Bite-sized reviews of the LGBTQ books I’ve read in the past week. All titles are linked to their Goodreads page.
Between January 23rd and 29th, I read:
Alan Cole Doesn’t Dance by Eric Bell (2018)
Genre: fiction
Audience: middle grade
Queer rep: The MC and a secondary character are gay, a minor character is lesbian
Thoughts: I read the first Alan Cole book last week and was taken aback by how dark it was for a middle grade book, but I liked Alan’s voice enough to pick up the second one. This was not as intense in terms of Alan’s abusive home life, which has improved significantly, but there is still significant bullying that goes as far as physical altercations. This felt more like a middle grade book versus the first one, which seemed like it should’ve aged Alan up enough to be YA. I liked this one more than the first and thought this had a good balance between new characters and old favorites from book one.
Knight of Flames by Amelia Faulkner (2016)
Genre: urban fantasy/romance
Audience: new adult
Queer rep: One POV character is bi, the other seems to be demisexual; several secondary and minor characters are queer
Thoughts: This is book two of the Inheritance series; I read and really enjoyed the first book way back in October and am finally getting around to some more of the series! Having left it so long between books, it did take me a couple chapters to remember what was happening because this picks up pretty immediately on the heels of book one. Maybe because of that disconnect, I wasn’t as wild about this one as the first one. The first one is also very inspired by Laurence’s Paganism, with the fantasy elements including nature spirits, Herne the Hunter, etc., while this one kind of puts that aspect to the back burner and focuses more on connecting Laurence and Quentin to other local people with psychic gifts. The romantic subplot was also a bigger focus in this book. I want to make it clear that I still liked this; I especially liked seeing Quentin’s personal growth. And the ending of this one has me eager to start book three, and I am not going to wait three months in between books this time!
Namesake by Steve Orlando, Jakub Rebelka (2017)
Genre: fantasy/graphic novel
Audience: adult/young adult
Queer rep: The MC and multiple secondary characters are gay
Thoughts: I picked this up mainly because I really liked Orlando’s Midnighter. Namesake is a single-volume series and I feel like it tried to do too much in only four issues. It’s a portal fantasy of sorts; every seven years, Earth aligns with a parallel world called Ektae, and the inhabitants of the two worlds can freely cross back and forth for one week. Jordan Molossus has ties to both worlds and when he receives a mysterious package from the father he thought was dead, he has to cross back to Ektae and uncover the mystery of his past – which involves a great deal of violence. It seemed like the plot and background and exposition often took a back seat so some more mayhem and slaughter could be squeezed in, which often left me wondering what exactly was going on. I found it hard to support Jordan’s quest for answers because he made himself such an unlikable character.
Blood and Iron by Elizabeth Bear (2006)
Genre: fantasy
Audience: adult
Queer rep: The ensemble main cast includes a bi woman and a lesbian, and the wider cast includes multiple queer characters
Thoughts: This was a very dense fantasy that packed in a lot of different mythology. Although mainly concerned with the Fae and the Seelie and Unseelie courts, there is also a great deal of Arthurian-inspired legend, and some Eastern European folklore as well. The cast is sprawling and there are multiple POVs and at some points I was a little confused about what was happening to who, when, and why. I liked this, but I’m not sure I completely understood it or understood what Bear was trying to do with it. I’m torn about if I want to read the next book or not… Also I’m never in my life going to get used to Irish spelling or how to pronounce names like Fionnghuala.
Here to Stay by Sara Farizan (2018)
Genre: fiction
Audience: young adult
Queer rep: The MC’s best friend has two mothers; a pair of secondary characters are bi or lesbian
Thoughts: Here to Stay tackles serious topics like racism and homophobia, and yet still manages to be more than just a “problem novel”. Bijan is an entertaining character and a huge basketball nerd, and I really loved how he imagined a pair of sportscasters giving a play-by-play of his life during key moments. I thought that was a great narrative device and also just plain fun to read. It feels weird to say that Here to Stay is fun to read, because there are definitely some very heavy topics in it, and there is anger and sadness and despair in it, but Bijan manages to keep his sense of self intact throughout and his voice shines through. This book also has some really great friendships in it, and I am all about YA books with strong friendships in addition to and/or instead of romances.
Bloom by Kevin Panetta, Savanna Ganucheau (2019)
Genre: fiction/graphic novel
Audience: young adult
Queer rep: The MC and LI are gay and at least one secondary character is as well
Thoughts: This is a cute graphic novel about 18-year-old Ari, who wants to move to the big city with his band now that he’s done with high school – but his dad wants him to stay home and help at the family’s struggling bakery. Ari hopes if he hires a replacement worker for the bakery, his dad will let him leave. Enter Hector, a culinary student taking a gap year, who takes the job and befriends Ari at the same time as his band is starting to fall apart. I liked the art a lot; I wasn’t that blown away by the story. It was cute, but not that substantial, and Ari’s one band mate-slash-“friend” is a colossal jerk and annoyed me in every single scene he was in.
Almost, Almost 