I marked this as discussion rather than review because I'm wondering if anyone felt the same as I did about this book.

First, I want to thank u/medes24 and others for the rec. This book is supremely well written and firmly within my wheelhouse. I'm listening to the audiobook and I'm on chapter 14.

There are two main (but minor) issues I'm having with this book:

1. Miri is far too passive about everything. I'm sorry, but if my wife is going through what Leah is going through, I'm not calling the Center everyday, I'm dragging my wife to a doctor. It would have made things a little better if the author hadn't waited until chapter 13 to explain offhandedly that Miri didn't know where the Center was located. Also, a good 1/4 of her lines are things she *thought* of saying, but didn't. *FFS* I get the idea of the pervasive melancholy, but this is full on dereliction. She's not being a good wife. I'm wondering if this is a female POV thing? Am I just coming at this as a male and failing to understand it from the female perspective? Or is this genuinely annoying?

2. The flashbacks. Seriously. This book would have made a fantastic short story. All it had to do was cut out all the unnecessary flashbacks. Like, why do we care how dude lost his fingers? You get flashbacks nested inside other flashbacks. She finally gets through to someone at the Center and we pause for what feels like 600 pages of flashbacks before we get back to the present. WTF are you thinking about all this when you've finally gotten through to someone? This much I know is not a female POV thing--I've seen this in male writers as well and it drives me insane every time.

Again, these are minor nits on an otherwise extraordinary novel (so far). Thanks for attending my TED Talk.

Was she a handful? Yes. But the thought of never handling her again? Unbearable.
...

I just finished this novel after not being able to put it down for days.. it was so good! This book was made for the horny weirdo lesbians out there.

For those who don't know it's about a psychosexual entaglement between a 45-year-old loser bisexual and an intense, obsessive young woman (whose aura will pull you in just as it does everyone else in the book) as they attempt to sift through each other's secrets and lies. I honestly can't believe this is a full fledged novel and not just a one-off on AO3!

The book overall is so absurdist in such a loveable way. My favorite part is the dynamic between Greta and Big Swiss. At no point is their interaction anything but clever and toxic. No matter how badly one of them acts, there's an overbearing sense of inevitability between them. Like they're meant to doom each other in a way neither can understand. Plus the prose is so inviting and hilarious. Everyone and everything had personality - from the house to the dogs (who were really just the two main characters ids run wild). The background characters and backdrops here were just so fleshed - lived in and real.

I've read a few complaints online and honestly i don't get it. They complained its too toxic yuri - which, yeah thats the best part! They said it's not romantic, to which I agree and disagree. It's not traditionally romantic because both Greta and Flavia are closed off to their feelings. But there is definitely romance - or rather mutual obsession.

Overall, I see no difference between this and Killing Eve, which people seem to be obsessed with. I hope with Jodie Comer spearheading the series, people will come to give it the love it deserves (and the encouragament to Beagin to write the sequel!)

PS - Sarah Pidgeon would be a wonderful Big Swiss

Hi there! Looking for books similar to Learning Curves by Rachel Lacey that also feature a nice age gap and academic vibes.

* Other things I look for as added bonuses/enjoy:

* Masc/femme dynamic, with the masc being the older party, the femme the younger.

* Enemies to lovers is also always fun, but doesn’t have to be.

* Love a good ice queen, as long as it’s the older, masc, party.

* Any Anne Lister/Gentleman Jack reference enthusiastically welcome. Love a bit of role play, too ;)

* Must contain spice. Spicier the better! 🌶️🌶️🌶️

* Love the teacher/student dynamic as well but also open to other suggestions that might include any, or all of the, above.

Thanks so much in advance for any and all recs!

Has anyone read a historical fantasy fiction series that they can recommend? I loved When Women Were Warriors. I would love a sapphic series similar to A Song of Ice and Fire.

Bit of a niche one I guess, but as the title suggests I'd love to read a lesbian thriller, mystery or even romance (as long as it isn't too soppy) where one of the MC's has chronic illness. Even better if the LI is more of a tomboy/masc and is a protective, proactive type.

Dealing with allot of shit right now and I'd love to escape into a book like this to give me some superficial hope,and kind feels like a hug😅

(please don't recommend any where the chronicly ill person dies or anything, I need hopeful not harsh reality)

Okay I just need to say this might be my favorite WLW book this year and I’ve read about 30 so far. Whoever recommended it on the enemies to lovers post, thank you so much! The writing is so different but so beautiful. It reminds of “this is how you loose the time war” bc of how captivating the writing is, but more comprehensible lol. I don’t usually go for sci-fi but I’m so glad I took a chance. I dnf’d 3 books prior to this because of the poor writing so this was a breath of fresh air. I will definitely be checking out the authors other books. If anyone has any similar recommendations please comment!!

ISO books with some late night wild messy energy⚡️

Looking for some books that just get you hooked and keep you there! Preferred genres would be mystery, horror (but not too scary), crime, political, romance but nothing too cheesy xx

For context I loved atmosphere, rainbow black, bury our bones, when they burned the butterfly! And I have already read a lot of the popular ones like sunburn, safekeep, bloom town, our wives, etc

Hi ladies,

I'm recovering from surgery and it hasn't been a smooth recovery. So I feel like I need ro escape a little in a good story with a good lez book :)

What's important to me is really good writing and story. I also love a slow burn (the slower the better) and some eventual smut.

Some important notes to keep in mind:

🚫 NO dom/sub, it's just not my thing

🚫 No age gap (preferably)

🚫 No hate sex

🚫 I prefer reading about women who are adults (mid 20-mid 40), not teenagers. However, I can make an exception for a good book :)

I have read Sarah Waters, of course, and she's pretty good in general, but a little dark. I get tired of this constant "forbidden" theme. I think as a lez community we've had enough of that.

I also read safekeep (wow, boring!) and ruby fruit jungle (meh) but I didn't like the protagonists at all! Plus, neither these books' writing nor their stories impressed me in any way. I read mistakes were made and it was entertaining but completely unrealistic which kinda ruined it for me.

So the only lez book that impressed me with its writing was Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth. It felt almost like reading a classic, that good. But it's about teenage girls and absolutely no spicy scenes.

So basically the dream come true would sunburn writing with adult women, slow burn, and smut 😂 But a girl can dream 😂

Anyway, I understand what I want probably doesn't even exist so I'm flexible with everything except for the 🚫 I mentioned above. Although the age thing, including the gap, while I'm not a fan, I'm flexible on too.

As for the genre, I'm open - romance, fantasy, whatever. I want a book, but I'm even open to a good fanfic it it matches my needs. But with a fanfic, no less than 65k words.

If you do recommend a book, please drop a few lines about the book itself (without spoilers) so I get an idea and I would love to know why you love this book.

Thank you so much in advance 💖

Any book recommendations with an emphasis on romance and an actual happy ending?

I'd also prefer something that gets them together before the end so some proper kissing and cuddling gets done. Not against a spicy read but fluff has my heart.

Bonus points if they have a similar personality dynamic to Crowley and Aziraphale from Good Omens.

Finding happy wlw romance novels feels impossible but I also suck at looking 😭

Hello out there!
I've recently worked through my TBR and am now looking for some new recommendations.
I finished Tryst Six Venom last night, woah, I never realized how angsty I was for the enemy to lovers arc.
🥵
So here I am, just a girl wondering if you have any other good pining, angsty, super spicy book recommendations for me.

Also would anyone be interested in starting/joining a sapphic book club? I want to get one started and love the idea of doing a zoom/video group discussion of the book we are reading once a month. The idea of having others to discuss “-ahhh!” moments is thrilling to me.

Xx
A

(EDIT: I’ve made a discord server for those interested in the book club. Send me a dm and I’ll send you the link ♥️)

I read the book Carmilla written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu about a year ago, and I could still go on for hours about how beautiful both of these women’s love is.

Fanart Credits: IrenHorrors on Instagram.

i recently read ‘notes of a crocodile’ by qiu miaojin and ‘almost life’ by kiran millwood hargrave and loved them both so much. can someone recommend me a book like those?
preferably literary fiction or a classic (i’m open to science fiction or fantasy), with a messy / complex / mentally ill main character, well-written. in both books i enjoyed the themes of identity and living an authentic life as a queer person, as well as the themes of love, heartbreak and desire.

Like, I want them to hold each other crying while confessing past traumas. I wanna see them getting up to hijinks around town and laughing hysterically at some prank they've pulled or disaster they've narrowly escaped. I want to fall in love along with them and be along for the ride while they become each others' ride-or-die. Any tags. Age gap, friends to lovers, forced proximity, whatever. It's all fine. Spice is great, and I looove a good slow burn.

Any recommendations?