Siavahda's Blog, page 96

Books I Wish I’d Had as a Child

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!

Today’s TTT is ‘books for my younger self’ – books I wish mini!Sia had had, and that I’m so happy exist now!

Summer in Orcus by T. Kingfisher
Goodreads

Summer is a perfectly ordinary 11 year old girl with a perfectly ordinary, needy, over-protective single mother. She always does what she is told and has become very good at listening and consoling her mother’s fears, but finds the experience increasingly exhausting. Summer loves her mother and would never dream of running away, but wonders deep down if it wouldn’t be nice to escape for just a little while and do something adventurous… maybe?

Along comes the crone Baba Yaga in her magical walking house, who spies Summer through the alley gate and offers to provide her heart’s desire. Summer has no idea what this might be, but with the lighting of a frog-shaped beeswax candle she finds herself transported to the strange world of Orcus with nothing but a weasel in her pocket.

Like any girl of her age, she's read lots of fantasy books about people thrust into strange lands; but they usually seemed to have had some idea what they were supposed to do there.

Join Summer as she attempts to follow glimpses of turquoise across Orcus with the help of a weasel, a wolf with a house problem, and an aristocratic hoopoe with a penchant for trouble. Along the way she just might figure out what she is looking for, save a wondrous thing, and realize that some of the talents which she takes for granted are mighty useful indeed.

“It’s Wes Craven meets L. Frank Baum, or Narnia for those of us who thought Narnia smiled without showing enough of its teeth.” ~KB Spangler, Digital Divide

Like all of Kingfisher’s books, Summer in Orcus is simultaneously whimsical and very, very deep and meaningful. This is an adventure story where the heroine’s weapons are compassion and having had to grow up too fast, and it’s the perfect story for everyone who thinks they can’t be heroes because they’re not big and strong. There’s different kinds of strength, folx.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making (Fairyland, #1) by Catherynne M. Valente
Goodreads

Twelve-year-old September lives in Omaha, and used to have an ordinary life, until her father went to war and her mother went to work. One day, September is met at her kitchen window by a Green Wind (taking the form of a gentleman in a green jacket), who invites her on an adventure, implying that her help is needed in Fairyland. The new Marquess is unpredictable and fickle, and also not much older than September. Only September can retrieve a talisman the Marquess wants from the enchanted woods, and if she doesn’t . . . then the Marquess will make life impossible for the inhabitants of Fairyland. September is already making new friends, including a book-loving Wyvern and a mysterious boy named Saturday.

 

With exquisite illustrations by acclaimed artist Ana Juan, Fairyland lives up to the sensation it created when the author first posted it online. For readers of all ages who love the charm of Alice in Wonderland and the soul of The Golden Compass, here is a reading experience unto itself: unforgettable, and so very beautiful.

Besides being another fantastic story of a girl having an incredible adventure, I think baby!Sia would have been utterly charmed with the way Catherynne Valente writes, and with how she recreates mythology and magic all her own. There was also definitely a time I needed all the examples of girls being good instead of nice that I could get, and this is in many ways the epitome of that.

Half-Witch by John Schoffstall
Goodreads

In Lizbet Lenz’s world, the sun goes around the earth, God speaks directly to his worshippers, goblins haunt cellars and witches lurk in forests. Disaster strikes when Lizbet's charming scoundrel father is thrown into a dungeon by the tyrant Hengest Wolftrow. To free him, Lizbet must cross the Montagnes du Monde, globe-girdling mountains that reach to the sky, a journey no one has ever survived, and retrieve a mysterious book.

Lizbet is desperate, and the only one who can help her is the unpleasant and sarcastic witch girl Strix. As the two girls journey over the mountains and into the lands of wonder beyond, on the run from goblins, powerful witches, and human criminals, Lizbet discovers, to her horror, that Strix's magic is turning Lizbet into a witch, too. Meanwhile, a revolution in Heaven is brewing.

Half-Witch is about many things, but one of the core themes is definitely a good, polite young girl learning to be fierce and strange instead of meek and nice and convenient. That was something I had to figure out on my own – something I still struggle with, some days – and baby!Sia would have been very grateful to follow Lizbet’s and Strix’s story.

I suspect she would have been taking notes.

Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
Goodreads

The first things to shift were the doll's eyes, the beautiful grey-green glass eyes. Slowly they swivelled, until their gaze was resting on Triss's face. Then the tiny mouth moved, opened to speak. 'Who do you think you are? This is my family.'

When Triss wakes up after an accident, she knows that something is very wrong. She is insatiably hungry; she keeps waking up with leaves in her hair, and her sister seems terrified of her. When it all gets too much and she starts to cry, her tears are like cobwebs...

Soon Triss discovers that what happened to her is more strange and terrible than she could ever have imagined, and that she is quite literally not herself. In a quest find the truth she must travel into the terrifying Underbelly of the city to meet a twisted architect who has dark designs on her family - before it's too late...

Cuckoo Song is a book that says sometimes your parents are wrong – sometimes they’re even the ones who hurt you – and it doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with you. Even if you are strange. It also reinvents some of my favourite folklore, and has a very strong found-family theme running throughout. Frances Hardinge writes amazing books that have just as much to offer to adults as they do to kids, so I do recommend this, for any grown-ups who might be checking out this list.

The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes
Goodreads

A dinosaur detective in the land of unwanted ideas battles trauma, anxiety, and the first serial killer of imaginary friends.

Most ideas fade away when we're done with them. Some we love enough to become Real. But what about the ones we love, and walk away from? Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl's imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they're too Real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas - until Tippy runs into the Teatime Man, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there's nothing left but imaginary corpses.

File Unders: Fantasy [ Fuzzy Fiends - Death to Imagination - Hardboiled but Sweet - Not Barney ]

Besides being an incredible, and incredibly fun story, Imaginary Corpse also beautifully handles issues like trauma, nonbinary pronouns and identities, and how it’s okay to be different, whatever flavour of different you are. Baby!Sia didn’t have words for any of that, and I know for a fact she’d also have loved the sheer wonder Tyler Hayes puts into the creative experience, the relationship between creator and created, and the beauty of the human imagination (which is literally the setting!!!)

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence, #1) by K.D. Edwards
Goodreads

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment's missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam's relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune's Court.

In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family's death and the torments of his past?

I got lucky as a young teenager – I discovered Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey, a hugely sex-positive epic fantasy that normalises queerness. But even there, the beautiful land of Terre d’Ange was the exception – the rest of the world wasn’t nearly so sexually free, or queer.

The Last Sun is set in a world where queerness is so normal it’s the default. I cried when I read it as an adult, and I know baby!Sia would have treasured it just as much – the idea of a world where there’s magic enough to take your breath away, and queerness isn’t even noteworthy… That still hits me hard.

All that aside, it’s also a bloody epic read. You know. If you were wondering.

Mr. Big Empty by Gregory Ashe
Goodreads

Vie Eliot arrives in the small town of Vehpese, Wyoming with little more than the clothes--and scars--on his back. Determined to make a new life for himself after escaping his abusive mother, he finds that living with his estranged father brings its own problems.

Then Samantha Oates, the girl with blue hair, goes missing, and Vie might be the only one who can find her. His ability to read emotions and gain insight into other people’s darkest secrets makes him the perfect investigator, with only one small problem: he wants nothing to do with his gift.

When the killer begins contacting Vie through a series of strange cards, though, Vie is forced to hone his ability, because Samantha was not the killer’s only target.

And, as Vie learns, he is not the only psychic in town.

The Hollow Folk books are about being broken, and being a hero anyway. About being good even when you think that’s impossible. About finding a way past your scars to care, and let other people care about you.

They’re also about love and queerness and X-Men-worthy superpowers, so, you know. There’s a lot to love here.

Little Brother (Little Brother, #1) by Cory Doctorow
on 29th April 2008
Goodreads

Marcus aka “w1n5t0n,” is only seventeen years old, but he figures he already knows how the system works–and how to work the system. Smart, fast, and wise to the ways of the networked world, he has no trouble outwitting his high school’s intrusive but clumsy surveillance systems.

But his whole world changes when he and his friends find themselves caught in the aftermath of a major terrorist attack on San Francisco. In the wrong place at the wrong time, Marcus and his crew are apprehended by the Department of Homeland Security and whisked away to a secret prison where they’re mercilessly interrogated for days.

When the DHS finally releases them, his injured best friend Darryl does not come out. The city has become a police state where every citizen is treated like a potential terrorist. He knows that no one will believe his story, which leaves him only one option: "M1k3y" will take down the DHS himself.

I grew up in a super conservative home, and spent a long time very brainwashed by right-wing opinions. Like most of Cory Doctorow’s works, Little Brother blows that nonsense sky-high. I read it for the first time in my early 20s, but damn, I’d love to go back in time and whack my kid-self over the head with it!

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow
Goodreads

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

This beautiful book is, in essence, about a young woman who, rather than be caged, writes her own door out of the world. I’d love to jump through a wormhole and hand this to my younger self, with a ‘See? Don’t stop writing. You’ll make it out.’

Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman
Goodreads

From the bestselling author of Utopia for Realists

It's a belief that unites the left and right, psychologists and philosophers, writers and historians. It drives the headlines that surround us and the laws that touch our lives. And its roots sink deep into Western thought: from Machiavelli to Hobbes, Freud to Pinker, the tacit assumption is that humans are bad.

Humankind makes the case for a new argument: that it is realistic, as well as revolutionary, to assume that people are good. When we think the worst of others, it brings out the worst in our politics and economics too.

In this major new history, internationally bestselling author Rutger Bregman shows how believing in human kindness and altruism can be a new way to think – and act as the foundation for achieving true change in our society.

It is time for a new view of human nature.

As someone who struggled with depression for a very long time – and who had a relatively rough time as a teenager – I think I would have appreciated a book that uses science and history to prove that actually, humans as a whole are basically good. I for sure appreciated it now – I just finished reading it, and I honestly think this is going to be one of the most important books of the decade. Please read it, if you haven’t already!

So that got a little heavy, but I stand by my list! What books would YOU send back in time to your kid-self?

The post Books I Wish I’d Had as a Child appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #18!

It’s been kind of quiet around here, and I’m sorry about that – but I wasn’t going to miss Must-Have Monday! Here we have EIGHT fantastical fantasy and sci-fi releases coming out this week!

Master of Poisons by Andrea Hairston
Representation: Cast of Colour, F/F, secondary nonbinary/nonbinary
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Epic Fantasy
Goodreads

“This is a prayer hymn, a battle cry, a lovesong, a legendary call and response bonfire talisman tale. This is medicine for a broken world." —Daniel José OlderAward-winning author Andrea Hairston weaves together African folktales and postcolonial literature into unforgettable fantasy in Master of Poisons

The world is changing. Poison desert eats good farmland. Once-sweet water turns foul. The wind blows sand and sadness across the Empire. To get caught in a storm is death. To live and do nothing is death. There is magic in the world, but good conjure is hard to find.

Djola, righthand man and spymaster of the lord of the Arkhysian Empire, is desperately trying to save his adopted homeland, even in exile.

Awa, a young woman training to be a powerful griot, tests the limits of her knowledge and comes into her own in a world of sorcery, floating cities, kindly beasts, and uncertain men.

Awash in the rhythms of folklore and storytelling and rich with Hairston's characteristic lush prose, Master of Poisons is epic fantasy that will bleed your mind with its turns of phrase and leave you aching for the world it burns into being.

I’m reading this right now, and hoping to get my review up this week. It’s a brilliantly original book, where even the writing style defies what we think of as ‘normal’ – an epic fantasy quest, framed and told in a new and different way. I really hope everyone loves it as much as I do once it’s released tomorrow!

Night Shine by Tessa Gratton
Representation: Queer Cast, F/F
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

An orphan girl must face untold danger and an ancient evil to save her kingdom’s prince in this lush, romantic fantasy perfect for fans of Girls of Paper and Fire and Tess of the Road.

How can you live without your heart?

In the vast palace of the empress lives an orphan girl called Nothing. She slips within the shadows of the Court, unseen except by the Great Demon of the palace and her true friend, Prince Kirin, heir to the throne. When Kirin is kidnapped, only Nothing and the prince’s bodyguard suspect that Kirin may have been taken by the Sorceress Who Eats Girls, a powerful woman who has plagued the land for decades. The sorceress has never bothered with boys before, but Nothing has uncovered many secrets in her sixteen years in the palace, including a few about the prince.

As the empress’s army searches fruitlessly, Nothing and the bodyguard set out on a rescue mission, through demon-filled rain forests and past crossroads guarded by spirits. Their journey takes them to the gates of the Fifth Mountain, where the sorceress wields her power. There, Nothing will discover that all magic is a bargain, and she may be more powerful than she ever imagined. But the price the Sorceress demands for Kirin may very well cost Nothing her heart.

I mean, this was pitched as ‘queer Howl’s Moving Castle‘, and I really don’t need to hear anything else – although Tessa Gratton has written really beautiful, unique queer stories before, so I’d be looking forward to this one no matter what the premise was. But this was on my Most Anticipated list for the second half of the year, and I cannot wait to get to start reading it!

Architects of Memory (The Memory War, #1) by Karen Osborne
Representation: F/F, Chronic illness
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Terminally ill salvage pilot Ash Jackson lost everything in the war with the alien Vai, but she'll be damned if she loses her future. Her plan: to buy, beg, or lie her way out of corporate indenture and find a cure.

When her crew salvages a genocidal weapon from a ravaged starship above a dead colony, Ash uncovers a conspiracy of corporate intrigue and betrayal that threatens to turn her into a living weapon.

As someone who lives with a chronic condition, it’s always kind of emotional when I get to see characters like that in the books I read. But Architects of Memory is also queer, and showcases a future where instead of countries or even planets, the human race is divided up into corporations – which is kind of terrifying! And I’m really hoping we get to see the aliens, and that they are properly not-human ones, which few authors seem able to pull off. But I’ve heard very good things about Architects, so I’m excited!

The Bone Shard Daughter (The Drowning Empire, #1) by Andrea Stewart
Representation: Cast of Colour, F/F
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Epic Fantasy
Goodreads

In an empire controlled by bone shard magic, Lin, the former heir to the emperor will fight to reclaim her magic and her place on the throne. The Bone Shard Daughter marks the debut of a major new voice in epic fantasy.

The emperor's reign has lasted for decades, his mastery of bone shard magic powering the animal-like constructs that maintain law and order. But now his rule is failing, and revolution is sweeping across the Empire's many islands.

Lin is the emperor's daughter and spends her days trapped in a palace of locked doors and dark secrets. When her father refuses to recognise her as heir to the throne, she vows to prove her worth by mastering the forbidden art of bone shard magic.

Yet such power carries a great cost, and when the revolution reaches the gates of the palace, Lin must decide how far she is willing to go to claim her birthright - and save her people.

I was super excited this book – then less excited – and now I’m hyped up for it again! The premise is brilliant and I’ve heard nothing but praise from it from all corners, and I really want to get my hands on it tomorrow!

When Villains Rise by Rebecca Schaeffer
Representation: Asexual & Aromantic MCs
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Dexter meets Victoria Schwab in this dark and compelling fantasy about a girl who is determined to take down the black market once and for all in the conclusion to the trilogy that started with the critically acclaimed Not Even Bones.

Nita finally has Fabricio, the boy who betrayed her to the black market, within her grasp. But when proof that Kovit’s a zannie—a monster who eats pain in order to survive—is leaked to the world, Nita must reevalute her plans.   With enemies closing in on all sides, the only way out is for Nita and Kovit to take on the most dangerous man in the world: Fabricio’s father. He protects the secrets of the monsters who run the black market. Stealing those secrets could be the one thing that stands between Nita and Kovit and certain death in the thrilling conclusion to the trilogy that began with the critically acclaimed Not Even Bones.

The Market of Monsters trilogy is probably one of the unabashedly darkest set of books to hit the YA Fantasy genre – book one, Not Even Bones, caused a huge, but very appreciative, stir. I loved Not Even Bones but decided I was too much of a wimp to continue reading; recently I changed my mind, and started reading book two, Only Ashes Remain. So I’ve tried not to hear too much about When Villains Rise to avoid spoilers! But I did hear that When Villains Rise is supposed to confirm on-page that the main characters are asexual and aromantic – which I think most of us will have seen coming!

The Other Side of the Sky (The Other Side of the Sky, #1) by Amie Kaufman, Meagan Spooner
Representation: Cast of Colour, secondary F/F, background polyamory
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Prince North’s home is in the sky, in a gleaming city held aloft by intricate engines powered by technology. Nimh is the living goddess of her people on the surface, responsible for providing answers, direction—hope.

Linked by a terrifying prophecy and caught between duty and fate, they must choose between saving their people or succumbing to the bond that is forbidden between them.

Magnetic and gorgeously thematic, New York Times bestselling author duo Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner have crafted a gripping tale of magic and logic, fate and choice, and an impossible decision between an empty future and a deadly love. Perfect for fans of Claudia Gray and Laini Taylor.

I love this cover, and I was really excited to discover that at least one of the societies in this book allows three-person marriages! And the entire concept – magic and science having to work together – is really, really cool.

Iron Heart (Crier's War, #2) by Nina Varela
Representation: F/F
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Critically acclaimed author Nina Varela delivers a stunning sequel to the richly imagined queer epic fantasy Crier’s War, which SLJ called “perfect for fans of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass.”

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 traveling rebels, determined to find and protect Ayla.

Even as their paths collide, nothing can prepare them for the dark secret underlying the Iron Heart.

This is the sequel to Crier’s War, about a world where humans serve an aristocracy of Automae – people not made of flesh and blood, but still living. The first book was deeply loved by my corner of the reading community, and I suspect the sequel will be too.

Caley Cross and the Hadeon Drop (Caley Cross, #1) by Jeff Rosen
on 8th September 2020
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

Caley Cross has always known she's not a “normal” thirteen-year-old (her ability to create zombie animals was her first clue). Still, she never expected to be whisked off to a faraway world―Erinath―where she is Crown Princess and people have “baests” that live inside them, giving them fantastic, animal-like powers. Which would be cool, except that Caley’s baest turns out to be an ancient monster that can swallow planets.

Despite this, Caley manages to make the first friends of her life, Neive Olander and Kipley Gorsebrooke. They help her navigate the Erinath Academy, where students train to compete in the annual―and deadly―Equidium contest, flying giant, dragonfly-like orocs. But to add to her usual (bad) luck, an evil “Watcher” known as Olpheist is seeking her, anxious to retrieve something that will make him immortal. The first in an epic fantasy series from Jeff Rosen that will keep readers laughing and on the edge of their seats.

This is another beautiful cover! It’s also the only MG release in this list, but it’s one I really wanted to call attention to – the MG genre often has books brilliant enough that adults can enjoy as well, but I’m not sure how many ‘grown-ups’ realise it. And since this sounds exactly like something my little sister would read – and she has excellent taste – you can bet I’ll be checking it out!

The post Must-Have Monday #18! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #17!

August was a blast, but September promises to be a DELUGE of incredible new releases! Somehow I doubt I’m going to be the only reader craving a time-turner before the month is over!

This week is packed full of so many flavours of queerness. I’m so excited!

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Representation: Cast of Colour, Trans latinx MC, M/M or mlm
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Cemetery Boys is one of the most anticipated books of the year – by the general reading community at large, and by me too! I’ve been dying to read this since I heard about its publishing deal years ago: I can’t believe it’s really coming out tomorrow!!!

A Killing Frost (October Daye, #14) by Seanan McGuire
Representation: variety of queer secondary characters
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

When October is informed that Simon Torquill—legally her father, due to Faerie's archaic marriage traditions—must be invited to her wedding or risk the ceremony throwing the Kingdom in the Mists into political turmoil, she finds herself setting out on a quest she was not yet prepared to undertake for the sake of her future.... and the man who represents her family's past.

A Killing Frost is the 14th book in the (incredible!) October Daye series, so it kind of goes without saying that this is not the place to start reading if you’re new to the books! If you’re a fan, though, I don’t need to tell you why you ought to be excited – unless you haven’t read the last few books; in which case, hurry up and catch up!

Beneath the Moon: Fairytales, Myths, and Divine Stories from Around the World by Yoshi Yoshitani
Representation: PoC
on 1st September 2020
Goodreads

Powerful and universal retellings of seventy-eight divine stories, legends, and myths from around the world, each accompanied by a gorgeous illustration from acclaimed artist Yoshi Yoshitani.



Many of the lessons we learn are shared stories passed among cultures and generations. In this riveting collection of fables and folktales from cultures across the globe, characters from beloved fairytales, cultural fables, ancient mythologies, and inspirational deities are brought to life, including Sleeping Beauty (Italy), Rapunzel (Germany), Jack and the Beanstalk (England), Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexico), Sun God Ra (Egypt), the Crane Wife (Japan), and dozens more.

Lesser-known stories introduce characters such as the volcano goddess Pele from Hawaii; Mwindo, the wise and powerful king of the Nyanga people; and the strong and resilient Yennenga, mother of the Mossi people in Burkina Faso. The recurring themes of conquering evil, overcoming adversity, and finding love and companionship are woven throughout this collection.

Yoshi Yoshitani's art style is fresh and unique, featuring diverse and multicultural characters. Each story will be featured opposite a correlating illustration, both lush and vibrant.

Beneath the Moon is more than a little unique – although it stands alone as a beautiful artbook chronicling myths and fairy tales from all over the world, it also serves as an in-depth guidebook to Yoshitani’s tarot deck: the cards all feature a fairy tale figure or myth, and to understand the full meaning of Yoshitani’s choices, you’re going to need Beneath the Moon. But if you have no interest in tarot, fear not; you can just enjoy the incredible artwork and the stories within!

And if you are into tarot, you really need Yoshitani’s incredible deck Tarot of the Divine – which you can nab from the creator right here!

The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg
Representation: Trans cast
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

“Thoughtful and deeply moving, The Four Profound Weaves is the anti-authoritarian, queer-mystical fairy tale we need right now.”-Annalee Newitz, author of The Future of Another Timeline

[STARRED REVIEW] “A beautiful, heartfelt story of change, family, identity, and courage.”-Library Journal

Wind: To match one's body with one's heart

Sand: To take the bearer where they wish

Song: In praise of the goddess Bird

Bone: To move unheard in the night

The Surun' do not speak of the master weaver, Benesret, who creates the cloth of bone for assassins in the Great Burri Desert. But Uiziya now seeks her aunt Benesret in order to learn the final weave, although the price for knowledge may be far too dear to pay.

Among the Khana, women travel in caravans to trade, while men remain in the inner quarter as scholars. A nameless man struggles to embody Khana masculinity, after many years of performing the life of a woman, trader, wife, and grandmother.

As the past catches up to the nameless man, he must choose between the life he dreamed of and Uiziya, and Uiziya must discover how to challenge a tyrant, and weave from deaths that matter.

Set in R. B. Lemberg's beloved Birdverse, The Four Profound Weaves hearkens to Ursula Le Guin's The Left Hand of Darkness. In this breathtaking debut, Lemberg offers a timeless chronicle of claiming one's identity in a hostile world.

This is the first novella in Lemberg’s Birdverse series (check out the Goodreads page for the full series here) and it sounds absolutely beautiful. I’ve heard nothing but praise for this series, and for this book in particular. It’s another I’ve been looking forward to all year!

The Lost Book of the White (The Eldest Curses, #2) by Cassandra Clare, Wesley Chu
Representation: PoC Bi MC, Gay MC, mlm or M/M
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

From #1 New York Times bestselling authors Cassandra Clare and Wesley Chu comes the second book in the Eldest Curses series and a thrilling new adventure for High Warlock Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood, for whom a death-defying mission into the heart of evil is not just a job, it’s also a romantic getaway. The Lost Book of the White is a Shadowhunters novel.

Life is good for Magnus Bane and Alec Lightwood. They’re living together in a fabulous loft, their warlock son, Max, has started learning to walk, and the streets of New York are peaceful and quiet—as peaceful and quiet as they ever are, anyway.

Until the night that two old acquaintances break into Magnus’s apartment and steal the powerful Book of the White. Now Magnus and Alec will have to drop everything to get it back. They need to follow the thieves to Shanghai, they need to call some backup to accompany them, and they need a babysitter.

Also, someone has stabbed Magnus with a strange magical weapon and the wound is glowing, so they have that to worry about too.

Fortunately, their backup consists of Clary, Jace, Isabelle, and newly minted Shadowhunter Simon. In Shanghai, they learn that a much darker threat awaits them. Magnus’s magic is growing unstable, and if they can’t stop the demons flooding into the city, they might have to follow them all the way back to the source—to the very realm of the dead. Can they stop the threat to the world? Will they make it back home before their kid completely wears out Alec’s mom?

I’m less of a Shadowhunters fan than I used to be – I haven’t read the last two books, although they’re both waiting on my Kindle – but I still think Clare and Chu are doing something important putting a character like Magnus Bane – a biracial, bisexual warlock – front and center in a major franchise. I believe Lost Book of the White takes place either just before or during the Dark Artifices trilogy, since the blurb makes no mention of Rafael, only Max.

Tl;dr – It’s definitely going on my tbr, but I’m not sure when I’ll get to it.

Road Out of Winter by Alison Stine
Representation: Queer MC
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Sci Fi, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

In an endless winter, she carries seeds of hope

Wylodine comes from a world of paranoia and poverty—her family grows marijuana illegally, and life has always been a battle. Now she’s been left behind to tend the crop alone. Then spring doesn’t return for the second year in a row, bringing unprecedented extreme winter.

With grow lights stashed in her truck and a pouch of precious seeds, she begins a journey, determined to start over away from Appalachian Ohio. But the icy roads and strangers hidden in the hills are treacherous. After a harrowing encounter with a violent cult, Wylodine and her small group of exiles become a target for its volatile leader. Because she has the most valuable skill in the climate chaos: she can make things grow.

Urgent and poignant, Road Out of Winter is a glimpse of an all-too-possible near future, with a chosen family forged in the face of dystopian collapse. With the gripping suspense of The Road and the lyricism of Station Eleven, Stine’s vision is of a changing world where an unexpected hero searches for a place hope might take root.

I’ve no idea how Road Out of Winter made it onto my radar, but it sounds really interesting! I have no details about what form the queerness in this story takes, only that it’s probably the MC who’s queer. Regardless, I’m excited to give it a go.

The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker by Lauren James
Representation: Queer MC
on 3rd September 2020
Goodreads

“Congratulations, new kid. Welcome to the afterlife.”

What if death is only the beginning?

When Harriet Stoker dies after falling from a balcony in a long-abandoned building, she discovers a group of ghosts, each with a special power.

Felix, Kasper, Rima and Leah welcome Harriet into their world, eager to make friends with the new arrival after decades alone. Yet Harriet is more interested in unleashing her own power, even if it means destroying everyone around her. But when all of eternity is at stake, the afterlife can be a dangerous place to make an enemy.

This one seems to be coming out in the UK, but I’m not sure if it’s getting a US release just yet? Either way, it’s another one that sounds really different from anything I’m used to. I almost always hate ghosts – especially stories about mediums – but this is a story taking place completely in the afterlife, which sounds like it could be incredibly cool. Fingers crossed the worldbuilding is great!

That’s it! Did I miss any? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know in the comments!

The post Must-Have Monday #17! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #16!

This week is PACKED with awesome books – we have EIGHT (that I know about!) to look forward to!

BEHOLD!

Wild Sky by Zaya Feli
Representation: M/M or mlm
on 24th August 2020
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Tauran Darrica has been retired from the Valreus Sky Guard for four years following the Battle of the Broken Wings that resulted in the death of his dragon. Now, all Tauran wants to do is spend his days forgetting the past and gambling his way to an unsteady income.

So when his old general from the Sky Guard hunts Tauran down to request his help with staving off the increasingly aggressive wild dragon population, Tauran refuses. But a fire ruins his rented room and leaves him without a place to stay, and Tauran finds himself on the road to Valreus, after all.

Tauran is determined to stay as far away from dragons as he can get, but a starry-eyed young man from Sharoani, land of the wild dragons, might just ruin his plans.

Kalai Ro-Ani has spent his life watching the stars, knowing he could never reach them. With his wild dragon Arrow, he sets out for the city of Valreus in the hope of building himself a better future than he could have stuck at the foot of the Kel Visal dragon temples.

But nobody told Kalai that only the Sky Guard is allowed to own dragons, so when Arrow kills a guard in Kalai’s defense, it looks like his adventure might be over before it can begin. But a chance encounter at the old Valreus archive offers Kalai the future he’d been hoping for. In the span of a single day, he has a home, a job, and a purpose.

In Valreus, something much bigger falls into his lap – along with a tall and striking Valrean man with a rather strange disposition.

A new, LGBT+ fantasy story from Zaya Feli, featuring dragons, aerial battles and epic journeys through dangerous wilderness.

Um, queer dragon riders??? SAY NO MORE I AM SO HERE FOR THIS!

The Memory of Souls (A Chorus of Dragons, #3) by Jenn Lyons
Representation: Bisexual MC, NB MC, assorted queer cast
on 25th August 2020
Genres: Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

WHAT IF YOU'RE THE ONE WHO HAS TO DIE?

Now that the city of Atrine has been destroyed and Relos Var's plan to free the dark god Vol Karoth has been revealed—the end of the world is closer than ever.

To buy time for humanity, Kihrin, Janel, and Thurvishar must convince the king of the Manol vané to perform an ancient ritual that will strip the vané of their immortality—a ritual that certain vané will do anything to prevent. Including assassinating the ones bringing the news.

Worse, Kihrin must come to terms with the horrifying possibility that his connection to Vol Karoth is steadily growing in strength. How can Kihrin hope to save anyone when he might turn out to be the greatest threat of them all?

I love this series so much! I’m not going to be finished with my re-read in time for Memory of Souls coming out tomorrow, but it’ll be on my Kindle waiting!

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger, Rovina Cai
Representation: Indigenous Asexual MC
on 25th August 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It’s got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream.

There are some differences. This America been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day.

Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered, in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family.

I have been looking forward to this book for SO LONG! Asexual leads in fantasy are so rare, and Indigenous ones even rarer, and this whole premise sounds absolutely incredible. I’m so excited to start it!

Where Dreams Descend (Kingdom of Cards, #1) by Janella Angeles
Representation: Characters of Colour
on 25th August 2020
Genres: Fantasy
Goodreads

In a city covered in ice and ruin, a group of magicians face off in a daring game of magical feats to find the next headliner of the Conquering Circus, only to find themselves under the threat of an unseen danger striking behind the scenes.

As each act becomes more and more risky and the number of missing magicians piles up, three are forced to reckon with their secrets before the darkness comes for them next.

The Star: Kallia, a powerful showgirl out to prove she’s the best no matter the cost

The Master: Jack, the enigmatic keeper of the club, and more than one lie told

The Magician: Demarco, the brooding judge with a dark past he can no longer hide

Where Dreams Descend is the startling and romantic first book in Janella Angeles’ debut Kingdom of Cards fantasy duology where magic is both celebrated and feared, and no heart is left unscathed.

I’ve seen this described as ‘a red velvet cake of a book’, and since that’s my very favourite cake… It’s also supposed to have a plotline about women magicians regaining their power, in a society that hasn’t questioned women’s loss of magic… I initially wasn’t so interested in this one, but it’s gotten so much praise pre-publication that I’m now looking forward to it!

Ironspark by C.M. McGuire
Representation: Lesbian MC, queer love interests
on 25th August 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

A teen outcast must work together with new friends to keep her family and town safe from murderous Fae while also dealing with panic attacks, family issues, and a lesbian love triangle in C.M. McGuires's kick-butt paranormal YA debut, Ironspark.

For the past nine years, ever since a bunch of those evil Tinkerbells abducted her mother, cursed her father, and forced her family into hiding, Bryn has devoted herself to learning everything she can about killing the Fae. Now it’s time to put those lessons to use.

Then the Court Fae finally show up, and Bryn realizes she can’t handle this on her own. Thankfully, three friends offer to help: Gwen, a kindhearted water witch; Dom, a new foster kid pulled into her world; and Jasika, a schoolmate with her own grudge against the Fae.

But trust is hard-won, and what little Bryn has gained is put to the test when she uncovers a book of Fae magic that belonged to her mother. With the Fae threat mounting every day, Bryn must choose between faith in her friends and power from a magic that could threaten her very humanity.

A lesbian love triangle, plus fae? Yeah, there was literally no way I wasn’t going to nab this one!

Emerald Blaze (Hidden Legacy, #5) by Ilona Andrews
on 25th August 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

As Prime magic users, Catalina Baylor and her sisters have extraordinary powers—powers their ruthless grandmother would love to control. Catalina can earn her family some protection working as deputy to the Warden of Texas, overseeing breaches of magic law in the state, but that has risks as well. When House Baylor is under attack and monsters haunt her every step, Catalina is forced to rely on handsome, dangerous Alessandro Sagredo, the Prime who crushed her heart. 

The nightmare that Alessandro has fought since childhood has come roaring back to life, but now Catalina is under threat. Not even his lifelong quest for revenge will stop him from keeping her safe, even if every battle could be his last. Because Catalina won't rest until she stops the use of the illicit, power-granting serum that's tearing their world apart. 

Although I eventually lost interest in the Kate Daniels series, Andrews’ Hidden Legacy series has continued to be fun reading. I was a bit wary when the focus shifted from Nevada, who was the mc of the first trilogy, to her sister Catalina, but Sapphire Flames (the last book, and Catalina’s debut) was great! So I have high hopes for Emerald.

Beowulf: A New Translation by Maria Dahvana Headley
on 25th August 2020
Goodreads

'BEOWULF: A NEW TRANSLATION' IS A NEW, FEMINIST TRANSLATION OF BEOWULF BY THE AUTHOR OF THE MUCH-BUZZED-ABOUT NOVEL 'THE MERE WIFE'.

Nearly 20 years after Seamus Heaney's translation of 'Beowulf' - and 50 years after the translation that continues to torment high-school students around the world - there is a radical new verse translation of the epic poem by Maria Dahvana Headley that brings to light elements that have never before been translated into English, re-contextualizing the binary narrative of monsters and heroes into a tale in which the two categories often entwine, justice is rarely served, and dragons live among us.

A man seeks to prove himself as a hero. A monster seeks silence in his territory. A warrior seeks to avenge her murdered son. A dragon ends it all. The familiar elements of the epic poem are seen with a novelist's eye toward gender, genre, and history - 'Beowulf' has always been a tale of entitlement and encroachment, powerful men seeking to become more powerful, and one woman seeking justice for her child, but this version brings new context to an old story. While crafting her contemporary adaptation of 'Beowulf', Headley unearthed significant shifts lost over centuries of translation.

I actually studied Beowulf a little in high school, and I wouldn’t be interested in this at all if it wasn’t a translation by Headley, whose every work so far I have adored. And to be honest, I’m here for any epic poem that starts with ‘Yo’!

The Century's Scribe by Brendan Walsh
Representation: M/M or mlm
on 27th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Dreden Sharpstand and his father are poor. All the humans and avehos of Kroonsaed are hardly getting by. If not for the bright, enigmatic sea of gas called the Sunitian Sea, life and resources in the town would be prosperous.

But the Sea has secrets of its own...

One night Dreden and his friends are attacked by mysterious men, with weapons they cannot understand. When they strike a second time, they chase the men into the Sea, and are transported to an alternate world, to a city called Brunswald, where technology exists centuries ahead of their time. Since the new world is only populated by humans, Dreden’s friend Gerrika the aveho, a flightless, humanoid bird, becomes an instant celebrity. When Dreden meets Morell Edland, the son of the richest family in the country, he falls in love with him, and can hardly remember why he ended up in the new world in the first place. Slowly, things start to reveal themselves. A secret, lost history between their two worlds is becoming unraveled, and a seemingly omnipotent force is killing thousands across the world. Just one thing is for sure: Dreden and his friends didn’t end up in Brunswald by accident.

From the author of the Kirkus-acclaimed Immortale, The Century’s Scribe is a must read for devourers of new adult fiction and high fantasy. Brendan Walsh delivers on his most personal novel yet.

I stumbled upon Century’s Scribe by complete accident, but I’m glad I did – it sounds so odd that I really want to give it a try!

That’s it! Did I miss any? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know in the comments!

The post Must-Have Monday #16! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Need This to Exist: #OwnVoices Reflection on Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

First thing’s first:

What are we doing here?

This post is part of a blog tour organised by the amazing people at Hear Our Voices, who work to connect #ownvoices reviewers to the books that represent us. I was HONOURED to be chosen as one of the participants in the tour for Aidan Thomas’ debut Cemetery Boys!

Since I haven’t read the book yet, I’m going to talk about what it means to me that Cemetery Boys even exists.

What’s Cemetery Boys?

Only one of coolest releases of the year! Here’s the description;

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

But…Um…

Okay, okay, I hear you: what’s a white, half-Irish, half-Welsh girl doing on an #ownvoices tour for Cemetery Boys – a Latinx fantasy about a trans brujo?

Well. The thing is, I’m not a girl.

So you’re trans? Like Yadriel?

No. I’m agender. That means I have no gender at all. You can think of it as being gender-neutral, if you like; genderless, blank, missing a piece you think is vital but that I know is no such thing.

I do use she/her pronouns, because I’m AFAB and at this point in my life, it’s just easier. I’d like to change pronouns someday, but I haven’t found a workable set that I like yet.

Someday.

If you’re not trans, what makes this #ownvoices?

If you’re not a cis man or woman – someone whose gender identity matches up perfectly with the one they were assigned at birth – then you fall under the general umbrella of nonbinary (your gender doesn’t fall into the male/female gender binary) or genderqueer (which means more or less the same thing, but with slightly different connotations, and the umbrella is a bit bigger). Yadriel and I can both be described as nonbinary/genderqueer, though not all trans people describe themselves that way.

More to the point, Yadriel is a young man whose family refuse to accept that he is what (and who) he truly is. He’s perceived as being a girl, even though he isn’t.

And that is something I have plenty of experience with.

When your existence doesn’t fit

Everyone who’s nonbinary/genderqueer knows the struggle to present your true self to the world. It’s maybe a little bit simpler if you’re swapping one of the binary genders for the other – if you’re AFAB but actually a man, or AMAB but actually a woman. If you ask, everyone knows what a woman is and what one looks like; same with a man. That mental image is almost always completely wrong – you can be a woman without liking nail polish and dresses, just like you can by a man without loving fast cars and action movies – but there’s something to be said for having a societally agreed-upon image of what your gender is supposed to look and act like. I’d know what to do to myself, with myself, if I wanted people to look at me and see a guy, you know? Cut my hair. Bind my chest. Ditch the sparkly jewelry. Start testosterone (something that’s easier, here in Finland, than in many other parts of the world) to sort out the curves and lack of facial hair. Easy.

(In theory. It’s not that simple. It never is. But.)

But there is no agreed-upon societal picture for a person who has no gender at all. Even people who understand the concept of being trans often have no idea how to handle the idea of a human being who is completely genderless, especially if you’re not physically androgynous. We call ourselves nonbinary, but plenty – most? – genderqueer identities can be explained to a cis person using a binary gender system as a frame of reference. Genderfluid? Oh, that’s someone who switches back and forth along the gender spectrum. Demigirl? That’s a person who is almost, or partially, a woman. Multigender? Exactly what it sounds like. And so on. But trying to explain the concept of agender means trying to get them to think outside the spectrum completely. And a lot of people can’t quite do that.

What do you wear, how do you present, which parts of your body do you carve so that people see you as being without gender? Is that even possible, in a society as obsessed with gender as ours is?

(This is all making my situation sound rather desperate and dramatic. It’s not. I have so many advantages people of other gender identities don’t – when you look like a white woman, those come with the territory, no matter what you are on the inside. And while my gender identity might garner confusion, I’ve never yet seen it garner hatred, which way too many other nonbinary people have to deal with. So let’s not pretend for one second that being agender is The Hardest Thing. At least not my experience of it.)

Why Cemetery Boys matters

For Yadriel, making others see him as a man isn’t about how he presents visually; it’s about what he does. He performs an act of magic that, in his family’s tradition, can only be performed by men. He anchors his identity by claiming his heritage, by reinventing or reclaiming old traditions. And maybe that’s the only way to do it – take the old, and mix it with the new, and live it. Don’t present or perform – be.

I think that’s saying something really important.

Cemetery Boys is about a young man whose family see a girl when they look at him, whose world insists he stay in the role he was assigned at birth. It’s about a boy who breaks out of the mould everyone wants to force him into, and makes them see who he is. It’s a story about being yourself as powerfully as you can be, no matter how that shatters other people’s expectations or understanding of gender.

We need those stories. I need those stories.

Every time we get a nonbinary character – whether they’re trans or genderfluid or demi – we get a little closer to a world that has space for me in it. To a world that has a framework for understanding what the hell I am. And Cemetery Boys – seeing how much hype there has been for this book, how excited people are for it and how intensely anticipated it is by so many corners of the reading community – it makes me incredibly happy and hopeful. It demonstrates that more cis people are interested in nonbinary rep; it demonstrates that they understand what trans means – or if they don’t, they’ll learn as they read. And if they can understand what trans means, they’re on their way to understanding other nonbinary identities.

Ten years ago, I don’t think Cemetery Boys would have gotten the reception it’s getting now. Maybe in ten more years, we’ll all be this excited for a fantasy with an agender lead.

So for me? Cemetery Boys is more than just an incredible story. It’s a promise that, not so far from now, people will understand agender like they understand trans. It’s a stepping stone to that future. It’s a signal that the reading community and publishing industry have room for my genderqueer siblings in them – and hopefully even more of us, soon.

It’s a book about not seeing a girl when you look at someone girl-shaped, and its reach is going to be huge. So many people are going to learn, or be reminded, of that lesson: that you can’t tell a person’s gender by looking. That a person’s true nature has nothing to do with what they look like.

And it’s a celebration of being yourself, embracing who you are, no matter what. It’s a reminder to us nonbinary kids as well: that we’re the ones who decide who and what we are, and no one can take that away from us.

Cemetery Boys proves the magic will back us up if we call on it.

Magic shapes Yadriel’s world. Stories shape ours. Books like Cemetery Boys normalise the concepts and issues of nonbinary genders to readers who’ve never come across those things before. Those readers will talk about these things with their families and friends. And because Cemetery Boys is a book about a trans guy working magic with ghosts – a book with a trans lead, but not a book about trans-ness, not trauma-porn or anything like it – it’s showing that Yadriel – that all us nonbinary folx – are just like everybody else. We’re still human, we still have adventures, we still love. You might find our genders (or lack thereof) confusing, but it doesn’t actually make us into anything you have to fear or hate. Books like Cemetery Boys are vital to getting that through the heads of people who need to hear it. They’re a vital part of creating a world that’s more accepting of our differences, a world that treasures human diversity.

And me?

I think of Yadriel’s magic, and I remember that another word for agender is gendervoid. As if, where my gender is supposed to be, I have a supermassive black hole, capable of consuming and crushing anything – and anyone – who comes at me about what I’m supposed to be. As if I am the void, the distilled essence of creation from which anything and everything comes. As if I can be whatever I want.

I don’t know if I’ll ever live in a world where people see a void when they look at me. But like Yadriel, whatever others say, I can live my truth.

Cemetery Boys will be released on September 1st. If you haven’t preordered your copy yet, go do it already!

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
Representation: Trans MC of Colour, Latinx, M/M or mlm, cast of colour
on 1st September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can’t get rid of him.

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

The post I Need This to Exist: #OwnVoices Reflection on Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Fantastical News!

There’s been some announcements and discoveries lately that I could not resist writing up. Just in case any of you haven’t heard yet!

Tarot Sequence

First and foremost, rejoice: KD Edwards has signed the deal on two more books of the Tarot Sequence!!!

This is a BIG DEAL! Fans and fanatics are probably already aware that the Tarot Sequence is a planned NINE-book series, but publishers never buy the rights to that many books all at once. From what I understand, it’s a special occasion when they buy an entire trilogy in one go, rather than nabbing one and seeing how it sells before committing to more.

So Pyr buying the rights to two more books of the Sequence??? Is excellent. It means they have faith not just in KD, but in us, the fans – typically sales decline for every subsequent book in a series, so Pyr is basically saying that they believe that enough of us really love these books that it’s worth their while to keep publishing the Sequence. All the reviews and memes and fanart and playlists and the hive of activity that is the Sequence Discord??? It’s all worked to convince them that we’re in this for the long haul.

So go us!!!

KD announced that the title of Tarot #3 is THE HOURGLASS THRONE, which is…more than a little terrifying for those of us who’ve read The Last Sun and The Hanged Man. I may write a speculation post in the near future.

But ultimately: Congrats, KD!!!

(And massive thank you to Pyr!!!)

Queer Witches, Hell Yeah!

The sequel to the fucking incredible Scapegracers – The Scratch Daughters – is now available to pre-order – at least the Kindle edition! (And yes, I realise Scapegracers itself isn’t actually out yet…but I promise you, you are going to want the entire trilogy after you read the first five pages!)

Probably none of you are actually going to hit that pre-order button, but I had to share the news, okay???

And look, if you’re not going to pre-order the sequel, at least go order Scapegracers! I promise you won’t regret it!

The Scapegracers (Scapegracers, #1) by Hannah Abigail Clarke
Representation: Lesbian MC, assorted queer cast, Characters of Colour
on 15th September 2020
Genres: Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

An outcast teenage lesbian witch finds her coven hidden amongst the popular girls in her school, and performs some seriously badass magic in the process.

Skulking near the bottom of West High’s social pyramid, Sideways Pike lurks under the bleachers doing magic tricks for Coke bottles. As a witch, lesbian, and lifelong outsider, she’s had a hard time making friends. But when the three most popular girls pay her $40 to cast a spell at their Halloween party, Sideways gets swept into a new clique. The unholy trinity are dangerous angels, sugar-coated rattlesnakes, and now–unbelievably–Sideways’ best friends.

Together, the four bond to form a ferocious and powerful coven. They plan parties, cast curses on dudebros, try to find Sideways a girlfriend, and elude the fundamentalist witch hunters hellbent on stealing their magic. But for Sideways, the hardest part is the whole ‘having friends’ thing. Who knew that balancing human interaction with supernatural peril could be so complicated?

Rich with the urgency of feral youth, The Scapegracers explores growing up and complex female friendship with all the rage of a teenage girl. It subverts the trope of competitive mean girls and instead portrays a mercilessly supportive clique of diverse and vivid characters. It is an atmospheric, voice-driven novel of the occult, and the first of a three-book series.

Grab it now from Bookshop.org (USA) or Hive (Europe), both ethical alternatives to You Know Who; or here at Book Depository!

From the Author of Red, White, and Royal Blue

Casey McQuiston’s newest novel (out next year) had its cover reveal today!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston
Representation: F/F or wlw, Love Interest of Colour
on 1st June 2021
Goodreads

"Dreamy, other worldly, smart, swoony, thoughtful, hilarious - all in all, exactly what you'd expect from Casey McQuiston!" - Jasmine Guillory, New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date and

Party for Two

Cynical twenty-three-year old August doesn’t believe in much. She doesn’t believe in psychics, or easily forged friendships, or finding the kind of love they make movies about. And she certainly doesn’t believe her ragtag band of new roommates, her night shifts at a 24-hour pancake diner, or her daily subway commute full of electrical outages are going to change that.

But then, there’s Jane. Beautiful, impossible Jane.

All hard edges with a soft smile and swoopy hair and saving August’s day when she needed it most. The person August looks forward to seeing on the train every day. The one who makes her forget about the cities she lived in that never seemed to fit, and her fear of what happens when she finally graduates, and even her cold-case obsessed mother who won’t quite let her go. And when August realizes her subway crush is impossible in more ways than one—namely, displaced in time from the 1970s—she thinks maybe it’s time to start believing.

Casey McQuiston’s One Last Stop is a sexy, big-hearted romance where the impossible becomes possible as August does everything in her power to save the girl lost in time.

I’m really excited to see McQuiston go for more fantastical elements (time-travel!) and featuring a queer activist from the 70s!!!

Check out the link up above to hear more about the book and McQuiston’s thoughts behind it!

That’s it for today – I’m sure there’ll be more great bookish news soon!

The post Fantastical News! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Books I Want to See On Screen!

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by Jana at That Artsy Reader Girl. Check out upcoming Top Ten themes on Jana’s blog!

This TTT prompt is very timely, since Netflix announced not long ago that they’re looking for IPs to turn into their own big movie franchises.

Now, if you read the article, they say they’re looking for PG stuff, but this list is about what I wish would get adapted, not what books might actually be a good fit for them!

Kushiel's Dart (Phèdre's Trilogy, #1) by Jacqueline Carey
Goodreads

The land of Terre d'Ange is a place of unsurpassing beauty and grace. It is said that angels found the land and saw it was good... and the ensuing race that rose from the seed of angels and men live by one simple rule: Love as thou wilt.

Phèdre nó Delaunay is a young woman who was born with a scarlet mote in her left eye. Sold into indentured servitude as a child, her bond is purchased by Anafiel Delaunay, a nobleman with very a special mission... and the first one to recognize who and what she is: one pricked by Kushiel's Dart, chosen to forever experience pain and pleasure as one.

Phèdre is trained equally in the courtly arts and the talents of the bedchamber, but, above all, the ability to observe, remember, and analyze. Almost as talented a spy as she is courtesan, Phèdre stumbles upon a plot that threatens the very foundations of her homeland. Treachery sets her on her path; love and honor goad her further. And in the doing, it will take her to the edge of despair... and beyond. Hateful friend, loving enemy, beloved assassin; they can all wear the same glittering mask in this world, and Phèdre will get but one chance to save all that she holds dear.

Set in a world of cunning poets, deadly courtiers, heroic traitors, and a truly Machiavellian villainess, this is a novel of grandeur, luxuriance, sacrifice, betrayal, and deeply laid conspiracies. Not since Dune has there been an epic on the scale of Kushiel's Dart-a massive tale about the violent death of an old age, and the birth of a new.

Could anyone do justice to the Kushiel series? I’m not sure, but I’d love to see someone really try! And it would make such an amazing contrast and counter to GoT and its ilk – a lot of sex, even kinky sex, but sex-positive instead of gross and rapey! Give it a huge budget, gorgeous costumes, sets, really beautiful artistic camera-work… Gods, it could be perfect.

The Dragon’s Legacy (The Dragon's Legacy #1) by Deborah A. Wolf
Goodreads

The last Aturan King is dying, and as his strength fades so does his hold  on  sa  and  ka. Control of this power is a deadly lure; the Emperor stirs in his Forbidden City to the East, while deep in the Seared Lands, the whispering voices of  Eth bring secret death.

Eight men and women take their first steps along the paths to war, barely realizing that their world will soon face a much greater threat; at the heart of the world, the Dragon stirs in her sleep.

A warrior would become Queen, a Queen would become a monster, and a young boy plays his bird-skull flute to keep the shadows of death at bay.

Yeah, I know – I never shut up about this series. But that’s because it’s freaking epic! Dragon’s Legacy blows Game of Thrones out of the water, with a cast dominated by incredible women (but without GoT’s sexual violence), desert and East Asian-esque settings rather than quasi-Europe, psychic tusked tigers, kingdoms clashing, and saving the world depending on not bringing the dragons back! I’d love to see the settings and costumes of Legacy given as much exquisite detail as GoT did, and the dreaming realm, and…just, it could be so great.

The Black Jewels Trilogy: Daughter of the Blood, Heir to the Shadows, Queen of the Darkness (The Black Jewels, #1-3) by Anne Bishop
Goodreads

Seven hundred years ago, a Black Widow witch saw an ancient prophecy come to life in her web of dreams and visions.

Now the Dark Kingdom readies itself for the arrival of its Queen, a Witch who will wield more power than even the High Lord of Hell himself. But she is still young, still open to influence--and corruption.

Whoever controls the Queen controls the darkness. Three men--sworn enemies--know this. And they know the power that hides behind the blue eyes of an innocent young girl. And so begins a ruthless game of politics and intrigue, magic and betrayal, where the weapons are hate and love--and the prize could be terrible beyond imagining...

A friend of mine and I have spent years discussing how the Black Jewels series would translate to the screen, and gods, if it was done well it would be incredible. It would have to be handled carefully – there’s a lot of sexual violence, especially in book one of the series – but maybe it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world to put woman-on-man sexual violence in the forefront for once (not to titillate, but to draw attention to the real-world issue)? But the aesthetic, the world, the magic, the story of corrupting a society versus holding it together through honour? And the KINDRED!

I think a really great Black Jewels tv series would change and expand the story from what it is in the books, but I would give a lot for a worthy adaptation!

Written in Red (The Others, #1) by Anne Bishop
Goodreads

As a cassandra sangue, or blood prophet, Meg Corbyn can see the future when her skin is cut—a gift that feels more like a curse. Meg’s Controller keeps her enslaved so he can have full access to her visions. But when she escapes, the only safe place Meg can hide is at the Lakeside Courtyard—a business district operated by the Others.

Shape-shifter Simon Wolfgard is reluctant to hire the stranger who inquires about the Human Liaison job. First, he senses she’s keeping a secret, and second, she doesn’t smell like human prey. Yet a stronger instinct propels him to give Meg the job. And when he learns the truth about Meg and that she’s wanted by the government, he’ll have to decide if she’s worth the fight between humans and the Others that will surely follow.

The Others series is urban fantasy…if humans didn’t rule the world. It’s another that would need some careful handling – Meg, the main character, sees prophecies whenever her skin is cut, and you’d have to be careful not to go into self-harm territory. But this series is, ultimately, about what would happen if there was something bigger and badder out there to step in if humans grew too toxic, and I love that. Not to mention finding a way to depict the Elementals, and the Elders, would be fantastic!

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone, #1) by Laini Taylor
Goodreads

Around the world, black hand prints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil’s supply of human teeth grows dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherworldly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real, she’s prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands", she speaks many languages - not all of them human - and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she’s about to find out.

When beautiful, haunted Akiva fixes fiery eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?

Although I no longer count this among my favourite series, I still think Daughter of Smoke and Bone could make for a really beautiful – and powerful – show. The world always needs more stories about love overcoming hate, after all.

King's Dragon (Crown of Stars, #1) by Kate Elliott
Goodreads

Set in an alternate Europe where bloody conflicts rage, the first book of the Crown of Stars epic fantasy series chronicles a world-shaking conflict for the survival of humanity

It begins with civil war....

For though King Henry still holds the crown of Wendar, his reign has long been contested by his sister Sabella. There are many eager to flock to her banner, and there are ways to make even the most unwilling lord into a weapon pointed at the heart of Henry’s realm.

Torn by internal strife, Wendar also faces deadly raids from the north by an inhuman race, the Eika. And now terrifying portents are being seen; old ruins restored to life under the light of the full moon and peopled by the long-vanished Lost Ones; dark spirits walking the land in broad daylight.

And suddenly two innocents are about to be thrust into the middle of the conflict.

Liath, who has spent her early years fleeing from unknown enemies, is a young woman with the power to change the course of history if she can only learn to master her fear and seize what is rightfully hers.

While Alain, a young man who may find his future in a vision granted by the Lady of Battles, must first unravel the mystery of who he is—whether the bastard son of a noble father, the half-breed child of an elfin lord, the unwanted get of a whore, or the heir to a proud and ancient lineage. For only when he discovers the truth can he accept the destiny for which he was born.

Liath and Alain, each trapped in a personal struggle for survival, both helplessly being drawn into a far greater battle, a war in which sorcery not swords will determine the final outcome, and the land itself may be irrevocably reshaped by the forces unleashed....

The Crown of Stars series is another that can be compared to GoT…favourably. It’s better, more complicated, and has much, much higher stakes. Draconic humanoids, centaurs, Aztec-inspired elves, star-magic, even time-travel – this series has everything. A medieval Europe aesthetic, but with a matriarchal angle (the Pope’s a woman!), and so much political intrigue… It would blow people away.

Feed (Newsflesh Trilogy, #1) by Mira Grant
Goodreads

The year was 2014. We had cured cancer. We had beaten the common cold. But in doing so we created something new, something terrible that no one could stop.

The infection spread, virus blocks taking over bodies and minds with one, unstoppable command: FEED.

Now, twenty years after the Rising, bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason are on the trail of the biggest story of their lives—the dark conspiracy behind the infected.

The truth will get out, even if it kills them.

Take The Walking Dead, have the humans ‘win’, add the issues around journalism and a presidential race with life-and-death stakes – and you’ve got the Newsfeed series. Honestly, this would probably be the easiest to adapt to screen, even with having to sacrifice the brilliance of Georgia’s first-person narration. It’s so screen-ready. Why hasn’t this been optioned yet?!

The Imaginary Corpse by Tyler Hayes
Goodreads

A dinosaur detective in the land of unwanted ideas battles trauma, anxiety, and the first serial killer of imaginary friends.

Most ideas fade away when we're done with them. Some we love enough to become Real. But what about the ones we love, and walk away from?

Tippy the triceratops was once a little girl's imaginary friend, a dinosaur detective who could help her make sense of the world. But when her father died, Tippy fell into the Stillreal, the underbelly of the Imagination, where discarded ideas go when they're too Real to disappear. Now, he passes time doing detective work for other unwanted ideas - until Tippy runs into The Man in the Coat, a nightmare monster who can do the impossible: kill an idea permanently. Now Tippy must overcome his own trauma and solve the case, before there's nothing left but imaginary corpses.

File Under: Fantasy [ Fuzzy Fiends - Death to Imagination - Hardboiled but Sweet - Not Barney ]

Could this work without the brilliance of Tippy’s narration??? I’m not sure – Tippy is one of my favourite first-person characters EVER – but I’d love to see a good attempt. And maybe you could keep the narration? Think Sin City, but hopepunk and whimsical – that could be freaking amazing, actually!

Although you might have to swap Sin City’s red highlights for yellow – how else would viewers appreciate that the detective main character is a yellow triceratops plushie???

The Gift (The Books of Pellinor, #1) by Alison Croggon
Goodreads

Maerad is a slave in a desperate and unforgiving settlement, taken there as a child when her family is destroyed in war. She is unaware that she possesses a powerful gift, a gift that marks her as a member of the School of Pellinor. It is only when she is discovered by Cadvan, one of the great Bards of Lirigon, that her true heritage and extraordinary destiny unfolds. Now she and her teacher, Cadvan, must survive a punishing and uncertain journey through a time and place where the dark forces they battle with stem from the deepest recesses of other-worldly terror.

The Pellinor series is a big epic fantasy, very reminiscent of LotR or Wheel of Time…but with an even smaller cast. A huge part of what makes these books so special is the writing, but I think the setting, story and characters might just make the transition to screen, with the right production company, director – and, of course, cast! And now is a pretty good time for female chosen ones, after She-Ra and similar shows. I think it could be excellent.

The Last Sun (The Tarot Sequence, #1) by K.D. Edwards
Goodreads

Rune Saint John, last child of the fallen Sun Court, is hired to search for Lady Judgment's missing son, Addam, on New Atlantis, the island city where the Atlanteans moved after ordinary humans destroyed their original home.

With his companion and bodyguard, Brand, he questions Addam's relatives and business contacts through the highest ranks of the nobles of New Atlantis. But as they investigate, they uncover more than a missing man: a legendary creature connected to the secret of the massacre of Rune's Court. In looking for Addam, can Rune find the truth behind his family's death and the torments of his past?

And finally – the Tarot Sequence! Which has been optioned…they need to make up their minds and make the show already!!!

What books would YOU love to see as a movie or TV show?

The post Books I Want to See On Screen! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #15!

We have SIX incredible books to look forward to this week! I don’t know about you, but I’ve been absolutely drowning in all the amazing reads we’ve been getting!

Raybearer (Raybearer, #1) by Jordan Ifueko
Representation: Cast of Colour, Major Asexual Character, Minor Gay Character, Minor Lesbian Character
on 18th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Epic Fantasy
Goodreads

Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?

Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood.

That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

You can read my review here, but the tl;dr version is that I love this book more than BREATH, and can’t wait to see it out in the world at last!!!

The Faithless Hawk (The Merciful Crow, #2) by Margaret Owen
Representation: Oppressed Minority, Bisexual Love Interest
on 18th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

Dangerous magic, a tormented romance, and lethal betrayals come to a head in the thrilling sequel to Margaret Owen's The Merciful Crow.

As the new chieftain of the Crows, Fie knows better than to expect a royal to keep his word. Still she's hopeful that Prince Jasimir will fulfill his oath to protect her fellow Crows. But then black smoke fills the sky, signaling the death of King Surimir and the beginning of Queen Rhusana's ruthless bid for the throne.

Queen Rhusana wins popular support by waging a brutal campaign against the Crows, blaming them for the poisonous plague that wracks the nation.

A desperate Fie clings onto a prophecy that a long-forgotten god will return and provide a cure to the plague. Fie must team up with old friends? and an old flame? to track down a dead god and save her people.

This might actually be the sequel I’m most anxious about this year – anxious in the sense that I loved the first book, and I don’t know if my heart can take another round of this much epicness! And on the other hand, I am not even a little bit ready to be done with this world and these characters!

The Vanished Queen by Lisbeth Campbell
Representation: Normalised Queerness, Bisexual MC
on 18th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

When a country is held in thrall to a vicious, despotic king, it’s up to one woman to take him down.

Long ago, Queen Mirantha vanished. King Karolje claimed it was an assassination by a neighboring king, but everyone knew it was a lie. He had Disappeared her himself.

But after finding the missing queen’s diary, Anza—impassioned by her father’s unjust execution and inspired by Mirantha’s words—joins the resistance group to overthrow the king. When an encounter with Prince Esvar thrusts her into a dangerous game of court politics, one misstep could lead to a fate worse than death.

Esvar is the second son to an evil king. Trapped under his thumb and desperate for a way out, a chance meeting with Anza gives him the opportunity to join the resistance. Together, they might have the leverage to move against the king—but if they fail, their deaths could mean a total loss of freedom for generations to follow.

This is a book I’ve been hearing a lot of praise for, and I’m always interested in secondary fantasy worlds where queerness is normalised!

The Notorious Virtues (The Notorious Virtues, #1) by Alwyn Hamilton
on 18th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

A glamorous media darling, a surprise heiress, and the magical competition of a lifetime.

At sixteen, Honora “Nora” Holtzfall is the daughter of the most powerful heiress in all of Walstad. Her family controls all the money–and all the magic–in the entire country. But despite being the center of attention, Nora has always felt like an outsider. When her mother is found dead in an alley, the family throne and fortune are suddenly up for grabs, and Nora will be pitted against her cousins in the Veritaz, the ultimate magical competition for power that determines the one family heir.

But there’s a surprise contestant this time: Lotte, the illegitimate daughter of Nora’s aunt. When Lotte’s absent mother retrieves her from the rural convent she’d abandoned her to, Lotte goes from being an orphan to surrounded by family. Unfortunately, most of them want her dead.

And soon, Nora discovers that her mother’s death wasn’t random–it was murder. And the only person she can trust to uncover the truth of what happened is a rakish young reporter who despises everything Nora and her family stand for.

With everyone against her, Lotte’s last hope is hunting for the identity of her father. But the dangerous competition–and her feelings for Theo, one of the Holtzfalls’ sworn protectors–turns her world upside down.

Incredible tests, impossible choices and deadly odds await both girls. But there can only be one winner.

That’s a truly stunning cover, is it not? I’ll be honest, I haven’t heard much about this one, but what I have heard is very promising!

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola
Representation: Characters of Colour, Queer Characters
on 20th August 2020
Goodreads

Discover love from times long ago...

Join Bolu Babalola as she retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology in this stunning collection. From the homoromantic Greek myths, to magical Nigerian folktales, to the ancient stories of South Asia, Bolu brings new life to tales that truly show the vibrance and colours of love around the world.

The anthology is a step towards decolonising tropes of love, and celebrates in the wildly beautiful and astonishingly diverse tales of romance and desire that already exist in so many cultures and communities.

Get lost in these mystical worlds and you will soon realise that humanity - like love - comes in technicolour.

I’m really, really excited for this collection. The idea of taking stories around the world for a single book – rather than, say, only retelling Greek or Egyptian stories – is somehow really cool to me. I’ve not read anything from Babalola before, but my hopes are set high!

The Faerie Hounds of York by Arden Powell
Representation: M/M or mlm
on 20th August 2020
Genres: Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Goodreads

England, 1810. The north is governed by a single rule. Faerie will take as it pleases.

William Loxley is cursed. A pale and monstrous creature haunts his dreams, luring him from London to the desolate, grey landscape of his forgotten childhood. There, it will use him to open a door to Faerie—a fate that will trap Loxley in that glittering, heathen otherworld forever.

His only hope of escaping the creature's grasp lies with John Thorncress, a dark and windswept stranger met on the moors. The longer Loxley stays in Thorncress' company, the harder it becomes to fight his attraction to the man. Such attraction can only end in heartbreak—or the noose.

But Thorncress has his own bleak ties to Faerie. They come creeping in with the frost, their howls carrying on the winter wind. If Thorncress' past catches up with him before they can break the curse, then Loxley will not only lose his soul.

He'll lose Thorncress, too.

I believe this is a self-published novel, but that shouldn’t count against it! I love the fae mythology of the British Isles (no surprise, being an Irish/Welsh hybrid myself) and have my fingers crossed that this will be a great take on it!

That’s it! Did I miss any? Will you be reading any of these? Let me know in the comments!

The post Must-Have Monday #15! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

These Books Will Carve You Open: Hollow Folk series by Gregory Ashe

This review was originally posted on Goodreads!

Mr. Big Empty (Hollow Folk, #1) by Gregory Ashe
Representation: Gay, Bisexual, Mental Health
Genres: Urban Fantasy
Goodreads

Vie Eliot arrives in the small town of Vehpese, Wyoming with little more than the clothes--and scars--on his back. Determined to make a new life for himself after escaping his abusive mother, he finds that living with his estranged father brings its own problems.

Then Samantha Oates, the girl with blue hair, goes missing, and Vie might be the only one who can find her. His ability to read emotions and gain insight into other people’s darkest secrets makes him the perfect investigator, with only one small problem: he wants nothing to do with his gift.

When the killer begins contacting Vie through a series of strange cards, though, Vie is forced to hone his ability, because Samantha was not the killer’s only target.

And, as Vie learns, he is not the only psychic in town.

Okay

It’s over

Now to figure out what to do with the rest of my life

I guess it’ll take me at LEAST that long to put the pieces of my heart back together

I love that self-publishing is a thing now, for a whole lot of reasons. But in my personal experience, 99 times out of 100, if a book is self-published it’s going to end up on my DNF pile. I will not pretend even for one second that a book being traditionally published means it’s good, but…it’s basically a truism at this point that a lot – maybe even most – of self-published books probably shouldn’t have been.

The Hollow Folk series is one which justifies the existence of self-publishing. Hells, the Hollow Folk books make me forgive the self-publishing world for Freaking Shades of Freaking Grey.

That is how damn good they are.

They’re deceptive. They don’t look like much. The covers are simple; the price is suspiciously low (I have only anecdotal data, but self-pubbed books that cost so little are usually some of the worst); the blurbs sound – well, like blurbs. When has a book ever been done true justice by its blurb? Read the summaries of each book, and you’ll only glimpse the faintest outline of what this story actually is.

You can try and force these books into boxes, if you want. You can try and say they’re mysteries, and they’re urban fantasy, and hey, look, the main character is 16, that must make them YA! But you’re going to be wrong – you can’t help being wrong – because this series defies any attempt at pigeon-holing. Books like these are why self-publishing needs to exist – because a trad publisher would have a nervous breakdown trying to force them onto one specific shelf, in one specific genre; trying to figure out which audience to market them to. For the most part, trad-publishing likes their books neatly categorised, pinned to cardboard like butterflies for display, and Hollow Folk is not a butterfly.

It’s a phoenix, and it will set your soul on fire and burn your heart to the ground, and it’s so fucking beautiful that the pain of it being over is a thousand times worse than what it puts you through.

(It’s okay. Phoenixes rise from the ashes, and Hollow Folk shows your heart how to do the same. It’ll put you back together after taking you apart. Just don’t expect the process to leave you unchanged.)

Here is the basic, briefest glimpse of what this story is: there’s a boy who’s a little bit psychic, and a lot messed-up, and he doesn’t mean to get pulled into solving a murder, but he does. He fights so hard to be good, although he’d never put it that way; he doesn’t think he has any goodness in him. But he does: so much that when the monsters come, he never even considers not being on the front lines. He never even considers not being the front line. He makes friends and enemies and he falls in love. There are mysteries and murders, fights and battles; there’s typical teen drama, and drama far less typical. There’s healing and redemption, harsh truths and gentler ones, and finding a way to live with both.

There is, if it’s something important to you (it was to me) a lot of queerness. Not in the sense of a huge spectrum of diversity – there are several gay male characters, one bisexual, and an older male character who is definitely attracted to men, but I don’t remember if the latter is explicitly gay or if there’s the possibility that he’s bi or pan. But in the sense that queerness is an explicit and integral part of the story, of the main character’s arc/journey, then yes, there’s a lot of it, and personally I was glad of it. I can’t remember ever reading a more realistic depiction of a young gay man – all his various other issues aside, Vie’s approach to his sexuality and his romantic relationships felt real. Yes, he thinks plenty about sex. Yes, he stumbles and fucks up sometimes. (Okay, a lot. But most of those times aren’t due to Normal Teenager-ness, and are thus not being counted right now. We’ll get to those in a minute). He talks and thinks and acts like a teenager; not the sterilised, prettified version of a gay teen we see plenty of in fiction, but so real and raw that I was catapulted back a decade and felt 16 again myself.

And that’s one of the things I really want to talk about – how incredibly immersive this series is. Pick it up, and it won’t let you put it down. I lost entire days to these books, and I don’t want them back. Anyone who’s experienced a book hangover knows what I mean when I say that every time I had to take a break from Vie and his story – to eat, to sleep, to go to work – I felt disorientated and unreal, and all I could think about was getting back to whichever book I was on. I usually can’t stand first-person narration, but Vie – Vie wasn’t even talking to me, okay; he was me, or I was him. I hurt when he hurt and I was happy when he was happy; I pined after the people he did and hated the people he did. I could smell the dust and damp and air freshener, I could feel the breeze and the heat and the tarmac under his feet when he ran. And I can’t dissect for you how Gregory Ashes accomplishes that; I can’t pull apart the way he uses words to figure out how Vie managed to pull me in and keep me. I can only tell you that he does. The outside world just stops existing when you open these pages, in the very best of ways, and I’m genuinely stunned that these books aren’t bestsellers. Every time I mention Hollow Folk to someone, and they don’t know what I’m talking about…guys, these books should be as well-known as Harry Potter. How they’re not is beyond me.

Maybe it’s because they’re too dark for a lot of people. They might be; Vie, whose head we’re in for the entire series, has been viciously abused for years. His scars aren’t just physical (although he has a tragic number of physical ones too). He has serious anger management issues and terrifying self-loathing; his sense of self-worth is somewhere in the minuses. He doesn’t know how to trust. He self-harms. He lies. And that’s only him; that’s not even starting on the things the villains get up to (although to be fair, much of that occurs off-screen and is never described explicitly, for which I’m very grateful). Vie is not a wet blanket, which some people might dismiss him as after the description I just gave; he’s more like a hand-grenade, destructive to the people around him and most of all to himself. He’s not passive, as many heavily depressed people become; he’s active, pre-emptive when he can be. Hollow Folk is very much character-driven plot, not plot-manipulated characters. I don’t want to give the wrong impression here.

But put it all together and I can understand why these books might just not work for some people. Some people will definitely find them triggering. But I am reminded of the Sherman Alexie quote that punched me in the gut when I found it at 16;

‘I write books for teenagers because I vividly remember what it felt like to be a teen facing everyday and epic dangers. I don’t write to protect them. It’s far too late for that. I write to give them weapons – in the form of words and ideas – that will help them fight their monsters. I write in blood because I remember what it felt like to bleed.’

I’m 26 now, not 16. But having been physically abused by my own mother – although not, thank all the gods, to the extent Vie was…I won’t say that Vie’s story is cathartic. At least, not for me. But it is true. What Ashes writes, the way he writes it – that is what it’s like. He gets it right, and there is something very important to me about the fact that Vie is the first abuse-victim I’ve ever seen in fiction who is really, genuinely, not nice about it. In more than the ‘occasional sharp tongue’ way, or the ‘shutting down, I’m-not-going-to-talk-about-this’ way. Vie does things that are not acceptable and not okay, even though the reader can completely understand why he does them – we know his motivations and thought processes, even if other characters don’t. And I’m sure there are people who will be shrieking at the pages and wishing they could shake him for being so stupid. I ended up in tears, not just because Vie’s situation is heartbreaking – even when he is violent, for example, which, neither the narrative nor the rest of the cast ever suggest is acceptable – but because I got it. I’ve been where he is, and I’ve never seen it captured on page so well.

Vie is not nice about it. A lot of victims are not nice about it. I don’t think most of us get as bad as Vie gets, but a lot of survivors, a lot of people with mental health problems – I’ll get back to that – are not nice about it. Are not easy to live with. It’s painful and difficult not just for survivors, but for the people around them, and damn it, that needs more acknowledgement, we need to talk about that more. The difference between understandable and acceptable behaviour; how behaviour can be unacceptable even when it’s understandable. Hollow Folk nails it, and you know what, we need to talk about male survivors in general a hell of a lot more.

I’m not happy that a character I adore went through hell. (Several characters I care about). But I’m incredibly grateful for the conversation-starter, and the acknowledgement, and the respect and accuracy with which that side of the story is handled. So I understand that it may be too much for some readers. But for some others, it might mean as much as it meant to me.

I finished the last book at one in the morning. I spent a long time awake, thinking about how, when someone finally points out that Vie is clinically depressed – how that was a surprise to me. I was diagnosed years ago and am doing great now, but Vie’s head-state made so much sense to me that I just accepted it, without making the jump to ‘oh, he obviously has depression!’ (I got to, ‘he desperately needs therapy.’ But I didn’t diagnose him until it was literally stated on-page). And I’m not sure I’m putting this into words well, but – that’s how well Ashes nails it. It’s so accurate, it’s so real, that I snapped back into the same head-space with Vie, because it’s indistinguishable from where my own head used to be. I don’t mean in the sense that I’m now having a depressive episode or anything; just that, I remember that being the norm, and I accepted it as the norm again, because I’ve done it before, and Vie’s trauma and scars read just like the real thing.

I don’t have words to acknowledge how much skill that takes, as a writer. I’ve been in no small amount of awe ever since I realised it.

What else can I say? Does the plot really matter, next to all that? There are bad guys – terrible ones. There are mysteries and psychics and full-on comic-book-hero superpowers. The fight scenes are incredible; the story never stumbles or lags; the sweetness (and there are more than a few beautiful, precious moments throughout the series) is almost painful. There are injuries, real ones, not the kind you can magic away. Everything is realistic: how much it hurts, how hard it can be, how much it matters.

A quick word on the ending, including very minor spoilers: 

SpoilersI cried. Not because it was an unhappy ending – it wasn’t. But there’s a bittersweet aspect to it, especially since I felt that the last book kept hinting, leaning, towards a polyamorous ending that I was hoping for so much – but that’s not the ending we got. And you know what: it’s good that it didn’t go there. It couldn’t have gone there. These characters are 16, and they all have their own wounds, and the ending we got was the one the story needed: one with love and hope and the promise of healing. I would have written a poly ending, if this had been my story; and I would have been wrong to do it.

I mention this because I was – I am – incredibly heartbroken that the fairytale Happily Ever After I wanted didn’t happen, and this surprises me. I’m ambivalent about romances, generally; I’ll happily go along with the one the story’s presenting to me, and sometimes I even enjoy and appreciate that aspect of the plot. But I’m not a Shipper, capital S. Love triangles usually just make me shrug; I don’t mind one way or the other, as long as it’s a happy, healthy relationship by the end. So I was stunned by the strength of my own reaction to the ending, to the triad-that-wasn’t. That’s not me. I don’t do that. I certainly don’t curl up in tears because it hurts so badly.

I present this as further evidence that Ashes is an amazing writer. Because I think you can infer from it how well he crafts his characters, how much emotion he makes the reader feel, how immersive the story is. It wouldn’t hurt so much if I didn’t care, and I wouldn’t care if the Hollow Folk books weren’t as perfect as they are. If Gregory Ashes wasn’t so great a storyteller that he made me care.

I hold out hope that perhaps, someday, there’ll be another book – or even a short story – where my ship gets together; when they’re older and healthier and all is well. It will remain my headcanon whether it gets written or not.I cried. Not because it was an unhappy ending – it wasn’t. But there’s a bittersweet aspect to it, especially since I felt that the last book kept hinting, leaning, towards a polyamorous ending that I was hoping for so much – but that’s not the ending we got. And you know what: it’s good that it didn’t go there. It couldn’t have gone there. These characters are 16, and they all have their own wounds, and the ending we got was the one the story needed: one with love and hope and the promise of healing. I would have written a poly ending, if this had been my story; and I would have been wrong to do it.

I mention this because I was – I am – incredibly heartbroken that the fairytale Happily Ever After I wanted didn’t happen, and this surprises me. I’m ambivalent about romances, generally; I’ll happily go along with the one the story’s presenting to me, and sometimes I even enjoy and appreciate that aspect of the plot. But I’m not a Shipper, capital S. Love triangles usually just make me shrug; I don’t mind one way or the other, as long as it’s a happy, healthy relationship by the end. So I was stunned by the strength of my own reaction to the ending, to the triad-that-wasn’t. That’s not me. I don’t do that. I certainly don’t curl up in tears because it hurts so badly.

I present this as further evidence that Ashes is an amazing writer. Because I think you can infer from it how well he crafts his characters, how much emotion he makes the reader feel, how immersive the story is. It wouldn’t hurt so much if I didn’t care, and I wouldn’t care if the Hollow Folk books weren’t as perfect as they are. If Gregory Ashes wasn’t so great a storyteller that he made me care.

I hold out hope that perhaps, someday, there’ll be another book – or even a short story – where my ship gets together; when they’re older and healthier and all is well. It will remain my headcanon whether it gets written or not.

But it was, in the end – however much it hurt – the perfect ending to a perfect series. I don’t think I can say any more than that. These books will stay with me forever, unspeakably precious to me in ways I doubt I’ll ever be able to fully verbalise. If you don’t pick them up, you’re doing yourself an injustice.

Thank you, Gregory Ashes, for these books. You’ve got a fan for life.

The post These Books Will Carve You Open: Hollow Folk series by Gregory Ashe appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

The Aritsar Book Tag!

Leelynn at Sometimes Leelynn Reads created a book tag (+ gorgeous graphics!) as part of the Hear Our Voices book tour for Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko! Raybearer instantly became one of my favourite books of all time when I got to read an arc – you can check out my review here – so between that and how ridiculously cool this book tag looked? I had to pounce!

For context: Aritsar is the incredible setting of Raybearer, an empire ruled over by an Emperor and his Council – who are psychically bound to him and make him, if not immortal, then at least invulnerable. The prompts below are inspired by the roles/titles of the Emperor’s council!

THE RULES



Thank the person that tagged you and link to their post.Link to the original creator:  Leelynn @ Sometimes Leelynn Reads ! Please note that she used the artwork/graphics if you end up using them.Answer the prompts to the best of your ability. No wrong answers here!Tag some people you think would would have fun doing this tag.Copy-paste the rules and prompts.

The Imaginary Corpse hit me like a warm fluffy blanket: it’s a story about an ex-imaginary friend, a yellow plushie triceratops detective, who solves mysteries in the realm below the human subconscious. I mean, how can you not love that???

Despite the scariness of the Big Bad, there is just something so wonderful about this story, something powerful and defiantly optimistic. It’s hopepunk at its finest, I think, whimsy matched to deep, important issues and questions. This is one of my heart-home books, for sure.

Rune Saint John

I debated giving this spot to Gideon (of the Ninth fame) or John (from Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane) but in the end there’s one warrior character who just wows the socks off me: Rune from KD Edwards’ Tarot Sequence.

What I love about Rune-as-warrior is how economic he is with his magic, how he uses the little he has access to to incredible effect. Because he doesn’t have the tools of other magic users of his caliber, he has to be able to adapt the spells he has on hand in ways another fighter would never consider – and he has to do it with a split second’s warning. He’s a creative, out-of-the-box thinker and reading his fight scenes is a delight.

The king of the Staryk (think faeries or elves, but living in eternal winter and ice) is probably not a character most people would put in this spot, but I’ve always been fascinated by fae who can’t lie and are bound to their promises. The Staryk king isn’t nice, gods forbid, but he’s fair even when he really doesn’t want to be – the tasks he sets are possible, even when they don’t look it, and he holds to his word above all else. His, and his people’s, sense of fairness and equal value are arguably the driving force of the story – or at least, what kicks it off.

I almost went with Diane Duane’s Middle Kingdoms (everyone is pansexual, polyamory is the norm, etc) but then I remembered Pet. The city of Lucille isn’t a perfect utopia – as the main character, Jam, discovers with the help of a being that comes out of her mother’s painting – but honestly? It’s pretty damn close. I hope we get to make it a reality within my lifetime.

Assuming this comes with the caveat of getting to pick who/what I am in the book… Then I’m definitely going with the Black Jewels series. I’m autistic and struggle way too much with social stuff; having a clear, rigid Protocol to dictate interactions between myself and strangers? A guide to social situations? Rules that make sense to me? Gimme.

Besides, Blood society could do with an introduction to nonbinary genders! I’d love to be the firecracker to start that conversation!

Since I’m probably not supposed to say Raybearer… I ended up not being able to pick just one book, but if you’d read these I don’t think you’d blame me!

Okay, this spot has to go to Princess Sun, of Kate Elliott’s Unconquerable Sun – a genderbent retelling of Alexander the Great, in space, and still very much queer. Sun is maybe a little slower to see the strategies of court intrigue, but on the battlefield (is it still a battlefield if it’s in space??? battlevoid?) she has no equal.

Like all the best Epic Fantasy, the Pellinor books are big on lusciously detailing meals and feasts – and since the main character Maerad starts the story as a slave, I think it’s fair that the foods she encounters as a free woman get so lovingly described. The feasts are far from my favourite aspect of this series, but I do remember my mouth watering as I read!

TEA DRAGONS TEA DRAGONS TEA DRAGONSSSSSSSSSS! These little beasties are adorable, beautiful, and magical in a very quiet and gentle way. And if you haven’t yet, you absolutely need to read the graphic novels about them and their keepers!

In Starless, there are – you guessed it – no stars in the night sky: because the stars are gods, all of whom were cast down to earth long ago. And wow, do I love the gods in this! They make me think a little of Peter Mohrbacher’s Angelarium series of paintings; strange, truly otherworldly. The brief encounters the main characters of Starless have with their gods are just…so much wow.

The story itself is about getting the gods – the stars – back into the sky, and it’s wonderful.

The Chimes is an incredibly creative work – a post-apocalyptic society that no one knows is post-apocalyptic, where humans can no longer make and remember memories normally, and music has become language. Technical musical terms have even become common adjectives and sort-of-slang for non-musical things. It’s one of the most out-of-the-box books I’ve ever read – which is probably why I’m struggling to review it properly…

And finally, I tag…

Kathy of Pages Beneath the Vaulted Sky

Lauren of Library of Lauren

Sara of The Fantasy Inn

Christine of Black Forest Basilisks

Aaand…

Whoever else wants to take part! I wasn’t specifically tagged, so I’m leaving this open for everyone who wants to give it a go!

Raybearer (Raybearer, #1) by Jordan Ifueko
Representation: Cast of Colour, Asexual, minor F/F and M/M
on 18th August 2020
Genres: Secondary World Fantasy
Goodreads

Nothing is more important than loyalty. But what if you’ve sworn to protect the one you were born to destroy?

Tarisai has always longed for the warmth of a family. She was raised in isolation by a mysterious, often absent mother known only as The Lady. The Lady sends her to the capital of the global empire of Aritsar to compete with other children to be chosen as one of the Crown Prince’s Council of 11. If she’s picked, she’ll be joined with the other Council members through the Ray, a bond deeper than blood.

That closeness is irresistible to Tarisai, who has always wanted to belong somewhere. But The Lady has other ideas, including a magical wish that Tarisai is compelled to obey: Kill the Crown Prince once she gains his trust. Tarisai won’t stand by and become someone’s pawn—but is she strong enough to choose a different path for herself?

Preorder Raybearer Now!!!

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