A Great Gatsby retelling, but make it as queer and not white as possible? Heck yeah sign me up! Both Nick and Jay are transgender, and Nick is Latino. Here for it already!
Title: Self-Made Boys: A Great Gatsby Remix
Author: Anna-Marie McLemore
Series: Standalone
Genres: Historical Fiction, LGBTQ+, Retelling
Release Date: September 6, 2022
Goodreads Summary
I’m always on the lookout for new Harley Quinn books and this young adult novel caught my attention! It’s part of the ‘DC Icons’ series but each book is about a different superhero, so you don’t need to have read any previous books in this ‘series’ to jump right into this one.
Title: Harley Quinn: Reckoning
Author: Rachael Allen
Series: DC Icons #6
Genres: Fantasy, Superheroes, Contemporary
The nice thing about finishing A Spindle Splintered was the second book, A Mirror Mended, was released last month so I could immediately jump back into this world without having to wait – and thats exactly what I did.
Title: A Mirror Mended
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Series: Fractured Fables #2
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
I didn’t know what to pick up next then I saw this book on my pile of books I received at ALA, and decided a short novella is just what I needed in the moment – this fairytale retelling was quick and fun!
Title: A Spindle Splintered
Author: Alix E. Harrow
Series: Fractured Fables #1
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
I really enjoyed The Devil Makes Three by Tori Bovalino, so when I learned she was writing a Goblin Market retelling, color me intrigued! I can’t say I’m familiar with the Goblin Market story, but you don’t need to know it to enjoy this tale!
Title: Not Good For Maidens
Author: Tori Bovalino
Series: Standalone
Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Retelling
Goodreads Summary
It’s June which means Pride Month, and what better time to finally pick up Claire Kann’s adult debut novel, The Romantic Agenda, featuring an asexual protagonist? I loved this one.
Title: The Romantic Agenda
Author: Claire Kann
Series: Standalone
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, LBGTQ+
I mentioned in my Broadway May Wrap Up post that I wanted to start sharing more individual posts with my thoughts on shows as I see them and not just at the end of the month, so here we go! My first post dedicated to a singular Broadway review!
I’m going to try and be as honest and open in my reviews as I can. Please note these are my personal opinions and I’m always open to discussions!
Show Name: A Strange Loop
Show Type: Musical
Location: Lyceum Theatre, NYC
Date Seen: Sunday, June 5, 2022
Ticket Type: Rush, side orchestra, partial view
Price paid: $47
Checked another new show off my list today by seeing A Strange Loop! I really wanted to see this one before the Tony’s because I have a feeling it’ll win a lot of awards and then be really difficult to see/rush/win lottery for. It’s nominated for 11 Tony’s, the most this season, so I’m curious to see what it wins!
Oh yeah and MY FIRST PRIDE PLAYBILL!!! FINALLY!!! 
This show is different from whats on Broadway now. Its so very queer and so very Black and worth everyone seeing it at least once.
I’m not sure that I liked it, but I didn’t dislike it either. Its one of those thought provoking shows that I don’t feel like I, as a white woman, can judge because I will never know what a Black gay fat man has dealt with in life, but I did find it interesting to see the thoughts inside his head – literally, the show has 6 characters as “thoughts” and the main character, Usher.
It’s a show about a guy who is writing a musical about a guy writing a musical. It’s a little weird of a plot too but just go with the flow and you’ll be fine.
Since I grabbed rush tickets in the morning, I was the very side of the orchestra so I did have a partial view and did miss some of the action on the left side of the stage, but it isn’t a show that I felt I missed a ton. I could still figure it out easily enough and hear what was said so it was fine.
Despite that partial view, I thought this staging was pretty cool and well done, a lot of times it was pretty simple but I liked it a lot!
Strange Loop is nominated for Best Musical of the season and I think it has a good chance of winning, let’s see on June 12th!
What better way to kick off Pride Month than reading this new release graphic novel featuring a budding sapphic relationship while Jade is at an intensive summer art program! This was a fun read that dealt with some heavy topics.
Title: Slip
Author: Marika McCoola
Illustrator: Aatmaja Pandya
Series: Standalone
Genres: Graphic Novel, Contemporary, LGBTQ+, Mental Health
Release Date: June 7, 2022
Trigger warnings: Mentions of attempted suicide
Thank you to Algonquin Young Readers for the advanced physical copy and for having me on the blog tour!
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Yerba Buena is an adult novel about two women’s separate lives and how they come together as adults. It’s about how romance and love can be messy and is imperfect. This is a novel that I can’t stop thinking about and it had some really intense moments.
Title: Yerba Burna
Author: Nina LaCour
Series: Standalone
Genres: Romance, Contemporary, LBGTQ+
Release Date: May 31, 2022
Thank you to Libro.fm for the advanced listening copy! All opinions are my own.
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If you’re looking for a book told in verse about two young Black teenage girls in love, you’ve found the right book. This book shines and I can’t wait for more people to read it!
Title: Nothing Burns as Bright as You
Author: Ashley Woodfolk
Series: Standalone
Genres: Contemporary, Poetry, LGBTQ+
Frayed Books 