#qbd

THE SKIN AND ITS GIRL || SARAH CYPHER

the QBD gave me: The Skin and Its Girl by Sarah Cypher!!

I'm actually currently reading this book right now and I really like it! It's also the first queer Palestinian book I've gotten up on the QBD, which you will be able to find using the brand new Palestinian sorter in the filters!! I can't wait to get more up, I've just been a bit under the weather and haven't had the chance yet!

The Skin and Its Girl is a striking tale of identity told through the eyes of a Palestinian-American as she decides whether she should follow her heart and perpetuate her family's cycle of exile, or whether she shouldn't. As she decides, she comes across her aunt's journal and learns about what it took for her family to get where they are.

I can't wait to finish this book and I hope y'all give it a try too!

SUMMARY

In a Pacific Northwest hospital far from the Rummani family’s ancestral home in Palestine, the heart of a stillborn baby begins to beat and her skin turns vibrantly, permanently cobalt blue. On the same day, the Rummanis’ centuries-old soap factory in Nablus is destroyed in an air strike. The family matriarch and keeper of their lore, Aunt Nuha, believes that the blue girl embodies their sacred history, harkening back to a time when the Rummanis were among the wealthiest soap-makers and their blue soap was a symbol of a legendary love.

Decades later, Betty returns to Aunt Nuha’s gravestone, faced with a difficult decision: Should she stay in the only country she’s ever known, or should she follow her heart and the woman she loves, perpetuating her family’s cycle of exile? Betty finds her answer in partially translated notebooks that reveal her aunt’s complex life and struggle with her own sexuality, which Nuha hid to help the family immigrate to the United States. But, as Betty soon discovers, her aunt hid much more than that.

The Skin and Its Girl is a searing, poetic tale about desire and identity, and a provocative exploration of how we let stories divide, unite, and define us—and wield even the power to restore a broken family. Sarah Cypher is that rare debut novelist who writes with the mastery and flair of a seasoned storyteller. 

CONTENT WARNINGS

suicidal ideation, attempted suicide (off page), depression, miscarriage, racism, homophobia

REPRESENTATION

Palestinian American lesbian mc, Palestinian lesbian mc, Palestinian gay side characters

QBD vs Zulrah

FIRST CREATION || MARS ADLER

Another day, another book entry! Today the Queer Book Directory spit out First Creation by Mars Adler!

First Creation is a high spice horror novella following the Angel of Truth, Amitiel, as he runs from his fellow angels with the fallen angel Stolas. It's a lovely novella that I would argue is cozy horror, if you find cannibalism and the eroticization of The Horrors as cozy.

There's also the peach scene. I will never be able to look at peaches the same way.

SUMMARY

Amitiel, an angel of God, and Stolas, a fallen angel-turned-spy, should be enemies. However, after they uncover a shocking secret that drives them to desert, they go on the run together in modern-day America. Both are injured, and it’s only by chance that they stumble upon a long-abandoned church.

Ensconced in the alluring, stifling church with a forgotten cemetery and too many peach trees, they finally have time to heal. They also have time to think and plan, which is as much a blessing as it is a curse.

Amitiel must come to terms with his strange hunger and forbidden desires, while Stolas plans their next move. They both grapple with the knowledge of where their food rations came from, and that something is very wrong in the heart of Heaven itself. God has vanished, and if he isn’t giving the orders, who is condoning the atrocities the angels commit in the name of winning?

FIRST CREATION is an erotic horror novella. It is a love letter to fallen angels, rediscovering religion in a way that works for you, queer rage, and hunger of all kinds. It deals with some very heavy themes and is not intended for anyone under the age of 18. For a full list of content warnings please check the author’s website.

CONTENT WARNINGS

death, murder, blood and graphic gore, graphic cannibalism, war, food rationing and mentions of hunger and starvation, manipulation (mentioned, off page), blood drinking (erotic), explicit sexual content

REPRESENTATION

trans and queer MCs