The Lesbrary

3 weeks ago | lesbrary.com | Danika Ellis

When Cassie was in elementary school, she made friends with Ben, a ballet dancer who seemed unrestrained by gender norms. They quickly became inseparable, and in the world they created together at the creek, Cassie began to face her own queerness—until they were caught by judgmental classmates, and Cassie betrayed Ben. He left for another school, and they didn’t speak again… until he joins St. Luke’s high school in Cassie’s junior year.

3 weeks ago | lesbrary.com | Danika Ellis

When Lilith, Sash, and Abraxa were teenagers in the late 90s, they ran a video game corporation together. They never actually sold a video game, but they worked on an incredibly ambitious text-based (ASCII) game together. Sash was the leader, the idea person who held everyone else to exacting standards. Lilith struggled to design game levels that lived up to her expectations. And Abraxa was the creative who did everything else. When they were young, this game was everything to them.

1 month ago | lesbrary.com | Danika Ellis

If you’re looking for a fun one-sitting read, why not pick up this trans lesbian “mech rom-com graphic novel,” as the blurb describes it? I feel like you’re already sold, but I’ll keep going anyway. LSBN is a project to develop a mech suit to battle the giant, monstrous aliens that have descended to Earth. But just as it’s ready to launch in earnest, the war ends: Arrival-style, someone has learned how to communicate with the aliens and negotiated peace.

1 month ago | lesbrary.com | Danika Ellis

Tea You at the Altar is the third book in the Tomes & Tea cozy fantasy series, and it follows Kianthe and Reyna as they plan their wedding… and possibly a coup. (This review contains spoilers for books one and two.)I really enjoyed Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, but I thought the second book faltered. While the first book was mostly cozy with a few dramatic scenes, A Pirate’s Life for Tea felt like a series of slow speed boat chases—neither cozy nor exciting.

1 month ago | lesbrary.com | Danika Ellis

This is a book I respect, and it’s one I struggled to get through. The subject matter is difficult—not only is it set in a near-future dystopia where prisoners fight each other to the death for a chance at freedom, but it also includes footnotes about the real-life atrocities of the prison-industrial complex. I can understand why it is so acclaimed, but even about a week after finishing it, I still haven’t completely sorted out my thoughts about it.