What I Like: I love how pink the cover is and the art style, I also love how they’re put the author’s name it looks so cool!!
Summary: Emiko lives with her Ojiichan in a small town surrounded by friends and neighbors, including her childhood friend Kenzo Sanada, who wishes she’d spend less time playing matchmaker. But Emiko can so clearly see who belongs together, even when her targets don’t know it themselves. She simply has to meddle — for the sake of true love!
As for her own romantic life though . . . who has time for that? Emiko is far too busy with her matchmaking schemes, her brunch recipes, volunteering, her bustling social life, keeping up her grades, eating said brunch recipes and making plans for after graduation. Plans she will absolutely decide on soon. Definitely. Maybe? But when Emiko ends up falling for the last person she expects, she finds herself caught in the tangled web of her own love matches. For the first time, instead of arranging from afar, Emiko has to figure out what it means to be in love herself, and that friendship and romance are more complicated than she ever imagined
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Hello, hello! I wanted to recommend some fun reading for Pride Month. Most of my recommendations will be explicitly lgbtqia+, but I will include some titles that aren't explicitly but still include heavily implied/coded queer rep or are otherwise titles I found deeply relatable to my queer experiences.
(A general note: Many of these books can depict dark, triggering, or otherwise sensitive content; they're not necessarily always perfect, either. Please look up content warnings as you need before reading, and if you have any questions, please feel free to message me.)
"Ballad of Sword and Wine (Qiang Jin Jiu)" by Tang Jiu Qing (Danmei, M/M, Political Drama) - Shen Zechuan is the eighth son of the traitorous Prince of Jianxing, a man who doomed his cities and people to destruction at the hands of the foreign enemy. As the only surviving member of his reviled line, Shen Zechuan is dragged to the capital in chains. He bears the hatred of the nation, but no one’s hate burns hotter than that of Xiao Chiye, the youngest son of the powerful Prince of Libei. (Summary via SevenSeas)
Honestly one of my favorites that I've read in a long time, QJJ is a fantastic story with so much depth, it's brilliant in its execution and writing. It has a rich cast of characters and a fantastic main couple, so I definitely recommend checking it out. It really hits the heart of kingdom building that grain (a.k.a., feeding people) really is at the heart of most power struggles.
Please see under the cut for more recs!
"Raybearer" by Jordan Ifueko (Novel, F/M, Fantasy, Asexual Major Supporting Character) - 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? (Summary via GoodReads)
Absolutely fantastic novel. I was enchanted from start to finish. The author's voice is mesmerizing, and it handled issues of inequality with an admirable amount of nuance and intelligence. As an abuse survivor growing up, I also really appreciated the main character's struggles with her mother and how that was depicted, coupled with one of the major supporting characters being written as explicitly asexual, this book was very dear to me!
"To Your Eternity" by Yoshitoki Oima (Manga, gen, Fantasy) - It, a mysterious immortal being, is sent to the Earth with no emotions nor identity. However, It is able to take the shape of those around that have a strong impetus. At first, It is a sphere. Then, It imitates the form of a rock. As the temperature drops and snow falls atop the moss, It inherits the moss. When an injured, lone wolf comes limping by and lays down to die, It takes on the form of the animal. Finally, It gains consciousness and begins to traverse the empty tundra until It meets a boy. The boy lives alone in a ghost town, which the adults abandoned long ago in search of the paradise said to exist far beyond the endless sea of white tundra. (Summary via MAL)
This is one of the ones that isn't explicitly lgbtqia+, but I feel like Fushi, as a shapeshifting being capable of taking on the forms of the deceased who made a mark on their life, is deeply relatable to the queer community as they go on their journey of self-discovery. The manga is a profound exploration of the sense of self, the march of time, the weight of complete and total immortality, of family and community, and the marks of grief. Fushi, our main character, can be read as genderfluid, non-binary, agendered, and probably a variety of other things, and they're shown taking on a variety of different forms with different gender expressions. It's a fantastic manga and definitely worth a read.
"Burning Roses" by S.L. Huang (Novel, F/F, Fantasy, Trans MC) - When Rosa (aka Red Riding Hood) and Hou Yi the Archer join forces to stop the deadly sunbirds from ravaging the countryside, their quest will take the two women, now blessed and burdened with the hindsight of middle age, into a reckoning of sacrifices made and mistakes mourned, of choices and family and the quest for immortality. (Summary via GoodReads)
So this is actually the third book in a series, which I had no clue about before I read it, but it's a testament to the author's skills that I was still entranced by the book and wasn't lost. The author combines elements of eastern and western fair tales so well, it makes to book such a vibrant and intriguing read.
"Love me for who I am" by Kata Konayama (Manga, M/NB, Slice of Life, Non-binary MC) - Mogumo is known throughout their entire school as an easy target. They are non-binary—neither male nor female—which ostracizes them from the rest of the school community. However, in a chance encounter, they meet a boy named Tetsu Iwaoka, who decides to bring Mogumo to a maid cafe. (Summary via MAL)
I will warn this one deals with some heavier topics, but I did think they were addressed surprisingly well. This one had me crying in the end, too. It was nice to watch all the characters work towards happiness and acceptance with their loved ones, especially when starting from rough places of rejection and misunderstanding.
"Every Heart a Doorway" by Seanan McGuire (Novel, gen, Fantasy, Asexual MC, Trans Major Supporting Character) - Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.
But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.
Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world. (Summary via GoodReads)
Honestly I've fallen in love with the Wayward Children series. They're short, fun reads that are packed with imagination, creativity, and lyrical prose that make them a joy to read. I especially loved that the first one decided to include an asexual main character (Nancy is great), and a transmasc major supporting character (Kade is also great). There's also a sapphic couple later on if you continue through the subsequent books in the series! Definitely a fun series.
I'd much rather see one thousand "graphic design is my passion" canva book covers and scribbly ms paint covers and poorly scanned colored pencil covers than a single AI generated book cover
Blurb: Every night, Ceridwen Kinsley plays music on her rooftop for the spirit of her dead mother. A peaceful - if odd - ritual...until she witnesses a murder by something not quite human. The monstrous encounter earns her notoriety within the city and a visit from the reclusive Lord Protector, Drystan Winterbourne. Charged with protecting the backwater city of Teneboure by the king, Drystan is failing at his task, and he can't afford another slip-up...but when fate and the very monster he means to conquer bring Ceridwen to his notice, he seizes the opportunity and presents her with an offer: play music for him at his manor in exchange for the money her impoverished family desperately needs. Music eases the strain of his magic, and who better to hire than the woman whose tunes he secretly listens to at night? At first, Ceridwen is put off by Drystan's unkempt appearance and harsh demeanour, not to mention the odd ailment that plagues him...but as he embraces her passion for music and she draws the recluse out of his lonely tower, the two develop an unlikely attachment. Class lines begin to blur as fearful indifference shifts to unexpected desire, and Ceridwen yearns to help Drystan subdue the monster as well as provide for her family. However, the monster prowling the night isn't their only enemy, and as terrible secrets come to light, protecting those they love may risk their lives...and their hearts.
Comments: The story follows Luca, a trainee vet who enrols in the Cogniel School of Dragon Studies. There, she and her fellow trainees encounter the trials, tribulations, and occasional chaos that come with working with dragons.
I absolutely adore the world-building! While I'm not typically a fan of dragons that don't resemble traditional ones, this manga presents its various types of dragons in such a unique and interesting way that I couldn't help but love them. I also really enjoyed the characters and their dynamics with one another. The story itself was engaging, filled with tension and moments of mystery. I can't wait to get my hands on the next volume to see what shenanigans Luca and her friends get into!
I recommend this book to fans of "Witch Hat Atelier" and those who enjoy magical fantasy manga!
Thank you Kodansha Comics for providing me this book for review consideration via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.
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in ⭐️"Cemetery Boys: Espíritu"⭐️, Julian Diaz is alive again, but when a hollow mark starts carving its way through his soul, he must uncover who cursed him before the darkness inside him turns him into something Yadriel may have to destroy.
Espíritu comes out September 8th, 2026! you can preorder signed and personalized copies through Always Here Books (they do international shipping, just reach out to them!)
Ready Player One meets Heartstopper in this “fun, fast, and fabulous read” (M. K. England) as a myth-loving video game player competing in a tournament with his gamer friends and handsome crush discovers there isn't a cheat code to life—or love.
In the real world, Keegan Thomas is a gay, eighteen-year-old mythology nerd with undiagnosed chronic pain. But in the myth-inspired, online video game world of Pantheonic, he is the glorious and powerful K.Odyssia, slaying legions of enemies and completing quests for honor and glory along with his team, the Epic Hearts. Despite his closeness to his gamer friends--and the secret crush he has on his teammate, Alix--no one knows that he is struggling with the sudden onset of chronic pain in his lower back and fears it will hinder his ability to move to NYU in the fall.
When a quest in Pantheonic turns out to be a secret invitation to an in-person tournament in New York City, Keegan has to battle his fears of concealing and managing his pain so that his team can attend this once-in-a-lifetime event. Competing against six other teams, members of the Epic Hearts must work together to outwit and outplay the others to win the tournament and the hefty cash prize. But can Keegan as K.Odyssia be one of the heroes that Pantheonic needs while he's laser-focused on his own epic battle? Will he be able to level up his relationship with Alix and lead his team to victory? It's time for the games to begin!
I just finished my 4th? 5th? Read-through of Sorcery of Thorns and Mysteries of Thorn Manor. I have middling memory issues and with books I forget enough that I can reread them every once in a while and a lot of it is brand new to me. That being said, every single time I read these they just get better and better. Silas just permanently lives in the back of my brain, I think about him so often. To love something that cannot love you back, but does all the same in its own way... There is nothing more that I love about being a human than this, and I adore how much of it is contained in your writing.
Deepest respects
Hi anon,
Thank you so much for taking the time to send this. It's the kind of message that keeps me writing in my darkest hours. If you haven't seen already, there's a short story from Silas's POV available here, because he lives permanently in the back of my brain too. I doubt it's any secret at this point that his character is the reason why I wrote Sorcery, and for me, he's the book's soul. For some reason I never expected so many readers to agree, and it always means a lot to me to hear.
Since @sarahreesbrennan is on my mind right now, I want to give her a shout-out for her Demon's Lexicon series, which fertilized the soil in my brain that eventually gave root to Silas. I read the books during college, and one of the many things I loved about them was that I had never before seen an author write a demon (or similar looks-human-but-isn't character) who legitimately isn't capable of feeling emotions like love, guilt, etc, and explore what that might look like in the context of close relationships with humans, without ever copping out and softening that character for the sake of making him more conventionally relatable or sympathetic. The way Sarah wrote him was formative to my personal taste, and I'm not sure I've seen anyone do it better in my many years of reading since.
While some time later my beloved Holly would put Sorcery into my hands and say ‘you have to read this. This character is SO your bag.’ Said character was Silas, and lo, it was even so.
Stories are our bridges to each other and the moving waters below. Stories are connection. I wrote a book about the kind of thing I like to read, and in time a book came to me that was my kind of book. I did feel pressure to cop out, but I didn’t, and if I had I wouldn’t have received this sincere honour. We never know whether the ripples of change we make might become waves.
In a tight-knit Levantine Christian family in 1960s Cairo, Tarek's entire life is written in advance. He'll be a doctor like his father, marry, and have children. Under the watchful eye of the family's strong women, he starts to do just that until a patient's son, Ali, enters his life and turns it upside down. The two men's relationship sparks a series of dramatic events
The Open Door by Latifa Al-Zayyat
February 1946, Cairo is engulfed by demonstrations against the British. Layla's older brother Mahmud returns, wounded in the clashes, and the events of that fateful day mark a turning point in her life, an awakening to the world around her
The Yacoubian Building by Alaa Al Aswany
Some live in squalor on its rooftop, others inhabit the faded glory of its apartments and offices - here a womanizing aristocrat, there the secretly gay editor of Le Caire newspaper. Religious fervour jostles with promiscuity; bridery and exploitation with joy and elation; modern life with ancient culture. Taha, the son of the building's doorman, has aspirations and dreams for himself and his childhood sweetheart Busayna. But when those dreams are dashed on the rocks of corruption, hope turns to bitterness with devasting consequences
The Queue by Basma Abdel Aziz
In a surreal, but familiar, vision of modern day Egypt, a centralized authority known as 'the Gate' has risen to power in the aftermath of the 'Disgraceful Events, ' a failed popular uprising. Citizens are required to obtain permission from the Gate in order to take care of even the most basic of their daily affairs, yet the Gate never opens, and the queue in front of it grows longer.
Citizens from all walks of life mix and wait in the sun: a revolutionary journalist, a sheikh, a poor woman concerned for her daughter's health, and even the brother of a security officer killed in clashes with protestors. Among them is Yehia, a man who was shot during the Events and is waiting for permission from the Gate to remove a bullet that remains lodged in his pelvis. Yehia's health steadily declines, yet at every turn, officials refuse to assist him, actively denying the very existence of the bullet.
Ultimately it is Tarek, the principled doctor tending to Yehia's case, who must decide whether to follow protocol as he has always done, or to disobey the law and risk his career to operate on Yehia and save his life.
Two Women in One by Nawal El Saadawi
Bahiah Shaheen, an 18 year old medical student and the daughter of a prominent Egyptian public official, finds the male students in her class coarse and alien. Her father, too, seems to belong to a race apart. Frustrated by her hardworking, well-behaved, middle-class public persona, her meeting with a stranger at a gallery one day proves to be the beginning of her road to self-discovery and the start of her realisation that fulfilment in life is indeed possible.
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Book Review: Villains Are Destined to Die by Suol and Gwon Gyeoeul
this is my first manhwa i have read, recommended to me by @logarithmicpanda when i said i wanted to read some isekai!
this is about a teen girl who ends up in a dating sim.... as the villain! she finds penelope's life parallels her own as she tries to avoid being murdered at every turn
the art is absolutely stunning!!
i really hope we get to meet ivonne
i cant wait to see other characters' backstories
i love the commentary on abuse and power imbalance
the toxic family dynamics are very interesting and i cant wait to see if anyone gains her trust or gets their comeuppance for being horrible
i hope we learn more about emily and the other servants
the story was so consuming, i could barely put it down
i put the rest on hold from the library immediately
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Title & Author: The Construction of Shadows by Dakota Jackson
What I Like: I like all warm colours, the art style and all the solar elements.
Summary: Meiling Katz is a nobody. With no Divine blood and a mysterious illness that’s plagued her since the Lunar Eclipse Massacre killed her parents thirteen years ago, she’s powerless. Nevertheless, Meiling is determined to attend the prestigious Zialitos Academy for Sun-Gifted Children and rise in the ranks of their country’s lawmakers.
Suraya Zialitos is a living legend. As the heir to the most powerful lineage in the world—those descended from Ataru, Divinity of the Sun—Suraya is destined for greatness. But Suraya does not want greatness, she wants revenge for her family slaughtered by the notorious Miyako family in the Massacre.
When the childhood best friends arrive at the Academy only to find a string of terrorist attacks linked to the Miyakos, their initial plans go up in flames. With their friendship unraveling and the country in terror, they realize there’s only one way to solve this: together.
Blurb: The night Fei was born, a prophecy was made: she would one day become the Empress of All Empresses. Torn from her family as a child and raised in the palace to one day marry the Crown Prince of the most powerful empire in the land, Fei has only ever known loneliness. When the opportunity arises to seize her own destiny for the first time in her life, Fei sets out to hunt a legendary tiger, knowing it might cost her everything. What she doesn't expect is to fall under the mercy of Yexue, the beautiful runaway prince from a rival kingdom. Blessed by night, harbouring a dangerous magic, and capable of commanding an army of deadly vampires, Yexue could be the key to Fei gaining more than just her freedom...but to outrun destiny, Fei must spark a wave of events that will change the world as she knows it. Torn between two princes and plagued by nightmares of bloodshed, she finds that the stars might be more inescapable - and more irresistible - than she ever considered before.
