Hi guys! Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal from Bookshelves and Paperbacks. Every week, you choose a book for each of these three categories: a diverse book you’ve read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your tbr, and a diverse book that hasn’t been released yet. This week all my picks are SFF books about Queer Girls.
Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova
Alex is a bruja, the most powerful witch in a generation and she hates magic. At her Deathday celebration, Alex performs a spell to rid herself of her power. But it backfires. Her whole family vanishes into thin air, leaving her alone with Nova, a brujo boy she can’t trust. A boy whose intentions are as dark as the strange marks on his skin. The only way to get her family back is to travel with Nova to Los Lagos, a land in-between, as dark as Limbo and as strange as Wonderland.
This book was one my favorite 2017 releases, it’s so darkly magical and must-read for everyone who’s a fan of witches. It has a bisexual main character and a female love interest.
The Abyss Surrounds Us by Emily Skrutskie
For Cassandra Leung, bossing around sea monsters is just the family business. She’s been a Reckoner trainer-in-training since she could walk, raising the genetically-engineered beasts to defend ships as they cross the pirate-infested NeoPacific. But when the pirate queen Santa Elena swoops in on Cas’s first solo mission and snatches her from the bloodstained decks, Cas’s dream of being a full-time trainer seems dead in the water. Waiting for her on the pirate ship is an unhatched Reckoner pup. Santa Elena wants to take back the seas with a monster of her own, and she needs a proper trainer to do it.
Pirates, girls loving girls and giant sea monsters – what’s not to be excited about?
Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan, October 23rd
Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most oppressed class in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards still haunts her. Now, the guards are back, and this time it’s Lei they’re after, the girl whose golden eyes have piqued the king’s interest. Over weeks of training in the opulent but stifling palace, Lei and eight other girls learn the skills and charm that befit being a king’s consort. But Lei isn’t content to watch her fate consume her. Instead, she does the unthinkable–she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens the very foundation of Ikhara, and Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide just how far she’s willing to go for justice and revenge.
I honestly don’t know a lot about this one, but the cover is gorgeous and the synopsis sounds very interesting, so I’m excited for it.
Have you read any of these books? Or are they on your TBR? Have you read any other SFF books with queer girls that I should add to mine? Let me know in the comments!
Haven’t read any of these, but Girls od Paper and Fire sounds really interesting! 🙂
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I think so too! 🙂
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Oo, Girls of Paper and Fire looks good. I’m adding that to my TBR right now. I’m always on the lookout for YA books featuring bi girls (like I was/am). Labyrinth Lost and The Abyss Surrounds Us are decent stories made even better because they feature underrepresented MCs.
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Me too! The world needs more books about awesome bi girls! Hopefully Girls of Paper and Fire will be another good one 🙂
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Sadly I did not like either Labyrinth Lost or The Abyss Surrounds us, but I am very much looking forward to Girls of Paper and Fire!
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I hope you enjoy Girls of Paper and Fire more than the other two!
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Wow all these books sound amazing especially labyrinth lost. Why aren’t they talked about more? I haven’t heard of the second book at all. Adding them to my TBR, great post
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Labyrinth Lost is amazing! I think books about queer girls tend to get talked about less/get less hype than books with straight or m/m couples, for some reason. Thank you so much! 🙂
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Oh I really want to read Labyrinth lost- so happy to hear it was one of your favourites of 2017 🙂 That cover for girls of paper and fire is gorgeous!
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I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Agreed, it’s so beautiful 🙂
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Girls of Paper and Fire looks awesome! I’m always a sucker for the forbidden romance trope! And this is the first time I’ve heard of the meme and it looks like something I need to participate it! Are the topics chosen beforehand or do you just choose them yourself?
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Same, I love a forbidden romance! I think it’s an old one? I just saw it one someone’s blog and loved it too much not to start doing it. The only rule is to pick one diverse book you’ve read, one on your tbr and one that hasn’t come out yet. There doesn’t need to a theme, but I like organization so I pick one for myself every week 🙂
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I see! Thank you! I love seeing the surge of diverse books lately so this is totally something I want to participate in. 😀
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Cool! I’ll be sure to check out your posts! 🙂
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Wow The Abyss Surrounds Us sounds really interesting! Lately I’ve ben gravitating to monstrous themed books. Sounds exciting! And the hype if growing for Girls of Paper and Fire is growing increasingly on GR, I can’t wait for that one either.
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I’m really into monstrous books right now too! I just read The Heart Forger and it was wonderful, so of course now I want more. Got any monster recs?
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