what are your favorite sapphic books? (other than harrow the ninth)
Hi bestie!! here are a couple of my favourites
the priory of the orange tree - fantasy - bisexual queen x lesbian mage who struggle to carve their own path in societies and cultures that demand conformity. meanwhile there's an evil dragon starting to wake which wants to destroy the world. there's also a contagious disease that magically corrupts people who come in contact with it in case you want to avoid it. it explores how mythologies get skewed over time and is pretty fast paced even if it's ~800~ pages long
the seven husbands of evelyn hugo - romance - it essentially chronicles evelyn's life as an actress and her romances over the decades and her secret relationship with another actress. the characters are really complex and flawed which appealed to me a lot
gideon the ninth - horror + sci fi - I know you said not harrow the ninth but. lesbian necromancers in space is an overdone description but it's essentially that. candidates are summoned from each of the nine houses so that they can piece together a secret that'll enable them to become lyctors and serve the god-emperor. everyone's very gay. the writing style might require some patience on your part though
the traitor baru cormorant - fantasy - the poppy war if it was sapphic. check the content warnings before you get into it because it deals with colonialism, how it suffocates and destroys indigenous cultures, and features lots of economics, battle sequences and characters who're so morally grey that you're literally not going to have any idea about whose side they're on. this book will wreck you
this is how you lose the time war - sci fi - two assassins belonging to opposite sides of a war spending most of the book homoerotically thwarting each other
the luminous dead - horror + sci fi - this is your go to for toxic sapphic relationships. the protagonist descends into a cave system to find something for her employer but stuff starts going wrong soon - supplies go missing and she starts to think the cave system might be haunted. not recommended if you're claustrophobic
the long way to a small angry planet - sci fi - the sapphic relationship is not very prominent but the book is very queer and you'll like it a lot if you're looking for found families in space
a memory called empire - sci fi - the protagonist steps up as ambassador to the empire when her predecessor dies. she suspects that he was killed and tries to uncover the mysterious circumstances behind his death. it explores themes of alienation from the home and your culture and the love that one harbors for a culture that devours your own anyway as much as you hate it.
the empress of salt and fortune - fantasy - the second book is actually the sapphic one but this one also chronicles the life of an empress who was involved in a relationship with her servant. the protagonist is non binary!
she who became the sun - historical fantasy - kind of like the poppy war again. the protagonist is genderqueer and it chronicles her rise to the throne. the book’s based on historical events which are retold through a queer lens. lots of books punish their protagonists for being selfish but this book said fuck you to all of them and rewarded its characters for choosing their desires.
her body and other parties - short story collection - a couple of them are sapphic
the jasmine throne - fantasy - princess x bodyguard. it has major priory vibes in the sense that the princess struggles to deliver on what the society demands of her and the bodyguard secretly practices magic
nevernight - fantasy - it's jay kristoff and I'd usually not recommend him but I like ashlinn jarnheim so I'll make an exception for her :/
queen of coin and whispers - fantasy/romance - I thought the first half of the book was very good as opposed to the second half and it did have its issues but it's generally a fun read if you're bored - it's another queen x sworn protector relationship
wilder girls - horror - girls on an island develop strange mutations and try to survive as best as the can as they hope for a cure from the government. the protagonist is vicious in her pursuit to achieve what she wants and I love that.
the language of thorns - fantasy - grishaverse short story collection! when water sang fire + little knife are sapphic
girls of paper and fire - fantasy - it could've featured a better progression from the sort of enemies to lovers part but it was otherwise nice. I heard that the second book was bad so I abandoned the series with the first book.
crier's war - fantasy - I abandoned this because the writing wasn't very good but everyone sings it praises so you might want to try it