#Teach the Torches to Burn

[oblivionsdream]

Just wanted to share the cover redesigns + edges that I did for Dazzling Bookish Shop! I got my copies and I just love how they turned out 😭

[aurorawest]

Summer Reading Update (part 1)

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig - 4.75/5 stars

This was a really well done retelling of Romeo and Juliet. I read another book from the Remixed Classics series, Dear Henry, and while that one was also good, it felt like it adhered too slavishly to The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, so sometimes things seemed to be happening only because they happened in the original. And I haven't actually read the original book, it was just...easy to tell. Teach the Torches to Burn never felt like that, and I loved how it fleshed out so many of the characters from the play.

You Should Be So Lucky by Cat Sebastian - 5/5 stars

I feel like tumblr sings this one's praises enough that I don't really have to, but—everyone should read this. Everyone should read all of Cat Sebastian's books. I think I liked this one better than We Could Be So Good, but that could just be because I've found myself becoming more and more of a sucker for sports romances.

Unhallowed by Jordan L Hawk - 4.75/5 stars

Sad to say goodbye to the Whyborne and Griffin series, but I already love this spinoff!

Soul of Ash by HL Moore - 3.75/5 stars

Crow's Fate by Kim Fielding - 3.75/5 stars

The Sleeping Soldier by Aster Glenn Gray - 5/5 stars

I sound like a broken record re: Aster Glenn Gray, but please read her books. If you like Cat Sebastian's mid-century romances (like You Should Be So Lucky!) you like Aster Glenn Gray. This one is ostensibly a Sleeping Beauty retelling, but one where the sleeper actually sleeps for 100 years. In this case, it's a Union soldier who is put in an enchanted sleep in 1865 and wakes up in 1965 and oh my god, it's so good. It examines racism, it examines toxic masculinity, it examines homophobia, and how same-sex platonic affection became taboo. I'm pretty sure this woman has never written a bad book, but this may be her best.

Alec by Kaje Harper - 3.75/5 stars

Artemis by Andy Weir - 3.75/5 stars

Oak King Holly King by Sebastian Nothwell - 4.75/5 stars

I loved this one! There are so many books about Faerie and they can be pretty hit or miss for me, but this one struck just the right balance of otherworldly, inhuman creatures and characters I could root for. Shrike and Wren were lovely.

Imperfect Illusions by Vanora Lawless - DNF at pg 56

Orchestrated Love by AJ Buchanan - DNF at pg 1

Razorblade Tears by SA Cosby - 4.25/5 stars

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern - 5/5 stars (reread)

The Only Light Left Burning by Erik J Brown - 5/5 stars

Excellent sequel about what happens after you make it to the last bastion of civilization after the apocalypse.

Unwieldy Creatures by Addie Tsai - DNF at pg 12

A Nobleman's Guide to Seducing a Scoundrel by KJ Charles - 5/5 stars

Oh man. This may have displaced the Will Darling Adventures as my favorite KJ Charles book. Wonderful MCs, A+ side character arcs, and villains you really loved to hate. I rambled on a lot about this book to my wife after I finished it.

Stars in Your Eyes by Kacen Callender - DNF at pg 156

His Lordship's Secret by Samantha SoRelle - 3.75/5 stars

Us, Et Cetera by Kit Vincent - 5/5 stars

Cinderella retelling with androids but Christ on a bike was this a painful read. Really, really well done. Highly recommended.

Charming Young Man by Eliot Schrefer - 5/5 stars

My 5 star rating diverges pretty sharply from the average Storygraph rating for this book, and I'm not sure why, other than maybe people thinks it's PrObLeMaTic. It was definitely not a super happy book, though it ends on a good note (that's a pun btw!). I thought it was a great book about a period that isn't often written about (1890s Paris) with a fascinating protagonist (who was a real person).

Dark Heir by CS Pacat - 5/5 stars

It's a CS Pacat book; it's the sequel to Dark Rise; obvs I loved it. I don't understand why this series is shelved under YA except that Pacat's publisher thinks more people will buy them. This series is the gay Lord of the Rings you always wanted and somehow is an even slower burn than Captive Prince.

Of Knights and Books and Falling in Love by Rita A Rubin - DNF at pg 50

Cover Story by Valerie Gomez - DNF at pg 176

Letters to Half Moon Street by Sarah Wallace - 4/5 stars

[quillandqueer]

Happy Pride Month! | Favourite Queer Books

The Most Dazzling Girl in Berlin: A novel in verse set during the Weimar Republic, this is a story set during a time that could have changed the course of Queer history, had it not been lost.

Stars, Hide Your Fires: This is a sapphic heist mystery set in space, very fun and very campy.

Bianca Torre Is Afraid of Everything: A non binary teen bird watcher with anxiety attempts to solve a murder mystery while falling in love with a girl in their birding group, while trying not to get murdered.

Burn: a speculative fiction story, set in an alternate America in the 50s, except there's dragons, a prophecy, and two FBI agents.

Loveless: The first book about aromantic, asexual identity I ever read, showing the confusion of finding yourself in the chaos of college perfectly.

The Black Flamingo: A novel in verse about a mixed-race gay teen, finding joy as a Drag artist.

This Poison Heart: A sapphic romance with plant magic, this has such a strong family bond that I loved.

Teach The Torches To Burn: A Romeo retelling where Romeo instead falls in love with Valentine. This is not a gender swapped Juliet - she makes an appearance in this story too, and there's a bit of a Found Family Vibe.

Milo and Marcos at the End of the World: the closer Milo and Marcos get, the more disasters seem to befall them. Is there a larger, unseen force at play, trying to keep them apart? And if so, is their love worth risking the end of the world?

[ziote]

"Love, at least the way it is described by the bards—that sudden thunderstorm of passion, urgent and fiery—has always eluded me. When my childhood friends began to speak of their first infatuations, their first feelings of desire, I thought...Well, in the beginning, I thought it was all just a game they were playing. You pick a boy, speak in exaggerated terms about his characteristics, and you invent some fantasy in which he kisses your hand or brings you a jewel or slays a dragon. As pastimes go, it was somewhat amusing for an afternoon, but then it lasted weeks. When I finally grew bored of it enough to complain, to ask that we play something else for once...that's when I finally realized it was not a game at all. Not to them."

Teach the Torches to Burn, Caleb Roehrig I've rarely felt so seen while reading as I did when reading this passage. So I'm dropping this quote here for my aro/ace lovelies who also grew up pretending to have crushes, or for my young adult aro/aces who feel left behind while all their friends and family start falling in love and getting married.

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Queer Fiction Set in the Middle Ages

Gwen and Art are Not in Love by Lex Croucher (YA) Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig (YA) Emry Merlin by Robyn Schneider (YA) One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny The Scottish Boy by Alex de Campi

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Juliet from Teach the Torches to Burn is aromantic asexual!

[aroaessidhe]

read in 2023: retellings or reimagining/sequels

Wander The Night - Midsummer Night's Dream

Hamra and the Jungle of Memories - Little Red Riding Hood

The Water Outlaws - Water Margin

My Dear Henry - Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde

Our Hideous Progeny - Frankenstein

Spear - Percival and the Holy Grail

The Death I Gave Him - Hamlet

Teach The Torches to Burn - Romeo & Juliet

Everyone’s Thinking It - Midsummer Night's Dream

A Crown So Cursed - Alice in Wonderland

Angels Before Man - The Bible

The Weight of Blood - Carrie

[razreads]

When someone has decided who you are, and they won't let you change their mind, what are you meant to do? Where is left to go?

Caleb Roehrig, Teach the Torches to Burn

[qbdatabase]

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig In Teach the Torches to Burn, a breathlessly romantic remix of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and seventh book in the Remixed Classics series, a queer teen boy discovers first love amid a bloody, centuries-old feud. View the full summary and rep info on wordpress or check it out for free from the Queer Liberation Library!

[ozskob]

Some Xmas gifts I bought myself with Award Vouchers from work. yeah, I'm single. hahah.

[itachi86]

"How are we to be proper enemies, to hate each other with the appropriate zeal, without ever meeting face-to-face?”

-Juliet Capulet, Teach the Torches to Burn

[oblivionsdream]

Book cover redesign for Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig.

This was commissioned by Dazzling Bookish Shop on Insta! 😊

[stardustandrockets]

Do you have a favorite Shakespearean play?

I think A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth are my favorites, though I admit I haven't read any or seen them peepers since high school.

I am absolutely in LOVE with this new cover! The original is also great, but I adore this art style from @4resna. And the typography from @manicfemme? *chef's kiss* I can't wait to dive into this book!

I'm glad this Romeo and Juliet retelling doesn't have a tragic ending. I always had reservations about the whole story of R&J because Juliet was a literal child. The whole thing was weird. But still excited to read this one!

[bookbaran]

Romeo and Juliet was never my favorite Shakespeare play. As such, I'm only familiar with the basic story beats. Which makes reading a retelling of it interesting because I'm sitting here wondering if this is the part where that one character dies without even remembering which character it is exactly.

[ash-and-books]

Rating: 4.5/5

Book Blurb: In the Remixed Classics series, authors from marginalized backgrounds reinterpret classic works through their own cultural lens to subvert the overwhelming cishet, white, and male canon. Queer star-crossed love amid a centuries-old feud takes center stage in this Romeo & Juliet remix that knows sometimes, the best way is to make it gay.

Verona, Italy. Seventeen-year-old aspiring artist Romeo dreams of a quiet life with someone who loves him just as he is. But as the heir to the Montague family, he is expected to give up his "womanly" artistic pursuits and uphold the family honor—particularly in their centuries-old blood feud with a rival family, the Capulets. Worse still, he is also expected to marry a well-bred girl approved by his parents and produce heirs. But the more Romeo is forced to mingle with eligible maidens, the harder it is to keep his deepest secret: He only feels attracted to other boys.

In an attempt to forget his troubles for just one night, Romeo joins his cousin in sneaking into a Capulet party. During a fateful encounter in the garden, he meets the kindest, most beautiful boy he's ever met, and is shocked to learn he's Valentine, the younger brother of one of his closest friends. He is even more shocked to discover that Valentine is just as enamored with Romeo as Romeo is with him.

So begins a tender romance that the boys must hide from their families and friends, each of them longing for a world where they could be together without fear. And as the conflict between the Montagues and Capulets escalates out of control, Romeo and Valentine find themselves in danger of losing each other forever—if not by society's scorn, then by the edge of a blade.

Review:

A queer reimagining of Romeo and Juliet where Romeo is gay and in love with his best friend's brother and Juliet is aro-ace??? YES PLEASE. Romeo is an aspiring artist, just looking to pursue his passion and be freed of the demands of his family to marry because he has a deep dark secret, he is not interested in women at all. Romeo has tried putting off all the marriage proposals and prolonging it for as long as possible yet when his best friend's brother Valentine finally comes back into town, Romeo knows he's found the one. Romeo knows that his love for Valentine is forbidden and with the tensions in the city rising and the Capulet and Montague families rising, blood will be spilled. Then there is Juliet, the counterpart to Romeo, a girl who wants nothing more than to be freed from the arranged marriage to someone she doesn't want that her family is forcing her into. Juliet is willing to do anything to be freed even come up with a very insane plan for both her and Romeo to make it out of Verona with their lives. This was such a fun take on the classic story and I loved the queer take on the classic. The ending was perfect and I would definitely recommend this for anyone who is a fan of the classic or for anyone who ever thought that maybe Romeo and Juliet should have ended differently!

*Thanks Netgalley and Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, Feiwel & Friends for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

[lgbtqreads]

Fave Five: Gay YA Historical Fiction, Part I

Teach the Torches to Burn by Caleb Roehrig (Medieval) Most Ardently by Gabe Cole Novoa (Regency) Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson (Edwardian) The City Beautiful by Aden Polydoros (1890s) I’ll Take Everything You Have by James Klise (Depression)