Okay, as if I haven’t talked about Cute Mutants by SJ Whitby enough. This series is an absolute favourite of mine and I’ve loved it from the first chapter of the first book! So obviously, we had to do a book tag for these amazing characters!

These incredible prose novels about superqueeroes are brilliant from start to finish, and they just get more intense. I can’t wait for everyone to read Volume 4: The Sisterhood of Evil Mutants when it comes out on April 6th.

This is my first ever original book tag, and I’m so glad I had Finn (evidentlybookish) and Andee (mousereads) to help me out with this. Take a look at my answers to these character inspired prompts and consider yourself tagged if you want to take part!

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Dylan AKA Chatterbox: A book featuring a character that’s a little bit mean and a lot loveable.

I don’t think I could talk about mean but loveable without hyping up my crepuscular queen, Harrowhark Nonagesimus. I’m not sure everyone (cough, Gideon, cough) would agree that Harrow is a lot loveable, but she definitely is. Harrow is one of the main characters in The Locked Tomb Trilogy by Tamsyn Muir, a book about a lesbian necromancer solving puzzles and murder with her sword-wielding lesbian himbo cavalier. In space. Yes, this book is perfection, and so is its sequel.

Gideon the Ninth | Harrow the Ninth

Dani AKA Marvellous: A book that caused you pain

I feel like this one doesn’t need much explanation. The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang is agonising and the whole series ruined my life. And I absolutely adore them. A fantasy series that draws heavily on the history of the Second Sino-Japanese war and the Chinese Civil War is a brutal depiction of the realities of war and genocide. It’s incredible, and I cried a whole lot. Make sure you’re prepared before you pick this one up, it doesn’t pull any punches. But I did finish it and immediately start rereading, so that should tell you how fantastic it is.

The Poppy War | The Dragon Republic | The Burning God

Alyse AKA Moodring: A book featuring monster girls

I absolutely adore Alyse, my glorious, shapeshifting monster girl. And I also adore Emanuela, the villainous protagonist of Beyond the Ruby Veil by Mara Fitzgerald. Emanuela is unapologetic, cunning and… generally awful. Obviously, I adore her. After she kills the only person in her town who can create water, Emanuela has to find a new way to produce water so that she can save her city from thirst. And she’s not going to let anything or anyone stop her from succeeding in that goal.

Beyond the Ruby Veil

Emma AKA Goddess: A book featuring a superpower you’d love to have

It’s not actually quite a superpower, but I’m going to pick Persephone Station by Stina Leicht for the shapeshifting species. I’ve long maintained that shapeshifting is obviously the best superpower of all time (everyone who has ever worked with me has heard this TED talk) so I couldn’t pick anything else. Persephone Station is a chunky sci-fi with a trans protagonist and loads of queer characters, all equally loveable. The rag-tag band of ex-soldies, mercenaries, assassins and criminals are asked to do a good and honourable job – that puts them in a fight against a huge corporation.

Persephone Station

Lou AKA Glowstick: A book with great trans rep

Who totally guessed this was coming? Everyone? Of course. Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas was one of my favourite reads last year. We read it in the Queer Book Crew book club and I was completely blown away by it. This magical ghost story made me genuinely weepy, and as someone who usually hates romances – I was in love. I love Yadriel and Julian so much, and even writing this makes me want to reread it. Yadriel is a trans brujo trying to prove himself to his very traditional family when a ritual goes wrong and he accidentally binds himself to Julian’s ghost, a bad boy from his school who is desperate to tie up some loose ends.

Cemetery Boys

Bianca AKA Wraith: A book with a character you’d go to hell and back for

There is just about nothing in the world I wouldn’t do for Murderbot (and ART) from The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. Murderbot is a rogue SecUnit who has hacked its governor module after it was involved in a disaster where people died. It wants to do nothing but watch media and hide from people and its social anxiety makes it the most relatable character in fiction ever. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn’t do for Murderbot, and when ART is introduced later, I love it just as much. There’s four novellas and a full length novel, with another novella coming in April!

All Systems Red | Artifical Condition | Rogue Protocol | Exit Strategy | Network Effect

Onimaru: A book with a character much cooler than you

It hardly needs saying that Kyoshi is so much cooler than me because Kyoshi is cooler than everyone. The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee is a prequel to the animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender but you absolutely don’t need to have seen the animated series to enjoy the Kyoshi duology. They’re incredible novels with a badass, morally grey, all powerful, tall as hell Avatar Kyoshi and her fierce, firebending girlfriend. I won’t stop yelling about these until everyone has read them, I adore Kyoshi so much and watching her grow into her power is incredible.

The Rise of Kyoshi | The Shadow of Kyoshi

Pillow: A book featuring your favourite fictional relationship

Kiem and Jainan from Winter’s Orbit by Everina Maxwell were an unexpected delight to me. I had heard incredible things about this novel and the way it handles domestic abuse and an arranged marriage, and I ended up reading it in one sitting. I adored both of them and watching them fall in love was so, so sweet. There is a lot of miscommunication trope, but it’s done really, really well. I usually hate miscommunication, but it’s done so well in Winter’s Orbit that I couldn’t help but love it anyway.

Winter’s Orbit

Batty: A book with a secondary character you can’t help but love

Okay, so Jane and August are perfection in One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, but (shock of shocks) I’m not sure either of them is my favourite character in the book. Because Wes. Weees. I love him so much. He’s cute and funny and I adored every scene that he was in. I do recommend this time-slip romance for the incredible sapphic romance between Jane and August, but I also recommend it for Wes and his monster crush on the drag queen who lives in their building.

One Last Stop

Pear: A book with a family dynamic you love

I love, love, love the sisters in The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow. The Eastwood sisters are estranged at the start of the book, but the way they come together makes my heart warm and there will never be anything I love more than badass witchy sisters working together to overthrow arsehole men. Their loyalty is incredible and I adore the way they go to bat for each other as things go wrong.

The Once and Future Witches

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Prompts:

• Dylan aka Chatterbox: A book featuring a character who can be a little bit mean but a lot loveable.
• Dani aka Marvellous: A book that caused you pain.
• Alyse aka Moodring: A book featuring monster girls.
• Emma aka Goddess: A book featuring a superpower you’d love to have.
• Lou aka Glowstick: A book with great trans rep. 
• Bianca aka Wraith: A book with a character you’d go to hell and back for. 
• Onimaru: A book with a character much cooler than you.
• Pillow: A book featuring your favourite fictional relationship.
• Batty: A book with a secondary character/sidekick you can’t help but love.
• Pear: A book with a family dynamic you love.

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Tagging:

• Things Dan Does… (wordpress.com)
• Althea is Reading – Read Sapphic Books! (wordpress.com)
• Luminosity Library – star-charts and disembarkments (wordpress.com)
• Lace and Dagger Books – lets talk about YA!
• Gingerb0oks – Words and ramblings from a redhead. I write about books. (wordpress.com)

If anyone else is interested in doing this tag, please do! Feel free to use any of the graphics (all here!) , with credit, and be sure to tag this post when you use it!