#bittern speaks

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Kobo Storygraph

Short answer: yeeeees?

In fantasy Venice, charming courtesan Fiore meets Enzo, a duke with a troubled past. The two fall quickly in love - but can they learn to trust each other?

I went into this expecting a romance novel, and it definitely starts out that way. But after about the halfway point it abandons the romance novel structure in favour of pure hurt/comfort. The level of injury our boys acquire is astonishing; their ability to avoid serious infection in a setting that where people rely on vinegar as a disinfectant equally impressive (though there is a reference to 'mould juice' at one point so who knows, maybe fantasy Alexander Fleming is out there somewhere).

If you love hurt/comfort and smut, I imagine this novel would give you all the gooey and delicious feelings. Alas, while I do enjoy a bit of hurt/comfort, the constant cycle of injury -> convalescence -> sex got a bit repetitive for me. Especially since that was kind of... all the plot? Nothwell hints at a wider world - and Enzo's family are very much involved in the city's politics. But the narrative remains narrowly focused on Fiore and Enzo's personal relationship (and injuries). Characters outside our main duo are pretty flat and don't get much development, and the climax, which really could have been an opportunity to link Fiore and Enzo into the wider world, remained focused on purely personal stakes.

Overall, I enjoyed this book - particularly the first half. Fiore and Enzo were fun characters and their dynamic worked well and gave me some squishy feelings. I particularly enjoyed Enzo's past as a medical student, and how that worked with Fiore having a fear of chirurgeons. I'm normally pretty squeamish about medical things, but enjoyed how Nothwell constructs the historical-fantastic details. It was fun - but at 175,000 words, it just didn't have quite enough substance to carry it through for me.

Conclusion: Fiorenzo by Sebastian Nothwell is a shot of pure concentrated hurt/comfort smut straight to the veins, and you will probably enjoy it if you like that.

[isthequeerbookgood]

having a real debate about whether to review the scholomance here or not.

[isthequeerbookgood]

hey did you know that reading is more enjoyable if you read books you actually want to read, rather than books you happened to pick up because they were cheap?

huge if true.

[isthequeerbookgood]

I've built up quite a backlog of queer books that I've read but haven't reviewed, so to get through them I'm doing some mini reviews rather than full ones!

Make You Mine This Christmas - Lizzie Huxley-Jones Did I enjoy it? Yes! Was it good? It was definitely a romcom. Do I recommend it? If you want a silly Christmas romcom, yes!

An ill-advised snog at a party and a cascade of misunderstandings lead to the down-on-her-luck Haf being invited to spend Christmas with Christopher, as his fake girlfriend. The only problem? Haf’s huge developing crush on Christopher's sister, Kit.

I read this book while mildly depressed over Christmas and honestly it was exactly what I needed. Fun, frothy escapism. Haf gets to stay in the kind of beautiful country house we all dream of spending Christmas in. She has to - has to! - go to a fancy party and wear a beautiful dress (made for her by one of the family friends, of course). There’s a baby reindeer at one point. The shenanigans stretch belief at points and the relationship development between Haf and Kit was a little weak at times, but I’ll forgive it because I was having a good time.

Also it’s set in the UK and I always have a soft spot for that!

The Last Hour Between Worlds - Melissa Caruso Did I enjoy it? On balance, yes Was it good? It had compelling ideas but the execution was somewhat weak Do I recommend it? Maybe

New mother Kembral Thorne has snatched a few hours off to attend a ball. Alas, her hopes of a simple night off are dashed by a tightening web of intrigue, a series of murders, and a mysterious clock that resets the party every hour even as they spiral down through the city’s echoes. Kembral is pulled back into her role as investigator as she tries to save the ballroom, with only her wits and her old flame/rival Rika Nonesuch to help her…

Normally, I am a fan of books that start in media res. This might be the exception that proves the rule. Caruso has created what seems like a fascinating world, with guilds and magic and complicated politics. And I love the echoes - layered reflections of the city that get stranger the further down you go. But we don’t actually get to see all that much of it. The story follows the action relentlessly, only sparing the bare minimum of sentences to provide absolutely necessary context. For me, the refusal to dwell in the world made it harder to care about the world, and the characters. I found myself wishing that the story would just take a breath now and then, rather than running from one thing to the next.

I’ll probably read the sequel when it comes out, but I might wait for a sale to be on.

Chain-Gang All-Stars - Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Did I enjoy it? Absolutely not Was it good? Yes Do I recommend it? Absolutely

In near-future America, prisoners are given the opportunity to fight in death matches for fame, glory and the chance at freedom. Adjei-Brenyah weaves a complex narratives following a wide cast of characters but ultimately focusing in on lovers Loretta Thurwar and Hamara Stacker as Thurwar nears her freedom. Brutal but incisive critique of the prison-industrial complex, systemic racism, the media and violence. I’m very squeamish and did not enjoy reading this at all, but it was definitely worth it.

[isthequeerbookgood]

Storygraph

Short answer: Yes!

Slightly longer answer: but it had some problems

A fun fantasy heist that didn't quite hang together, the story follows Anahrod. We meet her in the jungle, where she's been surviving for the last 17 years after escaping execution for a crime she didn't commit. A band of adventurers find her and bring her back home with the goal of committing an audacious theft from the dragon who had her sentenced in the first place.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was fun, the worldbuilding was interesting and the characters were engaging and interesting. I would recommend it if you, like me, spent your formative years longing to be a dragonrider and are interested in a really interesting subversion of the premise, where dragons are tyrants more than friends to their riders.

But it wouldn't be me if I didn't critique, and my main one is this: while The Sky On Fire has all the ingredients for a great ride, it doesn't quite hang together. The author loves throwing in twists and turns and exciting new things to happen - but sometimes the thread of the narrative gets lost in the rush. The queer norm world felt a bit heavy handed, with the incredibly horny worldbuilding detail that everyone advertises their kinks to the world with special kink rings in an otherwise remarkably unhorny novel. oh

Which, yes, remarkably unhorny despite sort of being advertised as a romantasy? I really like that this book chose polyamory as the endgame, but certainly one side of the triangle felt very underdeveloped, with the PoV character's attraction to her feeling a little shoehorned in - like the author remembered after the fact she was writing a romance and had to add the attraction in. Still, the individual characters were likeable and the relationship was believable if not compelling, and overall I had a good enough time to recommend it. Maybe a library book rather than a purchase though.

[isthequeerbookgood]

Probably not going to do a full review but I just finished What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher and I'm pleased to report that it is queer and it is good to read.

... well, for a given value of good, given that it's a horror story and full of lots of horrible mushroom situations. but I definitely enjoyed it and would recommend if you enjoy gothic horror, body horror, and general creepy vibes!

[isthequeerbookgood]

Heyo, have you read the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers? I don't know what your metric for books to review on this blog is. The books are undeniably queer, but the queerness isn't the focus of the stories, it's just part of the world (galaxy) so they might not qualify. They are sci-fi rather than fantasy, but they're wonderful for character driven stories, diverse and well constructed alien cultures, and interesting cultural crossover conversations as a result. Even without reviewing, I highly recommend them!

LOVE the Wayfarers series! I think they're some of the few books i've read that feel genuinely cosy while still having real substance to them. I like that Chambers isn't afraid to let really bad things happen (Record of a Spaceborn Few hit me hard), but I feel you can trust that it's going to be ultimately a story about community.

My 'metric' is mostly to focus of books that aren't so well-known, but I'll probably throw up a review when I do an inevitable reread just because I love them! I definitely second anon's recommendation.

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About the blog

I read books with queer representation and write short reviews with my honest opinions. I'm much more interested in whether a book is fun and enjoyable to read than whether it has deep artistic merit, but I got tired of coming across an exciting list of new queer books - only to find out that most of them are just. Not well written.

So I'm here to start my own list, according to the kinds of books I like to read. I focus on books that are:

Indie and self-published

Sci-fi and fantasy romance

Adult

Broadly speaking, I'm looking for books that are a bit off the beaten path: you don't need me to tell you that Gideon the Ninth is worth reading! You'll mostly see sci-fi and fantasy adult novels, because that's what I enjoy reading, but the occasional historical or YA might sneak on.

An explanation and library of my tags can be found underneath the cut.

Rating System:

Bad - a book that was bad. I probably didn’t finish it, and wouldn’t recommend anyone else even start.

Readable - I didn’t think this was amazing, but I did finish it. It’s readable, and probably worth it if you enjoy the tropes.

Good - I enjoyed this, and would recommend it!

Fantastic - I am kissing the author with tongue

Rep:

wlw - the main relationship is between two women

mlm - the main relationship is between two men

wlnb - the main relationship is between a woman and a nonbinary person

mlnb - the main relationship is between a man and a nonbinary person

nblnb - the main relationship is between two nonbinary people

mlw - the main relationship is between a man and a woman

polyamory - the main realtionship is polyamorous

trans rep - a major character is transgender, usually one who broadly identifies as a trans man or a trans woman

nonbinary rep - a major character is nonbinary

Length:

<50k

50-75k

75-100k

100k+

200k+

Smut?

smutty - contains explicit on-page sex

closed door - characters have sex, but it's fade to black or expressed in vague or metaphorical terms

nonsexual - contains no sex

they technically don't have sex but - something happens that feels like a sex scene even though it isn't. you know that scene in harrow the ninth with ianthe's arm? that.

Miscellaneous Tags

I tend to tag for a few major features of the setting, such as time period or if there's vampires involved. Some miscellaneous tags that have shown up so far:

Mediaeval

Regency

Fae

Vampires

Fantasy

Science Fiction