why are wlw books so angsty and deep all the time like where is my casual wlw romcom or my fantasy lesbians, space bis and trans princesses like not every wlw has some lost love in some town in the middle of nowhere
I live for posts like this, because there are soooo many good f/f books out there that don’t get the attention they deserve because of the way wlw are marginalized. So!
Here are some recs for casual/feel-good f/f representation! All links are to my reviews.
Promises, Promises – parody of LotR/D&D starring three lesbians on a quest for magical stuff
Everything Leads to You – Hollywood f/f YA about a young set designer who falls for a girl she meets under mysterious circumstances
The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet – ensemble-cast “crew of a spaceship” story. Mostly just random adventures, includes a f/f couple who survive the book.
Roller Girl – contemporary f/f romance about trans woman who joins a roller derby team
Not fluffy, but the angst is SFF-stress rather than “living under homophobia/biphobia” stress:
Ascension– queer disabled ladies fighting Big Pharma in space–you wanted space bi’s, come get your space bi’s (actually, if you want more space bi’s also check out the anthology Fierce Family.)
Chameleon Moon – review is of an earlier edition and I hear the new one has even more great representation. Trans woman superhero with two female partners living in a dystopian city that’s on lockdown from the government after everyone develops mutant powers in response to a wonderdrug.
Not Your Sidekick – in the future, what happens when your parents are superheroes but you never developed powers? You intern for the baddie, of course! MC is bi and ends up in a f/f relationship, and the sequel will star her trans bestie.
Hope this helps. Feel free to browse my “lesbian books” tag for more recs (there are bi/pan girls in some of those recs, too.)
I mean, this is basically true – f/f fluff is kinda the cornerstone of my body of writing 😛 (Thanks!)
All I Want For Christmas by Clare Lydon – Fluffy wlw romantic comedy (I know it’s not really in season at the moment but it’s so cute)
Gay Pride and Prejudice by Kate Christie – What it says on the tin. Elizabeth Bennett is a lesbian and the haughty Caroline Bingley is the last woman she could ever be prevailed upon to love.
Heart Trouble by Jae – A doctor gets shocked by a defibrillator while saving a woman’s life in the ER. Now they have a soul bond!
Finding Ms Write by Jae & Jove Belle – Collection of short stories about women who love women and also love books.
The Wind City by Summer Wigmore – Urban fantasy drawing on Maori mythology. Protagonist describes herself as “at least 60% gay” and falls in love with a monster girl.
Sword of the Guardian by Merry Shannon – Bi princess and lesbian bodyguard fall in love.
A YA book list in honor of Transgender Awareness Week. @yalsacl-blog
Click through to learn more (for instance, learn which of these are #ownvoices stories), and be sure to check out blog & Goodreads reviews as well as journal reviews to see how these are landing with readers, especially trans readers. Personally, I can vouch for the excellence of If I Was Your Girl, When the Moon Was Ours, and Being Jazz.
remember when everyone was reading the hunger games and one of the major themes was how the media toned down all the horrible things that were happening to focus on the bullshit love story
and then the books got made into movies and the real life media toned down the horrible things that were happening to focus on the bullshit love story
because I still think about that sometimes
oh my god. okay so, it’s about a group of young criminals who set out to pull off one of the most dangerous heists possible: they’re gonna break into, and escape from, a place called the ice court, which is said to be impenetrable. all this in the middle of deep political unrest, and with the threat of a drug that makes the superhuman race (the grisha) extremely dangerous, looming over their heads. also everyone is out to kill them, holy shit. i can’t say much more than that without spoiling it, so let me get on to some of the other cool things.
the cast consists of 6 main characters:
the group ringleader is physically disabled and a genius criminal prodigy. he’s also the word ‘asshole’ turned human but in a lovable, frightening way. He Wants Money
the second in command is a woc and a former sex worker/victim of human trafficking and also the best heckin acrobat / spy / assassin / occasional philosopher. you will most definitely cry about her js
a grisha heartrender who makes a point of calling out racism and injustice wherever she can. also she Loves To Eat, flirt and sass their leader. she is Big and Round and rly fuckin beautiful
a sharpshooter (aka he loves his revolvers more than most ppl love their kids) who is biracial and confirmed bisexual and also the human embodiment of a sultry jazz tune. u will love him
a rich kid runaway who has dyslexia and is the group Genius/chemistry enthusiast. he plays flute, blushes whenever the sharpshooter flirts with him, and is generally an adorable canonically gay bean
the convict aka the White Straight Male character whose whole arc is about unlearning problematic shit, becoming a better person, supporting his friends, and trying to survive being flirted with
i’m gonna say u can respect the choices made in this book. nobody reads like a ‘token ____ character’ and everyone gets good povs. there are no gross tropes, no offensive writing choices, and the VILLAINS holy fucking SHIT
THE VILLAINS ARE SO GOOD. THE SHIPS ARE WELL DEVELOPED
sparksoffandommagic 