Category Archives: Queer Lit

Exhale by Joel Abernathy

Exhale by Joel Abernathy

Falling for “the other man” in my marriage was never part of the plan. Then again, according to Nicolae Ursache, I am the other man, and human wedding vows don’t apply. Not to werewolves.

Nicolae is a smug, arrogant alpha male stereotype–and I do mean alpha in the literal sense–but when the same people who killed my wife kidnap my teenage daughter, he’s my only chance at getting her back. The fact that Nicolae was my wife’s rightful mate means that we share a mutual interest in bringing Ellie home, but I never could’ve imagined how he planned to do it.

I will do anything to protect my daughter. Even if it means becoming the plaything, or worse, of the man I loathe most.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters

It is 1922, and London is tense. Ex-servicemen are disillusioned, the out-of-work and the hungry are demanding change. And in South London, in a genteel Camberwell villa, a large silent house now bereft of brothers, husband and even servants, life is about to be transformed, as impoverished widow Mrs Wray and her spinster daughter, Frances, are obliged to take in lodgers.

For with the arrival of Lilian and Leonard Barber, a modern young couple of the ‘clerk class’, the routines of the house will be shaken up in unexpected ways. And as passions mount and frustration gathers, no one can foresee just how far-reaching, and how devastating, the disturbances will be.

.Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Queermisia
  • Abortion
  • Miscarriage

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone

This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading.

Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. Now, what began as a taunt, a battlefield boast, grows into something more. Something epic. Something romantic. Something that could change the past and the future.

Except the discovery of their bond would mean death for each of them. There’s still a war going on, after all. And someone has to win that war. That’s how war works. Right?

.Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-harm
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies and body parts
  • Blood-drinking
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Torture
  • Imprisonment
  • Animal death
  • War themes

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami

Kafka on the Shore, a tour de force of metaphysical reality, is powered by two remarkable characters: a teenage boy, Kafka Tamura, who runs away from home either to escape a gruesome oedipal prophecy or to search for his long-missing mother and sister; and an aging simpleton called Nakata, who never recovered from a wartime affliction and now is drawn toward Kafka for reasons that, like the most basic activities of daily life, he cannot fathom. Their odyssey, as mysterious to them as it is to us, is enriched throughout by vivid accomplices and mesmerizing events. Cats and people carry on conversations, a ghostlike pimp employs a Hegel-quoting sex worker… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Incest
  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Murder
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

The Carls disappeared the same way they appeared, in an instant. While they were on Earth, they caused confusion and destruction without ever lifting a finger. Well, that’s not exactly true. Part of their maelstrom was the sudden viral fame and untimely death of April May: a young woman who stumbled into Carl’s path, giving them their name, becoming their advocate, and putting herself in the middle of an avalanche of conspiracy theories. Months later, the world is as confused as ever. Andy has picked up April’s mantle of fame, speaking at conferences and online about the world… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Internalised ableism
  • Blood and graphic physical injury depiction including body horror and body dysmorphia due to prosthetics
  • Hospitalisation
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Gun violence
  • Strangulation
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)
  • Terrorist attacks discussed

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green

The Carls just appeared. Coming home from work at three a.m., twenty-three-year-old April May stumbles across a giant sculpture. Delighted by its appearance and craftsmanship–like a ten-foot-tall Transformer wearing a suit of samurai armour–April and her friend Andy make a video with it, which Andy uploads to YouTube. The next day April wakes up to a viral video and a new life. News quickly spreads that there are Carls in dozens of cities around the world–everywhere from Beijing to Buenos Aires–and April, as their first documentarian, finds herself at the centre… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bimisia
  • Graphic physical injury
  • Hospitalisation
  • Attempted murder by gun violence and stabbing
  • Terrorist attack (explosion)
  • Building collapse from a fire, on-page
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)

The Rise of Kyoshi by FC Yee

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee with Michael Dante DiMartino

F. C. Yee’s The Rise of Kyoshi delves into the story of Kyoshi, the Earth Kingdom–born Avatar. The longest-living Avatar in this beloved world’s history, Kyoshi established the brave and respected Kyoshi Warriors, but also founded the secretive Dai Li, which led to the corruption, decline, and fall of her own nation. The first of two novels based on Kyoshi, The Rise of Kyoshi maps her journey from a girl of humble origins to the merciless pursuer of justice who is still feared and admired centuries after she became the Avatar. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Child neglect
  • Starvation
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Torture

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

After watching her circle of friends seemingly fade away, Lora is determined to still have fun on her own, so when a tea party leads Lora to discovering Alexa, the ghost that haunts her house, they soon become best friends.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death themes
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child from illness recounted

You Had One Job by Cari Z and LA Witt

You Had One Job by Cari Z. and L.A. Witt

Nikita Ravenov. It was supposed to be a simple job—tail the Italian for an evening, see if he was up to anything shady, and report back to the Bratva. But I didn’t expect him to go into gay bars. Is someone trying to out me to the Bratva? Am I being set up? And what the hell do I do now that my mark knows I’m following him?

Lorenzo Ferrari. It’s insulting, really. My organization wants to do business with the Russians, but they’re putting tails on me? That’s just bad manners. But when that tail get a beating from his own for failing to tell them everything he knows about me, I know something is up. Now we’re both in way over our heads. Our only hope is working together. And even then, I’m not so sure we’re getting out of this.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drug use, on-page