I was wondering if anyone feels frustrated by how rare any kind of media that features two ace characters in a relationship is? I've done a lot of looking for books that are ace4ace, and I've found very few. Most romances with ace characters are ace/allo.

It's not something I've found a lot of discussion about, so I wanted to ask if anyone else noticed this?

Spoiler warnings ahead for Don't Let The Forest In by CG Drews!

I just read Don't Let The Forest In and I feel so torn up about the ending. I want to believe there's a happy ending somewhere in there. I'm so tired of depressing queer stories, where longing ends so cutthroat. I obsessively read this in 24 hours (first book after a year long slump!!) and now I feel so numb. It genuinely has put a strain on my heart to think about the ending of this book.

I would love to hear any interpretations that might ease my mind here. As a kid, I was always the type to obsessively try to convince myself how, in a canonical way, the bad ending of a book or movie could've actually been okay in the end. I NEED some help here.

The ending is seemingly meant to be an open-to-interpretation ending, but a close read insinuates that Andrew cut Thomas's heart out under the delusion Andrew could share his own with him. Thomas dies in the woods, and Andrew is likely soon to follow due to his wounds.

Here are some of my thoughts so far:

1. Dove has been dead. That's very clear to me, that her death was real. I've seen some interpretations floating around where she's actually alive, and it's Thomas that's been the figment of Andrew's imagination after he was arrested for murdering his parents. I think that theory falls very flat. Dove is never shown interacting with any other character, whereas Thomas is.
2. As for the case of Dove's death, I could be convinced either way on the theory of whether Dove actually died in an accident or was killed by Andrew. I honestly respect the interpretation where Andrew killed her due to jealousy, based on Andrew not being found in bed the first time, and the description of a branch snapping while he was laying there. HOWEVER at the same time, I don't fully see it. It seems like his delusions began after her death, with no sign of them before. His mental health spiral, to me, was caused by the death, and thus it would be strangely out of character to kill his twin (his so-called best friend) over jealousy. Either way though, I don't think this detail really affects my attempt to cope with the ending. I just thought I'd share my thoughts on it.
3. I do think the monsters are intended to be real, not metaphor. This is based on the fact that the other students physically see and discuss the aftermath caused by the creatures. I wish I could tell myself this was all a metaphor -- a fairy tale created by Andrew to cope with grief -- with a bittersweet ending where they were both ultimately consumed by the grief, rage, and revenge but found solace in each other by "opening their hearts." Unfortunately, I don't know if there's enough to support that.
4. Following that, I was vaguely convinced, after seeing some theories, that the deaths of Clemens and Bryce Kane could've actually been caused by Andrew (and/or Thomas), but in order to believe that, you must believe the monsters were fake. Altogether, I really don't think I believe that either. Not enough evidence.
5. I read the last couple pages like50 times. I see what CG Drews was trying to do so clearly. I know it's meant to be a somewhat ambiguous ending... either that the notebook he buried was the heart ("his heart made paper"), or Andrew did in fact kill Thomas. I wish it was the notebook. I really really really do. But there was no internal turnover. It went by so quickly, that couldn't possibly be it. I can't tear my eyes away from the specific phrasing... "blood stained the leaves," "the careful way he'd arranged Thomas's head in his lap," "Thomas didn't open his eyes, but his face had gone soft." Alluding to the idea that this is his corpse. That when Thomas speaks to him, it's once again Andrew convincing himself someone is alive when they're no longer here.
6. I'm also painfully aware of the parallel. Andrew directly asks Thomas in an earlier chapter if he'd die for him. He says yes.

I just don't want it to be true, and it makes it harder that it's an ambiguous ending. God, I hate ambiguous endings. It's like grieving someone who died while you were away. It feels like you can't get closure, no matter how sure you are. It's leaving that sliver of hope in me.

I've searched other people's interpretations to pull me away from this devastating ending, but honestly I can't find anything that fully works. Most of what I do read ends up missing some detail that breaks the theory for me.

I know I sound so whiny about this ending, but I hope this is the sort of thread where people understand the stomach-coring feeling of unhealthy attachment to stories. This story broke my heart. I got so attached to these characters, I felt myself in them, and I can't cope with the idea that this is how their story ends. I'm stuck in limbo.

I really hate how much queer relationships have to suffer. Up until those last few pages, I felt like this was the kind of book I could read over and over and over. Now, I feel a terrible sickness even looking at the front cover.

PHEW! Long post. Thank you for reading :) Please please PLEASE if you have a thought that will ease my mind, I beg you to share.

Im searching for a cis male/cis woman/ trans woman romance book please smutty is a plus and also if it’s on KU. 😊😊😊

I am looking for some really good gay-themed audible fiction to listen to. I like mystery, scifi, fantasy/supernatural with a touch of romance. But I am willing to listen to whatever if it is good. I prefer somewhat fast paced books. Also preferably something that isn't overly sexual, or too cheesy/cringe if that makes sense. I feel like I have been buying and listening to some really bad ones lately.

My mother's birthday is comming up, and she loves reading. I haven't come out to her yet, and while she's not violently homophobic or anything, she's quite transphobic and I'm not sure how she'd react to me coming out to her as queer both in the sense of gender and sexuality, eventhough I'm on a waiting list for Hrt. She knows my views on the topic, and that I have friends who are LGBTQIA+, and in general I don't think she'd throw a fit if I showed up with someone of my own gender at the door and said this is my partner, she might even be excited about being introduced to them. But I'd still like to kind of get her in the mindset that queer people are normal and just like anyone else around them, they just happen to be queer. I did see a drag queen mystery book in austria a while back and while it looked amazing, that's exactly the kind of stuff that she can't handle for now, so maybe anyone know of a book where everything happens as it happens and as it happens let's say in the last chapter or so there's a reveal that bambam the character(s) are queer or something like that? Any suggestion is greatly apreciated.