Duck Prints Press

Books With Anxiety Rep For Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Awareness Month isn't over yet! Here are a FEW of the amazing books that feature anxiety rep. I want to specify that word: FEW. There were so many to choose from, I had to stop myself from adding more and more pages. I'm sorry if your favorite books featuring anxiety rep aren't listed. Please feel free to mention a few of your favorites in the comments. (I also apologize for any mistakes. My original post was corrupted, so I had to start over. Back up EVERYTHING, my bookish bats!)

As a note, I tried to include as many queer books within this list as possible. I've noticed that many book guides for Mental Health Awareness Month have neglected queer experiences. As a queer / bisexual person with anxiety and depression, I didn't want to neglect these stories.

Happy Pride Month! This year, I’m celebrating by recommending books with LGBTQ+ main characters. The first three weeks each highlight a different intersectional subcategory, and the fourth week will be for general recommendations.

This week, I’ll showcase books featuring neurodivergent queer main characters. Like my other recommendations this month, these are all books I’ve read and enjoyed that feature happy endings. Feel free to add your own recommendations in the comments and reblogs!

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske Through a bureaucratic error, the completely unmagical Robin Blyth is assigned to the role of liaison between the magical and nonmagical spheres of British government. On his first day, he is ambushed and cursed by a group of masked men connected to whatever shady business his missing predecessor got involved in. His new colleagues aren’t exactly eager to help him (or brimming with magic themselves) but they must work together to solve a mystery that threatens the entire magical society of Britain. I am still absolutely head-over-heels in love with this story and it might be my all-time favorite book ever. It’s got decent worldbuilding, a cleverly crafted mystery, excellent banter, awesome female characters (even if I’m still annoyed about the ones who get killed off), and a slow-burn romance built on how the characters interact with each other rather than simple physical attraction (although there is that, too, and extremely well-written smut). It’s also got one of the most compassionate and authentic portrayals of neurodivergent-coded representation, and one of my favorite Aspi/ADHD pairs in fiction (a lot like Payneland from Dead Boy Detectives). Best of all, it’s the first in the Last Binding trilogy, and the books get progressively better—but this one remains my favorite.

Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer Steph and her mom have been running from her abusive father forever. Steph’s only friends are on the online site CatNet, which is run by an AI (as in an actual digital person, not one of those pretender chatbots) who likes cat pictures. When a school prank leads someone dangerous to Steph’s location and when CheshireCat’s creator threatens to take them offline, all of the friends need to work together to help each other. This one keeps tying for first place in all-time favorite book ever. I love the mystery, banter, awesome female characters, chase scenes, slow-burn romance with a foundation in friendship, chosen family, and positive neurodivergent and queer representation. I like how there are human nonbinary, neurodivergent, and asexual characters in this story, not just the AI. I like how the two main female antagonists are written as flawed people in difficult situations, not just one-dimensional villains. And the main villain is truly terrifying, possibly the scariest villain in a Young Adult book ever, no superpowers required. This book ends with a bit of a twist teasing the sequel, so be sure to check out Chaos on CatNet afterward.

The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood & Boyfriends by Jamie D’Amato College student Brennan is still recovering from his recent suicide attempt and the last thing he needs or expects is getting turned into a vampire. Now he has to navigate all this on top of coursework, mental health issues, and his crush on the cute guy at the library. But there are people he can lean on now, both humans and vampires, and he’s going to need their help to investigate the recent attacks around campus that threaten the fragile peace. Sometimes I read a book and within the first few pages I just know it’s going to be one I love. And I was right. Yes, it’s a lot heavier than most—most of the characters are navigating some kind of trauma and/or family issues and several struggle with suicidal thoughts. All of the characters are flawed and many hurt each other without meaning to, but also people care and try to mend relationships where they can. It’s very messy, and beautiful. There is a romance, and things don’t always go well, but they do talk to each other and try sort through all the hurt and insecurity and trust issues. The ending offers some surprises, but not typical clever plot twists—it’s more like the story is subverting how we expect stories to go by making everyone feel like a fleshed-out character that we care about, including the antagonists. I really loved this book.

Steam by Shannon Garrity Ruby escaped from the lab that created her and is fulfilling her purpose by playing matchmaker at a coffee shop. She just wants to make people happy! Unfortunately, not all of her plans work out as intended, and the lab is intent on bringing her back. I don’t normally read graphic novels, but I couldn’t resist this one. Loved it. Ruby reminds me so much of Niko from Dead Boy Detectives, and while I definitely don’t agree with most of her decisions, I still find her extremely relatable. It’s a coffee shop romance, but it’s also a mystery, and it’s also about learning to trust your friends and figuring out what it means to be a person. Plus, I really enjoyed how the community collaborated at the end to mastermind a nonviolent solution—we need more of that in stories! Very fun and highly recommended.

Daniel Deconstructed by James Ramos Daniel is an Autistic high school student and filmmaker playing matchmaker between his best friend and a new kid at school. Only things don’t quite turn out the way he expects, and he has some things to learn about both his classmates and himself in the process. I feel a little bad that this is the only book on my list with an explicitly Autistic, Aspi, or ADHD protagonist instead of a heavily implied one. I didn’t fall head-over-heels in love with it, but it’s very good. We get nonbinary and asexual representation as well as Autistic representation and fandom representation—I know, that’s not a category most people recognize, but how often do fans see ourselves in stories; not enough! Sure, it’s LARP and RPGs, which aren’t my spheres, but I still appreciate seeing them on the page. Plus, it’s set in Minnesota! Do you know how many books, movies, or shows are set in Minnesota? Not enough! Yeah, I enjoyed this one.

I should note that the Aiden Thomas novels mentioned before also belong on this list (you cannot convince me those characters are neurotypical and I love them for it).

1. The court holds Google responsible for statements made by its AI, considering them Google's statements (search engines have limited liability for results in their engine as they're the words of other sites/companies/people), meaning when their AI lies/hallucinates they're liable for the defamation/harm resulting from those statements.

2. Google's defense that customers are generally aware of the lack of reliability and are responsible for fact checking was dismissed. As the court pointed out, that would "significantly diminish" AI Search's stated purpose and it can't be distinguished from Google's business practices/statements as a search tool.

3. Studies have found about 91% of Google's everyday AI responses are accurate, leaving millions of searches per HOUR with potential liability for falsehoods. 56% of correct responses weren't supported by the sources the AI listed. Both of which mean Google is now liable for a LOT more AI "errors."

4. Google was held liable for 80% of court costs in this case and this precedent is expected to reverberate around the world. This is a massive shift from the 3rd-party search provider role Google has previously played and it comes right as they've tied ALL searches to their AI search.

Pan Visibility Day is coming up on May 24th, and we’re celebrating as we do with books starring pan protagonists! For even more recs, check out past years’ posts.  Young Adult Moth Dark by Kika Hatzopoulou Sascia has always loved the Dark. Six years ago, when the world she knew collided with the world of the Dark, she found it thrilling rather than terrifying. Now, she spends her days studying…

spring into summer book tag

tagging book lovers below!

Happy Disability Pride Month! We have soooo many queer books with disabled characters for ya!!! Whatever your favorite genre, we hope you’ll be able to find something to love here. The contributors to this list are: Tris Lawrence, Linnea Peterson, Rascal Hartley, Nina Waters, Shannon, Shea Sullivan, and Meera S.

A Lady for a Duke by Alexis Hall

Icebreaker by A.L. Graziadei

Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green & David Levithan

Copper Coins by Mu Su Li

The Extraordinaries Series by T.J. Klune

Watson’s Sketchbook by Molly Knox Ostertag

Stars of Chaos by Priest

May the Best Man Win by Z.R. Ellor

No Better Than Beasts by Z.R. Ellor

The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee

Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots

The Blood of Olympus by Rick Riordan

Artifice & Access: A Disability in Fantasy Anthology ed. by Ella T. Holmes

Ellen Outside the Lines by A.J. Sass

Golden Terrace by Cang Wu Bin Bai

The Many Half-Lived Lives of Sam Sylvester by Maya MacGregor

The Flying Ship by Jem Milton

He Who Drowned the World by Shelley Parker-Chan

The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish Series by Xue Shan Fei Hu

When the World Tips Over by Jandy Nelson

The Queen’s Thief Series by Megan Whalen Turner

Body, Remember: A Memoir by Kenny Fries

The Murderbot Diaries Series by Martha Wells

Navigating With You by Jeremy Whitley & Casio Ribeiro

A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green

I Hear the Sunspot by Yuki Fumino

Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer

Blackwater by Jeannette Arroyo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

The Unbroken by C.L. Clark

Màgòdiz by Gabe Calderón

Godkiller by Hannah Kaner

Check, Please! by Ngozi Ukazu

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo

Late Bloomer by Mazey Eddings

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao

You can see this list as a Goodreads bookshelf, and if you’re looking to buy one or more of these, you can find them all as a rec list in our Bookshop.org affiliate shop!

A guest post by Aeryn Jemariel Knox. (@jemariel )

Omegaverse, also known as Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics or a/b/o (though usage of this abbreviation has declined due to it's resemblance to a slur), is one of the most baffling paradigms that fandoms have ever invented. Even within fandom, most peoples’ reactions on discovering omegaverse range from bemusement to disgust to fascination. I’ve had some non-fandom friends ask if it’s related to the alpha male/beta male concepts that have become so popular in certain corners of Reddit; I’m very glad to say that no, it is not—that is an example of convergent language evolution. At best, they both call back to the same misunderstanding of wolf pack dynamics, but the typical “Alpha Male” would be cast as a villain character in most omegaverse stories, if he’s present at all.

At heart, omegaverse can best be categorized as a science fiction sub-genre. Yes, really. It’s speculative fiction that examines current societal assumptions, problems, and fears through a lens of alternate physiology. If you thought omegaverse was just an excuse for porn, well… being honest, most of my best and deepest stories start out as “an excuse for porn.” My thoughts on that are best saved for a future blog post.

The most common defining feature of omegaverse is right in the name—humans are biologically stratified into two or three sub-, or secondary, genders: alphas, sometimes betas, and omegas. Alphas are typically described as socially dominant, physically strong, and they have certain physiological traits that we’ll get into later. Omegas are generally assumed to be socially submissive and physically weak, though in most omegaverse stories there is some element of challenging those assumptions.

Omegaverse has its roots in the “kink meme” days of the late 2000s and can more-or-less be traced back to tropes common among people writing werewolf erotica. Lots of early omegaverse has a significant focus on pack dynamics and more “wolfy” characteristics. This is still an element of omegaverse as it’s currently written, but it makes up a smaller percentage of the overall works produced than it once did. A reader can see these roots in genre tropes such as children being referred to as “pups” in most omegaverse stories. The first omegaverse fic—as far as anyone in my social circles has been able to determine—was a Supernatural RPF AU story, and, even in the genre’s inception, there is an element of challenging assigned gender roles. The assumed roles of an omega are present and accounted for: that they belong barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen, that they should be relegated to caretaker roles, that they shouldn’t work, etc.—think every stereotype of a 50s housewife. Similarly for an alpha: that they are hyper-sexual and domineering, to be feared by most omegas, inherently predatory, etc. But the characters who are the focus of the story deliberately and obviously go against these trends, expressing their individuality and bucking what their society expects of them. In a very 2010 sort of way, they are “not like those other girls.” There are critiques to aim at that trope as well, but the point stands: subversion has been a part of omegaverse since moment zero. Not every author chooses to lean into this aspect of the genre but, in my opinion, subverting the genre tropes makes for the most interesting omegaverse stories.

It’s tempting to describe omegaverse as a setting, but that’s not accurate. It’s more like a toolbox from which an author can pick and choose elements to add to any setting they are writing their story in, then use those elements to help them tell their particular stories in a unique way. I’ve read historical omegaverse, fantasy omegaverse, modern-day omegaverse, canonverse omegaverse, science-fiction omegaverse, western omegaverse… you name it, it’s probably been combined with omegaverse. And not all authors will apply the same level of focus to any given aspect of omegaverse: just because you add some cinnamon to your chili doesn’t mean you’re suddenly making a dessert. Every author puts their own spin on the world—that’s part of the fun. 

So, keeping in mind that hardly any omegaverse stories will use every single genre trope, here’s a list of some of the most common features that make a story recognizably a part of this genre.

Societal stratification: To varying degrees, societies in most omegaverse stories are divided by secondary gender. This can mean anything from “omegas experiencing easily recognizable misogyny or other discrimination,” to “cultures that have strict hierarchical structures in which omegas are segregated, barred from certain social opportunities, or kept as property.” How many people are born each designation (a term often used to refer to the types of sub-genders in the genre) varies widely depending on the story. Sometimes, all humans are either alpha or omega and there are no betas; sometimes, alphas and omegas make up only a small minority of the population. Sometimes only men are divided and women are all betas, if they’re incorporated in the sub-gender system at all. (If there is one major weakness to omegaverse, it’s the lack of focus on how women are affected by this social structure, but if I get into that, we’ll be here all day.) Depending on the author’s goals with the story, these social structures may be used to make commentary on our modern society, to create obstacles for our heroes to overcome, or it may be leaned into by people who enjoy the power dynamics and differentials that result from the omegaverse set up. Other works have egalitarian omegaverse societies in which the different genders are treated equally! Oppression and discrimination are not a requirement of the genre, it’s just an often-seen element.

Pheromones/Scents:One of the many physiological differences often present in omegaverse is that humans give off pheromones or some otherwise-defined personal scent. These scents serve a variety of purposes: they’re linked with attraction; they often indicate where an individual is in their mating cycle (see the next paragraph!); they aid identification since each person has their own individual scent; and more broadly one can usually tell who is an alpha, an omega, or a beta) by their scent. Often, someone’s scent gives clues to emotional state, especially extreme distress or sexual arousal. A compatible pair may know instantly that the person they are scenting is their “true mate,” or may be particularly attracted to this person’s scent. Betas may or may not be able to pick up on these scents and may have a “neutral” scent or no scent to speak of. Scent blockers may or may not be used in polite company, and even if scent blockers exist in a specific omegaverse ‘verse, they may fail at narratively appropriate moments. It’s a frequent genre element that scents emanate from a “scent point” on the characters’ necks, and that the spot in question is especially sensitive to touch/kissing/etc.

Mating cycles: Likely the most well-known aspect of omegaverse is the hormone- and/or pheromone-driven mating cycles. Omegas experience an estrus or “heat,” and sometimes alphas also experience “rut” though this is somewhat less common. A person’s secondary gender is often a mystery until they “present”—usually marked by going through their first heat or rut—sometime during puberty. Pheromones given off during these times can have a disproportionate effect on people of the “opposite” secondary gender who happen to be in the vicinity; in some stories they provoke such a powerful reaction that omegas cannot leave the house during heat for fear of sexual assault. This is where the genre starts to display some of its more non-consensual elements, which are not always present; sometimes heat just makes them horny. But sometimes they absolutely must, er, resolve their heat with an alpha, which leads to a “Fuck or Die” situation—a trope as old as slash fanfiction itself. 

How frequently heats and ruts occur varies by story; the most common are monthly (mirroring human menstruation cycles) or every three months, six months, or year, mimicking various animal species (for example, dogs go into heat every six months, so stories that emphasize the wolfy aspects of omegaverse often have heat cycles on a six-month pattern). Trying to figure out how to navigate a life/job/family while working around mating cycles is a frequent feature of omegaverse stories.

Mpreg, which is genre-speak for “male pregnancy:” In most omegaverse stories, omegas of any primary gender have the ability to get pregnant and carry children. It’s a mainstay of the genre, but like any other trope in the omegaverse playbook, the level of focus on it varies from author to author. Sometimes, it’s glossed over entirely or deliberately omitted. Sometimes, it’s only suggested for the sake of—for lack of a better phrase—“breeding kink.” But some authors use this genre to tell stories about familial relationships and explore the emotional and physical journey of pregnancy through the eyes of their favorite (generally male) characters. Mpreg stories can also incorporate lactation and may follow the characters’ post-pregnancy lives to segue into the kidfic genre. The extent of the omega male character’s feminization often increases in proportion to the focus on mpreg in the story (though, as with all of these tropes, I am wary of making sweeping generalizations because a writer is absolutely free to write an mpreg story where the pregnant character remains thoroughly masculine throughout). Note that a story including mpreg doesn’t automatically mean the fic is omegaverse. There are other fandom tropes that can result in mpreg, but the most common trope that leads to mpreg in modern fandom is omegaverse.

Medicines: As part of mirroring regular society, it’s also common for omegaverse stories to incorporate elements of genre-appropriate birth control and other types of medication. For example, scent blockers have already been mentioned; scent blockers are often incorporated to enable an alpha, beta, or omega to navigate society without people judging them based solely on their scents, or to enable them to present themselves to the public as a sub-gender different than their birth sub-gender. Another common medication is “heat suppressant,” which is what it says on the tin—an omega on heat suppressants won’t go into heat (until they fail at a narratively appropriate moment, anyway…noticing the genre trends yet?). On the flip side, “heat inducers” are also absolutely a genre feature, with obvious results.

Related Genres: As said earlier, omegaverse can be combined with any other genre. But it does have some sibling tropes that are more often coupled with omegaverse for fiction-writing purposes. When I first started reading omegaverse, there was a heavy emphasis on the power dynamics inherent in the existence of “dominant” alphas and “submissive” omegas; that made it feel close to the biological Dom/sub genre (a sub-genre where being a Dom or being a sub is inborn and is essentially a sub-gender in a similar way to omegaverse). That seems to have been a feature of that particular fandom, though, which leads me to wonder how different omegaverse looks in different fandoms. (Full disclosure, most of my experience has been in the Supernatural fandom.) Omegaverse stories set in modern/contemporary settings tend to be more common than other types (such as science fiction, fantasy, etc.), though that’s been changing as omegaverse continually ripples outwards into more fandoms. In stories where omegas are considered property, they heavily overlap tropes with slave fic; some more romantic omegaverse can read like a soulmates au, with people recognizing “the one” immediately by scent and a focus on true mates and/or the formation of a strong mating bond, usually for life. 

Of course, coupling omegaverse with these tropes isn’t required. Nothing in omegaverse is required. These are all simply options; as I say, it’s better to look at the aspects of omegaverse as toys in the toybox—play with the ones that appeal to you, ignore the rest.

Other Anatomical Differences: This is where I cannot avoid getting sexually graphic, so for those who’d rather avoid an explicit rating, I’m putting this section at the end (under a Read More on platforms that include that functionality).

So, what’s the point of all this?

If you ask a hundred people why they like omegaverse, you will get two-hundred answers. Some people come to the genre for the primal, animalistic appeal of heats and ruts, pheromones, and the, uh, anatomical differences. A lot of people enjoy  the “he couldn’t help himself” trope in fiction; non-con fantasies are extremely common, and the fantastical elements of omegaverse make it a great way to explore them at a safe remove from real-life situations. Or perhaps you’re drawn to the opportunity to explore pregnancy in a safe way with your favorite characters, or maybe you really enjoy the strict societal structures and the obstacles they create. Maybe you love that moment when the omega realizes that this handsome alpha is his true mate and they live happily ever after.

For me, as may already be clear, omegaverse is strongest when it’s used to shine a light on the oppression of marginalized classes and the ridiculousness of strict gender expectations. Over and over, omegaverse stories focus on omegas overcoming their oppression and empowering themselves. But my favorite corner of omegaverse that I’ve found, my weird little omegaverse niche, focuses not on alphas or omegas, but on betas.

There was a time when I wondered to myself, why would anybody focus on betas? Why would you write an omegaverse story and then focus on the people who don’t experience heats and ruts and mating cycles? Who don’t have a scent? In a world where all interpersonal relationships are defined by this rigid structure, why would you focus on the people who are outside of it?

And then I realized that I had to write a story about betas.

The result is the most personal story I have ever written, which gets deep into my experience of being nonbinary (or genderqueer, or gender fluid, I’ve used all those labels at different points of life) through the lens of somebody who is neither alpha nor omega, but is instead distinctly “other.” The joy of using omegaverse to tell this story, and what makes omegaverse such a strong vehicle for telling subversive stories of all stripes, is that it magnifies everything about gender and sexual attraction, making it all bigger, brighter, more obvious, which lets you dig into the nuance of an character’s experiences when they don’t fit the status quo. 

The number of people who have read this story and said “I’m not genderqueer, but I relate to Dean’s struggle of feeling other” has been hugely rewarding. In the end, that’s the story I was telling, through my own experiences but with the personal “serial numbers” filed off, which allows it to be a story accessible to anybody. That’s the beauty of using a fantasy or sci-fi language to tell a real story: when it doesn’t directly reflect anybody’s exact experience, it’s easier to see yourself in the mirror.

Whether you decide to dive into this genre or not, I hope this has been useful in understanding the, er, ins and outs of this strange little world that we, as a community, are continually collectively creating. Happy reading!

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