At @carriagelamp ‘s request, here are my top 12 books for 2019! I was very excited at the amount of queer lit available and that absolutely colored my reading for the year ^^; I’m going to put my little blurbs below a read more, because I’m positive it’ll be longer than anyone really wanted on their dash ^^;;;
The Priory of the Orange Tree: I’ve already written a post about this book here but it bears repeating- this book was fantastic! I adored it a lot, but fair warning- it’s Massive and it starts off Slow. I didn’t think I’d end up liking it until around page 200, but once I was hooked, I was hooked. If you like high fantasy, dragons, queer POC leads, magic, secret societies and an incredibly well written world, please check this out.
The Starless Sea: This book just came out in November, and I’m hoping it becomes popular, because I love Zach and Dorian an awful lot and would love to see some fanart of them! The book is a story about stories- it’s a bunch of metaphors and it isn’t afraid to tell you that. Nothing is exactly as it seems, but also, it’s exactly as it seems. I know this doesn’t make a lot of sense, but if you read it, you’ll see what I mean. It was emotional, I stayed up until 12:30 reading it and harassing my girlfriend about it because! My Boys!! It had a good ending, and it left it open for you to imagine the future ^^ Queer POC male lead.
Six of Crows: This fucking book was so good. It was SO GOOD and book 2 has queer characters, but it’s not fleshed out in book 1, so I didn’t give this one a rainbow flag but the series is queer, so. It’s basically a heist novel, and it’s a fantastic one at that! Fantasy with a touch of steampunk and dark victorian. Really, fantastically written! Give it a shot!
First Test: My girlfriend got me into Tamora Pierce, and she was absolutely right that I’d love Kel. She’s fantastic, a really great character and the entire four book series handles her growth so, so well. It was a really fun read! True fantasy, in a medieval setting with magic and supernatural creatures abound!
The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy: This is actually book two in the “The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue” series, and while I really liked book one I LOVED book two. This one follows Monty’s sister, Felicity. Set in the 1700′s, this book has all different varieties of queer identities and has a queer POC prominent character.
Gideon the Ninth: Holy shit did I love this book. It was a WILD ride. Queer necromancers in space! and an AMAZING use of enemies to lovers. The writing was hilarious, though sometimes I felt a little lost with the terminology that was used for the necromantic things. This book might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it was Fantastic. Just, do yourself a favor and try and wait until book two, because the ending ripped my heart out and I may never fully recover :,)
The Last True Poets of the Sea: I didn’t think I would like this one as much as I did, tbh. It’s not fantasy, but rather just a normal, modern fiction. The main character is a teenager who was sent to live with her uncle after her brother attempted suicide. The family dynamics are really well written, and it handles the dysfunction well and ends hopefully and in an uplifting way. You feel like the characters are going to do better, even if they’d been in low spots before. Mental health is a major topic, so avoid it if that’s a heavy topic for you. Queer main character.
Daughter of the Sun: This is actually book two in a series, the first being The Queen of Ieflaria, which I actually didn’t love despite being so incredibly queer that I went in with high hopes. I was bored and decided to give book two a go and Holy Shit did I like this one! It follows different characters, and I really don’t think you need to read the first one to enjoy this. Queer main characters, chaos god learns to become human and enemies to lovers. What can I say, I’m only human!
Hazel’s Theory of Evolution: This was a middle school level book, but it said it was about asexuality so I gave it a go and I really enjoyed it! It handles some issues that middle school-ers may be going through, and is told through the lens of Hazel, a neurodivergent (possibly autistic? At least it read that way to me) aro/ace girl who deals with issues like moving to a new school and losing her best friend, gaining new ones and handling the difficulties of one of her moms trying to get pregnant. It ends well, and on a good note.
Girls of Paper and Fire: This book is Violent, Sexual and Cruel, but that’s kind of the point of it. Paper caste (full humans) are the lowest caste of people in this world, and as a show of ‘good will’ the demon king takes some of them as concubines. Shit goes down, and I can’t wait for book two to become available on libby! Queer, POC MC and love interest.
The Prince and the Dressmaker: Cute, queer graphic novel about a prince who loves to dress as a woman and the dressmaker that makes it possible! Sweet story of acceptance! Give it a shot!
Redwall: MICE HAVE SWORDS! What more could you need??? Wait, just to make sure I’m being fully understood: THE MICE HAVE SWORDS! It’s a classic, read it!
