Bisexual – Page 4 – Marked for Plot

Sorcery and Small Magics

In my constant hunt for the perfect romance and the perfect Gay Fantasy book, I’ve read a lot of good books and a small mountain of bad ones. I’d initially brushed off Sorcery and Small magics based on the pitch, but after a series of glowing reviews, I decided to give it a try. And what I found was an enjoyable (if not revolutionary) story that was a great book to listen to while packing up boxes for my upcoming move.

Read if Looking For: wholesome and casual writing, casual bickering, violins

Avoid if Looking For: traditional Romantasy, books that develop theme rigorously

Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon

Speaking generally, I think comparisons to other books does a disservice to individual books. In official publishing industry pitches, this is especially egregious, where every book is _____ meets _____. While Shigidi and the Brass Head of Obalufon absolutely stands on its own merit, it shares a lot of DNA with American Gods, and, considering that many readers are no longer interested in giving Neil Gaiman their money anymore, Shigidi is a phenomenal take on gods and modernity.

Read if Looking For: modern interpretations of myth, three dimensional characters, bisexuals everywhere

Avoid if Looking For: tightly focused ‘heist’ books, fast pacing

Sufficiently Advanced Magic

Progression Fantasy is a subgenre that happily draws on video games, anime, and tabletop RPGs as inspiration points. Sufficiently Advanced Magic happily wears its influences on its sleeves. It’s a big magic school story with lots of cool fights, badass moments, without a whole lot mental load required of the reader. And while I think I ultimately prefer Journals of Evander Tailor for my ‘queer kid enchants items in a big magic school’ read, this is a phenomenal option, and definitely the more widely popular one.

Read If Looking For: anime vibes, overly analytical characters, dungeon crawling

Avoid if Looking For: books without filler, mystic magic, healthy parent/child relationships

The Darkness Outside Us

I intended for this book to be a light, fluffy read. Picked up in an airport bookshop as something to occupy me as I headed out to a summer teaching gig in Boston, I thought I was going to read a cute (and possibly spicy) romance set in a spaceship. I did not expect the emotional rollercoaster of stress, excitement, and sheer existential dread this book would pull out of me. It’s stood the test of time and is just as good on a reread as that first experience.

Read If Looking For: space thrillers, emotional romantic connections, looming dread

Avoid if Looking For: straightforward romances, thorough worldbuilding

Evocation

Evocation immediately caught my eye with its cover. While I’m not a someone who subscribes to Tarot in my personal life, I greatly enjoy how it can be used as a symbolic component in stories, especially fantasy ones where its easy for me to suspend disbelief and enjoy fortune telling. That, plus a queer cast made it an easy choice for me to read.

Read If Looking For: poly romance, dynamic narration, occultism

Avoid if Looking For: flesheshed out magic systems, mystery/thriller plotlines that satisfy

Mistress of Lies

One of this year’s bingo squares is ‘Judge a Book by It’s Cover’ which challenges you to read a book without knowing anything other than what’s on the front cover. Mistress of Lies was my pick for my ‘published in 2024’ themed card. I thought the art was wonderfully evocative, and also visually distinct from a lot of cover art trends I’m seeing these days. Ella Garrett (designer) and Felix Abel Klaer (illustrator) did a phenomenal job.

Read If Looking For: romantic tension, polyamorous storylines, moral ambiguity

Avoid if Looking For: political intrigue, books free of YA/New Adult vibes

A Deadly Education

I grew up in the era of Harry Potter. I dragged my parents to bookstores, standing in line for midnight releases. I went to Harry Potter themed summer camps. I asked for my mom to knit me scarves with the colors of each Harry Potter house. And while I’ve soured on Harry Potter for a variety of reasons – Rowling’s raging transphobia being only one of many – A Deadly Education plucked at the joy of magic school stories, which is something that’s never going to entirely vanish from my fantasy reading habits.

Read If Looking For: brutally fast pacing, snarky narrators, magic dystopias

Avoid if Looking For: characters growing in power, grey morality

The Mask of Mirrors

Tarot Readings and Psychics have never really been my thing. I like the idea of them, the layers of meaning in the cards over time and how they represent core aspects of the human experience. However, I don’t particularly subscribe to the more supernatural aspects of them in real life. In Fantasy however, I find them a delight. And my favorite thing about The Mask of Mirrors (and its sequels) is that the in-universe Tarot analogue, aside from being wonderfully designed, was used by the authors as part of the writing process. Every card reading in the story – with one notable exception – was done in real time in our physical world, and the results were the ones used in-universe, helping to drive narrative beats and character arcs. It shouldn’t work, but M.A. Carrick show their writing chops by turning what could be a disaster, into a really excellently crafted trilogy.

Read If Looking For: deeply realized cultures and characters, con artists, lavish descriptions of clothing, queernorm worlds

Avoid if Looking For: a fast paced story, or one that prioritizes action scenes

Running Close to the Wind

Alexandra Rowland has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read A Conspiracy of Truths, and their writing has never lead me astray since. Their most popular novel (A Taste of Gold and Iron) is also their weakest in my opinion, but still quite excellent. So this book was an easy pick for me for this card, and it met pretty much every expectation I had for it.

Read if Looking For: Raucously funny pirates, unhinged monologues, seagulls, cake decorating contests, sexual language (but very little actual sex)

Avoid if Looking For: a book that takes itself seriously