Tag Archives: GLBT

Book Review: Island of Exiles

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island of exilesIsland of Exiles
by Erica Cameron
Fantasy
402 pages
Published 2017

This is a great read for Pride Month! Khya’s society has three genders – male, female, and ebet. They’re all equal, though ebet aren’t capable of having children. The ebets’ pronouns are ey/eir/em. No one cares what gender anyone else is, and soul bonds, which seem to be the only form of long term bonding, can be made between any two people who love and trust each other enough, whether that’s romantic or not. Siblings can form a soul bond if they wish, it doesn’t imply a sexual relationship. The main plot line follows Khya, Tessen (the man who loves her), and Sanii, Khya’s brother’s ebet lover, as they try to rescue Khya’s brother. In the process, they learn things about their society that only the ruling class knows, and have to make some hard decisions.

Khya’s home, Itagami, is separated by castes: The Miriseh, ten immortal rulers, the Kaigo, the Council below them, the Nyshin, or warriors (anyone with strong magic), the Ahdo, or city guards (anyone with weak magic), and the Yonin, who don’t have any magic and are little more than drudges. Yonin aren’t really allowed to associate with the higher classes and are kept out of most places by magic. The only movement between castes is the few Nyshin who get elected to the Kaigo. I generally dislike societies that are so rigidly separated by castes, but that makes it all the more satisfying when people rebel, I suppose.

I enjoyed the world building and magic system – Khya, in particular, is a Warding Mage, and can shield people from things like projectiles, lightning strikes, and even from water, giving them air to breathe underwater. Khya’s a little prickly for a main character, but she comes around eventually.

The book was a finalist in the Speculative Fiction category of the Bisexual Book Awards, but did not win. (Full list of finalists and winners in the link above, as well as previous years’ lists – Fair Warning, my To-Read listed exploded.)

I thought this was a great book and will be looking up the sequel, Sea of Strangers.

From the cover of Island of Exiles:

In Khya’s world, every breath is a battle.

On the isolated desert island of Shiara, dying young is inevitable. The clan comes before self, and protecting her home means Khya is a warrior above all else.

But when following the clan and obeying their leaders could cost her brother his life, Khya’s home becomes a deadly trap. The only person who can help is Tessen, her lifelong rival and the boy who challenges her at every turn. The council she hoped to join has betrayed her, and their secrets, hundreds of years deep, reach around a world she’s never seen.

To save her brother’s life and her island home, her only choice is to trust Tessen, turn against her clan, and go on the run―a betrayal and a death sentence.

Book Review: The Book of Essie

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book of essieThe Book of Essie
by Meghan Maclean Weir
Contemporary Fiction
319 pages
Releases June 12, 2018

It’s so hard to decide where to start with this book. First: it’s amazing. Second: Content Warning. For a number of reasons. Rape. Incest. Gay Conversion Therapy. Suicide. Nothing extremely graphic; the most graphic concerns the conversion therapy, which is where the suicide occurs. That section was hard to read. A lot of sections were hard to read. But the book was SO GOOD. It’s about Essie and Roarke’s escape from all that, so ultimately it focuses on the future, and it’s a hopeful, light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel kind of book. But daaaaang these topics.

I loved so many of the characters here. Essie and Roarke, Roarke’s best friend Blake, Liberty, the reporter, her boyfriend and her camerawoman. They’re all amazing. Essie’s determination, Roarke’s courage, Blake’s understanding – every character has something to offer in this book. The way Liberty’s history entwines with Essie’s, so she knows where she’s coming from and can offer advice from experience, and how Liberty flashes back to her childhood so the reader understands her conflicts – it’s all just so amazing.

I identify pretty closely with a lot of this book myself; I was raised very conservative Christian, though at least not in a crazy cult like Liberty was. But the way Liberty talks about her boyfriend challenging her beliefs and waking her up from them hit very close to home. It was weird to see it on the page.

“I had been home as well, a painful few months during which I began to see my parents, our family, and our church as Mike might see them, as anyone who was not us would see them. I still loved my parents, very much, but I was also deeply ashamed. I began to wonder what would have happened if I’d seen it earlier….I decided that I would not go home again.”

I was cheering for Essie as she broke free of her bigoted family. Every step of the way. And Roarke – oh, Roarke, who my heart broke for, who stepped up to the plate and loved Essie in his own way, and gave Essie what she needed. It helped that Essie offered him precisely what he needed, too, but I didn’t expect how their relationship evolved.

I loved this book, start to finish. This is definitely one of my favorites of 2018.

I received this book a little early, through the Book of the Month club. It releases this Tuesday, June 12.

From the cover of The Book of Essie:

Esther Anne Hicks – Essie – is the youngest child on Six for Hicks, a reality television phenomenon. She’s grown up in the spotlight, both idolized and despised for her family’s fire-and-brimstone brand of faith. When Essie’s mother, Celia, discovers that Essie is pregnant, she arranges an emergency meeting with the show’s producers: Should they sneak Essie out of the country for an abortion? Pass the child off as Celia’s? Or try to arrange a marriage – and a ratings-blockbuster wedding? Meanwhile, Essie seeks her salvation in Roarke Richards, a senior at her high school with a secret of his own to protect, and Liberty Bell, an infamously conservative reporter. 

As Essie attempts to win the faith of Roarke and Liberty, she has to ask herself the most difficult of questions: What was the real reason her older sister left home? Who can she trust with the truth about her family? And how much is she willing to sacrifice to win her own freedom?

Written with blistering intelligence and a deep, stirring empathy, The Book of Essie brilliantly explores our darkest cultural obsessions: celebrity, class, bigotry, and the media. 

Friday 56 – Island of Exiles

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island of exilesThe 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.

Right now I’m reading Island of Exiles, which is really cool because bi/pansexuality is considered the norm, and there are three genders – male, female, and ebet, whose pronouns are ey/eir/em. It’s a great book to read for Pride Month!

This little exchange is between the main character and her brother.

“Why are we out here?” Yorri asks as we move. “Do you have a plan?”

“Yes. I’m going to teach you how to be silent.”

Yorri raises an eyebrow. “You’re going to kill me?”

I laugh, and then laugh harder when he rolls his eyes, barely able to suppress his smirk. “Maybe I should,” I taunt. “It might be easier.”

This book is really fun so far!

Book Review: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

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gentleman's guide to vice and virtueThe Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue
Mackenzi Lee
YA Historical Fiction
513 pages
Published 2017

This was excellent! First, all the diversity here – between the bisexual main character, his best friend, who is biracial, has an “invisible” disability, and also likes men (or at least likes Monty!) and his seemingly asexual sister – the book covers so many facets, it’s great.

Given that it’s historical fiction, set in Victorian Europe, Percy’s biracial heritage has him just seen as black to most people they encounter. Monty doesn’t seem to understand what that means, most of the time, and is a little blinded by his rich white boy privilege. He gets talked to a couple of times about how he’s being blind to the problems his friend is facing.

I liked that we got to peek under Monty’s playboy facade a few times, when being punched has him flashing back to being beaten by his father for being a “disappointment.” An interaction between him and a pirate captain was particularly sweet, teaching him to fight back because he’s worth defending.

I LOVE Felicity, Monty’s sister, and I’m really eager to read her story in the sequel to this book, The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy. She is so badass, and incredibly intelligent.

The writing was fun, the action well-paced, and the dialogue clever. I was a little put off at first by the size of the book, but I flew through it quickly. I especially liked Monty’s bisexuality – how he just cheerfully perved on practically everyone his age. It definitely reminded me of a few people I know!

Something that I noted, near the end of the book, was Percy not asking Monty to stop his perving. What he said was “if you ever go behind my back…” which implies as long as Percy knows, it’s not an issue. Yay for non-monogamy being present in YA! It’s nice to see alternative relationship structures being presented, though I wish it had been more than just implied.

This was an excellent read for Pride Month, and I loved the amount of diversity and intersectionality present in it. You can find the rest of my Pride Month reads listed here.

From the cover of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue:

Henry “Monty” Montague was born and bred to be a gentleman, but he was never one to be tamed. The finest boarding schools in England and the constant disapproval of his father haven’t been able to curb any of his roguish passions – not for gambling halls, late nights spent with a bottle of spirits, or waking up in the arms of women or men.

But as Monty embarks on his Grand Tour of Europe, his quest for a life filled with pleasure and vice is in danger of coming to an end. Not only does his father expect him to take over the family’s estate upon his return, but Monty is also nursing an impossible crush on his best friend and traveling companion, Percy.

Still, it isn’t in Monty’s nature to give up. Even with his younger sister, Felicity, in tow, he vows to make this yearlong escapade one last hedonistic hurrah and flirt with Percy from Paris to Rome. But when one of Monty’s reckless decisions turns their trip abroad into a harrowing manhunt that spans across Europe, it calls into question everything he knows, including his relationship with the boy he adores.

Book Review: The Dirty Girls Social Club

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the dirty girls social club

The Dirty Girls Social Club
by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez
Contemporary Fiction
308 pages
Published 2004

So in trying to read more inclusively, I had been looking at some prominent minority writers like Junot Diaz or Sherman Alexie (I actually had one of Alexie’s books out from the library when I realized where I’d heard his name). When the news broke about Junot Diaz, and I remembered that Sherman Alexie also had sexual harassment accusations against him, I decided instead of reading their books, I’d look up the books of the women calling them out! The Dirty Girls Social Club is the first book of what I’m calling my “Wronged Women” list. Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez wrote an article titled “I tried to warn you about Junot Diaz” about her experience with him. Others on the list include Erika Wurth, Elissa Washuta, Zinzi Clemmons, Carmen Maria Machado, and Monica Byrne. I’ve built a shelf on Goodreads for my list, and I’m sure more names will wind up on it. (Unfortunately.)

The Dirty Girls Social Club is the story of six college friends who decide to meet every six months for the rest of their lives, no matter what. The book covers one six month period, from one meeting to the next. It took me a few chapters to sort out who was who, and throughout the book I occasionally had to flip back to the first chapter, where Lauren gives a rundown of names and professions. All six are Hispanic of some flavor, whether that’s Dominican, Puerto Rican, Colombian, Spanish, or Southwestern Native American. That’s why they banded together in college. Each one has her own storyline – dealing with an abusive marriage, leaving a loveless marriage, being forcibly outed as a lesbian and learning to adjust to her new visibility, or becoming a rock star. I enjoyed how each of the six had a very individual story; they have interesting jobs and complicated love lives and unique problems.

Each of the women reflects on her Hispanic heritage in some form, whether that’s taking lessons in how to love from their parents, or fighting for recognition for their minority, or writing columns about their lives for the local newspaper. The book both shows and tells us about the differences in various Hispanic cultures.

I especially enjoyed Amber/Cuicatl (the rock star) and Elizabeth (the lesbian). The rest of the book was a little slow going at times, but I think that’s largely because I’m not a fan of contemporary fiction. I did enjoy it, though, and I’ll probably check out more of the author’s books.

From the cover of The Dirty Girls Social Club:

Meet the Dirty Girls – Lauren, Sara, Amber, Elizabeth, Rebecca, and Usnavys – six friends whose mutual support and (mostly) admiration society sorts out and celebrates the complications and triumphs in each other’s lives. No matter what happens to each of them (and a lot does), the Girls dish, dine, and compare notes on the bumpy course of life and love. There’s always a lot of catching up to do.

Happy Pride Month!

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This month is Pride month, and while I’m only an ally, the vast majority of my friends are some flavor of LGBTQIA+ so I always like to spotlight minority representation in my reads! I’ll be trying to put up more pride-related books this month, but you can always go through my backlog (I have noted intersectionality and own voices books where I knew about them):

Tomboy Survival Guide (nonbinary/trans, trans author)

Radio Silence (asexual)

The Clothesline Swing (gay, Syrian, Refugees)

Girls Made of Snow and Glass (lesbian)

The Merry Spinster (various, but mostly playing with gender, trans author)

Queens of Geek (bisexual)

Bright Smoke, Cold Fire (nonbinary side character)

Reign of the Fallen (bisexual)

The Rules of Magic (gay side character)

That Inevitable Victorian Thing (bisexual, intersex)

Six of Crows (gay)

The Female Persuasion (lesbian side characters)

Autoboyography (gay)

(These should all be under my GLBT tag, too.)

Looking forward this month, I’ll be talking about The Dirty Girls Social Club (lesbian, Hispanic), Island of Exiles (bisexual, non-binary), As The Crow Flies (queer, black, queer black author), The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue (bisexual, asexual), and Ellen DeGeneres’ third book, Seriously…I’m Kidding (lesbian and lesbian author). Hopefully more, but those five are what I should be getting (or have already picked up) from the library!

My Book of the Month selections this month also include a lesbian romance (When Katie Met Cassidy) and another book labeled “LGBTQ+ friendly” so I think it might have a plot twist involving a character being gay. (The Book of Essie.) (Update: It did.) Lots of LGBTQ+ books coming up this month!

Happy Pride Month!