#gayya

[sticktothescript]

i should make it known that approximately 79.94% of the time spent awake in the middle of the night is spent wishing someone loved me the way Alex and Henry, Patroclus and Achilles, and any other YA gay couple love each other.

[zehraes]

Sen gülünce çiçekler açıyor kalbimin en güzel köşesinde.

[auslgbtqya]

Invisible Boys by Holden Sheppard

(2019)

From the Publisher:

In a small town, everyone thinks they know you: Charlie is a hardcore rocker, who's not as tough as he looks. Hammer is a footy jock with big AFL dreams, and an even bigger ego. Zeke is a shy over-achiever, never macho enough for his family. But all three boys hide who they really are. When the truth is revealed, will it set them free or blow them apart?

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘This manuscript has tremendous energy and authenticity, as it explores what it is like to grow up gay in an insular regional community. Invisible Boys is a valuable contribution to the growing voices of younger LGBTIQA+ people.’ City of Fremantle T.A.G. Hungerford Award judges’ report

'Sheppard pulls no punches in this story, challenging expectations and taking the reader on a dark journey through each boy's life, with only a sliver of light at the end providing hope for a brighter future. This book feels somewhat unmoored from time, with a raw edginess ... which brings to mind books like Puberty Blues and the work of Tim Winton.' Junior Books + Publishing

'Invisible Boys is full of genuine, authentic voices ... This is an important book for all young people, as it shows one size does not fit all. There is no right way to be gay, or to be anything else, for that matter.' Magpies

'The book is immediately engaging and engrossing, exploring the lives of three diverse male teenagers dealing with their homosexuality ... [Invisible Boys] is distinctively Western Australian with a well-constructed and truly surprising climax. Sheppard will win himself a vast number of fans with this impressive debut.' DNA magazine

'… this debut novel is one of those books that only comes around once in a generation ... to think that a whole new generation of young queer readers will have the opportunity to see themselves in this book: that’s a powerful thought.' Out in Perth

'Invisible Boys is a highly character-driven story, so it's only natural that the characters in the novel are well crafted ... As the synopsis likely suggests, the novel has a direct, central theme about the struggles of homosexuality in intolerant circumstances. It's not pleasant to read about, but it's an important perspective on privilege.' ReadPlus

'This is a confronting and challenging story which describes the pain of growing up gay in a small, conservative small-town community ... Sheppard has given us a brave book which deserves attention.' Good Reading magazine

Goodreads

[ya-pride]

{image description: written in white lettering is “Happy Pride Month from”, and written in rainbow lettering is “YA Pride”} 

Happy Pride Month! Whether you’re out, not out, or questioning, YA Pride is behind you one hundred percent. Advocating for LGBTQIAP+ voices is an honor, and we’re so proud of you. 

If you’re looking for your perfect #YAPride reads, send us an ask or check out our LGBTQIAP+ masterlists! 

If you already have your books for Pride lined up, tell us what you’re planning or hoping to read this month! 🌈📚

[jpolish-writes-queer-ya-fantasy]

My novel officially has High School AU #fanart and I am STOKED. The brilliant @cassiebones has an uncanny knack for capturing Sadie's Utter Gayness™ and Osley's quiet patience for her shenanigans. And what a way to bring Osley -- a rabbit in LUNAV -- into human form! Que (genderqueer pronouns like they/them!) is speaking in ASL to honor the fact that que communicates nonverbally as a rabbit! I am beyond words excited, and now I can't stop thinking about Evelyn and Sadie and crew in high school together. Is #fanfic next? *gasps* Up to you :-P #LUNAV #EvelynxSadie #yafantasy #yalit #kidlit #amwriting #drawing #gay #lesbian #lesbianYA #gayYA #nonbinarypositivity #nonbinaryrepresentation #highschoolau #authorsofinstagram #writerslife #writersofinstagram #writerscorner

[crow-caller]

Hey! This is sized for twitter so it might be hard to read without clicking. Anyways, hey!

Do you have a book review blog/some sort of large amount of outreach/followers? Interested in a new YA-ish LGBT+ genre fiction book?

Good Angel is hurtling towards publication suspiciously soon, and ARCs will be ready in a week or two. Sign up for a copy here.

If you’re not fit for an ARC, you can still add it to your to-read list on goodreads and keep it in mind....

[thechasenight]

My new favorite review! And you can see it for yourself on Goodreads; I don't make these things up! And apologies for the typos that made it through. If you catch one, I would love to know so I can send in corrections for future editions. And here's another reminder, that if you buy CHICKEN this month, all my royalties go to @luciesplacear. The mean Mikes would definitely not like that! Visit www.asymmetrical.co/chicken to get your copy today or ask your local bookstore to order it for you. #bookreviews #goodreads #gayya #yabooks #lgbtq #bookstagram #booknerd #booklion #fightevilreadbooks #lovewins #lovetrumpshate

[alittletookish]

BOOK REVIEW: Escape From Asylum by Madeleine Roux

Earlier today I finished reading Escape From Asylum by Madeleine Roux. For the past several months, whenever I’d be at a store and see the Asylum series of books I was always drawn to it. Creepy looking YA books? Yes, please! But I always passed them over because I either had other things already picked out, or simply didn’t have the money at the time to get them. But they were always there in my mind and I always wanted to read them. Well, the other day I found this prequel book at a discounted price and picked it up. I read it in a week. But, honestly? I’m not sure how I feel about it.

The protagonist is bisexual and his love interest is a black transwoman. (Though, throughout the entire book, neither the term “bisexual” nor the term “trans” was used at all.) However, they’re in an asylum. More specifically, they are in an asylum for being queer. Kay is routinely misgendered by her doctors (and forced to wear men’s clothes and cut her hair super short). Ricky talks about his relationship with Martin and how his stepdad found him “perverted”. This is set in the 1960’s so I give a slight break. However, the entire novel is about how they need to escape yet behave at the same time to avoid hypnosis, brainwashing via experimental pills, and even electroshock therapy.

There is a small mystery wrapped up in the story–that being what happened to Ricky’s biological father. His mother only said he left them, but never gave any other details. In this book you find out what happened to him.

So, while I was very happy to have accidentally stumbled upon a book that had queer protagonists (and that had the creepy, haunting, gothic feel that I adore), I was quite sad to learn that their queerness landed them in lock up. In today’s social climate that’s a very dangerous book to be putting out. Being queer should not be punishable at all. In this book Kay and Ricky accept each other just as they are, but all around them are adults telling them how wrong they are. That’s not the kind of message to be sending right now. And it’s certainly not the kind of message young adults need to hear. Ever.

Throughout the book Warden Crawford (head of the Asylum) says he doesn’t want to change Ricky–that he’s perfect the way he is and isn’t perverted. Yet every day he doses him with medication that makes him forget things as basic as his father’s name and the lyrics to his favorite song. He had clearly been falling for Kay, yet after a few doses of this medication he all but forgets her. And when his parents do finally get to visit, Butch (Ricky’s stepdad) repeatedly asks him if he is still queer. So, clearly he’s supposed to be in this place to be “cured of queerness”.

Warden Crawford does talk about having a different goal–that he’s doing experiments to do something completely different. It’s hinted that this thing is immortality, but it’s never made explicitly clear. It’s kind of vague, and left me wondering if that was just a line he was feeding Ricky to manipulate him into being more cooperative.

The more I write about this the more issue I have with it. I initially picked up the book because it’s setting was a creepy, old asylum. The blurb made it sound potentially haunted. I didn’t expect queer characters (which, honestly having queer characters is a plus) and I certainly didn’t expect them to be locked away for being queer (a BIG negative). I wouldn’t have bought the book had I known that’s what landed them in the asylum.

I want to like this book, because it does contain queer characters and a setting that I would otherwise really, really love. But because of how the kids are treated, the reason they are locked up, and the overall message that the adults in the book send (that being queer is Wrong) I just can’t recommend it. I can’t say this is a good book. I desperately want to be able to. But I can’t. I give this book just one star. It is well written (as in, the prose is well written, it’s lyrical and has a rhythm, and Roux does a good job with description), but there are issues that I can’t ignore and that I can’t support.