Jessi loves queer sci-fi and fantasy, but when they're feeling like getting out of their comfort zone, they read queer horror and romance too.
What would you sacrifice for your own ambition? Through dual POV narratives, this book tells the stories of Zhu and Ouyang, two survivors who suffered tragic losses and ruthlessly clawed their way into positions of power through manipulation and bloodshed. When they are set against each other as generals of rival armies, the threads of fate that bind them are set ablaze with their burning for power and their lives will never be the same.
This enthralling epic fantasy that swept me from burning monastery to burning battlefield crushed my open heart in its brutal searing palms and I felt blessed to be present for the entire journey. Heartbreaking, lovely, bloody, and burns with a radiance of ten thousand suns. An unmissable historical fantasy debut!
DND nerds, anarchists, anti-capitalists, EDM music fans, and all you party punk ravers assemble - your new queer sci-fi obsession is here. Meet Isobel: Queen of Sparkle Dungeon, a VR game set in a medieval rave. For four consecutive games, she’s been the top-ranked player, and now she’s recruited to learn how to use power morphemes (the magic of the Sparkle Realm) in real life. But when the organization she works for has nefarious uses for this linguistic magic, and an anarchist movement forms to stop the end of the world, Isobel is caught in a battle between total annihilation and godhood, and no amount of dungeon training in the world could prepare her for that. Yes this is as jaw dropping and mind blowing as it sounds! The plot thrums like house music, breakneck and frenetic with plot twists that feel like bass drops. Isobel is the new Gideon, and this book pulses with humor and heart.
Brimming with magic, romance, and mystery, A Marvellous Light is simply marvelous. Robin is a cheery, warm, nonmagical person who is thrust into a world of impossible magic and hair-raising danger when he is accidentally assigned to work in a magical bureau. He is partnered with Edwin, a cold, enigmatic magician who seemingly wants nothing to do with Robin or the liability he presents. But when Robin and Edwin encounter a terrifying curse, a mysterious fog faced man, a murderous maze, a sentient house pulsing with ancient magic, and powerful contract magic that would be deadly in the wrong hands, they realize that the only way to survive is to stick together.
This historical fantasy/romance was equal parts gripping, sexy, and thrilling, and had me flipping pages for sleepless night after sleepless night. I am infatuated with Robin and Edwin and can't wait to see where Freya Marske takes them next!
The Mermaid the Witch and the Sea was a voyage of self-discovery, magic, and sapphic romance. It moved me to tears and made my heart swell with its lyrical prose and Flora's voyage of gender fluidity, and floated me a life raft of acceptance and love.
With one of the best anti-colonist messages and examinations of the cost of complicity in violence, as well as dialogue on gender presentation and survival, this book of pirates, mermaids, and witches is one I will reread over and over.
For her whole life, August has never let herself grow attached to any place or anyone, preferring to study people rather than actually getting to know them. Until she meets Jane, an impossibly perfect girl on the subway who she's inexplicably drawn to. A girl who inspires her to let people in again and cracks her wide open. There’s just one problem: Jane is from a different time.
With subway parties, drag shows, and a band of hilarious and sweet queer friends I would love to be adopted by, One Last Stop manages to provide laughs, queer history and love, a heist, time travel, and a feeling of belonging that is impossible to get from most other books. This book really describes the feeling of being afraid to let people know you, but also the feeling of relief when you decide to be your unapologetic self and are embraced by a community. It cured my pandemic loneliness, and filled me with bubbling laughter and heart squeezing happiness. Like August, I felt myself open up to the impossible magic that is love. This book was a love letter to the magic of New York City and the heart that its people have. And also to the queer community. This book is one that is tattooed permanently on my heart.
Cassandra Khaw's sci-fi debut exceeded every single one of my expectations and MORE - I still feel brain oozing out of my ears from my brain melting. All-Consuming World is like if Gideon the Ninth went out for coffee with Ancillary Justice and took it on a adrenaline-fueled ride through the galaxy. Maya is a traumatized mercenary who has been more programmed killing machine than human for 200 years. She gets coerced into doing one last job by her only friend, a scientist/programmer Rita who rebuilds Maya after each gruesome death. Her task? To bring back a friend they all thought was dead. But to get her back, they must face the murderous AI who dominate the galaxy. To stand a fighting chance, they'll have to reassemble the Dirty Dozen, their old team of criminals, and maybe heal from their trauma. (If they have time between the firefights, that is.) This book is brutal, gruesome, heart wrenching and a testament to life after trauma and its messiness and ugliness. - Jessi
Evike lives a life as a half-Pagan, half-Yehuli outcast in a village, where everyone else has powers blessed by the old gods except her. Every year, the Holy Order of the Woodsmen comes to her village to claim a pagan girl for the king’s nefarious purposes, and whoever is chosen is never seen or heard from again. When Evike is betrayed and offered to the Woodsmen by her townsfolk, she finds an unlikely ally in the Captain of the Woodsmen, a disgraced prince. During their travels they form a bond and join forces to overthrow the tyrants who have contributed to their alienation and oppression their entire lives.
This book is about faith, about feeling like an outsider everywhere you go, about what you are willing to sacrifice for a country who never cared about you, and much more. This blend of Hungarian history and Jewish mythology rooted me to the pages.
Ever feel like a book has broken you open, bared your soul to the world, and made you more whole? Honey Girl is that book for me.
Grace has always been the girl with a plan: a plan her father gave her. For 13 years, Grace has stuck to her plan, working tirelessly towards her goal of a doctorate in Astronomy. But when she graduates and the real world bites and she marries a stranger in Vegas, all her plans start to unravel. And Grace realizes that maybe, just maybe, having a life plan isn't everything.
This coming of age story is perfect for the millennial dealing with the existential terror of figuring life out when all your plans crumble and you're forced to choose between the path that fulfills you and the path that you think you need to take. Filled with heart and humor and lyrical writing, this book is a glimpse into the burnout and exhaustion that comes with a plan you never wanted for yourself, but also showcases the strength of found family and intimate friendships.
Fans of Peaky Blinders and Oceans 11 will love this heist story with a dash of magic. When Kaz Brekker, criminal prodigy and leader of the Dregs, is hired to break into a high security prison, he throws together the best rag tag team of thieves, sharpshooters, and soldiers he can find. Coming to Netflix in April!
Fans of the Wife Between Us and Black Mirror will love this brutally human story of betrayal and revenge!
Evelyn is a scientist perfecting clone technology when she discovers her husband is having an affair with a cloned version of herself that he created: Martine, who has been programmed by Nathan to be a more perfect version of Evelyn. One night, Martine calls Evelyn pleading for help, and when someone ends up dead, they’ll do the unthinkable to ensure that no one uncovers the truth.
Secrets, plot twists, and lies are unearthed, one shovelful at a time, and Gailey’s words jab you like shards of bone - sharp and just as disturbing. I still feel this book burrowing into my mind like dirt shoved deep under my fingernails.
Move over Spiderman- there's a new hyper active hero in town! If you love fanfic, superheroes, and the classic friends to lovers trope, stop what you're doing and pick this book up right now!
This is the dark superhero origin story of your dreams. When two college friends begin to experiment in an effort to gain ExtraOrdinary abilities, their tests go horribly wrong. Who is the hero and who is the villain?
Two best friends use their magic to change the world. Ancient prophecies, blood magic, pirates, mercenaries, political intrigue, and romance make this series unforgettable.