#cold girls

[lgbtqreads]

Exclusive Cover Reveal: Cold Girls by Maxine Rae

Today on the site we’re revealing the cover of Cold Girls by Maxine Rae, a Sapphic coming-of-age contemporary YA releasing from Flux on August 22, 2023! Here’s the story: Eighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli doesn’t want to die; she wants refuge from reality for even a minute: the reality where she survived the car crash eight months ago, and her best friend, Liv, didn’t. Yet her exasperating…

[inkskinned]

she's singing in another room and my dog is asleep at my feet. my grandma asked me why i haven't found a man yet and i laughed. oh, you know. i like my house clean.

my girlfriend is also my man is also "my partner" if i'm in a professional setting. yesterday we went to a ren faire and a man mimed at me - you're together? and at my delighted nod, his baffled, you're gay? made me laugh. a woman with rainbow hair said i love the two of you together. you're both so beautiful it's absurd.

my dad introduced my partner as my "..... friend. or whatever" the other day. he knows we're dating. in the same way, i was never able to get my sister's husband to stop saying that's gay like it's 2008. he still uses the word fa***t, and my sister's defense of him has always been well, he's just kidding.

my lover and i dance to old music in a tiny kitchen. we judge new music together and take food critique very seriously. we watch love is blind before we fall asleep and agree that if they had a queer season, it would be bloody but also make for excellent tv. of fucking course queer people would know someone for only 2 weeks and agree to get married. what are you saying.

at a bar with friends, a man puts his hand on my wrist. got a boyfriend? and yes, i do have a boyfriend, she's amazing. i am texting her while i wander around a gas station named after geese. i am visiting a swing state for a wedding. in the candy aisle i overhear: she's actually like a lesbian it's disgusting. two teenage girls with packaged sandwiches in their hands, giggling. no literally, like. i'm not, like. okay with her being there while we're all, like, naked and changing.

my girlfriend and i tailgate, drink gin and cider out of cups. from the frat group beside us, a man corrects himself with one of his friends: bro, i mean, nonbinary entity, and it makes everyone around him laugh, myself included. he razzes his friend the same way i would have killed for at 19 years old - like nothing happened, he continues: you apply sunscreen like an alien. he does a little sassy (and fairly accurate) dance interpretation of the motion. his friend is laughing so hard they're crying.

i am lucky, i live in a safe neighborhood in a safe state. my masc passenger princess comes up from DC. i drive her for an hour to where all the leaves are a violent arrangement of color. we walk along the trails, letting autumn into our blood. in this part of the state, there's a lot of pickup trucks and trump signs. when we chastely kiss before getting into the car, i accidentally make eye contact with a woman holding her child's wrist. she looks disgusted. she looks fucking pissed.

two hours later my girl and i are eating dinner on a patio, soaking in the last warmth of new england sun before the chill of winter sets in. we are giggling and trying to talk through plastic vampire teeth. at another table, i see a young woman sit up straighter. i watch her watch us. she blushes and takes her partner's hand from across the table. shy, like the taste of evening has just become something deeper.

it's worth it for this moment, i think. my lover is still humming the same song she's been singing for four days straight and i don't want to kill her for it. her guitar is beside my bed. her toothbrush is in my bathroom. in a few moments i will make us lunch. we are lucky enough to have found each other. it is lucky enough to be in love.

[sully-s]

Listen, if I had the time I would just make Justice Leauge the mockumentary, lol.

[littlemut]

i wish i could look at this… and feel Normal™️

[madscientistenthusiast]

Personally I think that Azula should have been redeemed simply so that she can become Zuko's horrible little advisor who whispers evil little plans to him so that he can do the exact opposite

[wisebeth]

One thing which genuinely bothers me is Annabeth's perception in the fandom. How she's seen as this cold, stoic, emotionless, reserved and intimidating girl. When in reality, she's a character full of love.

Annabeth, who immediately cried and felt attached to Cerberus after playing with him for a few minutes because she wouldn't get to play with him again.

Annabeth, whose deepest desire, which the Sirens lured her with, is saving Luke and having a good relationship with both her parents.

Annabeth, who believed in Luke's goodness, even after all the countless terrible things he did simply because she had faith in his humanity.

Annabeth, who cried in Percy's arms before entering the labyrinth and refused to reveal the last line of the prophecy because it said to lose a love worse than death and the idea of losing any of her friends is too painful, heartbreaking and worse than dying.

Annabeth, who kissed Percy before parting with him in St. Helens because if he's going to die, she at least wants him to die knowing she loved him.

Annabeth, who took a poisoned knife for Percy during the war because she'd rather die herself than let him die.

Annabeth, who convinced Luke to switch sides by reminding him of the promise of family he gave her. Which in turn, influenced Luke's decision to end himself to destroy Kronos. Hello, she saved the world with the power of love.

Annabeth, who spent months after months losing sleep and searching desperately for Percy when he went missing.

Annabeth, who kissed Percy to eternity in public at their reunion, not caring what anyone is going to say or think. An asteroid could've hit the earth, and she wouldn't have cared.

Annabeth, who told Percy “I love you” when falling in Tartarus because if she was going to die, she wanted them to be her last words.

Annabeth Chase is a sweetheart, who has always felt things deeply and she's so full of love. And I think it's time we let go of the “cold-hearted annabeth” headcanon because it's not true, that's not her.

[genderkoolaid]

is she boymoding or is she just masc / not putting all her effort into appearing femme for you

[sofiaruelle]

❄️☃️The SDV Girlies in their winter garb!☃️❄️

One side how i interpreted their lil avatars and then the other side is just me playing dress up lmao.

“Bois when?” Dunno. 🤷🏽‍♀️ I will if anyone donates screenshots.

[hollymbryan]

Blog Tour: Top 5 Reasons to Read COLD GIRLS by Maxine Rae! #tbrbeyondtours

Welcome to Book-Keeping and my stop on the blog tour for the beautiful YA contemporary, Cold Girls, from debut novelist Maxine Rae. I’ve got all the info below for you, plus my top 5 reasons to read the book.

About the Book

title: Cold Girls author: Maxine Rae publisher: Flux release date: 22 August 2023

Eighteen-year-old Rory Quinn-Morelli doesn’t want to die; she wants refuge from reality for even a minute: the reality where she survived the car crash eight months ago, and her best friend, Liv, didn’t. Yet her exasperating mother won’t believe the Xanax incident was an accident, and her therapist is making it increasingly hard to maintain the detached, impenetrable “cold girl” façade she adopted from Liv. After she unintentionally reconnects with Liv’s parents, Rory must decide: will she keep Liv’s and her secrets inside, or will she finally allow herself to break? And if she breaks, what will she unearth amid the pieces?

Content Warning: Grief

Add to Goodreads: Cold Girls Purchase the Book: Amazon | B&N | Bookshop.org

About the Author

Maxine Rae attended Tulane University where she was taught and singled out for commendation by two-time National Book Award–winner Jesmyn Ward. While working on Cold Girls, Maxine received feedback and mentorship from National Book Award–finalist Charles Baxter. She later revised and workshopped the manuscript in the selective Novel in a Year program at StoryStudio Chicago, whose artistic director is Pulitzer Prize in Fiction–finalist and Andrew Carnegie Medal–winner Rebecca Makkai. As a young, queer woman from the Chicago area, Maxine has written a debut molded by emotional truth.

Connect with Maxine: Website | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads

Top 5 Reasons to Read

I loved this book so much, and there are certainly more than five reasons to read it, but here are my top five:

1. Above all, it is a gentle yet unflinching look at grief and loss and how they impact a person, body, mind, and soul.

2. It’s a reflection on the transformative power of true friendship, and how having a close relationship can even change how we think/feel about ourselves.

3. The writing is simply breathtaking; I annotated as I read and I ended up highlighting and flagging so many beautiful passages. It’s astonishing to me that this is a debut!

4. The author shows us how different and chaotic families can be, whether that’s biological or found family.

5. Finally, I love how the author portrays the importance of taking care of our mental health, and of how necessary therapy can be. I’m so glad this was included in Rory’s journey.

While I know this isn’t a traditional book review, I couldn’t let it go unsaid that this is absolutely a 5-star read for me. Beautiful, heartbreaking, stunning -- I hope you will pick this one up asap!

Thank you to Flux and Maxine Rae for the ARC and to TBR and Beyond for having me on the tour!

Be sure to check out the bookstagram tour too! You can find my post here, and the full schedule is here.

[wowthosearebigears]

People have been asking for elves who aren’t just perfect ethereal Mary Sues for ages and the minute they get Galadriel making bad choices because of her PTSD and Gil Galad being kind of bitchy because he’s got objectively one of the worst jobs in Middle Earth (which he inherited as a teenager and has a nearly 100% fatality rate), folks are upset they aren’t likable enough?? If y’all saw what the elves got up to in the First Age you’d hurl.

[inkskinned]

actually sometimes being neurodivergent is great bc you have a particular kind of Silly Mode that just . manifests glory. harmless fun is my precious side quest & i have a high score in whimsy. like okay if i gotta be the first dork in the dance pit it's gonna be me and this random toddler and we're gonna avril-style rock ouuuuttt

[pinklavenderdoll]

[mindsynthcreations]

[katnissmellarkkk]

suzanne collins : “so in the epilogue of mockingjay, katniss only refers to her children as the girl and the boy-”

people who read with one eye shut : “BECAUSE SHE DOESN’T LOVE HER KIDS AND WAS FORCED INTO HAVING THEM BY THE EVIL PEETA MELLARK?”

suzanne collins probably : “because i couldn’t decide on two names i liked.”

[saragrosie]

I have been sketching. So much tma. Here's some expansions on my Jon and Martin designs I've been doing.

Another note I forgor to mention is I love how after hearing Simon go "it's enough to make your hair turn white" about Martin's office in s4 many of us collectively agreed his hair turned white because of his association with the Lonely. The shared consciousness is real and we use it to play hot potato with the communal brain cell dedicated to the sillies.

Closeup of apocalypse boyfriends (also to the person who said they love my s5 Jon's fancy white girl updo: I think about that every day)

[melonbite]

girls day out