work.
There's some good horror-lite in the poems, I liked the one about everyone smiles in this town, and I enjoyed the burning at the stake poem as well. The art makes it too scary for younger readers and there's a little gore that you would want to be aware of in case you've got sensitive kids.
I think without the creepy art it wouldn't be as good....more
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