Hi there! It’s almost at the end of Pride Month and I really wanted to write a post to celebrate before June finished. I was inspired by reading May @ Forever and Everly’s Pride Flag Book Tag and I thought that it would be great fun to do this tag — thanks so much for bringing this to my attention! The tag was created by Common Spence on Youtube, with an added prompt for black/brown by May.
1. red (life)
a book with a spirited protagonist totally proud of who they are. someone who gives you LIFE!
I would like to pick Charlie from Queens of Geek! I think she’s awesome and I love that book so much. Not sure what else to say except that. (I’m just getting started with blogging again, please cut me some slack haha.)
2. orange (healing)
a book that made you, as the reader, find a deeper meaning or catharsis in your own life
I know I talk about it ALL the time but When the Moon Was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore came into my life at a really important time where I was first exploring my gender identity, and although my experience does not align exactly with that of Sam, his story made me feel so seen. I can’t emphasise enough how much of a relief it was to read about what I was experiencing. This is actually one of the only books that’s ever made me cry. Also, it’s just a damn beautiful book and you should all read it.
3. yellow (sunshine)
a book that fills you with so much joy it could brighten even your darkest day
I just finished reading The Summer of Jordi Perez (and the Best Burger in Los Angeles) by Amy Spalding and IT WAS SO DARN CUTE. Please give me all the soft f/f rom-coms!! It starred a fat gay girl being happy and awesome in summer! Man, it was just so wonderful.
4. green (nature)
a book that is set out of this world—a reality different to our own
I picked up Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova as a during-exams treat and I ended up finishing it in like a day — it was so readable! I didn’t realise it was going to be queer before I started so I was like HECK YEAH. I can’t wait to read the sequel Bruja Born.
5. blue (peace)
a book where one of the characters finds peace with a difficult truth
I admit, I struggled a little to think of a book that fitted this one, but I went with Wild by Hannah Moskowitz. Both the main character and the love interest are bi, and for a lot of the book the MC Zack basically goes running to try and solve his problems. I don’t want to spoil it but I do feel like he finds some peace in his life, of a sort.
6. purple (spirit)
a book that deals with LGBT+ themes and religion
Although of course I love Autoboyography, I thought I’d go with something different — I Was Born For This by Alice Oseman. One of the MCs, Jimmy Kaga-Ricci, is a queer trans guy, and he’s also a Christian. I don’t want to give too much away, but religious imagery does feature quite heavily in here. There are also several other LGBTQ+ characters and the other MC Angel is a Muslim.
7. black/brown (inclusivity)
a book where one of the characters is a queer character of colour / queer indigenous character
I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert here before but I really enjoyed it! The MC Suzette is a black, Jewish bisexual girl which is awesome. I thought the writing style was wonderful and writing this actually makes me want to reread it.
THIS TAG MAKES ME SO HAPPY EVERY TIME I SEE IT. And I’m so sad, I haven’t read any of these, omg. My Goodreads TBR is yelling at me.
Aw yay! It’s so wonderful. And honestly same but oh my goodness, I very much recommend all of these!!
The Summer of Jordi Perez was so delightful and happy and great. I just loved it so much. I felt so seen in that book even though I’m bi and Abby is gay but we have similar other experiences and interests and it just made me so happy.
Oh I’m so glad to hear that! It’s so wonderful finding books that make you feel seen. 🙂
LABYRINTH LOST IS QUEER??!! I LITERALLY BOUGHT IT TODAY AND HAD NO IDEA WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT THAT
YES it is!! I hope you enjoy it!