“If you ever speak about my wife that way again,” Riftan spat out each word with blistering menace, “I will slice you open from mouth to groin.” Lady Maximilian is the daughter of the powerful Duke Croyso, but she is rarely allowed outside her family’s sprawling castle for fear that her stutter will tarnish their…
Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang
“It’s much easier to tell yourself you’re a good person than it is to actually be one.” An orphan since the age of four, Sciona has always had more to prove than her fellow students. For twenty years, she has devoted every waking moment to the study of magic, fueled by a mad desire to…
The Curious Kitten at the Chibineko Kitchen by Yuta Takahashi
‘Of course,’ he said, ‘please come back whenever you like. We’ll be expecting you, and we’ll make sure we have something delicious prepared.’ In a remote seaside town outside of Tokyo, Kotoko makes her way along a seashell path, lured by whispers of an enigmatic restaurant whose kagezen, or traditional meals offered in remembrance of…
Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green
“People who are treated as less than fully human by the social order are more susceptible to tuberculosis but it’s not because of their moral codes or choices or genetics, it’s because they are treated as less than fully human by the social order.” Tuberculosis has been entwined with humanity for millennia. Once romanticized as…
Malice by John Gwynne
“I shall stay and tell my tale, hope that it may serve some purpose, that eyes shall see it and learn, that the future will not repeat the mistakes of the past. That is my prayer, but what use is prayer to a god that has abandoned all things . . .” Young Corban watches…
Go Luck Yourself by Sara Raasch
“You aren’t an awakening,” I whisper. “You’re the whole dawn. And I can’t believe I ever thought I’d seen the sun before you.” Stolen from Goodreads: Someone has been stealing Christmas’s joy, and there’s only one clue to the culprit—a single shamrock. With Coal busy restructuring Christmas—and their dad now having a full midlife crisis…
Love at Second Sight by F.T. Lukens
“Oh, please let a student make a morally dubious decision before lunch so I can eat my square pizza in peace.” Tired of being known as the artsy oddball, fifteen-year-old Cam Reynolds hopes to fly under the radar when he changes high schools as a sophomore. It shouldn’t be too hard, considering he’s a human…
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djèlí Clark
“No rest for the dead I guess.” Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins―resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories―have only three…
King of Battle and Blood by Scarlett St. Clair
“You assume I want a wife,” he said. “But I came for a queen.” It was my turn to stare. “So our marriage will be one of pageantry?” “Oh, I think we are both too passionate for that.” Isolde de Lara considers her wedding day her death day. To end a years-long war, she is…
Forest Euphoria: The Abounding Queerness of Nature by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian
“Ephemerality is often associated with queerness— for many of us, our identities shift over the course of a lifetime. As self-knowledge deepens and expands, we are reborn again and again, and so are our communities.” Growing up, Patricia Kaishian felt most at home in the swamps and culverts near her house in the Hudson Valley….
The Great Book Wyrm 