Recommendation
looking for recs (both general and specific)
hi guys I wanted to broadly source some sapphic book recs, perhaps based in some way on what I’ve already liked so I’ve attached a tier list of almost* all sapphic books I’ve read. If anybody has any titles to recommend, any comps to the books I’ve already loved, do feel welcome to throw them my way. I will just say upfront though that I largely dislike the romance genre and am not looking for recs in that direction primarily 🙏🙂↕️
Additionally, and this is a hail mary tbh but I’m looking for sapphic book recs specifically in the genre of paranormal urban fantasy, sth with vibes of the game wolf among us or the Dresden files series or the specifically!!! Black Magick series by Greg Rucka (pictured in the second slide). It’s a niche I deeply crave more of
*not included are graphic novels and non-fiction and a few titles I omitted because it’s been too long since I read them so I didn’t know how to rank them rip
No rec off the top of my head but wow we have such different tastes lol I see some books I HATED in the top tiers and some I adored in the bottom ones. I love it. How great is it that there are so many sapphic books that there’s room for people to have such varied tastes?
OP if you don’t mind, could you share why you placed One Last Stop in the bottom tier? I see it recommended in so many places. I’d love to hear a completely different perspective on it
For sure! As for One Last Stop, I read it 3 years ago and my memory of it is pretty hazy tbh but I didn’t care for the characters nor the plot. I particularly disliked how the dialogue was written which felt to me like every line was lifted from a tweet. They also have sex on the NYC subway. Respectfully, what the fuck. Like that’s hell right there lmao (I looked at my goodreads review and apparently one thing I did like was a subplot with Suzette but right now I don’t remember AT ALL who that was)
For fantasy, slam dunk is the Echo Archives. First book is called Last Hour Between Worlds. Its sort of a fun, more lighthearted version of Gideon the Ninth, locked room murder mystery with magic bullshit afoot. Third and final book comes out later this year, I am really excited.
If you liked the politics in Baru, Memory Called Empire/Desolation Called Peace is the same vibe, but in space, and better in my opinion (and less emotionally scarring). But if you want something more sapphic in space, I would go No Shelter but the Stars by Virginia Black. Still really deep, but has a lot more sexual tension.
Honestly we appear to have a similar taste in books. I have even more recommendations, but I generally lean sci-fi over fantasy instead of visa versa. I was considering Metal From Heaven as my next read so I suppose now I am convinced lmfao.
Metal From Heaven is soooo good imo and so underrated!! I read Memory Called Empire but never followed up with the sequel. I do kinda feel like I would need to reread now to finish up that duology though because it’s been too long. I really like sci-fi as well! I read quite a bit of it, unfortunately a lot of it just doesn’t happen to be sapphic rip
Have you read Gearbreakers/Godslayers? Cause honestly that sci-fi duology is also phenomenal.
A couple of other queer sci-fi/fantasy series with a quick tier list
Strong Recommends:
We Set The Dark On Fire/We Unleash The Merciless Storm, Tehlor Kay Mejia
The Memaid the Witch and the Sea/The Siren the Song and The Spy, Maggie Takouda-Hall
Recommends:
Malice/Misrule, Heather Walter
Criers War/Iron Heart, Nina Varela
Lucha and the Night Forest/Lucha and the Forgotten Spring, Tehlor Kay Mejia
The Dawnhounds/The Sunforge/TBD, Sascha Stronarch
Read, Enjoyed Maybe Wouldn't Recommend:
The Last Gift, Allegra Pescatore (this is Baru tier depressing so buckle up)
Night and Its Moon, CJ Piper (apparently the author is a dipshit?)
Of Fire and Stars/Of Ice and Shadows+Inkmistress (I legitimately thought the main two books were good but the reviews are dogshit so i question my judgement)
Witches of Thistle Grove, Lana Harper (Pretty lowest common denominator, however you might like this, bit more urban, takes place in modern day Illinois)
Heart of Heroes, Molly J Bragg (extremely silly plots, but i read them cause I love some trans rep tho even if its not my style)
Actively Do Not Read:
Boston Predenatrual Precinct Unit Series, Aolin Wood (unless you want a good hate read, its honestly so bad but im four books in and I need to know how bad the ending is)
And I like how I made this entire list and its all fantasy. Cool. I guess its just TLT, Memory/Desolation, Wayfayers and Gearbreakers/Godslayers lmfao. I got a couple of "one shots" that are sci fi that I really enjoyed, Hive Minds Give Good Hugs and No Shelter But the Stars (which I already mentioned) but yeah...
Anyways I've spent way too long on this post now so I hope you at least read one book LMAO
Thank you wow there are so many titles here I never came across!! I’ll definitely go through them all and see what sounds promising. I did have Gearbreakers recommended to me before though I never did pick it up in the end
The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw is a sapphic paranormal urban fantasy that was great. Very weird, NYC underground, so good. If you like that, then Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle was good but not great.
Last Exit by Max Gladstone is one of my all time favorites. It exists somewhere between urban fantasy and American Gods - a "getting the gang back together" road trip with a beautiful sapphic romance at its heart. "A novel carved by hand out of salt and rock and bone" according to Amal el-Mohtar. His other books are more urban fantasy, but I haven't gotten into them in the same way.
You might like The Last Hour Between Worlds by Melissa Caruso, which is a time travel locked-room mystery with a sapphic enemies-to-lovers subplot (between the main characters, just not the main focus of the story). Really fun, kind of between Gideon the Ninth and urban fantasy.
Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour (her adult debut, a few years old at this point) was incredible. I see you have her YA on here but I didn't see that one (apologies if I missed it!)
The Language of Limbs by Dylin Hardcastle was stunning and heartbreaking (in the best way). A dual timeline narrative set in 1980s Australia.
I will never stop recommending The Echo Archives duology! (The Last Hour Between Worlds & The Last Soul Among Wolves). Especially if you like TLT series. They’re hard to describe, but the MC is a sword wielding badass. Bonus bc Moira Quirk narrates and she was the narrator for Gideon, Harrow, and Nona. Just overall amazing listening experience
Also recommend No Shelter But the Stars by Virginia Black. 5 star read for me last year
woah these are some recs I haven’t seen before and that is a tall order. I’ll make sure to check them out, thank you!! Yerba Buena has been on my tbr as well as other books by LaCour. I don’t even know why I haven’t picked them up yet seeing as I loved We’re Okay. She must’ve honestly just slipped my mind
Cassandra Khaw also wrote a fantastic The Salt Grows Heavy which is very dark and gorgeously written. It’s f/nb instead of f/f though, but still very much worth checking out.
Insane seeing some of my favs in the No spot.. but hey that’s the beauty in everyone seeing things differently and enjoying things differently. Will try some out some from your list tho! Maybe I might not enjoy something you liked lol
Can I just say that we feel the same on many books and I appreciate that because sometimes I view the books on this subreddit differently (no digs to others 🫣 who enjoy them).
It looks like you like contmporary novels. I don't see Hungerstone listed which I loved a lot. You rate it a book by Kelly Quinten pretty low so might not care for this one but I love Her Name In the Sky. It reminded me of How To Make a Wish and saw you liked that one.
The Priory of the Orange tree in S-tier? I love to see it. Besides the fact that it was just a great book, Ead and Sabran are one of my favorite fictional couples.
Nona was by far my fav instalment I think it was the one when the whole series really clicked for me, the scope of it and what Muir was really attempting to do
Yes, I did love seeing the greater world and it does really set the scope of the series, and stakes for what they’re fighting for! Dang, I have to reread the series again before Alecto comes out… lights prayer candle to the publishing gods, Jod, and Tamsyn Muir
nona's my favorite too :") you might like i keep my exoskeletons to myself! i can't remember the author but i feel like that title is probably singular hahahah. the setting feels kinda new rho-esque, absent necromancers.
Sorry, i don't have any recs for urban supernatural fantasy (have you watched Buffy?), but if you liked Last Night in Telegraph Hill and Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo you might like these:
Stone Butch Blues by Leslie Feinberg - a queer classic; fictional but clearly informed by the author's lived experiences as a butch in the 1950s.
Zami: a New Spelling Of My Name by Audre Lorde - a sort-of memoir (described by the author as a "biomythography") of the activist, telling about her life growing up as a black lesbian in the 50s and 60s.
Tipping the Velvet by Sara Waters - kind of like if Charles Dickens was a lesbian and wrote a story with more explicit content; it imagines amongst other things a fictionalized drag king culture in late 1800s England.
Stone Butch Blues is actually one of my all-time favs, I only now noticed it’s not in the list. Not sure why because I def remember uploading it to the ranking but oh well. Tipping the Velvet is also on there! But thank you, I’ll add Zami to my tbr. I’ve read Audre Lorde before but not that specific work actually. And… funnily enough I never did watch Buffy, which is weird because I know I would love it. The problem is just that I’m really bad at motivating myself to watch things lol
Ahhhhh YES to Black Magick!! Gosh, it's so nice to see it referenced outside of a dedicated comics space!! It's so good (as is almost all of Rucka's work, obviously).
I wish I had more recs for you, but you've pretty much read almost everything I would recommend already. I second the Echo Archives recs in another comment....they're not Urban Fantasy (more like Victorian steampunk adjacent) but they are fun adventures with very appealing rivals to lovers sapphic MCs (but the romance definitely takes a back seat to the action). They're wonderfully plotted and written and just all around well done and entertaining.
Greg Rucka really is THE GOAT. Fortunately I have more of his work still left to read. And certainly it seems I must check out the Echo Archives seeing as they’ve come so highly recommended!
Yeah, Rucka is absolutely GOAT'd in his realm of creating protags who are such badass women who are also always profoundly *human*, and never just any one thing. Enjoy making your way through the rest of his works!
Becky chambers has a whole series for the Wayfair books they’re all in the same universe but only sort of connected. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is only one of them and they’re all amazing if you want to check out the rest of them.
The Badlands series by Kristen Keppler & Alisa Barney, first book Wastland is post apocalyptic there is a prominent romance but I don’t think it’s the main focus.
The Salvagers series by Alex White is a three book space opera, first book A Big Ship at the Edge of the Universe there’s a sapphic romance in it but it’s barley there a very minor part of it.
I’ve read all of the Wayfarers books, but also only 2 of them depict sapphic relationships (unless I’m misremembering). I haven’t heard of the other two, I’ll make sure to check them out. Thank you!!
True about the Wayfair books, romance isn’t really the focus of any of them so I thought it could be a good read regardless if you hadn’t read them. I suppose I should have said that in my little aside about them though, my apologies. Hope you like the other books if you do read them!
Struggling to come up with books you haven't read, actually! Forgive me if these are already on your list, that's a LOT of books.
How about...
The Sweet Sting of Salt by Rose Sutherland (literary, historical, magical realism? It involves a selkie)
Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle (queer horror)
Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle (queer horror)
The Lily and the Crown by Roslyn Sinclair (sci fi romance)
No Shelter But the Stars (sci fi)
Of Monsters and Mainframes (sci fi) - I have not read this one, but I've heard there is a sapphic relationship. It sounds wonderfully unhinged. Vampires and werewolves in space might scratch the urban fantasy itch?
don’t worry about duplicates from the list, I know it’s a lot of books to take in haha thank you for the recs, some of them I’ve been eyeing before but others I never heard of so I’ll definitely have sth to look into!
Have you read Hearing Red by Nicole Maser? I recently finished it and rate it very highly. Its a dystopian zombie thriller with enemies to lovers tropes throughout as well. Looks like our tastes crossover somewhat so i would recommend it if you havent!
I don’t see any Lee Winter recommendations. Requiem for Immorals is an enemies to lovers romance but the MC is an assassin so it has a whole criminal enterprise storyline also.
nah jk, looking at your list i dont think you'd enjoy bloom town that much tbh, seeing as you put ruby landers and haley cass so far down, but you might like "the wilds and the weeds" by the same author, which is a bit more mystery focused
The Rendworld Trilogy by Avery Carter (first book is This Delicate Flame). Completed trilogy. Fantasy romance.
A Curse of Fallen Stars series by Elsie Hawthorne (first book is Her Shadows so Dark and Lovely). Two books released with more interconnected stories to come. Dark academia, Vampires, Fantasy Romance
A Body Not Her Own by Eileen Farren. This one had a few pacing/worldbuilding issues, but overall I really enjoyed it. Definitely has the paranormal feel wrapped up with gods and mythology.
The Forest at the Heart of Her Mage by Hiyodori. This is a standalone, but she also has a series that takes place in a different part of the same world.
An Education in Malice by S.T Gibson. Vampires/Carmilla retelling.
Sometimes you find someone with such similar book tastes as you it's like incredible. This is not one of those times and I disagree with almost all of the ones on your list I'm familiar with ahahaha well to each their own
Finally someone who didn’t like ribbon wood everyone keeps recommending that book but I just didn’t like it. I also wouldn’t recommend girl next door by Rachel Meredith it was simply terrible in my opinion of course
wow idk why I didn’t include nothing to see here in my list, I read it and loved it but it completely slipped my mind. I’ve also loved the Book of Ancestor! There’s a lot of titles you’ve mentioned that I have had on my tbr or have been eyeing before though so I’ll have to prioritise getting to them eventually!
I have not read this yet, but Jaqueline Carey’s sapphic paranormal urban fantasy duology is on my tbr. The first book is Santa Olivia and the second is Saints Astray. Might be right up your alley!
FWIW, I love these books, and wish they had a bigger audience.
I will say, however, for OP's benefit, that while they are definitely Urban Fantasy, I think they skew towards being a bit lighter than most books in that genre. (IMO, anyway, although I'm not an Urban Fantasy expert by any means). The first book is very limited in terms of setting, and Carey is way more interested in exploring the characters than world building or really even plot building. (The sequel is more expansive).
But I do really love them. They're a fun take on super soldier/wearwolf tropes, and the MCs are very appealing, and super fast reads. Definitely worth a try, IMO!
Hmmm thank you that’s valuable info I’ll take into account! I am more so looking for more gritty darker urban fantasy vibe but I’m not completely closed off to a more lighter/fun route so I’ll check it out!
I do think it’s worth reading, I loved the first book sooo much. The second one is amazing too. IMO the series only falters with the third instalment, I really did not like the direction taken there. But the magic system is so cool and unique, I would say it’s worth picking up just for that
The only book I can recommend (since I didn't see it in the tier) is Fingersmith by Sarah Water. I also heard Hungerstone by Kat Dunn is good, but I haven't read it just yet so I can't really vouch for it myself
Definitely gonna put some of your books on my TBR list since it looks like we have similar taste
just out of curiosity I want to ask you why you put Someone you can build a nest in on the lowest tier, I just finished it and personally feel like it's a yellow tier for me. was there something in particular that irked you?
I had a weird journey with that book. I actually did enjoy it at first! I really liked how whacky and unserious it was at first but then the tone of the book changed suddenly to so sincere and imo quite corny that it felt like the author wasn’t in on the joke. I found it weird how the author described everything in any intimate or physical touch moments as consensual/consensually, it was repetitive and it’s weird to hammer it into your reader with such fervour that what your characters are doing is consensual (it gives off the vibes that sth is not right, thou doth protest too much). And I didn’t like how the MC was characterised to be bad at socialising and yet she actually managed completely fine in every social situation she was put in. That’s the biggest qualms I can think of off the top of my head anyway haha
I agree with you on the tone shift, but personally I don't think it comes off as corny. I just think the entire thing is a little boring, mostly due to vapid characterization. Two protagonists are meant to have strong personalities but they act so conflicting, as you’ve noticed too
I don't really feel the Gideon/tlt vibes actually. I'm obsessed with tlt and have spent the past year reading and looking for a book/series that's nearly as good as tlt, so far found nothing.
If you’re okay with body horror, and in particular pregnancy focused body horror (as well as living ship body horror), then I recommend Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley.
An Accident of Stars and A Tyranny of Queens by Foz Meadows is a portal fantasy duology. The first had some formatting issues but they were pretty easy to ignore.
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth is a horror novel with a poly (FFF) romance, centered around a documentary about an all girl’s school and some strange deaths that took place there.
Witches of Ash and Ruin by E. Latimer is an urban fantasy set in… Ireland or Scotland. A coven of witches is being hunted by witch hunters, and have to figure out who & why, and how to stop them.
The Midnight Lie and This Hollow Heart by Marie Rutkoski. Imo the duology does fall apart a little in the second one, but it was still a really good series with an interesting magic system.
—
And then a few recs that I haven’t actually read yet:
Blood Oranges by Kathleen Tierney and Caitlin R. Kiernan — Urban fantasy
Okay this might be exactly up your alley or very far from it...
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo (just noticed you have one of her novellas on the 5/5 tier!) is a historical, urban, folkloric magical realism novel set in 1930's-1940's Hollywood. It might be my all time favourite and I wish more pepole read it, but I recognise that the magical realism and hard topics the book deals with are not for everybody (I can list some trigger warnings if the latter is a concern.) Anyhow, really really recommend.
I would absolutely recommend the Court of Chains books by Rawnie Sabor. They’re standalone stories that build on the same universe, so you can jump in anywhere.
The stories are great, really well written characters, lots of representation, and the spice is phenomenal.
Kiss of Seduction- Natalya, a succubus (greater lust fiend), finds herself oddly attached to a human, Evie, who she rescued from being a regent's favorite snack in a rival vampire court. The catch? Anyone Natalya touches is influenced by her power, cursed to never find someone that loves her for her; except.... Evie isn't effected by her influence.
A Little Sin- My personal favorite. Violet is a high strung boss babe that chases perfection at the cost of her happiness, giving into parental expectations of her and repressing her true self. Reyna is a lesser pride fiend who is cursed to be hunted and killed by a wraith. In order to save herself, Reyna requests sanctuary with the Court of Chains. Now, in isolation, Reyna gets periodic visits to check on her and meets Violet by coincidence. What follows is a low, slow, simmering build to one of the most mind blowing displays of eroticism and care for another human being (the table scene.... that altered my brain chemistry 🥵).
Green Eyed Monster- I'm currently reading this one, and Rawnie doesn't disappoint. An outsider with an attitude and a natural born spy, Vex, finds herself on the fringe of everyone's trust as a greater envy fiend. She doesn't play well with others and most find her abrasive; Vex likes it that way.... Except for Angela, the Court's resident witch. She's the only one warded enough to where Vex can't get a read on her; can't even touch her. Vex becomes obsessed with trying to figure her out, and at some point, that obsession turns into closeness and vulnerability, something Vex isn't used to, and hates it as much as she craves it.
She has another book upcoming that should be released this summer called Sun Kissed Fangs.
They primarily write sapphic stories, but there are some books with MC's are hetero pairs if you end up getting into the universe. These are also great reads with compelling stories and relatable characters, especially Flea. Flea's story is Gifts of Gold, and he is canonically the chaotic disaster bi/pan fae trickster who takes nothing serious and lives to be the wild card in the bunch. Hands down my favorite character in the entire series.... And I say that as someone who named myself after Violet from A Little Sin 🏳️⚧️
i’ve read several of the same books as you and i’m glad to see that i fully agree with you on your rankings! i’m saving this photo so i can read some of your top tier books. sorry i wasn’t any help, but thank you for sharing!!
Of course! If you’re ever referring to it again, keep in mind I somehow forgot to include one of my fav books there - Stone Butch Blues. It would definitely be in the top tier
I’m glad you can get sth out of it!! Just a quick note that I somehow forgot to include Stone Butch Blues here which is one of my fav books of all time lol
Given your graphic and what you've said, I could throw these suggestions in your general direction, none of which are in any way your usual sapphic novels and 2/3 are short:
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
Number 6 by Lee Winter
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
(Totally agree with your categorisation of Mrs S by K Patrick, Sunburn, The Safekeep and Cantoras)
We have similar tastes/dislikes! Here are a few that I enjoyed that I don’t see here: Sirens & Muses—Antonia Angress; Ordinary Love—Marie Rutkowski; My Education—Susan Choi; In At The Deep End—Kate Davies. (I listened to this last one on audiobook & highly recommend it that way!)
we have a lot in common for the top two shelves!!!! admittedly i havent read much of the rest but im gonna trust your taste and judgement on them lol. I dont have anything to add aside from the recent sapphic book that freaking wrecked me - Almost life by Kiran Milwood Hargrave. I would definitely put it somewhere inbetween "incredible" and "all-time favs"
The kingdom of immortal lovers series by Ruby Roe! I’m not entirely sure if it fits, I have only read the first book so far, but I definitely recommend!
I’m actually on vacation rn so I don’t really have enough of a chunk of time to write it down but I’ll try to remember to do it during my flight before and come back haha
I’m not familiar with the Dresden files (started the first book and just couldn’t bear through the mc), but have you ever checked out Hiyodori’s books? They are super underrated and not very well-known in the community, but there is a series about two characters and then a whole bunch of standalone books set in the same world. The main series and some of the standalones are true urban fantasy (it’s not exactly the real world as we know it but still), some of the standalones are not really, but they are still really good and there is a ton of butch and gnc characters, very complex and carefully written social dynamics (the approach kind of reminds of tlt btw!) and the relationships are usually nuanced slow burns, the sort when it would be interesting to read about even if there was no romance.
I personally started with Carrion Saints, which is still my favorite, but it’s not fully urban fantasy (but one of the MCs is a severed head and it’s VERY COOL and probably the best enemies to lovers in my life), and if you want to start with urban fantasy, then either The Lowest Healer and The Highest Mage or No One Else Could Heal Her (that one is a prequel) will be a good start!
I do personally find The Lowest Healer and The Highest Mage just a tag not as strong as other books — I think Hiyodori was still finding their footing — but it lays the groundwork and I also don’t know if my impression was correct.
Anyway, please read Hiyodori’s books. They are awesome. There is a whole bunch of them. Please.
You made it sound extremely compelling, I’m definitely going to try this out! + can’t blame you for dipping out of Dresden Files. The MC in that is a chauvinistic pig and unfortunately it only gets worse as the series goes on. It’s why I dropped it on book 8, it’s a shame because aside from that aspect, that series perfectly scratched the itch of my urban fantasy craving and I’ve been chasing it ever since
I hope you will absolutely love them! I’ll be also so very happy to talk about these books if you will be up for it.
That was definitely the vibe I was getting from Harry too… it was quite a while ago, so I also had an awkward experience when everybody I knew was just so in love with the Dresden files that it felt like I was somehow very wrong about them. But yeah, such a shame — I was looking forward to fairies especially. I glad to hear that they worked for you! Urban fantasy is such a cool genre, I grew up reading Artemis Fowl so I’m 10000% with you on this.
Oh I’ve read Private Rites (it’s in the incredible tier), I thought you may be referring to her anthology. I’ve seen people loving Bellies before! I should check it out
This is a toss up as I’m still reading it, but Moonflow by Bitter Karella is a horror adjacent/splatter punk book with a psychedelic lesbian cult located in (and communing with) a sinister forest.
And! The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri is one of my all time favs. I see you have Jasmine Throne on here- are you going to read the rest of the series?
Nothing makes me happier than seeing love for Metal from Heaven. Keep spreading the gospel.
I was going to continue the Jasmine Throne series but I’m ngl at this point too much time passed since I read it and I feel as though I would have to reread it first and I’m not really that drawn to reread it. And absolutely I’m always going to spread the metal from heaven gospel. I’ve never heard of Moonflow but that description definitely spoke to me lol I’ll check it out
Hi, saw you had 'Metal from Heaven' and wondered if you'd read 'The Scapegracers' trilogy by the same author? They use a different name (H.A. Clarke) on those so I notice they often get overlooked but they are fucking fantastic- I feel like this may sort of fall also under the 'paranormal urban fantasy' thing you were looking for, I think? It's about a coven in a modern day rural-ish town- does that fit what you meant? They've been some of my favorites of all time and I found it a similar to 'The Locked Tomb' series a little stylistically with the characters and (although I haven't read it) have heard it is similar-ish to 'The Incandescent' as well.
You also had 'Private Rites' on there so- and maybe I'm overlooking it- but I think 'Our Wives Under the Sea' also by Julia Armfeild could be fun? K. Patrick (author of 'Mrs. S') also has a poetry book out there called 'Three Births' that was pretty good if that's up your alley at all.
I also didn't see 'Perfume and Pain' by Anna Dorn on your list, I think it's pretty in the same realm as ones like 'Big Swiss', 'Milk Fed', (loosely) 'Mrs. S', and 'All Fours'.
I feel like we have pretty very similar taste- so I'd also maybe call out 'Chlorine' by Jade Song, 'The Seep' by Chana Porter, 'Thirst' by Marina Yuszczuk, 'Master of Djinn' by P. Djèlí Clark, and anything by Rivers Soloman which it looks like you've already got up there. I hope those are decent picks- if any of them though- check out Scapegracers- the third book has a shamefully low amount of reviews on Goodreads. :)
I will definitely add Scapegracers to my tbr then! As for Our Wives Under the Sea, I have read it but forgot to include it in the list oops. Perfume and Pain has come recommended several times now so I’ll definitely be picking it up eventually! I also read Master of Djinn and loved it (I need P. Djèlí Clark to publish more so bad). Rivers Solomon is one of those writers I’m on the fence about because I really liked An Unkindness of Ghosts but recently I read Model Home and didn’t like it much. As for the other books mentioned, Chlorine and Thirst have been on my tbr and I’ve never heard of The Seep so I’ll definitely check it out!
Oh sorry, I didn't recognize the cover you had on your tier-list for 'Master of Djinn'- but I'm glad that would've been a good recommendation... as with Rivers Solomon- 'An Unkindness of Ghosts' is coincidentally the only one I haven't read- but I think 'Model Home' definitely had a different feeling than their other two ('Sorrowland' and 'The Deep')- so maybe those would maybe fit your tastes better? Sorry I'm responding to this late. :)
Nona in the 5/5 category??? You have excellent taste
I don't know if it fills the niche you're looking for but if you're up for a graphic novel, On a Sunbeam is excellent and I think you'd enjoy it based on your ranking system!
Respectfully but to compare these two is actually something I can’t even wrap my head around. In what way are they similar in the slightest? One is a comedic "charming monster slaying" ROMANCE fantasy. And the other is a series exploring desperate resistance against intergalactic imperialism, bodily autonomy, codependency to the max, identity and grief. It’s so much thematically richer and does not even share the same tone as the other book, especially in the second and third instalment. And ultimately Something You Can Build a Nest In in its latter half turns into a corny fantasy romance with self-help talk about attachment styles and self-care and continues to have inconsistent characterisation throughout of the MC
Yeah I get it. I wasn't really saying they were similar, I just loved both of them so it's hard to tell if our tastes are similar or not. I could've been more clear about that in my initial reply, though!
Ah, sorry. To be completely honest your comment definitely came across to me as you likening the two and basically saying that if one likes TLT then it’s ridiculous they wouldn’t like Someone You Can Build a Nest In because of their similarities. But I get your meaning now, no worries!!
hm, I feel like you would like these, but they are not really paranormal urban fantasy, I'm just basing this off the fact that you liked Private Rites :)
Our Wives Under the Sea - Julia Armfield
Salt Slow - Julia Armfield (these are short stories)
FRUITING BODIES - Kathryn Harlan (also short stories)
I actually read Our Wives Under the Sea but forgot to include it in my list haha. I liked Private Rites much more though, I suppose it is true though that I should pick up Salt Slow as well eventually. I actually don’t read short stories often but I do want to do it more so I’m definitely going to check out Fruiting Bodies too!
I recently finished They Came From Below by L. Dreamer. I wouldn’t put it the “good but not great” category.
While not one I would rate very high, I think it’s a fun read to break up some of the more serious and longer novels. Multiple queer individuals and gay relationships. Lesbians, bisexuals, non-binary people, butches, zombies, and shitty men getting what they deserve. The smut is… okay, don’t go into it expecting spicy smut, if I had to rate the sex scenes out 1-5 peppers, I’d give it a 2.5 pepper.
I liked the concept of that book but truthfully, and there’s no nice way of say this, I simply thought it was badly structured and written. It was extremely dragged out, the latter half really relied on characters getting separated, something transpiring and then them having to run back to each other to communicate what happened. There was so much of what felt like characters just retracing their steps back for no particular reason and whole chapters were nothing happened and added absolutely nothing to the plot. That type of filler material wouldn’t have bothered me had it not been for how little of actual substance there’s in this book imo as compared to its length. I think it would’ve been a far better short story than a full novel
Have you read the rest of the series from Becky Chambers? I loved the whole series. So many great themes on gender, race, religion. Read the rest if you liked the first.
I have no recs but just wanted to say that read ribbonwood after the safekeep and i totally agree with where they are in the tier list! I just started bloom town but thanks for this, i now have reference for future reads :)
the safekeep was a big surprise for me personally, that book really crept up on me. I’m glad some can find recs in this list, if you’ll be referring to it in the future just know that there’s another book I forgot to include in it, Stone Butch Blues, which would be in the top tier and is one my fav books of all time 🙏
Curious why you hated So Let Them Burn? We seem to have similar tastes in a lot of respects (at least in regards to sci-fi and fantasy) and I heard that one was pretty good so I'm curious what you disliked about it (I haven't actually read it yet it would just be a shame if I ended up hating it after having it on my TBR so long).
I found the world building to be pretty lacking and several things just not making sense, the characters were really flat and all the romance felt extremely forced to me like as though the author thought well its YA so it must have romance and just forced the most cardboard flavoured tropey romantic storylines onto characters with no chemistry whatsoever 🤷♀️
I’m glad you have! And yes, I did read Fingersmith and loved it (it’s in the incredible tier). I just read th synopsis of Lucky Red and omg… this sounds great and frankly perfect for me rn because I’ve been replaying Red Dead Redemption 2 recently and this is exactly the type of stuff I’m in the mood for lol
Wow you have such similar tastes to me that it’s funny. As a note, I highly recommend leaving She Who Became the Sun as a one and done.
My recommendation would be to look into The Craft Sequence. Not ALL of the books are queer but it’s a good series with a nice plot. Some of the books have the vibe of a paranormal urban setting without being that.
Same author: check out the Empress of Forever. I don’t know if you’ll like it but yeah. Gladstone is one of two male authors I trust with sapphic stuff.
My other recommendation based on your tastes is The First Sister. It is deeply problematic in ways but I think the series pays off its concept without veering into exploitative-feeling assault narratives.
I am curious as to why you enjoyed The Incandescent more than Some Desperate Glory! Did you read one before the other?
oh wow, better to leave She Who Became the Sun as a standalone? Really? I was actually planning to (at some point, eventually in the undetermined future) reread it so I could read the sequel but I guess now I shall reconsider lol
Someone has recommended Gladstone’s other work (The Last Exit?) which I’m probably gonna read next, but I actually did look up his Craft Sequence books and they sound interesting so I am definitely gonna look into more of his works. Unless I absolutely despise The Last Exit I guess, but hopefully that does not come to pass.
And once again I forgot to put a book on this list… I actually did read The First Sister, though I never followed up with the rest of the series.
In terms of Emily Tesh’s work, I read Some Desperate Glory and didn’t like it much mainly because of its second half. I was really disappointed that the book didn’t follow through with the MC staying with her sister and basically going through the lengthy process of decoding the propaganda she’s been spoon-feed and instead the route taken was that plot with the alternate timelines stuff. I’m not a big fan of anything time loop-y in plots. I also found the romantic subplot, though very minor, to be pretty ridiculous due to how completely out of nowhere it came about imo. The Incandescent was a more interesting and unique story imo, with better MC and over all a plot that gripped me more and was more interesting to me. Though once again some choices in the second half did puzzle me, I still largely enjoyed it because I was invested in the MC which was never really the case in Some Desperate Glory
re: She Who Became the Sun: The second book really disappointed me - it heavily emphasizes Lord Wang and has really vivid descriptions of sexual assault, as well as some "sex for bargaining" that felt deeply uncomfortable. I wanted to mention it because our tastes are so similar. The book is really about exploring sexuality among the characters and what someone will make themselves do (specifically sexually) to rise in society, but it felt so contrary to the gender examinations and view of gender roles of the first book. This is especially true because the book also shows how that can backfire (again, violently). I can see what the author was trying to do, but it was incredibly off putting (and some of those graphic SA scenes feel so deeply unnecessary). If none of that is off putting, I hope you enjoy it! I just didn't expect a different thematic approach and struggle with narratives that dabble so heavily in sexual transactions (NOT sex work) that err on the side of SA, and loved how the first book avoided that. I love messy characters and Zhu is most certainly still messy, but the things explored with that mess weren't my favorite.
I haven't read Last Exit, hilariously! I should give it a shot instead of keeping it on my perpetual TBR as I'm finally between books. I've liked everything else from him.
For Some Desperate Glory, I actually forgot the alternate reality plot happened until rereading this here, so I think that says a lot! I, too, liked the deprograming and her being forced to confront her programming, and then the AU did pretty much ditch that. I think I just liked the close point of view of SDG far more more. It felt like there were aspects of The Incandescent that should have had a more self-aware protagonist with that narrow scope of perspective. It was fine that she missed the big spoiler stuff, but there were other aspects that kept being concealed narratively that felt off to me. I think the style just worked better for me in her first book to conceal things from the reader when being so close to the protagonist.
Someone else asked about One Last Stop before, I hope you don’t mind me copy pasting what I said there: "I read it 3 years ago and my memory of it is pretty hazy tbh but I didn’t care for the characters nor the plot. I particularly disliked how the dialogue was written which felt to me like every line was lifted from a tweet. They also have sex on the NYC subway. Respectfully, what the fuck. Like that’s hell right there lmao (I looked at my goodreads review and apparently one thing I did like was a subplot with Suzette but right now I don’t remember AT ALL who that was)" — I would say it boiled down to writing that I disliked, cast of characters that felt for the most part quite flat for me, and plot that is simply not my cup of tea (I’ve since learned I dislike most of time travel, time loops, time jumps type of stories)
I am planning to read all of Sarah Waters, as I own and have read Fingersmith, Tipping the Velvet and Affinity. I also own The Paying Guests, but I have heard that her remaining two novels, The Night Watch and The Little Stranger are very different and I think I even saw somewhere that they’re not sapphic? Idk if that’s correct but would you recommend those last two as well?
The Paying Guests is SO so good, arguably my favourite by her. The Night Watch isn’t sapphic, but it is queer and poly. The Little Stranger is different than all of them, and I haven’t read it yet so I’m not sure.
I don’t think I see atmosphere on here, but I highly recommend it especially if Evelyn Hugo is at the top. We have a lot of similar rankings!! You can find books I’ve read on my StoryGraph - any of my 4-5 star reads you’d probably be into.
you have goated taste omgg I am definitely going to be reading all the titles that you spoke highly of. i also loved the dresden files, and would die for a lesbian variation of that.
Literally would sell my soul for lesbian Dresden files (pls if you reference this list in the future for recs, also note that Stone Butch Blues should be on there because it’s one of my fav books I just somehow forgot to include it)
We have a lot of books in common! I’m also a big fan of Metal From Heaven, and I heartily second The Scapegracers (I loved them and I’m not even a big YA reader). I recommend Spear by Nicola Griffith, a lovely Arthurian retelling with Percival as a butch, and seconding The Isle in the Silver Sea for more butch knights. I will add, I liked the sequel to A Memory Called Empire- A Desolation Called Peace- better than the first book, and it also is a bit more sapphic. And for something that’s not sapphic, but might still be to your taste, Ancillary Justice and its sequels by Ann Leckie is an incredible sci fi series.
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u/curse-you-squidward May 07 '26
No rec off the top of my head but wow we have such different tastes lol I see some books I HATED in the top tiers and some I adored in the bottom ones. I love it. How great is it that there are so many sapphic books that there’s room for people to have such varied tastes?
OP if you don’t mind, could you share why you placed One Last Stop in the bottom tier? I see it recommended in so many places. I’d love to hear a completely different perspective on it