etta

vs.

It’s Not a Plot Hole, It’s Just Something That They Opted Not to Spoon-feed You Because It Would Be Obvious If You Thought About It For 20 Seconds

vs.

It May Be a Plot Hole, But It Still Works In Terms of the Story’s Themes and Character Logic

vs.

All Works of Fiction Represent Constructed Realities and by Demanding a Lack of Plot Holes, You Are Improperly Importing the Rules of Objective Reality into a Subjective Creation that Must Be Judged Primarily on Its Aesthetic Merits

vs.

Leave a little space

for the previously unthinkable

sapphic horror books:

wilder girls by rory powers: an all girls' boarding school on an isolated island, where everyone starts developing weird mutations like gills, extra spines, scales etc, after a virus called the tox breaks out. there is also something lurking in the woods. very, very atmospheric and creepy, casually queer, but has a divisive ending. you'll like it if you liked the film version of annihilation.

to break a covenant by alison ames: ever since a mining explosion, eerie occurences have been plaguing the ghost town of moon basin. when a young girl's father ventures down into the mine and doesn't come back up, she and her friends team up to investigate the creepy history of moon basin. the queer romance is not the focus but it's quite nice. ending is kind of lazy. also there's a ghost hunter called shane ryan lol.

sawkill girls by claire legrand: another island, another story of missing girls, except this one is slightly more disturbing and has some demonic activity and occult rituals rather than being solarpunk. has a sapphic romance that is the right amount of toxic and also, pleasantly, includes a hungry and angsty sapphic sex scene. divisive but slightly better ending than wilder girls.

the gilda stories by jewelle gomez: a seminal work of black speculative literature, which tells the life story of a black lesbian vampire- from her creation in 1850 louisana, as a runaway from a plantation, to her travels across america and various adventures for 200 years. not much romance, but has some really™ psychosexual feeding sequences.

the haunting of hill house by shirley jackson: it's very different from the show and the horror is more about anticipation and psychology than spectral apparitions. theo and eleanor are both very queer and it's insane that mike flanagan made them sisters, never trust a man. (I know theo was a lesbian in the show but her love interest was so meh).

a lesson in vengeance by victoria lee: a young girl grieving the death of her gf returns to her remote and exclusive ivy covered campus for her senior year, and teams up with a prodigy novelist to research the arcane history and gruesome murders from her academy's past. spooky, unsettling, toxic lesbianism and one very spicy sex scene. the love interest is based on donna tartt btw.

things have gotten worse since we last spoke by eric larocca: about two women in an online relationship in a 2000s chat room, but their dynamic soon spirals out of control. it's gruesome it's nasty it's twisted and depraved and horribly enjoyable.

the locked tomb trilogy by tamsyn muir: lesbian necromancers and swordswomen in space bond over repressed catholic guilt, murder, bodyswapping and bones. this one is a make or break type deal because I know some people hated the writing style, but if you get used to it, you'll have a great time. also has a living embodiment of a tumblr sexy rat woman with a gold bone arm. many codependent relationships, nasty and horny women.

plain bad heroines by emily danforth: a film crew travel to an abandoned school in their attempt to recreate a tragedy that happened there back in 1902. lesbians, polyamory, gothic horror etc. haven't read it yet.

the luminous dead by caitlin starling: see now THIS is what I am talking about. a young woman goes exploring into a cave system that is partially underwater, with the help of her handler above ground, who provides her with instructions and resources as she goes in further. but she is not alone in the dark. TWISTED af toxic romance, spooky and feels like a fever dream. if you like this, I also recommend the movie the descent (one of my favourites).

sorrowland by rivers solomon: a black woman escapes from the separatist cult she grew up in, and hides in the woods with her babies. while there, she is hunted by an unseen "fiend" for sport and weird, unsettling things start happening to her body. has a toxic romance, and has a wholesome healing one, both lesbian. also has a scene where the main couple have a phone sex foursome with a pair of ghosts. yeah.

mabel podcast by becca de la rosa and mabel martin: not a book but a podcast. a nurse taking care of an elderly lady in her large spooky house starts sending voice messages to the lady's estranged granddaughter, but before long creepy things begin occuring around her and she has to figure out just what exactly she has signed up for. folk horror, feral lesbians, lots of religious and mythological references.

Here's a list of wlw book reccomendations and their genres since it's extremely hard to find. I haven't read most of these!!

young adult / contemporary || romance || fantasy / fairytale || sci-fi / dystopia || mystery / thriller || horror / paranormal || historical || coming of age

[ 1 ] The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily Danforth (coming of age, young adult)

[ 2 ] Annie on my Mind - Nancy Garden (romance, young adult)

[ 3 ] Of Fire and Stars - Audrey Coulthurst (fantasy, romance, young adult)

[ 4 ] The Abyss Surrounds Us - Emily Skrutskie (sci-fi, young adult)

[ 5 ] We Are Okay - Nina Lacour (young adult, contemporary)

[ 6 ] These Witches Don't Burn - Isabel Sterling (young adult, paranormal, contemporary, romance)

[ 7 ] The Henna Wars - Adiba Jaigirdar (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 8 ] Queen of Coin and Whispers - Helen Corcoran (fantasy, romance, young adult)

[ 9 ] Girl, Serpent, Thorn - Melissa Bashardoust (fairytale, fantasy, young adult)

[ 10 ] The Falling in Love Montage - Ciara Smyth (young adult, contemporary, romance, coming of age)

[ 11 ] Bleeding Earth - Kaitlin Ward (horror, young adult, dystopia, fantasy)

[ 12 ] Its Not Like its a Secret - Misa Sugiura (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 13 ] Criers War - Nina Varela (young adult, fantasy, romance)

[ 14 ] This is How you Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (sci-fi, romance)

[ 15 ] The Dark Tide - Alicia Jasinska (young adult, fantasy, romance)

[ 16 ] Tell Me How You Really Feel - Aminah Mae Safi (romance, young adult)

[ 17 ] The Difference Between Me and You - Madeleine George (young adult, contemporary, romance)

[ 18 ] Wilder Girls - Rory Power (young adult, mystery, thriller)

[ 19 ] Huntress - Kate Quinn (mystery, thriller, historical)

[ 20 ] Girls of Paper and Fire - Natasha Ngan (fantasy, young adult)

[ 21 ] The Priory of the Orange Tree - Samantha Shannon (fantasy)

[ 22 ] Fingersmith - Sarah Waters (historical, mystery, thriller)

[ 23 ] Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters (historical, romance)

[ 24 ] The Best Bad Things - Katrina Carrasco (mystery, thriller, historical)

[ 25 ] The Once and Future Witches - Alix E. Harrow (historical, fantasy)

[ 26 ] Wicked Saints - Emily A. Duncan (fairytale, young adult, fantasy)

[ 27 ] The Truth about Keeping Secrets - Savannah Brown (coming of age, young adult, contemporary, mystery, thriller)

[ 28 ] The Summer of Impossibilities - Rachael Allan (romance, contemporary, young adult)

[ 29 ] Youre Next - Kylie Schante (young adult, mystery, thriller)

[ 30 ] A Line in the Dark - Malinda Lo (mystery, thriller, young adult)

[ 31 ] High Desert - Kate Dalafield (mystery, romance)

[ 32 ] The Blind Goddess - Anne Holt (mystery)

[ 33 ] Ordinary Mayhem - Victoria A. Brownworth (mystery, thriller, horror, paranormal)

[ 34 ] The Haunting of Hill House - Shirley Jackson (horror)

[ 35 ] Into the Drowning Deep - Seanan Mcguire (sci-fi, hororr)

[ 36 ] The Red Tree - Caitlín R. Kiernan (fantasy, paranormal, horror, mystery)

[ 37 ] Sawkill Girls - Claire Legrand (coming of age, horror, young adult)

[ 38 ] As I Decended - Robin Talley (horror, young adult)

[ 39 ] Adaptation - Malinda Lo (sci-fi, young adult, thriller)

[ 40 ] The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid (historical, romance, contemporary)

“What do you think?” God asked as we passed a nineteen-way taking place in a pool of champagne. Little cherubs flitted overhead armed with mops and cleaning supplies, thankfully. “Lust is our most popular sin.” I eyed the supermodel-like figures of a couple passing nearby, and could easily see why. “You can look however you want. Hell, you can be whatever gender you want. No fetish is too taboo, and no desire can be denied here.”

It was quite tempting, but I wasn’t ready to make a permanent decision here. “Let’s see the others,” I told God.

We carried on to Greed. We passed rows and rows of mansions, each more opulent than the next. Some of them were so large that they would have had enough bed rooms to fit my entire hometown. And so many different styles: one second, we were in a beautiful French vineyard in front of a gorgeous chateau with the Alps in the background. The next second, a warm tropical beach with a modern mansion atop breathtaking cliffs. After that, a ski chalet in Colorado with a roaring fire in a hearth large enough to fit an ox. Each one had various Italian sports cars and Rolls Royces parked in front, with the occasional smattering of boats, helicopters, etc.

“Any material desire you ever wanted,” God explained. “Your own world, where you can have everything. You want the Hope Diamond? You can fly to Washington DC in your own solid gold helicopter and buy it from the Smithsonian. Hell, you can just buy the Smithsonian.”

Also tempting, but I decided to keep looking.

Gluttony was next up. Tables and tables of the very finest foods: beautiful steaks cooked medium rare; butter-poached lobster tail; fresh oysters on a half shell; exotic wines in dusty bottles that had been hiding in the cellars of the world’s finest restaurants. Everyone had a glass of champagne in hand and simply lounged on couches and chairs near the tables, eating endlessly. As soon as the inhabitants took a bite, the food just instantly came back. My mouth watered even watching them.

“In every other House, the food is practically sawdust compared to Gluttony,” God explained. “You haven’t truly experienced heaven until you’ve been to Gluttony.”

I shook my head, and we kept moving.

Sloth was as you’d expect. An endless sea of the softest mattresses, stacked with cushions and pillows that made the story of the princess and the pea seem minimalist. Little angels visited each resident, giving them massages that made them all melt into their blankets.

Wrath was… well, a lot like what I’d expect Hell to be like. Fire, brimstone, whips, torture.. you know, the works. Except here, you weren’t the one being tortured. Every enemy you’d ever made in your real life was now under your thumb. “Lots of people choose their fathers,” God explained. “Lots of grudges against parents in general, you know. But you’re not limited to that. Someone beat you out for a big promotion back on Earth? Take your pound of flesh here.”

Then we arrived at Envy. It looked… well, a lot like home.

“Go on in,” God said, gesturing toward the door. I turned the knob and walked in… and found Emily waiting inside. She ran forward, wrapped her arms around my neck, and planted a kiss right on my lips. “Welcome home, honey.”

I looked back toward God. “Oh, don’t be coy,” he said. “You have no secrets from me. We all know that you were in love with your best friend’s wife.” She didn’t seem to hear him at all; she went back into the hall. “We all know that you just settled for your own wife while secretly pining after her. Well, this is your chance to live happily ever after.”

I peered into the kitchen. Emily was baking something, wearing nothing but an apron. Her curly black hair fell softly over her shoulder as she whisked ingredients. She turned back, noticed I was observing her, and an enthusiastic smile spread across her face.

“It’s what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?” God whispered in my ear.

I wanted to take it. God damn did I want to take it. But I shook my head.

God seemed puzzled. “You need to make a decision,” he told me.

“I haven’t seen Pride yet.”

He scoffed. “No one ever wants Pride, trust me.”

“Well, I want to see it.”

_________________________

Pride was boring. Just a row of workbenches in a bare white room.

“I don’t get it,” I told God.

“Yeah, no one does,” he answered. “That’s why no one ever chooses it. Doesn’t cavorting in Lust sound better than sitting here building little trinkets for the rest of eternity? Wouldn’t you rather gorge yourself in Gluttony? Or spend time with Emily in Envy?”

I considered the options again. “I pick Pride,” I finally told him.

He narrowed his eyes. “What? Look at it!” He gestured around the room again. There wasn’t much to look at. “Why would you choose this for the rest of time?”

“Because you don’t want me to pick it,” I told him. If he was really God, he’d know what a contrarian I can be. And I knew he was hiding something, trying to pretend like Pride didn’t exist. There was something special about it.