Monthly Archives: June 2019

Book Review: Red, White, and Royal Blue

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red white & royal blueRed, White, and Royal Blue
by Casey McQuiston
M/M Romance (New Adult)
421 pages
Published May 2019

I have been looking forward to this book for several months, and it arrived just in time for Pride, and it DID NOT DISAPPOINT. It is very much an adult romance, complete with sex scenes. They are not the focus of the story, but they’re definitely not skimped on, either!

Red, White, and Royal Blue takes the bisexual son of the (female!) US President and pits him against the closeted (at order of his grandmother) gay youngest prince of England. After they make a scene at an international event (oh, enemies-to-lovers trope, how I love thee!) the two boys are ordered to make nice, and make it look like their scene was just friendly rough-housing that got out of hand. As typical for enemies-to-lovers, once they’re forced to spend time together, they each start to realize the other isn’t all that bad.

I loved so much about this book. I loved Alex and Henry. I loved the side characters. I loved the formatting when the author includes email and text chains between characters. I loved that the boys start quoting real historical queer letters to each other.

I mean, with sentences like “Henry lets Alex take him apart with painstaking patience and precision, moans the name of God so many times that the room feels consecrated.” How do you NOT fall in love with this book? Just – wow.

I could totally see the author writing stories for the rest of “The Trio” – the president and vice president’s kids/grandkids (Alex’s sister, June, and their best friend, Nora.) But this book stands just fine completely on its own.

This book ranks right up there with The Priory of the Orange Tree, and that’s one of my new all-time favorites. So yeah. Absolutely fantastic romance.

From the cover of Red, White, and Royal Blue:

When his mother became President of the United States, Alex Claremont-Diaz was promptly cast as the American equivalent of a young royal. Handsome, charismatic, genius – his image is pure millennial-marketing gold for the White House. There’s only one problem: Alex has a beef with an actual prince, Henry, across the pond. And when the tabloids get hold of a photo involving an Alex/Henry altercation, U.S./British relations take a turn for the worse.

Heads of family and state and other handlers devise a plan for damage control: Stage a truce between the two rivals. What at first begins as a fake, Instagrammable friendship grows deeper, and more dangerous, than either Alex or Henry could have imagined. Soon Alex finds himself hurtling into a secret romance with a surprisingly unstuffy Henry that could derail the presidential campaign and upend two nations. It raises the question: Can love save the world after all? Where do we find the courage, and the power, to be the people we are meant to be? And how can we learn to let our true colors shine through?

Friday 56 – Her Royal Highness

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her royal highnessThe Friday 56 is hosted by Freda’s Voice. The rules are simple – turn to page 56 in your current read (or 56% in your e-reader) and post a few non-spoilery sentences.

This week’s quote is from Her Royal Highness, the sequel to Royals, by Rachel Hawkins. It’s a F/F Young Adult romance with lesbian and bisexual rep.

Percy shakes his head before snatching a tea cake from Sakshi’s plate. “No worries on that front,” he says before demolishing the cake in one bite. “The whole point of sending the royal kids here is so they’re forced to live like normal students. No special privileges, no kid gloves. If they wouldn’t expel you for calling me Veruca Salt, they can’t do it because you said it to her. That’s the deal.”

Speak of the devil – at that moment, Flora comes in the room, flanked by two other girls, both of whom have hair just as shiny as hers, but aren’t nearly as pretty. They’re both in uniforms, too, but Flora’s still decked out in that fancy sweater and designer jeans.

Her eyes briefly land on me before flicking away again, and I’m not sure if that’s because she’s pissed or because I haven’t really registered to her yet.

 

Graphic Novel Review: Bingo Love

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bingo loveBingo Love
Graphic Novel/LGBT/Romance
Tee Franklin, Jenn St-Onge and Joy San
92 pages
Published 2017

Another F/F romance (I have a lot of them this month!), Bingo Love tells the story of Hazel and Mari, two girls who met at a bingo game in the 60s, fell in love, and were forced apart by their families. I don’t tend to review graphic novels on this blog; but for this one, and for Pride Month, I’ll make an exception.

I SOBBED at the end of this beautiful little book. Mari and Hazel love each other SO. MUCH. And what they go through is heartbreaking. When they meet in the 60s, loving the same gender is not very accepted, so when they’re caught kissing, they’re separated and forced to marry men. Hazel’s marriage, at least, is an amiable one. The book doesn’t get into details on Mari’s marriage, only that she divorced him.

The book is also very intersectional! Both black women, one bisexual, both girls at the beginning and grandmothers at the end, with large families. Hazel is gorgeously curvy with naturally kinky hair, Mari willowy and tall.

I think the problem with reviewing graphic novels is that they’re so short it’s hard to say much without giving away plot! But if you’re looking for a very easy read for Pride, this graphic novel is definitely a good place to start. Bring tissues.

From the cover of Bingo Love:

Bingo Love is a story of a same-sex romance that spans over 60 years. A chance meeting at church bingo in 1963 brings Hazel Johnson and Mari McCray together. Through their formative years, these two women develop feelings for each other and finally profess their love for one another.

Forced apart by their families and society, Hazel and Mari both married young men and had families. Decades later, now in their mid 60’s, Hazel and Mari are reunited again at a bingo hall. Realizing their love for each other is still alive, what these grandmothers do next takes absolute strength and courage.

Library Loot Wednesday

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So EVERYTHING I had on hold came in this week. (Okay. Maybe not everything. Like half of my request list.) So I’ve checked out EIGHT books. The hazards of putting holds on books with long wait lists….

For Pride Month I requested A Queer History of the United States, Gender Outlaw – on men, women, and the rest of us, Naamah – a novel, and Red White & Royal Blue. (The latter of which I’m SUPER excited about.)

The other four are all fairly new releases I’ve had holds on for a while: Pride, Prejudice, and other Flavors, We Hunt the Flame, The Candle and the Flame, and There’s Something About Sweetie, the sequel to When Dimple Met Rishi.

 

TTT – Top Ten Upcoming LGBT+ Releases

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s theme is your top ten unpopular bookish opinions, but I could only come up with two. Since it’s still Pride Month, and the next couple weeks are on “second half of 2019 releases/summer TBR list” I’m going to do the ten upcoming LGBTQIA+ releases I’m looking forward to instead! (The downside to writing this post is that I discovered several LGBTQIA+ releases from the FIRST half of 2019 that are now on my TBR list. Whoops.) If you’re looking for unpopular bookish opinions, though, Artsy Reader Girl will have a linky with everyone participating this week. On to my list!

all of us with wingsAll of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil (June 18) – an #ownvoices YA fantasy with a bisexual Mexican/American MC.

technically you started itTechnically, You Started It by Lana Wood Johnson (June 25) – this YA romance has a demisexual main character (YAY!) and a bisexual love interest.

destroy all monstersDestroy All Monsters by Sam J. Miller (July 2) – an adult magical realism tale, dealing with heavy topics like child molestation and PTSD. I got to meet Sam Miller at the Baltimore Book Fest last year, and he’s awesome. (Though I still haven’t managed to read Blackfish City – oops.)

shatter the skyShatter the Sky by Rebecca Kim Wells (July 30) – a YA fantasy with dragons and rebellion. Sign me up.

of ice and shadowsOf Ice and Shadows by Audrey Coulthurst (August 13) – the sequel to Inkmistress and Of Fire and Stars.

criers warCrier’s War by Nina Varela (October 1) – debut F/F fantasy between a human girl and a Made one. (They appear to be automatons made originally to be playthings before they rebelled?) Looks awesome.

orpheus girlOrpheus Girl by Brynne Rebele-Henry (October 8) – another debut, this one re-imagining the Orpheus story as an F/F love story in Texas. I’m hearing conflicting reports about it though, so I’m not sure if I’ll pick it up or not.

never tilting worldThe Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco (October 15) – billed as Frozen meets Mad Max, this fantasy is the next book from the author of The Bone Witch Trilogy, which I loved.

tarnished are the starsTarnished are the Stars by Rosiee Thor (October 15) – queer sci-fi fantasy about a girl with a clockwork heart.

gideon the ninthGideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir (September 10) – this book had me at lesbian necromancers. Lady necromancers are kind of my THING. Soooo yeah. A lady necromancer and her reluctant swordswoman? Yeah I need this book YESTERDAY. (And that cover. Hot damn.)

 

 

Book Review: We Set the Dark on Fire

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we set the dark on fireWe Set the Dark on Fire
by Tehlor Kay Mejia
Young Adult / Dystopia / LGBT / Romance
364 pages
Published February 2019

We Set the Dark on Fire is an excellent example of how government-mandated relationship structures are oppressive. The core of the story revolves around an island society’s marriage structure; because of an old myth, each man – or at least each upper-class man – has two wives. One wife, the Primera, is expected to be his intellectual equal; she runs his affairs and household and manages his social engagements – the business side of the marriage, if you will – and a second wife who is his heart. The second wife, the Segunda, is expected to be emotional, passionate, and beautiful; she bears and raises his children. The wives are expected to get along and love each other like family.

This is really only the framework for the plot, though. The plot itself revolves around the idea of who belongs in society and who doesn’t. I’ve seen some people call it illegal immigration, and there IS a wall that it is illegal to come over; the unfortunates living outside the wall are uncared for by society and government alike. But I didn’t get the impression that they weren’t actually part of the same country. So I’m not 100% certain I agree that it counts as immigration in the story, though it does have a lot of the same principles, so it may as well be. There’s a lot of othering and dehumanizing, and deciding who deserves what based on their wealth, and government checkpoints to check residence papers, so even if it isn’t technically immigration – well. It’s still a major theme.

This sounds like it could be a book on polyamory; it is not. This is government-mandated female oppression. The government, and our main character’s new husband, specifically, are intent on crushing the resistance coming from the poor who live on the edges of the island. The resistance is called La Voz, or The Voice, and they help Daniela, our main character, out of a tight spot in the beginning of the book. In return, they expect her to spy for them on her new husband, a highly-placed government official. Not knowing who to trust, and afraid of her lies being discovered, she agrees.

What follows is the early stages of rebellion: protests, government cover-ups, undercover meetings, and military checkpoints. In the middle of it all, Daniela begins to fall in love with her Segunda, Carman, who seems to have secrets of her own.

I really really enjoyed this book, and I am very much looking forward to the second! It’s listed as a duology, so it should just be the two. I can’t wait!

From the cover of We Set the Dark on Fire:

At the Medio School for Girls, distinguished young women are trained for one of two roles in their polarized society. Depending on her specialization, a graduate will one day run her husband’s household or raise his children, but both wives are promised a life of comfort and luxury, far from the frequent political uprisings of the lower class.

Daniela Vargas is the school’s top student, but her bright future depends upon no one discovering her darkest secret – that her pedigree is a lie. Her parents sacrificed everything to obtain forged identification papers so Dani could rise above her station. Now that her marriage to an important politico’s son is fast approaching, she must keep the truth hidden or be sent back to the fringes of society, where famine and poverty rule supreme. 

On her graduation night, Dani seems to be in the clear, despite the surprises that unfold. But nothing prepares her for all the difficult choices she must make, especially when she is asked to spy for a resistance group desperately fighting to bring equality to Medio. Will Dani give up everything she’s strived for in pursuit of a free Medio – and a chance at a forbidden love?

The first in a sizzling fantasy duology from debut author Tehlor Kay Mejia, We Set the Dark on Fire is a boldly feminist look at freedom, family, and fighting the power.