Put Naughty From Matilda The Musical In Your Laurent Of Vere Spotify Playlists You Cowards

Read these 10 YA books by Trans Authors instead of HP

There's a rule I have (that I took from author Emery Lee) that says that every time someone mentions JKR, I have to rec 2 books by trans authors. Here are some of my favorite YA recs if you ever felt like adapting the same rule in your friend groups.

As always, the pictures and jacket copy are from publishers’ sites! If they didn’t have info available, I used info from author sites! :)

If any of these interest you and if you are able, please support your favorite independent bookstores when purchasing these and other books!

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Emery's book isn't out until 05/04/21, but because I saw this rule from em, I couldn't NOT rec eir book!

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe. When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page. In this charming novel by Emery Lee, Noah will have to choose between following his own rules for love or discovering that the most romantic endings are the ones that go off script.

Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender

Felix Love has never been in love—and, yes, he’s painfully aware of the irony. He desperately wants to know what it’s like and why it seems so easy for everyone but him to find someone. What’s worse is that, even though he is proud of his identity, Felix also secretly fears that he’s one marginalization too many—Black, queer, and transgender—to ever get his own happily-ever-after. When an anonymous student begins sending him transphobic messages—after publicly posting Felix’s deadname alongside images of him before he transitioned—Felix comes up with a plan for revenge. What he didn’t count on: his catfish scenario landing him in a quasi–love triangle.... But as he navigates his complicated feelings, Felix begins a journey of questioning and self-discovery that helps redefine his most important relationship: how he feels about himself. Felix Ever After is an honest and layered story about identity, falling in love, and recognizing the love you deserve.

TW for a forced outing.

Pet by Akwaeke Emezi

There are no monsters anymore, or so the children in the city of Lucille are taught. Jam and her best friend, Redemption, have grown up with this lesson all their life. But when Jam meets Pet, a creature made of horns and colors and claws, who emerges from one of her mother’s paintings and a drop of Jam’s blood, she must reconsider what she’s been told. Pet has come to hunt a monster, and the shadow of something grim lurks in Redemption’s house. Jam must fight not only to protect her best friend, but also to uncover the truth, and the answer to the question–How do you save the world from monsters if no one will admit they exist? Acclaimed novelist Akwaeke Emezi makes their riveting and timely young adult debut with a book that asks difficult questions about what choices you can make when the society around you is in denial.

TW for discussions about child abuse.

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Yadriel has summoned a ghost, and now he can't get rid of him. When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his true gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free. However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school's resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He's determined to find out what happened and tie off some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Deep and Darkest Red by Anna-Marie McLemore

Summer, 1518. A strange sickness sweeps through Strasbourg: women dance in the streets, some until they fall down dead. As rumors of witchcraft spread, suspicion turns toward Lavinia and her family, and Lavinia may have to do the unimaginable to save herself and everyone she loves. Five centuries later, a pair of red shoes seal to Rosella Oliva’s feet, making her dance uncontrollably. They draw her toward a boy who knows the dancing fever’s history better than anyone: Emil, whose family was blamed for the fever five hundred years ago. But there’s more to what happened in 1518 than even Emil knows, and discovering the truth may decide whether Rosella survives the red shoes.

Who I Was with Her by Nita Tyndall

There are two things that Corinne Parker knows to be true: that she is in love with Maggie Bailey, the captain of the rival high school's cross-country team and her secret girlfriend of a year, and that she isn't ready for anyone to know she's bisexual. But then Maggie dies, and Corinne quickly learns that the only thing worse than losing Maggie is being left heartbroken over a relationship no one knows existed. And to make things even more complicated, the only person she can turn to is Elissa—Maggie's ex, and the single person who understands how Corinne is feeling. As Corinne struggles to make sense of her grief and what she truly wants out of life, she begins to have feelings for the last person she should fall for. But to move forward after losing Maggie, Corinne will have to learn to be honest with the people in her life...starting with herself.

Between Perfect & Real by Ray Stoeve

*This book comes out April 27, 2021 but I'm excited enough about it that I'll share it a week before it comes out.

Dean Foster knows he’s a trans guy. He’s watched enough YouTube videos and done enough questioning to be sure. But everyone at his high school thinks he’s a lesbian—including his girlfriend Zoe, and his theater director, who just cast him as a “nontraditional” Romeo. He wonders if maybe it would be easier to wait until college to come out. But as he plays Romeo every day in rehearsals, Dean realizes he wants everyone to see him as he really is now––not just on the stage, but everywhere in his life. Dean knows what he needs to do. Can playing a role help Dean be his true self?

Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

An empowering and emotional debut about a genderqueer teen who finds the courage to stand up and speak out for equality when they are discriminated against by their high school administration. Carey Parker dreams of being a diva, and bringing the house down with song. They can hit every note of all the top pop and Broadway hits. But despite their talent, emotional scars from an incident with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's spiraling dementia make it harder and harder for Carey to find their voice. Then Carey meets Cris, a singer/guitarist who makes Carey feel seen for the first time in their life. With the rush of a promising new romantic relationship, Carey finds the confidence to audition for the role of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, setting off a chain reaction of prejudice by Carey's tormentor and others in the school. It's up to Carey, Cris, and their friends to defend their rights--and they refuse to be silenced. Told in alternating chapters with identifying pronouns, debut author Steven Salvatore's Can't Take That Away conducts a powerful, uplifting anthem, a swoony romance, and an affirmation of self-identity that will ignite the activist in all of us.

Peter Darling by Austin Chant

Ten years ago, Peter Pan left Neverland to grow up, leaving behind his adolescent dreams of boyhood and resigning himself to life as Wendy Darling. Growing up, however, has only made him realize how inescapable his identity as a man is. But when he returns to Neverland, everything has changed: the Lost Boys have become men, and the war games they once played are now real and deadly. Even more shocking is the attraction Peter never knew he could feel for his old rival, Captain Hook—and the realization that he no longer knows which of them is the real villain.

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

L E T   M E   B E   C L E A R : I never intended to raise my brother from his grave, though he may claim otherwise. If there’s anything I’ve learned from him in the years since, it’s that the dead hide truths as well as the living.

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training. In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha—one who can wield magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles…and make a powerful choice.

And that wraps up this week's list! What books by trans authors are you excited about? Any recs for me?

Shelf-Confidence Book Photo Challenge

February 18 - Favorite Color 💙

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I whipped up some recs for a few different flavors of love and romance 💖 I hope you enjoy! What books are you reading to celebrate love?

DNI if you hate sharks

Johnathan Groff's legacy is gonna be a close up of him spitting a lot as the king

why you should read the fire and brimstone scrolls by nikole knight

HELLO y'all. you might remember me from this post where I went on about why people should read wolfsong, the first book in the green creek series, and it’s been two years since I made that post. it still gets notes, and judging by how many it has I’m guessing I got a good portion of y'all to read it. so I figured I’d try again with a new book series and a new author!! I completely devoured this series over the last week and a half, and as far as I know, it has almost no fandom on here or anywhere else I’ve seen and I need to fix that. SO, here we go:

it’s six books (the first one is called revelations, shown above), so there is plenty of content for you to absorb!

and the series is completed so there will be no agonizing waiting between books, you can just read the next one right away!

it’s a dark new adult fantasy/romance set in a world of angels and demons, heaven and hell

sloooooow burn at first. but oh my god the payoff. 

as of now there are only 2 (TWO!!) fics on ao3 and NOTHING in the tags here (except a moodboard I made hehehe) so just like when green creek was just starting to be popular, we all have the opportunity to build up the fandom and spread word of it around!

eventually ends up being a poly romance!!!

poly rep, ace rep (in a main character!), gay rep, bi rep, fluid characters (characters who identify with he/him pronouns but like to dress up occasionally/wear feminine things), just delightfully queer from beginning to end

begins with our hero riley shephard, sweet, sweet, sheltered riley, who has grown up in an abusive household and is away from home for the first time at college

in the first book you can tell that he’s very innocent and naive, he hasn’t been exposed to the outside world much due to his upbringing with an abusive foster parent, so to watch him grow and discover himself is just so incredible, and by the end of the sixth book you’re like WOW!! MY BABY GROWN 

a heart-wrenching journey of self-discovery, freedom, and love and acceptance that I just could not stop reading from start to finish, I literally finished every single book within a day or two and I can’t remember the last time I binged a series like that

will definitely not be for everyone, but if you can handle all the stuff listed below then I promise it is SO worth it to read because of the story at the heart of it

TRIGGER WARNING: the whole series contains graphic violence, gore, scenes of traumatic sexual assault both on and off page, child abuse, torment, and a couple other things that might be difficult for people to read, but the author includes a content warning at the beginning of every book!! 

hella, hella angst

but so many beautiful scenes too, scenes of coping and healing from trauma and incredible chemistry between the characters!!

did I mention the poly romance

it’s a long journey to get there, but it ends happily and in such a satisfying way!!

the development of the main character is just such a great thing to read, it made me cry to read how he changes for the better but also has to fight the darker parts of himself

if you liked the green creek series I truly believe you’ll like this too! and if I’m wrong you can come into my inbox and drag me! but this is one of my new favorite series ever and I have no one to talk about it with!

but seriously if you like gay werewolves and gay witches, try some gay angels!

I just love Riley Shepard so much

and the angels. oh my god the angels. jairus, noel and gideon. I love them all so much.

I don’t know what else to say I just want to spread this series around because it deserves the love!! it’s so good! so fucking good! 

I’m just begging y'all to give this series a chance so I won’t be alone in my little corner

Editing this to add: Kirt Graves, the same person who narrates TJ Klune’s audiobooks, will also be narrating this series!!

what if Arthur is able to sneak up on Linus and be silent on his feet because he was abused as a child and needed to learn to move silently?

because I haven't seen anyone mention that but I just reread thitcs for the 5th time and I just noticed that was a thing he did

I will give you hypohemoemia no I will not elaborate

They probably named him after Bacchus, the Roman god of wine and fertility

*white parent voice* i cant believe kanye and kim named their baby North West!! thats ridiculous!! oh no, its almost 4:30, i need to pick up my kids Mackaylikiah and Ashleighyie from their water polo practice!

WIP Wednesday

I was tagged by @princessfbi

Buck is hurt, again. But it’s not his fault. 

It’s not like any of the other times he’s been hurt on the job were his fault, but he still feels the need to defend himself. A change from how he’s felt in the past. His therapist would probably be proud of him. 

Loopy off pain meds and slurring all his words, Buck had told anyone who would listen that it wasn’t his fault. He hadn’t been trying to get hurt, he hadn’t even been doing anything reckless. 

Bobby had given Buck a sad smile, gently pushing him back against the hospital bed as he said, “I know, Buck. I know.” 

Other people had been there. Hen and Chimney had been the ones to bring him into the hospital. Buck remembers their tense faces in the back of the ambulance as he tried to keep himself from screaming — the cool drip of morphine in his veins not enough to dull the roaring fire of pain surging through his body. 

In his hospital room, after the fire simmering in Buck’s veins had been doused by heavy pain medications, Hen and Chimney still looked tense, but less so. Fine lines of worry still gathering around the corners of their eyes, pulling the lines of their smiles too tight. But that’s normal any time one of them ends up in the hospital. 

Buck is familiar with all their worried faces and these ones mean he’s hurt, but not dying. 

Between the pain, the drugs, and being whisked away to surgery — Buck can’t remember everyone that saw him in the hospital. It’s all become a blur. He thinks that after Hen and Chimney… Bobby had been there, maybe Athena too. Buck thinks he remembers the smell of Maddie’s shampoo, the feeling of her soft hand holding his much larger one, thumb rubbing over the tape keeping his IV line in the back of his hand. 

Eddie had been there too, in the ambulance, the emergency room… his face had been the last thing Buck saw before going into surgery — feeling his heart beating in his throat as memories of a doctor telling him he might lose his leg choked all the breath from his lungs. And Eddie’s face was the first thing he saw when he woke up, feeling lost and scooped out, his body feeling disconnected due to the anesthesia. 

The soft rumble of Eddie’s voice had kept Buck grounded when he felt like he was spinning out into the stratosphere. His warm, brown eyes kept Buck tied down to earth. Eddie’s hand had been so warm where it curled around Buck’s arm. It had been like he was carrying the heat of the sun in his palm and pressing it into Buck’s skin. Through the haze of pain, drugs, and old buried fear brought back to the surface, the heat of Eddie — alive and whole, it had been the only thing to keep Buck from ripping out all of his lines and leaving the hospital against medical advice. 

Now, discharged from the hospital, still sore and aching, Buck feels bereft and alone. 

Eddie won’t touch him. 

Bundled in too many blankets in the middle of their shared bed, Buck feels more alone than he did lying in the sterile and cramped hospital bed. 

Every time Eddie comes close to him, he treats him like spun glass, like one wrong move and Buck will shatter apart. 

I'm going to tag @lesbianbuck, @honestlydarkprincess, @sainteddie, @lesbiandiaz, @morganofthefairies, and @cowboydiaz (there is no pressure to do this i just tagged y'all cause i luv y'all)