Did you read Sapphic books for September? No? WHY NOT? It was the perfect alliterative theme and there are oh so many excellent Sapphic books to choose from. And here I was worried I wouldn’t read as many books in September, I never should have doubted!
So, here they are! Minus Queen of Volts, which I listened to on audio. I’m trying to learn how to do more bookstagramy type pictures instead of just ‘here’s a stack of books I read, behold their might!’ Speaking of Instagram, I have like 30 new followers! I am making glacier-like progress on my goal of achieving 10k. So if you followed me, THANKS!
Almost all of these books were queer and the following had mains or POVs in Sapphic relationships:
OwHH*
To clarify, OwHH was a beta read from the amazing Briston Brooks and the Sapphic element was just icing on an already most delicious cake. This book y’all. THIS. BOOK. I cannot wait until all y’all read it and I can scream with you about it.
Another three of my September reads had side-Sapphics. Which makes me so happy. We need to continue to support the LGBTQ+ books that exist and let publishing know that we need more!!! Representation matters and queer kids deserve stories where they get to save the world and kiss their crush. And if you’re even starting to ask yourself why it matters or why they have to be queer, please ask yourself the same question but reverse it. Why do characters have to be hetero? I’ll leave you to figure out that answer on your own.
Look, I can’t talk about Briston’s story or her characters yet since it’s in the beta stages, but please know that her girls are at the top of my fangirl list right now. THE TOP.
So I’m going to focus on my two favorites ships of the books available to the general public. Tock and Lola in Queen of Volts and Lei and Wren in Girls of Paper & Fire.
*MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR QUEEN OF VOLTS RE: SHIPPAGE*
Queen of Volts was the conclusion to the Ace of Shades trilogy by Amanda Foody and damn, what a conclusion it was. In book one, Ace of Shades, we meet Lola. In book two, King of Fools, Lola gets a POV and a girlfriend. Her and Tock are just so damn adorable. And both are strong, motivated, complex female characters that defy expectations. Lola is an assassin/news reporter and Tock is an explosives expert--you couldn’t make a better match. I loved the Enne and Levi relationship, but my heart is with Lola and Tock. Their relationship is 100% #goals and Foody does a great job of using that to her advantage as the plot of the books progress. And there is a *thing* in book three that happens and it’s just heartbreaking in how it stresses out my sweet sweet Sapphic girls. If you’re looking for an action packed Sapphic couple, this is the book for you!
(CW for the series: Drug use/abuse, emotional/mental abuse and manipulation, fantasy violence)
*SPOILS OVER, CARRY ON ABOUT YOUR LIFE*
I am so late to the party on this one, but WOW was I blown away by Girls of Paper & Fire. This story is so powerful and that ending!! But I’m getting off topic. Lei is just the most precious girl and when she met Wren, I’m pretty sure my heart exploded. Their flirting is to die for and this is a power couple to be sure. I love how much they care for each other and the pining and secret flirting is just so well done (it on my books-to-study shelf!). The second book was delivered to me just yesterday and I cannot wait to find out what happens to them and if they can get their happy ever after!
(CW: Sexual assault, emotional manipulations, fantasy violence)
Just because September is over doesn’t mean I’m going to stop reading about my Sapphics. My TBR pile is getting gayer with every book and it makes me so very happy. I’m always looking for more Sapphic recommendations and while I still can’t figure out a good way to add comments onto this blog, I would love to hear from you on twitter! Just respond [here] and shout at me about all your favorite f/f relationships!
My October goals are to read another ten books. As I head into the month, I am currently reading Geekerella, Darius the Great is Not Okay, and The Rise of Kyoshi. Next up after those I'm looking at:
Cemetery Boys
Legendborn
Girls of Storm and Shadow
We Set the Dark on Fire
Elatsoe (waiting for my order to come in at the bookstore!)
I’m hoping to also read Horrid… but need to wait until someone else does first and tells me how scary it is first. And October is also the month of my most anticipated read of 2020, Lightbringer (hence why I reread Furyborn and Kingsbane. I'M READY.)
As always, thanks for reading! If you’re looking to add any of these books to your own TBR pile, feel free to click on their title to visit my Bookshop page or order from your favorite local indie!