#DEATHLESS DIVIDE

[aroaessidhe]

Not formally doing aro week posts this year, but since it's aro week and also Black history month here's a couple books by Black authors with aro characters!

note that most of these are side characters or one of a full cast!

The Beast of Okeme - two aro MCs, QPR

Dread Nation / Deathless Divide - major character (POV in book 2) is aroace coded

So Many Beginnings - one of the main characters is aroacespec coded

The Last Session - one of the main cast is aro, in a QPR

The Midnight Bargain - a major side character is aroace

The City We Became- one of the main cast is lightly aroace coded (note: character is Indian, not Black, also it comes up in book 2)

Blood Like Magic - a side character is demiromantic

[semper-legens]

73. Deathless Divide, by Justina Ireland

Owned?: No, library Page count: 561 My summary: Jane McKeene and Katherine Deveraux barely escaped Summertown with their lives. The scientist's vaccine didn't work, the dead overtook their new haven, and now they're back on the road again. But what new dangers lurk way out West? On a mission of revenge, hated and feared for her newfound reputation, is Jane losing all the parts of herself that mattered? And will Katherine ever find a place that she can settle and feel at home? My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Remember this? It's been a while since I last read Dread Nation, a story of an 1880s America overrun by the undead and the black girls taught to fight and defend society, but it stuck in my head. And I discovered that not only was there a sequel, but the sequel was in fact extremely accessible to me. And so, I ordered it. I had worried that the length of time since my last readthrough of the prior book would hamper any potential enjoyment of this one - but, to my glee, I found much of it coming back to me as I cracked on with it. And, of course, the book itself did a good job of reminding me of what I might have forgotten, which is always great to see in a sequel. It did not disappoint, and I'm gonna tell you why under the cut!

Unlike the previous book, which was solely narrated by Jane, this book alternates chapters between Jane and Katherine, which I liked - Katherine in this book rises from major secondary character to full-blown deuteragonist. Still, let's talk about Jane first. Remember what I was saying last time, about how your protagonist doesn't have to be a saint? I feel like Jane in this book is a good reflection of that. Per the first book, she was always blunt, practical, and no-nonsense, but after the fall of the town they were in, losing her lover, and surviving a shambler bite, Jane becomes 'the Devil's Bride', a legendary bounty hunter with a twisted sense of justice. She makes no secret of the fact that she prefers to deliver her bounties dead, and they aren't exactly in the best condition before she dispatches them. She drives people away because of her all-encompassing need for revenge. And yet, we as the audience have been with her for one and a half books at this point. We've grown to know and love her, and to understand what she's been through and why she becomes the person that she becomes in this book. So while her actions are less than ethical, we understand why she is doing them, and as such, she retains our sympathies. Which is a hard line to walk! It was entirely possible that Jane could have tipped over into being unlikeable here, but she doesn't, she keeps her charm and her wit and her charisma even when she's hit rock bottom. It's some neat writing.

Meanwhile, Katherine gets narration for the first time here, and I really liked seeing her perspective. She interested me in the first book - a girl who can pass as white, who is nonetheless in danger from the racism endemic to this setting. She's prim and proper, but that's partially her training as an Attendant and partially a sort of respectability politics - she can be seen as being respectable, unlike Jane whose dark skin leads her to be dismissed by white society, and so she uses politeness and 'decency' as a shield. It's her armour, the same way that Jane's blunt and abrasive personality is her armour. Katherine walks a fine balance between trying to temper Jane's harshness and trying not to let herself go the same way, keep hold of all she knows herself to be in the face of immense trials. She reveals a bit more about herself; she's from New Orleans, the daughter of a sex worker who wanted nothing more than to be out of that environment. Now she's a killer of the undead, but she wants a quiet, settled life. In the turmoil that is the zombie-ridden US, who can blame her? She makes a perfect foil for Jane, just as stubborn and pig-headed but in a different direction, and she's very easy to love.

This setting continues to be intriguing. We see how racist myths perpetuate despite all common sense to the contrary - Jane often remarks that white people love to say that black people are immune to the zombie virus, a clear echo of the 'black people have higher pain tolerance' myth of the real world. There's a very credible sense of survival being scratched out on the margins, of the desperation as our heroes run from town to town trying to stay ahead of the hoardes. And the consequences for any missteps are severe. Jackson (spoiler!) dies on the road, and while Jane's shambler bite doesn't lead to her death thanks to the vaccine, she does lose an arm and struggles for the rest of the book to accommodate the injury. She isn't helpless, but there's still a realistic fallout from it. Characters come and go, alliances are formed and broken, and midway through the book there is a very effective year-and-a-half timeskip so we can see what time and tide have done to these girls. One thing I thought was a particularly nice touch was that the intro to Jane's chapters in the first half were always a Shakespeare quote, whereas Katherine quotes from scripture. In the second half, both use quotes from in-universe survival guides to the West. It's a neat little device that subtly shows their shifting attitudes and priorities. But in all, really enjoyed this book, and if there's any more I'd love to see it.

Next, a man out of time learns to adjust - with some help, of course.

[brightbeautifulthings]

If I let loose the tenuous hold I have on my feelings, there will be blood. And it won't be mine.

Justina Ireland, Deathless Divide

[daniellesreadingnook]

I am still reading “Beautiful Creatures.” This is what I’m gonna finish next.

I am gonna start on “Deathless Divide” and “A Twisted Tale Anthology” as well.

Wish me luck!

[blackfemmecharacterdependency]

This is excellent casting @libraryofpenguins It has a couple of the ones I had on mine. 🥰

Dread Nation/Deathless Divide fancast

Lovie Simone as Jane McKeene, Hayley Law as Katherine Deveraux, Jacob Latimore as Jackson (Red Jack), and Martin Sensmeier as Redfern

Chloe Coleman as Lilly, Coco Jones as Sue, Madison Bailey as Callie, and Persia White as Jane’s Mother

Andrew Garfield as Gideon, and Carlacia Grant as Ida

[lwcaexii]

Did I ever share our cover of Cake Bake Betty's 1916? With @todawoda 's wonderful vocals, I'm so proud of them!

[brotherhoodoftheblade]

Okay, it’s almost 3 AM in the morning on a Monday, but we’re going to pretend it’s still Sunday. lol Haven’t forgotten I’m still meant to be working on my wips, even though I haven’t been in a writing mood the past few weeks. 

So here’s a new bit from The Deathless Divide (which will probably be kind of confusing if you haven’t read the first two chapters of it btw). ✨

(TW for violence and blood etc.)

~*~

Something was hunting him.

Of that much Percy was certain.

It wasn’t the first time. There was nothing good to be found in the purgatorial wastelands, but the lost souls that roamed the desolate land – turned feral with insatiable hunger and an eternity of torment – were the most hellish thing about the place. His last encounter with such a creature had left him half feral himself, palms scrapped raw and bloody against the large rock he’d gripped tightly despite the burning pain, breaths coming in ragged gasps as he brought the rock down again and again on the screaming, wailing man.

He hadn’t stopped, kept up his assault through every sickening tearing of flesh and crack of bone, until he no longer had the strength to raise his trembling arms. The rock had been smeared bright red with blood when he’d dropped it – the most colourful thing in all of Purgatory – his head spinning with too rapid breaths, tears sliding down his face and dripping off his chin as the creature gurgled and keened like the barely human thing it had become. He’d retched, though naturally nothing had come up; he had nothing left inside him but blood waiting to be spilled, after all. His forearm – blood beginning to congeal at last where the creature had bitten off a chunk of him – throbbed madly. He’d pushed himself up onto shaking legs and stumbled away, with only thought that he had to keep moving.

He had to put as much distance between himself and that blood-thirsty beast as he could. Before it healed. Before it picked up his scent and began to pursue him again.

The trouble with being in a land of the dead, of course, was that he couldn’t kill anything; not even himself. All he could do to obstruct the human-turned-fiend that was so hell bent on trying to fucking eat him was to break its damned legs and run as far and fast as he could before it was made whole once more. And it would be again, far too soon. Like Prometheus, bound to a rock to have his liver eaten only for it grow back overnight so it could be torn out again and again in an eternal cycle of torment, the denizens of Purgatory could bleed and break bodily only to soon find themselves restored so they could suffer anew.

Percy had – blessedly – ceased to find himself returned to the wretched place every time he drifted to sleep, but still, it had yet to release its hold on him. The fear that it might never let him go sat cold and heavy within him – and what then? How long might it be before he became like the thing that hunted him?

His eyes darted among the trees, searching out movement, but all was shadow.

His heart thudded dully. He had to keep moving.

He’d found a good, sturdy branch along the way and carried it now, upright against his shoulder like a soldier’s musket – and god, what wouldn’t he have given for a proper musket and bayonet right now. At least the branch, though heavy, was far less unwieldy than the rock had been. If he was lucky he’d wake up before he had another nasty confrontation – but how often was he ever that lucky? Better to remain vigilant. Seeing and hearing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned to continue along his way.

A man stood before him, a mere arm’s length away.

Percy gasped sharply, hands scrabbling at the branch before he got a firm hold of it and thrust it straight at the creature’s head like a battering ram. There was a nasty crunching sound as the blow caught the man right in the face, sending him reeling back, trying and failing to regain his balance before he hit the ground. The shadowy form swore viciously, cradling its mouth and nose between its hands.

Heart pounding madly, Percy gripped the branch so hard his fingers ached, and moved to press his advantage. Raising the branch with both arms he plunged it down atop the man, only to hit hard-packed earth as the figure rolled rapidly out of the way and up onto its knee. A large hand shot out and seized his arm, and Percy’s mouth opened in a soundless scream as the world fell away.

Bright light pierced his eyes and he squeezed them closed reflexively. The hand on his arm tightened. Tensing, he shook it off.

“Perseverance,” a man’s voice said reassuringly, “It’s all right. You’re safe now.”

“I know,” Percy murmured, blinking as he forced himself to open his eyes. There was no light in Purgatory, and flowers certainly didn’t perfume the air; this was Paradise. “And do not call me that, if you please.”

The grass was soft beneath him as he lay supine upon it – when had that happened? Never mind. Percy had already half-given up trying to make sense of anything that had occurred since his unexpected death. The only thing that mattered at the moment was that he’d apparently bashed an angel in the face.  The thought gave him the slightly hysterical urge to laugh his head off. The “angel” in question didn’t seem angry about it – thankfully – and knelt solicitously beside him as his vision cleared. The man was young – couldn’t have been older than twenty – dark-haired, and -

Oh. And rather handsome at that. Quite uninjured and unbloodied as well.

Must’ve healed himself, Percy thought. Must be nice.

“Ah, yes, I should’ve thought -” the boy’s pale cheeks flushed as he swallowed his words, then cleared his throat. “You prefer Percy, I believe.”

His accent was that of an upper-class English gentleman, not merely the product of a middle-class education as was Percy’s own. A gentleman of noble birth, like John.

“Among those of my close acquaintance, yes,” he said staidly, sitting up slowly. Of which you are not, he did not say but instead let the sense of them hang in a beat’s pointed silence. “I thank you exceedingly for the extraction and apologize for the, er, rather barbarous reception.”

He waved a hand, cringing half-comically, over his face. The young man gave a short laugh.

“Mea culpa,” he stated emphatically, shaking his head. “I oughtn’t to have appeared so near you without warning when you were already on the defense against the Lost. My eagerness to speak to you got the better of me, I confess.”

“To me?” Percy was unable to keep a note of wariness from his voice as he eyed the boy. “Why?”

“I have been trying to make contact with you to no avail since you were returned to the world of the living,” he explained, meeting his gaze earnestly.

His eyes were the deepest blue Percy had ever seen; not the blue of the summer sky above them, but the rich hue of sapphires.

“I am your new guardian angel,” the boy continued, extending a hand to him. “My name is Hector, Hector Dalrymple.”

Percy accepted the proffered hand and found himself swiftly pulled to his feet with unexpected strength, swaying a moment before regaining his equilibrium. The young man’s – Hector’s – hand tightened on his and Percy was relieved to note that they were of a similar height. At least he wasn’t trapped in the form of a small child as he’d been the first time he’d been raised from Purgatory by his mother.

“How new?” Percy asked, narrowing his eyes and pointedly raising his left arm with its torn, blood-stained sleeve. The chunk of flesh that had been bitten off had healed but not without leaving behind a gruesomely visible scar. “Because I think I’ve a complaint or two for you.”

The flush returned to Hector’s handsome face, much to Percy’s satisfaction. 

~*~

...and you’ll have to wait for next Sunday for more. At least I threw in a spoiler this time. :P

[jolieeason]

March 2024 Wrap-Up

Here is what I read, posted, won, received, and bought in March. Let me know if you have read any of these books and what you thought of them. Books I Read: Books Reviewed: A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen—review here The American Daughters by Maurice Carlos Ruffin—review here Thirst by Marina Yuszczuk—review here A Smoking Bun by Ellie Alexander—review here Bye, Baby by Carola…

[wayfind-er]

Praise to Zeus

O' mighty Zeus, divine Father of the deathless Gods and evanescent Mortals, I praise you.

Friend of Strangers and Refugees; Merciful God of the Sky. He who leads the Fates, giver of wealth and good things, and protector of our homes, I praise you.

From the fertile rain to the crackle of lightning you reign over, to the golden sword you wield, and the gentle wind you bring, I praise you, O' divine King Zeus.

Image #1: Jupiter Enthroned, Heinrich Friedrich Füger, Image #2: Statue of Zeus at Olympia, Divider by @/vibeswithrenai I don't worship or work with Zeus, so my praise might be a bit awkward. However, I've wanted to do more to honor him in my practice, and this is the first step.

[disabled-dragoon]

The Disability Library

I love books, I love literature, and I love this blog, but it's only been recently that I've really been given the option to explore disabled literature, and I hate that. When I was a kid, all I wanted was to be able to read about characters like me, and now as an adult, all I want is to be able to read a book that takes us seriously.

And so, friends, Romans, countrymen, I present, a special disability and chronic illness booklist, compiled by myself and through the contributions of wonderful members from this site!

As always, if there are any at all that you want me to add, please just say. I'm always looking for more!

Edit 20/10/2023: You can now suggest books using the google form at the bottom!

Updated: 31/08/2023

Articles and Chapters

The Drifting Language of Architectural Accessibility in Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, Essaka Joshua, 2012

Early Modern Literature and Disability Studies, Allison P. Hobgood, David Houston Wood, 2017

How Do You Develop Whole Object Relations as an Adult?, Elinor Greenburg, 2019

Making Do with What You Don't Have: Disabled Black Motherhood in Octavia E. Butler's Parable of the Sower and Parable of the Talents, Anna Hinton, 2018

Necropolitics, Achille Mbeme, 2003 OR Necropolitics, Achille Mbeme, 2019

Wasted Lives: Modernity and Its Outcasts, Zygmunt Bauman, 2004

Witchcraft and deformity in early modern English Literature, Scott Eaton, 2020

Books

Fiction:

Misc:

10 Things I Can See From Here, Carrie Mac

A-F:

A Curse So Dark and Lonely, (Series), Brigid Kemmerer

Akata Witch, (Series), Nnedi Okorafor

A Mango-Shaped Space, Wendy Mass

Ancillary Justice, (Series), Ann Leckie

An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon

An Unseen Attraction, (Series), K. J. Charles

A Shot in the Dark, Victoria Lee

A Snicker of Magic, Natalie Lloyd

A Song of Ice and Fire, (series), George R. R. Martin

A Spindle Splintered, (Series), Alix E. Harrow

A Time to Dance, Padma Venkatraman

Bath Haus, P. J. Vernon

Beasts of Prey, (Series), Ayana Gray

The Bedlam Stacks, (Series), Natasha Pulley

Black Bird, Blue Road, Sofiya Pasternack

Black Sun, (Series), Rebecca Roanhorse

Blood Price, (Series), Tanya Huff

Borderline, (Series), Mishell Baker

Breath, Donna Jo Napoli

The Broken Kingdoms, (Series), N.K. Jemisin

Brute, Kim Fielding

Cafe con Lychee, Emery Lee

Carry the Ocean, (Series), Heidi Cullinan

Challenger Deep, Neal Shusterman

Cinder, (Series), Marissa Meyer

Clean, Amy Reed

Connection Error, (Series), Annabeth Albert

Cosima Unfortunate Steals A Star, Laura Noakes

Crazy, Benjamin Lebert

Crooked Kingdom, (Series), Leigh Bardugo

Daniel Cabot Puts Down Roots, (Series), Cat Sebastian

Daniel, Deconstructed, James Ramos

Dead in the Garden, (Series), Dahlia Donovan

Dear Fang, With Love, Rufi Thorpe

Deathless Divide, (Series), Justina Ireland

The Degenerates, J. Albert Mann

The Doctor's Discretion, E.E. Ottoman

Earth Girl, (Series), Janet Edwards

Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Emily R. Austin

The Extraordinaries, (Series), T. J. Klune

The Extraordinary Education of Nicholas Benedict, (Series), Trenton Lee Stewart

Fight + Flight, Jules Machias

The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix

Finding My Voice, (Series), Aoife Dooley

The First Thing About You, Chaz Hayden

Follow My Leader, James B. Garfield

Forever Is Now, Mariama J. Lockington

Fortune Favours the Dead, (Series), Stephen Spotswood

Fresh, Margot Wood

H-0:

Harmony, London Price

Harrow the Ninth, (series), Tamsyn Muir

Hench, (Series), Natalia Zina Walschots

Highly Illogical Behaviour, John Corey Whaley

Honey Girl, Morgan Rogers

How to Become a Planet, Nicole Melleby

How to Bite Your Neighbor and Win a Wager, (Series), D. N. Bryn

How to Sell Your Blood & Fall in Love, (Series), D. N. Bryn

Hunger Pangs: True Love Bites, Joy Demorra

I Am Not Alone, Francisco X. Stork

The Immeasurable Depth of You, Maria Ingrande Mora

In the Ring, Sierra Isley

Into The Drowning Deep, (Series), Mira Grant

Iron Widow, (Series), Xiran Jay Zhao

Izzy at the End of the World, K. A. Reynolds

Jodie's Journey, Colin Thiele

Just by Looking at Him, Ryan O'Connell

Kissing Doorknobs, Terry Spencer Hesser

Lakelore, Anna-Marie McLemore

Learning Curves, (Series), Ceillie Simkiss

Let's Call It a Doomsday, Katie Henry

The Library of the Dead, (Series), TL Huchu

The Lion Hunter, (Series), Elizabeth Wein

Lirael, (Series), Garth Nix

Long Macchiatos and Monsters, Alison Evans

Love from A to Z, (Series), S.K. Ali

Lycanthropy and Other Chronic Illnesses, Kristen O'Neal

Never Let Me Go, Kazuo Ishiguro

The Never Tilting World, (Series), Rin Chupeco

The No-Girlfriend Rule, Christen Randall

Nona the Ninth, (series), Tamsyn Muir

Noor, Nnedi Okorafor

Odder Still, (Series), D. N. Bryn

Once Stolen, (Series), D. N. Bryn

One For All, Lillie Lainoff

On the Edge of Gone, Corinne Duyvis

Origami Striptease, Peggy Munson

Our Bloody Pearl, (Series), D. N. Bryn

Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper

P-T:

Parable of the Sower, (Series), Octavia E. Butler

Parable of the Talents, (Series), Octavia E. Butler

Percy Jackson & the Olympians, (series), Rick Riordan

Pomegranate, Helen Elaine Lee

The Prey of Gods, Nicky Drayden

The Pursuit Of..., (Series), Courtney Milan

The Queen's Thief, (Series), Megan Whalen Turner

The Quiet and the Loud, Helena Fox

The Raging Quiet, Sheryl Jordan

The Reanimator's Heart, (Series), Kara Jorgensen

The Remaking of Corbin Wale, Joan Parrish

Roll with It, (Series), Jamie Sumner

Russian Doll, (Series), Cristelle Comby

The Second Mango, (Series), Shira Glassman

Scar of the Bamboo Leaf, Sieni A.M

Shaman, (Series), Noah Gordon

Sick Kids in Love, Hannah Moskowitz

The Silent Boy, Lois Lowry

Six of Crows, (Series) Leigh Bardugo

Sizzle Reel, Carlyn Greenwald

The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal

The Stagsblood Prince, (Series), Gideon E. Wood

Stake Sauce, Arc 1: The Secret Ingredient is Love. No, Really, (Series), RoAnna Sylver

Stars in Your Eyes, Kacen Callender [Expected release: Oct 2023]

The Storm Runner, (Series), J. C. Cervantes

Stronger Still, (Series), D. N. Bryn

Sweetblood, Pete Hautman

Tarnished Are the Stars, Rosiee Thor

The Theft of Sunlight, (Series), Intisar Khanani

Throwaway Girls, Andrea Contos

Top Ten, Katie Cotugno

Torch, Lyn Miller-Lachmann

Treasure, Rebekah Weatherspoon

Turtles All the Way Down, John Green

U-Z:

Unlicensed Delivery, Will Soulsby-McCreath Expected release October 2023

Verona Comics, Jennifer Dugan

Vorkosigan Saga, (Series), Lois McMaster Bujold

We Are the Ants, (Series), Shaun David Hutchinson

The Weight of Our Sky, Hanna Alkaf

Whip, Stir and Serve, Caitlyn Frost and Henry Drake

The Whispering Dark, Kelly Andrew

Wicked Sweet, Chelsea M. Cameron

Wonder, (Series), R. J. Palacio

Wrong to Need You, (Series), Alisha Rai

Ziggy, Stardust and Me, James Brandon

Graphic Novels:

A Quick & Easy Guide to Sex & Disability, (Non-Fiction), A. Andrews

Constellations, Kate Glasheen

Dancing After TEN: a graphic memoir, (memoir) (Non-Fiction), Vivian Chong, Georgia Webber

Everything Is an Emergency: An OCD Story in Words Pictures, (memoir) (Non-Fiction), Jason Adam Katzenstein

Frankie's World: A Graphic Novel, (Series), Aoife Dooley

The Golden Hour, Niki Smith

Nimona, N. D. Stevenson

The Third Person, (memoir) (Non-Fiction), Emma Grove

Magazines and Anthologies:

Artificial Divide, (Anthology), Robert Kingett, Randy Lacey

Beneath Ceaseless Skies #175: Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds, (Article), R. B. Lemburg

Defying Doomsday, (Anthology), edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish, (short story) (anthology), Seiko Tanabe

Nothing Without Us, edited by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson

Nothing Without Us Too, edited by Cait Gordon and Talia C. Johnson

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens, (Anthology), edited by Marieke Nijkamp

Uncanny #24: Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, (Anthology), edited by: Elsa Sjunneson-Henry, Dominik Parisien et al.

Uncanny #30: Disabled People Destroy Fantasy, (Anthology), edited by: Nicolette Barischoff, Lisa M. Bradley, Katharine Duckett

We Shall Be Monsters, edited by Derek Newman-Stille

Manga:

Perfect World, (Series), Rie Aruga

The Sky is Blue with a Single Cloud, (Short Stories), Kuniko Tsurita

Non-Fiction:

Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education, Jay Timothy Dolmage

A Disability History of the United States, Kim E, Nielsen

The Architecture of Disability: Buildings, Cities, and Landscapes beyond Access, David Gissen

Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman's Fight to End Ableism, Elsa Sjunneson

Black Disability Politics, Sami Schalk

Borderline, Narcissistic, and Schizoid Adaptations: The Pursuit of Love, Admiration, and Safety, Dr. Elinor Greenburg

Brilliant Imperfection: Grappling with Cure, Eli Clare

The Cambridge Companion to Literature and Disability, Barker, Clare and Stuart Murray, editors.

The Capacity Contract: Intellectual Disability and the Question of Citizenship, Stacy Clifford Simplican

Capitalism and Disability, Martha Russel

Care work: Dreaming Disability Justice, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Catatonia, Shutdown and Breakdown in Autism: A Psycho-Ecological Approach, Dr Amitta Shah

The Collected Schizophrenias: Essays, Esme Weijun Wang

Crip Kinship, Shayda Kafai

Crip Up the Kitchen: Tools, Tips and Recipes for the Disabled Cook, Jules Sherred

Culture – Theory – Disability: Encounters between Disability Studies and Cultural Studies, Anne Waldschmidt, Hanjo Berressem, Moritz Ingwersen

Decarcerating Disability: Deinstitutionalization and Prison Abolition, Liat Ben-Moshe

Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, Emily Ladau

Dirty River: A Queer Femme of Color Dreaming Her Way Home, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Disability Pride: Dispatches from a Post-ADA World, Ben Mattlin

Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories From the Twenty-First Century, Alice Wong

Disfigured: On Fairy Tales, Disability and Making Space, Amanda Leduc

Every Cripple a Superhero, Christoph Keller

Exile and Pride: Disability, Queerness and Liberation, Eli Clare

Feminist Queer Crip, Alison Kafer

The Future Is Disabled: Prophecies, Love Notes, and Mourning Songs, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha

Growing Up Disabled in Australia, Carly Findlay

It's Just Nerves: Notes on a Disability, Kelly Davio

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot

Language Deprivation & Deaf Mental Health, Neil S. Glickman, Wyatte C. Hall

The Minority Body: A Theory of Disability, Elizabeth Barnes

My Body and Other Crumbling Empires: Lessons for Healing in a World That Is Sick, Lyndsey Medford

No Right to Be Idle: The Invention of Disability, 1840s-1930s, Sarah F. Rose

Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment, James I. Charlton

The Pedagogy of Pathologization Dis/abled Girls of Color in the School-prison Nexus, Subini Ancy Annamma

Physical Disability in British Romantic Literature, Essaka Joshua

QDA: A Queer Disability Anthology, Raymond Luczak, Editor.

The Right to Maim: Debility, Capacity, Disability, Jasbir K. Puar

Sitting Pretty, (memoir), Rebecca Taussig

Sounds Like Home: Growing Up Black & Deaf in the South, Mary Herring Wright

Surviving and Thriving with an Invisible Chronic Illness: How to Stay Sane and Live One Step Ahead of Your Symptoms, Ilana Jacqueline

The Things We Don't Say: An Anthology of Chronic Illness Truths, Julie Morgenlender

Uncanny Bodies: Superhero Comics and Disability, Scott T. Smith, José Alaniz 

Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman, (memoir), Laura Kate Dale

Unmasking Autism, Devon Price

The War on Disabled People: Capitalism, Welfare and the Making of a Human Catastrophe, Ellen Clifford

We've Got This: Essays by Disabled Parents, Eliza Hull

Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, (memoir) (essays) Alice Wong

Picture Books:

A Day With No Words, Tiffany Hammond, Kate Cosgrove-

A Friend for Henry, Jenn Bailey, Mika Song

Ali and the Sea Stars, Ali Stroker, Gillian Reid

All Are Welcome, Alexandra Penfold, Suzanne Kaufman

All the Way to the Top, Annette Bay Pimentel, Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, Nabi Ali

Can Bears Ski?, Raymond Antrobus, Polly Dunbar

Different -- A Great Thing to Be!, Heather Alvis, Sarah Mensinga

Everyone Belongs, Heather Alvis, Sarah Mensinga

I Talk Like a River, Jordan Scott, Sydney Smith

Jubilee: The First Therapy Horse and an Olympic Dream, K. T. Johnson, Anabella Ortiz

Just Ask!, Sonia Sotomayor, Rafael López

Kami and the Yaks, Andrea Stenn Stryer, Bert Dodson

My Three Best Friends and Me, Zulay, Cari Best, Vanessa Brantley-Newton

Rescue & Jessica: A Life-Changing Friendship, Jessica Kensky, Patrick Downes, Scott Magoon

Sam's Super Seats, Keah Brown, Sharee Miller

Small Knight and the Anxiety Monster, Manka Kasha

We Move Together, Kelly Fritsch, Anne McGuire, Eduardo Trejos

We're Different, We're the Same, and We're All Wonderful!, Bobbi Jane Kates, Joe Mathieu

What Happened to You?, James Catchpole, Karen George

The World Needs More Purple People, Kristen Bell, Benjamin Hart, Daniel Wiseman

You Are Enough: A Book About Inclusion, Margaret O'Hair, Sofia Sanchez, Sofia Cardoso

You Are Loved: A Book About Families, Margaret O'Hair, Sofia Sanchez, Sofia Cardoso

The You Kind of Kind, Nina West, Hayden Evans

Zoom!, Robert Munsch, Michael Martchenko

Plays:

Peeling, Kate O'Reilly

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With an extra special thank you to @parafoxicalk @craftybookworms @lunod @galaxyaroace @shub-s @trans-axolotl @suspicious-whumping-egg @ya-world-challenge @fictionalgirlsworld @rubyjewelqueen @some-weird-queer-writer @jacensolodjo @cherry-sys @dralthon @thebibliosphere @brynwrites @aj-grimoire @shade-and-sun @ceanothusspinosus @edhelwen1 @waltzofthewifi @spiderleggedhorse @sleepneverheardofher @highladyluck @oftheides @thecouragetobekind @nopoodles @lupadracolis @elusivemellifluence @creativiteaa @moonflowero1 @the-bi-library @chronically-chaotic-cryptid for your absolutely fantastic contributions!

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Submit a Book:

[aroaessidhe]

Aro books by authors of colour!

ARO WEEK 2023

DEATHLESS DIVIDE / historical zombie fantasy / aroace MC (dual pov, she’s a side character in book 1)

THE LAST SESSION / contemporary/dnd-fantasy graphic novel / one of the MCs is aro

SAL & GABI BREAK THE UNIVERSE / contemporary sci-fi / aro probably-ace MC, mentioned briefly but he talks all the time how annoying it is when people assume he & gabi are dating

NOT YOUR BACKUP (sidekick squad #3) / YA superhero sci-fi / aroace-spec questioning MC

SO MANY BEGINNINGS / historical little women retelling / while it’s not super explicit, Jo is probably aroacespec, her ‘relationship’ reads as a QPR

KAIKEYI /  adult historical fantasy/retelling / aroace MC  

THE BRUISING OF QILWA / adult fantasy novella / MC is aroace

ELATSOE / contemporary fantasy/paranormal / aro-coded ace MC

COME DRINK WITH ME (TALES OF THE THREAD) / adult historical fantasy / short story series centred around platonic relationships from an aro perspective

see also:  It Sounds Like This, Summer Bird Blue, If It Makes You Happy, Take Me To Your Nerdy Leader

*as a note, some of these only briefly explore aromanticism, and/or explore the ace part of the aroace character more. If you want more details on how much things are explored, see my database!  

[readychilledwine]

The Cursed Ballet

Eris Week - Day 6 - AUs and Retellings

(Swan Lake)

Summary - As war with the Deathless God approaches, a new dancer entered Autumn turning Eris's world inside out.

Warnings - Beron, curses, Eris kind of being a male-whore to add interest later

A/N - Happy Day 6 of @erisweekofficial! So listen, I've written this 4 times and settled on it being a 3 part mini series. Otherwise, it got far too long, and I was worried people would lose interest. I love this concept, though, and I'm very excited to share it with you all.

🍂Eris Week Masterlist🍂Eris Masterlist🍂Master Masterlist🍂

Dividers by @tsunami-of-tears

Instruments being tuned as a stage was set were familiar noises to you. Especially now that your life has been flipped upside down.

You continued lacing the ribbons of your ballet flats, no one looking at you. No one even acknowledging your very existence. Why would they, though?

A human in the Autumn Court. A human who, to them, somehow stole the lead spot in this performance from a female who had probably been training 10 times longer than you have ever been alive. You were used to this, used to being forced to travel and perform since he came and ruined everything.

You'd been to countless places the last few years, cities you had never dreamed of seeing, people and Fae you never thought you would meet. He always forced you to come back to Prythian, though. You had danced in all the mortal kingdoms, in every court. Yet for some reason he kept you here, anchored to this place like a second prison in case your body was no longer enough.

Of the 7 courts, Autumn was your favorite to dance in. The beauty of the leaves, the crisp fresh air, the well maintained stage. It was all enough to distract you from why you were truly here. From the magic the plagued your body. You finished tying the slippers around your ankles, mind trying not to linger on the curse you and your older sister now shared. “It's fine,” you whispered. “You've danced in front of thousands of fae.”

Your warm ups were spent alone as well, the isolation you were forced to endure was the cherry on top of this curse. The first contact you'd have tonight was a tall, slender female looking you up and down before declaring they were ready for you to stage.

Eris groaned from his place in his family's play box. He loved the ballet, he loved the graceful choreographed dances, the stories told through music and movement, but he would be lying to himself if he didn't say he was annoyed. 

His recent flavor of the week had been whining in his ear for 72 hours, 48 minutes, and exactly 23 seconds regarding his father's demands for a mortal girl to be put in the role of Odette. 

His current lover was pretty.

But she wasn't pretty enough for him to listen to the complaints and crying day in and night out. 

Eris felt himself freezing as the human girl took the stage. Every movement was clean, exact, graceful. She may as well have been fae with the way she made it seem as though she was the music. He didn't clock his father's smirk, the look of sick satisfaction Beron had. 

“Pretty little thing, isn't she,” Beron said softly to him. “And so very talented for being human.” 

Eris nodded, “Does she.. look familiar?” Flaming red hair in a tight bun, long elegant limbs. Her nose, the shape of her eyes, all of it felt so familiar to Eris, yet he could not place her. 

That is, until the scene.

Eris looked at his father, the High Lord still smirking in his seat, “And why is one of his spies here?”

Beron rolled his eyes, glancing at Eris as the fae applauded, throwing flowers to the mortal girl. “He needed someone to keep an eye on her while he handled more pressing matters.”

“He, an all powerful sorcerer, could not handle taking a 26 year old human female with him to handle matters?”

“I've heard she's rebellious,” Beron stood as the girl exited the stage. “Besides, she requires water at night.”

Eris's eyes slowly shut, but he followed Beron, the understanding of that cryptic message hitting his heart. 

You tried not to be afraid as Beron Vanserra dragged you through the gardens of the Forest House by your upper arm. His son followed behind you two, refusing to look your way. “Please, you are hurting me.”

“I was informed you needed a heavy hand. He may tolerate your games, but I will not, girl.” 

It was a moment Eris would remember long after she was gone, his father throwing a mortal woman to the mudded ground. The noise she made on impact had him shifting from side to side, eagerly awaiting Beron's departure from Crystal Lake. 

“Watch her until it happens, she won't be able to leave the lake once it does. If she tried to run, kill her.” 

As soon as he was away, as soon as Eris knew they were safe, he rushed to her. “Are you alright?”

You could only nod at him, tears in your eyes as a nearly silent sob managed to make it's way through your throat. 

“Does she know you're here,” Eris asked gently. “Does Vassa know you're here?”

“No,” Your tone was firm. “My presence here is a trap. For your brother, Jurian, and her.”

Eris processed the information like a complex novel, “He's near, isn't he?”

You focused in on the curse that bound you to him, “Yes, but no. He's still trapped on his lake, but he can.. project himself for small amounts of time.”

Your eyes finally met his and Eris's whole world shifted and changed. 

The bond was dull due to only being able to half click into place, but it was there, creating a harmonious rhythm with his own heartbeat as the moon began to rise behind the two of you. 

He understood why you would need the lake then, what your curse had been. Glowing golden light surrounded you, engulfing your figure before dying out. 

And now Eris found himself trapped watching as his mate got into the water, defeat clear in even this form. 

“Rhysand,” he called in his mind. “We have a complication.”

He sent Rhysand what had just happened, sent him the image of you floating on the clear waters of the lake. 

“Be careful,” Rhysand's voice came back slowly. “Vassa says her sister's curse is more dangerous than her own.” 

But Eris didn't respond, his eyes on the swan that had taken the place of his mate. 

How absolutely cruel to curse Vassa to her bird form by day and to be a woman by night, but you a woman by day, swan by night.

Two sisters left chasing each other. 

A curse Eris now made his personal mission to break.

General Taglist:

@hnyclover @glitterypirateduck @slytherinindisguise @mischiefmanagers @bloodicka @starsinyourseyes @the-sweet-psycho @mariahoedt @rinalouu @sarawritestories @starryhiraeth @starswholistenanddreamsanswered @cumuluscranium @loneliestluvr @eternallyelvish @azrielsmate3 @daughterofthemoons-stuff @meritxellao @aria-chikage @hungryforbatboys @lilah-asteria @fandomrejects @sleepybesson @tayswhp @itsswritten @milswrites @littlest-w01f

[brightbeautifulthings]

How does one go on when they've lost their heart? By being heartless.

Justina Ireland, Deathless Divide

[daniellesreadingnook]

"Dread Nation" and "Deathless Divide" by Justina Ireland

Book(s): "Dread Nation" (2018), "Deathless Divide" (2020)

Author: Justina Ireland

Publisher: Balzer and Bray/ Harper Collins

Summary: about a 17-year-old girl named Jane McKeene, during the late 1800s, who is at a school for girls of color to learn how to fight and kill zombies that were risen from the dead. Well, as fate would have it, there are twists and turns no one expected, and Jane must figure out how to survive.

In all honesty, historical fiction is not a genre I normally read. However, I liked this duology. It is filled with fighting, inner conflict, love, although this is not the focal point. The progression of the series is good. I had no problems with that. I wish that there was a little more after the end of the second book: "Deathless Divide."

This is all my opinion. I actually want this duology to have more of a following. These books have potential to have a larger fanbase.

I recommend reading "Dread Nation" and "Deathless Divide." With all the twists and turns, you won't be disappointed.

Rate: 7.9/10

Happy Reading!!

[for-the-love-of-hestia]

I begin to sing of Hestia, first among the deathless gods;

Beloved goddess, who dwells in the midst of every home with your vast everlasting flame.

last among the deathless gods, for without your grace mortals hold no banquets. revered daughter of strong-spirited Rhea, ethereal and blessed, gentle-minded saviour.

Holy maiden, breathe upon us safety and love.

divider by @\graphics-cafe

[lwcaexii]

Things I absolutely forgot to share, the latest from our band, The Deathless Divide, fear. vocals by myself and @todawoda