books that are All About the Yearning, a thread

• Felix Ever After by @kacencallender

- slow-burn rom-com set in an NYC art summer camp
- Black bi trans & nb MC
- a blisteringly honest & reverent exploration of gender identity & the howling cold of unbelonging, & a celebration of the transformative power of fiction

• Cemetery Boys by @aidenschmaiden

- set around el Día de los Muertos
- gay trans latinx MC
- annoyed-at-first-glance-to-begrudging-allies-to-lovers slow-burn +”grumpy ball of anxiety is soft for energetic highly-strung puppy” dynamics + ghost bf
- subverts the bad boy trope

• The Space Between Worlds by @micaiah_johnson

- multiverse, doppelgängers, emotional wreckage & a festering mystery
- sapphic slow-burn grudging-co-workers-to-lovers romance between Black bi MC & Japanese LI
- ft. mutually unwanted love & a torrent of raw, chafed yearning

• The House in the Cerulean Sea by @tjklune

- two sad gays accidentally co-parent a group of chaotic gremlins w/ tragedy in their past & find love & home in the process
- uptight social worker x mysterious headmaster w/ a marshmallow heart
- the gentle embrace of being known

• Raybearer by @jifueko

- a sweeping tale of revenge, betrayal, warring powers, bonds that transcend romantic love & the stinging weight of destiny set in a scintillating West-African inspired world
- childhood-friends-to-lovers
- found family (with a twist)

• The Wicker King by @KaylaAncrum

- a psychological thriller that will sink its teeth into your heart
- a raw & unvarnished look at mental illness, the repercussions of neglectful parenting & the dynamics of a co-dependent relationship
- bisexual MCs
- polyamory!!

• Silver in the Wood by @emilytesh_uk

- a story that breathes a fairytale-like atmosphere
- ft: an ancient wood, a no-nonsense dryad, a sweet-hearted Wild Man, a scholar with the misfortune of being curious, the sweetness of being known, & endless bucketfuls of longing

• The Bear & the Nightingale (Winternight #1) by @arden_katherine

- this whole series gleams in jeweled beauty & it pains me to think you might not have read it yet
- a book of winter, rooted in russian folklore, reads like an age-old fairytale
- the romance still haunts me

• Black Sun by @RoanhorseBex

- inspired by pre-columbian indigenous cultures
- starring: a goth god-vessel, bisexy mermaid/sea captain, & a priestess
- ft. multitudes of yearnings: for vengeance, for power (blood-drenched & angry) & for belonging, for home (silent & bruised)

• A Memory Called Empire by @ArkadyMartine

- what if I were an ambassador who finds herself deplorably lonely in the heart of an empire that’s determined to set its jaws upon itself & you the political attaché I’m developing an unfortunate crush on... & we were both girls