letsgolesbians's reviews
2163 reviews

Fall Into You by Georgina Kiersten

emotional hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.75

a cute, quick final read for february ✨ Black and sapphic! dark-skinned rep, fat rep, a real person on the cover! 

fall into you is a novella featuring imari (the cover character), who has recently moved to a small town in texas from houston after leaving her fiancé at the altar. while helping her friend at a local festival, she runs into an old childhood friend named cassidy she lost touch with…and cassidy happens to be hot as hell now. “tall, with a tight swimmer’s build,” dark umber skin, and long black hair that was pulled up into a sloppy bun to show off a neat fade underneath” (hello). 

imari is dealing with an emotionally manipulative mother and by the end of the story leans into her found family. the romance is sweet and i loved their queer family they create. more Black sapphic joy, please. 

“heather, it’s not fall” seasons aren’t the same in la as they are in other places, i can follow my own calendar! for example, in most of the country it’s winter right now and in la it’s awards season. 

thank you @charlottelovestoread for buying this for me off my bookshop wishlist ❤️

TWs emotional manipulation, on-page sex

photo review here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3826RAvDch/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse

Blood Orange by Yaffa As

emotional hopeful sad

5.0

trans palestinian poetry 🇵🇸🏳️‍⚧️

blood orange is a collection of poetry published in november by mx yaffa (they/she), a disabled, autistic, trans, queer, muslim palestinian. in this collection, they write about the genocide, the diaspora, queerness and pinkwashing, and indigeneity. one stanza from the poem stars keeps coming back to me:

a child stares at the same stars 

but theirs comes 

to meet them 

phosphor filling 

their lungs

i encourage everyone to read this and talk about it as a way to resist the narrative that queer and trans palestinians don’t exist, or that they exist but are unloved. let’s continue to push back against pinkwashing—our liberation is connected. 

TWs genocide, death, murder, pinkwashing 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide and Colonisation

There Are Trans People Here by H. Melt

emotional hopeful reflective

5.0

there are trans people here by h. melt is a collection of poetry primarily focusing on trans joy and trans futures, two aspects of trans life that are often overshadowed by trans pain and death. i’ve included two poems i really appreciated for their perception of liberation and freedom.

a few days ago jamesissmiling asked us to think about how we were complicit in nex benedict’s murder. i have not been paying close attention to all of the bills and resolutions in the us because i’ve been hyper-focused on palestine, even though they are connected and i have the capacity to care about both. my memory isn’t great and i have a ton of blank notebooks, so i’m going to start keeping a record of the bullshit laws our governments are trying to pass, including anti-trans legislation. i also have a high capacity for letter writing and as i continue to write to my reps about palestine, i will also start writing to them about trans issues (if anyone has extra stamps or envelopes, send them my way). 

photo post here: https://www.instagram.com/p/C3xvjJxRVQk/?igsh=NzBmMjdhZWRiYQ==

Something More by Jackie Khalilieh

emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

longer rtc

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Death, and Drug use

Collide by Stephanie Shea

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

not my favorite stephanie shea book, honestly. i think the gia series was a lot stronger; the writing in collide felt clunky to me, with confusing sentences that needed some smoothing out and a few scenes feeling weird/unrealistic. a quick read, but i’d recommend skipping for one of shea’s longer books. 

That Could Be Enough by Alyssa Cole

emotional hopeful fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the diverse baseline challenge’s historical fiction prompt gave me an excuse to finally read alyssa cole’s that could be enough. i’ve enjoyed cole’s sapphic stories from her royals collections and figured i would enjoy this historical novella. and i did! the novella follows mercy, eliza hamilton’s Black maid who is helping eliza immortalize her husband by transcribing interviews eliza conducts with people who knew alexander. 

mercy has been hurt by love in the past and has covered her soft spots by being uptight. she doesn’t understand why eliza is so

focused on her husband’s legacy instead of on herself and has sworn off love. of course, then a heavenly Black woman named andromeda arrives to give an interview about her grandfather, and mercy cannot stop staring at her. or thinking about her.

they write letters to each other (swoon, i

love letters), andromeda stops at the house during a storm on her way back from her parents’ and has to stay in mercy’s room because racism, and there’s only one bed. 

in the author’s note at the end, she writes that queer people (including queer bipoc) being accepted by their loved ones and Black female business women are not anachronisms “in the name of happily ever after.” they have always existed. we have always existed. just like queer folks exist in palestine and anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong.  

definitely pick this up if you’re looking for a quick, uplifting Black sapphic story. 

tw: misogyny, racism, sex on page

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Sexual content

Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“behind you is the sea. before you, the enemy. you have left now only the hope of your courage and your consistency.”

“i’d seen this quote before, maybe in one of baba's books, but i hadn't understood the meaning behind the words until i’d googled them one night. that's when i read about the invasion of spain and the famous speech by tariq ibn ziyad. he burned his men's ships at the harbor so the couldn't sail home; he'd known they were scared, so he made fighting their only option.”

i sound like a broken record because every time i read something new-to-me by a palestinian, i say that it’s going to be something i return to again and again, but i don’t think i’ll be able to get this book out of my head. 

the book follows members of three palestinian immigrant families in baltimore, spanning generations and weaving the stories together to show the connectedness of community. as the description says, it “faces stereotypes about palestinian culture head-on” and examines nuances and challenges within community. i found myself challenged many times while reading this, including while reading the chapters focusing on a cop character, who is one of the throughlines of the book; how much sympathy could i relegate, even while understanding the character could i extend grace to a cop (turns out the answer is no, but i’m glad it made me think). at other times i found myself questioning how much of my western upbringing and socializing was contributing to my reactions, and questioning how much forgiveness can be given when you know the pain and abuse in someone’s backstory. 

this small book gave me a lot to think about, and i’m grateful that p posted about it and got it on my radar. worry beads was my favorite story, following a 40yo woman whose only advocate in her family is her father who is falling faster into dementia. she appeared earlier in the book and getting details about her life just hit me really hard. 

behind you is the sea is a recent release and i definitely recommend picking up a copy when the strike is over. 

A Murder Is Announced by Agatha Christie

will review after the strike

Gaza Writes Back by Refaat Alareer

challenging emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

“this book shows the world that despite israel's continuous attempts to kill steadfastness in us, palestinians keep going on, never surrendering to pain or death, and always seeing and seeking liberty and hope in the darkest of times. gaza writes back provides conclusive evidence that telling stories is an act of life, that telling stories is resistance, and that telling stories shapes our memories.“ — refaat alareer’s editor’s introduction 

gaza writes back: short stories from young writers in gaza, palestine is a collection of fictional short stories written by young gazans mostly in their early 20s. the book commemorates the fifth anniversary of operation cast lead, a military offensive israel launched on gaza at the end of 2008. the stories in this collection are written from a range of perspectives, from palestinian children and adults to iof soldiers, and act as a declaration and reclamation. 

i don’t want to ramble and spoil any stories because i want everyone to be able to savor them; i also don’t think my opinions on the stories should take up additional space. after the strike ends i highly recommend ordering a copy of this/requesting from your library.

When We Make It by Elisabet Velasquez

will review when the strike is over