My Top 5 Sapphic Fantasy Books
Controversially I actually didn't like any of the 'trifecta' but these are five of my favs:
This was my first sapphic fantasy book (and first enemies to lovers!), I recently did a re-read and it still holds up for me. Crier is naive but deeply curious, while Ayla is a little bundle of rage desperate for revenge. I really enjoyed their push and pull dynamic, the yearning, and the worldbuilding is pretty solid too. Book 2 is a bit too fast paced but overall a great duology and suitable for YA as well.
This is a retelling of part of the myth of Troy from Cassandra and Helen's perspective, and you'd never think they'd make a great sapphic couple but boy howdy they sure do! Cassandra is my favourite mythological figure of all time and I adored how she's written here as asexual (a perfect explanation why she spurns Apollo), Helen is also given more agency and personality and it was great seeing them go up against the gods trying to decide their fates.
This is a beautiful novella that you should go into as blind as possible. It features a lady knight out to slay a dragon to reclaim a legendary sword, but all it not as it seems and while the sapphic element is minimal, it's very sweet (and expanded upon in the 2nd book, The Bloodless Princes)
This book has such a beautiful way of showing the rivals to friends to lovers to enemies pipeline between the two leads. Despite being from opposing mage factions, they start to see they have more in common than differences and I love seeing how they slowly open up to each other as they try to hunt down a stolen magical artifact, the yearning is top notch and the ending devastating, but thankfully the series is complete so you can dive right into the next book!
The Lowest Healer and The Highest Mage
I only read this book this year and it has shot to my all time favourite book ever! We have a great set up, where a woman sent to prison for a life sentences has parole dangled in front of her...if she can help her ex, who's the one who got her sent to jail in the first place. The worldbuilding, magic and character dynamics are some of the best you'll ever read, and while this can be read as a standalone you won't be able to resist eating up the rest of the series and its interconnected standalones and will be pining for the next book every time
