Category Archives: Representation

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

The Lady’s Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

As Lucy Muchelney watches her ex-lover’s sham of a wedding, she wishes herself anywhere else. It isn’t until she finds a letter from the Countess of Moth, looking for someone to translate a groundbreaking French astronomy text, that she knows where to go. Showing up at the Countess’ London home, she hoped to find a challenge, not a woman who takes her breath away.

Catherine St Day looks forward to a quiet widowhood once her late husband’s scientific legacy is fulfilled. She expected to hand off the translation and wash her hands of the project—instead, she is intrigued by the young woman who turns up at her door, begging to be allowed to do the work, and she agrees to let Lucy stay… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Colonialism mentioned
  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Death of a parent mentioned

Alone in Space by Tillie Walden

Alone in Space by Tillie Walden

Alone In Space compiles award-winning cartoonist Tillie Walden’s short comics into a stunning and comprehensive collection of the early work which shot her to fame.

We start with Tillie’s first published comic The End of Summer, in which Lars battles illness in a secluded castle at the start of an endless winter with a giant cat to keep him company amid mounting family tensions. Also featured are I Love This Part – Tillie’s bittersweet breakout story of small-town teen romance, and A City Inside – a study of growth and adulthood through a surreal and poetic recounting of one woman’s life.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Coming out themes
  • Internalised lesbomisia
  • Terminal illness
  • Graphic death of a pet cat

Bad Boy by Elliot Wake 

Bad Boy by Elliot Wake

Vlog star Renard Grant has nothing to prove: he’s got a pretty face, chiselled body, and two million adoring video subscribers. Plus the scars on his chest and a prescription for testosterone. Because Ren is transgender: assigned female at birth, living now as male. He films his transition and shares it bravely with the world; his fans love his honesty and positivity. But Ren has been living a double life.

Off-camera, he’s Cane, the muscle-bound enforcer for social justice vigilante group Black Iris. As Cane, he lets his dark side loose. Hurts those who prey on the disempowered. Indulges in the ugly side of masculinity. And his new partner, Tamsin Baylor, is a girl as rough and relentless as him. Together, they terrorize the trolls into silence… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia
  • Rape
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Doxxing

Cursed by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

Cursed: A Wish is a Terrible Thing edited by Marie O’Regan and Paul Kane

with contributions from Angela Slatter, Neil Gaiman, Alison Littlewood, James Brogden, Tim Lebbon, Charle Jane Anders, Christina Henry, Christopher Golden, Catriona Ward, Lilith Saintcrow, Margo Lanagan, Maura McHugh, Jen Williams, Jane Yolen, Christopher Fowler, M.R. Carey, Karen Joy Fowler, Adam Stemple, and Michael Marshall Smith

This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet they are all lies…

You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. That’s where you’re wrong.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it’s not what you think…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Self-multionation
  • Body horror
  • Death of an infant & child

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain

Islands of Mercy by Rose Tremain

In the city of Bath, in the year 1865, an extraordinary young woman renowned for her nursing skills is convinced that some other destiny will one day show itself to her. But when she finds herself torn between a dangerous affair with a female lover and the promise of a conventional marriage to an apparently respectable doctor, her desires begin to lead her towards a future she had never imagined.

Meanwhile, on the wild island of Borneo, an eccentric British ‘rajah’, Sir Ralph Savage, overflowing with philanthropy but compromised by his passions, sees his schemes relentlessly undermined by his own fragility, by man’s innate greed and by the invasive power of the forest itself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Domestic violence
  • Suicide
  • Miscarriage
  • Graphic surgery
  • Blood & gore depiction

Iron Heart by Nina Varela

Iron Heart by Nina Varela

For too long, Automae have lorded over the kingdom of Rabu, oppressing its human citizens. But the human revolution has risen, and at its heart is Ayla. Once a handmaiden, now a fugitive, Ayla narrowly escaped the palace of Lady Crier, the girl she would’ve killed if she hadn’t fallen in love first. 

Now Ayla has pledged her allegiance to Queen Junn, who can help accomplish the human rebellion’s ultimate goal: destroy the Iron Heart. Without its power, the Automae will be weakened to the point of extinction. Ayla wants to succeed, but can’t shake the strong feelings she’s developed for Crier. And unbeknownst to her, Crier has also fled the palace, taking up among travelling rebels, determined to find and protect Ayla.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Panic attack
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Torture

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

Crier’s War by Nina Varela

After the War of Kinds ravaged the kingdom of Rabu, the Automae, Designed to be the playthings of royals, took over the estates of their owners and bent the human race to their will. Now, Ayla, a human servant rising the ranks at the House of the Sovereign, dreams of avenging the death of her family… by killing the Sovereign’s daughter, Lady Crier. Crier, who was Made to be beautiful, to be flawless. And to take over the work of her father.

Crier had been preparing to do just that—to inherit her father’s rule over the land. But that was before she was betrothed to Scyre Kinok, who seems to have a thousand secrets. That was before she discovered her father isn’t as benevolent as she thought. That was before she met Ayla.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Abandonment
  • Self-harm
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a sibling
  • Murder
  • Animal death

The Princess Stakes by Amalie Howard

The Princess Stakes by Amalie Howard

Born to an Indian maharaja, Princess Sarani Rao has it all: beauty, riches, and a crown. But with a British mother, her mixed-blood makes her a pariah and a target. And when Sara’s father is murdered, her only hope of survival is to escape on the next ship out―captained by the boy she once loved…and spurned.

Captain Rhystan Huntley, the reluctant Duke of Embry, has a place in the English fleet, which he’s loathe to give up. But duty is calling him home, and this is his final voyage. Leave it to fate that the one woman he’s ever loved must escape India on his ship. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Colourism
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Murder
  • Colonialism

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard

The Beast of Beswick by Amalie Howard

Lord Nathaniel Harte, the disagreeable Duke of Beswick, spends his days smashing porcelain, antagonizing his servants, and snarling at anyone who gets too close. With a ruined face like his, it’s hard to like much about the world. Especially smart-mouthed harpies—with lips better suited to kissing than speaking—who brave his castle with indecent proposals.

But Lady Astrid Everleigh will stop at nothing to see her younger sister safe from a notorious scoundrel, even if it means offering herself up on a silver platter to the forbidding Beast of Beswick himself. And by offer, she means what no highborn lady of sound and sensible mind would ever dream of—a tender of marriage with her as his bride.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut-shaming
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Facial & body scarring
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Military service in the Napoleonic War recounted

Stutter by A Zavarelli 

Stutter by A. Zavarelli

I’m trapped in a black hole of darkness I can’t seem to crawl out of. My twin and my lover want each other dead and I’m pregnant with a baby I don’t know how to protect. Ryland says he will do anything to get me back, but how do you trust the man who almost killed you? When every option before you comes at a cost, how do you choose the right path?

People say that history has a way of repeating itself. Six years after the fact, my father’s actions are still haunting me. When I learn about an old debt yet to be settled, everything changes. It might not matter who I trust anymore when my every breath brings me one step closer to the end of this twisted game. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Kidnapping
  • Pregnancy