Rafa Reviews: Driven by Duty, by Mia West

Driven by Duty, by Mia West
Series: Sons of Britain, Book 3
Publisher: Self-Published
Release Date: September 13, 2018

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Rafa Reviews: Undertow, by Brooklyn Ray

Undertow, by Brooklyn Ray
Series: Port Lewis Witches, Book 2
Publisher: Ninestar Press
Release Date: September 10, 2018

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Release Day Review by Gillian: Fogland Point, by Doug Burgess

Fogland Point, by Doug Burgess
Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press
Release Date: August 21, 2018

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Book Review by Mel: City of Betrayal, by Claudie Arseneault

City of Betrayal, by Claudie Arseneault
Series: City of Spires, Book Two
Publisher: The Kraken Collective
Release Date: October 22, 2017

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Twin Book Review by Mel: The Black Tides of Heaven & The Red Threads of Fortune, by JY Yang

The Black Tides of Heaven, by JY Yang
Series: Tensorate, Book One
Publisher: Tor.com
Release Date: September 26, 2017

Rating: 5 out of 5 stars

 

The Black Tides of Heaven is one of a pair of unique, standalone introductions to JY Yang’s Tensorate Series, which Kate Elliott calls “effortlessly fascinating.” For more of the story you can read its twin novella The Red Threads of Fortune, available simultaneously.

Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What’s more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their mother’s Protectorate.

A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue as a pawn in their mother’s twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin?

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The Red Threads of Fortune, by JY Yang
Series: Tensorate, Book Two
Publisher: Tor.com
Release Date: September 26, 2017

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

 

The Red Threads of Fortune is one of a pair of unique, standalone introductions to JY Yang’s Tensorate Series, which Kate Elliott calls “effortlessly fascinating.” For more of the story you can read its twin novella The Black Tides of Heaven, available simultaneously.

Fallen prophet, master of the elements, and daughter of the supreme Protector, Sanao Mokoya has abandoned the life that once bound her. Once her visions shaped the lives of citizens across the land, but no matter what tragedy Mokoya foresaw, she could never reshape the future. Broken by the loss of her young daughter, she now hunts deadly, sky-obscuring naga in the harsh outer reaches of the kingdom with packs of dinosaurs at her side, far from everything she used to love.

On the trail of a massive naga that threatens the rebellious mining city of Bataanar, Mokoya meets the mysterious and alluring Rider. But all is not as it seems: the beast they both hunt harbors a secret that could ignite war throughout the Protectorate. As she is drawn into a conspiracy of magic and betrayal, Mokoya must come to terms with her extraordinary and dangerous gifts, or risk losing the little she has left to hold dear.

TRANS BOOK MONTH: Sneak Peak by Mel: “The Black Tides of Heaven” & “The Red Threads of Fortune”, by JY Yang

As part of Trans Book Month on Just Love, in which we are highlighting trans literature and authors, we want to give you a sneak peak at the upcoming twin novellas The Black Tides of Heaven and The Red Threads of Fortune by JY Yang, which show a wonderful concept of gender and transgenderness as well as several transgender characters.

Mel has already read them and can’t shut up about them because they were incredibly good.

TRANS BOOK MONTH: Trans Stories and the Woman Disguised as a Man Trope, by EE Ottoman

As part of Trans Book Month on Just Love, in which we are highlighting trans literature, we have invited several authors to share some of their thoughts with us. Please welcome EE Ottoman here today…

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Trans Stories and the Woman Disguised as a Man Trope

I have a love hate relationship with the cross-dressing trope that pops up in a lot of romantic storytelling. Specifically the narrative of the woman who disguises herself as a man to go on adventures or otherwise enjoys some aspect of male privilege, and along the way falls in love. It’s a trope found in everything from historical romance novels, historical fiction, classic movies, television shows, romantic comedies, and fantasy novels.

Trans Book Month: Trans + Ace-spectrum Characters in Fiction

Over the weekend we got a message from one of our readers, Will, asking for some help finding books to read:

Hi there! Do you happen to know of any books/stories with a trans MC (nb or genderqueer included) who is on the ace spectrum? I’ve been looking for ages and have not had a ton of luck finding that particular intersection.

I’m ashamed to admit that I could only think of one or two books off the top of my head. But with the help of some excellent folks on Twitter, I’m excited to share with you a list of trans + ace-spectrum books for your reading pleasure!

• “Assassins: Nemesis” by Erica Cameron. YA. Has an MC that’s intersex and NB + ace-spectrum. (Goodreads)
• “The Traitor’s Tunnel” by CM Spivey. Fantasy. Character is pan-romantic asexual and trans. (Goodreads)
• “Chamelon Moon” by RoAnna Sylver. SciFi. Both trans & ace rep, as well as an NB-ace character, and an agender-ace character. (Goodreads)
• “Swansea” by Elliott Junkyard (Sweet Revenge #1). SFF. Airship pirates, serial, one of the MCs is grey-ace and trans! (Goodreads)
• “Terminal” by AM Blaushild. Urban Fantasy. Online web serial (FREE!!) with an NB, asexual, and grey-romantic protagonist. (Website / AO3)
• “Iwunen Intersteller Investigations” by Bogi Takács. SciFi. Webseries, two NB leads who are demisexual. (Website)
• “No More Heroes” by Michelle Kan. Urban Fantasy. AroAce, genderfluid MC, POC (Cantonese) (Goodreads)
• “Mr. March Names the Stars” by Rivka Aarons-Hughes. Contemporary. Ace MC, and ace-trans love interest. (Goodreads)

Can you think of any others that we can add to this list? Drop us a comment and let us know! (Goodreads/website links welcome.)

Trans Book Month: Interview with Alex Gino, author of “George”

Trans Book Month on Just Love is all about elevating and celebrating trans authors and trans narratives. Today we’re thrilled to have  Alex Gino on the blog. Alex is the author George, a middle grade novel about a transgender girl!

Thanks for taking some time this morning to chat with me, I’m really, really excited about this!

Can you start by talking about why you wanted to write George? What was the motivation behind that?

So when I was growing up, there were no trans characters in children’s fiction—there weren’t really gay characters in children’s fiction. Those times I encountered transness, it was a joke, or an insult, or some other negative thing. And I’m sure that affected how I grew up, not seeing things that I was connecting with, and being told whatever I was saying wasn’t a thing, and not having any proof that anyone else was like me. Which is not everyone’s trans story, but it is mine. And as an adult I went to the children’s section, because I’ve always loved children’s books, and there still weren’t any books with trans characters. There were some gay characters by 2000 or so, but there still weren’t any books with trans characters.

So I said, “This is the book I wish I had.”

TRANS BOOK MONTH: By Trans For Trans, by B R Sanders

As part of Trans Book Month on Just Love, in which we are highlighting trans literature, we have invited several authors to share some of their thoughts with us. Please welcome B R Sanders who’s kicking off these guest posts today…

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By Trans For Trans

This is a famous quote from Toni Morrison that has guided my writing career:

“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”

I love this quote. It is a guiding star, particularly for those of us writers who are marginalized. One of the main reasons I started writing fiction was precisely because I so rarely saw representations of people like myself in the genres I most often read: I wanted to read more fantasy and science fiction about transgender people. And I wanted the trans people in these stories to just be people. I wanted to read about trans people living full lives. I wanted to read about them making choices and struggling with things beyond their trans identity.