“Is Father good because He is good, or because
He says He is good?” Angels Before Man is a gorgeous queer retelling of the
fall of Lucifer.
God creates Lucifer to be the most beautiful and loved of all
angels. Lucifer struggles in this role until the strongest of angels, Michael, comes into his life and teaches him to love himself. Why should Lucifer not
revel in his own beauty and talents, for is it not what he was created for? But
Lucifer soon learns his God is a jealous one and does not like to be questioned.
This is a beautifully tragic novel, and Nicolás interweaves religious trauma
with a forbidden love story. I couldn’t put it down and was left thinking about
it for days after I finished it.
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth is Andrew Joseph
White’s second novel and an absolute marvel. He once again is able to present
the struggles and darker sides of being a transgender person.
I have yet to
read another author who has perfectly captured my feelings in my gender
struggles. This gothic horror is set in 1883 London, highlighting the struggles
of being born into womanhood but knowing that is not what you are inside.
Silas
is a delightful main character, and his struggles with gender and autism relate to
a large audience. This novel is filled with mystery, ghosts, and murder and is
a fantastic read.
A blood-soaked and nauseating triumph that cuts like a scalpel and reads like your darkest nightmare.
New York Times bestselling author Andrew Joseph White returns with the transgressive gothic horror of our time!
Mors vincit omnia. Death conquers all.
London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old trans, autistic Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife.
After a failed attempt to escape an arranged marriage, Silas is diagnosed…
Laertes is another Hamlet retelling, but this
time from Laertes' perspective. I had the pleasure of being a beta reader on
this project, and it gripped me from the start.
Set in the 1920s, this novel
follows Laertes and his family's struggles throughout the play. It
also introduces several independent characters that add greatly to Laertes'
character. Hamlet lovers will find Easter eggs harkening back to the play, as
well as snippets of dialogue.
The ending is bittersweet and beautiful. Carly is
an incredibly talented writer, and she shines in this retelling.
Set in 1920s Europe, this poignant dark academia novel sheds new light on Shakespeare's masterpiece, finally allowing Laertes to tell his side of the story.
Laertes Belleforest lives two lives: a wild, passionate one with his best friends studying Classics in Paris, and a stifling existence in the Danish court where the mercurial prince Hamlet constantly overshadows him.
Now in his last year at university, Laertes must decide the kind of man he will become. But who is he, apart from the huge personalities that surround him and the secret guilt that haunts him?
In the tale of Hamlet, Horatio is recorded as a loyal friend, but what if he filled Hamlet's heart and dreams? And Hamlet filled his? This modern retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet told through Horatio's eyes, is much more than a tragedy.
Antique Roman is also a love story about how the handsome and dashing Prince of Denmark is drawn to the quiet, introverted Horatio while at university in Wittenberg. Slowly but surely, Hamlet helps the guarded Horatio see his own true value and shows him how love can bring light to life.
Told mostly in modern English, this novel also weaves in lines from Shakespeare's original play, thus offering readers an easy-to-understand version of Hamlet that still captures its flavour and mastery.
