Book cover of The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Book description

Love speaks in flowers. Truth requires thorns.

Travel to a world of dark bargains struck by moonlight, of haunted towns and hungry woods, of talking beasts and gingerbread golems, where a young mermaid's voice can summon deadly storms and where a river might do a lovestruck boy's bidding but only…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Language of Thorns as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This is a collection of short stories that mixes fairy tales and myths to create six spooky, atmospheric retellings.

A few of the short stories, like “The Witch of Duva” (which borrows from “Hansel and Gretel”) deal with some dark themes, and “When Water Sang Fire,” is a deeply tragic, sapphic work inspired by “The Little Mermaid.”

My favorite of the collection is “The Soldier Prince” which combines “The Nutcracker” and “The Velveteen Rabbit” to produce a story with a fascinating take on agency, love, and self-awareness.

It’s queer in a way I don’t think I can define; I was…

From Elizabeth's list on queer fairy tale retellings for teens.

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Book cover of Spirit Sight: Volume One

Spirit Sight by Ross Hightower,

"Witches take on the patriarchy in this epic feminist fantasy." Spirit Sight book 1 volume 1 is an award-winning debut epic fantasy novel written by Ross Hightower, the first in the six-book Spirit Song series. Winner of numerous awards, including the Readers Favorite Fantasy Finalist and the Eric B Hoffer…

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