#elatsoe by darcie little badger

[who-do-i-know-this-man]

⚠️Vote for whomever YOU DO NOT KNOW⚠️‼️

[cobalt-knave]

Just finished Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger. Highly recommend to fans of Hi Nay and also some lighthearted/goofy horror stuff like Georgie Romero is Done For. It keeps an overall fairly light tone even with the exploration of grief at the core of a book about death & ghosts. I was also so refreshed to have a character, especially a teen girl, say to her parents that something happened in her dream or that she experienced something supernatural and be met with belief immediately. Also refreshed by a[n aromantic] character mentioning at the start that she isn't interested in romance and making to the end of the book without having a romantic sub plot thrust upon her!

The worldbuilding was great, and I especially loved hearing about the legal ramifications of magic in an urban fantasy setting!

[cukrkandl]

my favorite ace mcs in honor of ace week! 💜

jack & co. from aces wild (amanda dewitt)

aled from radio silence (alice oseman)

glorian from a day of fallen night (samantha shannon)

tané from the priory of the orange tree (samantha shannon)

neil from the all for the the game series (nora sakavic)

tori from solitaire & hearstopper (alice oseman)

jo from dear wendy (ann zhao)

victor from the villains series (v.e. schwab)

paige from the bone season series (samantha shannon)

ellie from elatsoe (darcie little badger)

joy from the romantic agenda (claire kann)

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

[queereads-bracket]

Queer Fantasy Books Bracket: Round 1

Book summaries and submitted endorsements below:

The Radiant Emperor series (She Who Became the Sun, He Who Drowned the World) by Shelley Parker-Chan

In a famine-stricken village on a dusty yellow plain, two children are given two fates. A boy, greatness. A girl, nothingness… In 1345, China lies under harsh Mongol rule. For the starving peasants of the Central Plains, greatness is something found only in stories. When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongba, is given a fate of greatness, everyone is mystified as to how it will come to pass. The fate of nothingness received by the family’s clever and capable second daughter, on the other hand, is only as expected. When a bandit attack orphans the two children, though, it is Zhu Chongba who succumbs to despair and dies. Desperate to escape her own fated death, the girl uses her brother's identity to enter a monastery as a young male novice. There, propelled by her burning desire to survive, Zhu learns she is capable of doing whatever it takes, no matter how callous, to stay hidden from her fate. After her sanctuary is destroyed for supporting the rebellion against Mongol rule, Zhu takes the chance to claim another future her brother's abandoned greatness. Fantasy, historical fiction, alternate history, epic fantasy, adult

Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

Submitted endorsement: YA featuring an Indigenous ace (!!!!) main character, bloodline magic, crime solving, and a ghost dog!

Imagine an America very similar to our own. It's got homework, best friends, and pistachio ice cream. There are some differences. This America has been shaped dramatically by the magic, monsters, knowledge, and legends of its peoples, those Indigenous and those not. Some of these forces are charmingly everyday, like the ability to make an orb of light appear or travel across the world through rings of fungi. But other forces are less charming and should never see the light of day. Elatsoe lives in this slightly stranger America. She can raise the ghosts of dead animals, a skill passed down through generations of her Lipan Apache family. Her beloved cousin has just been murdered in a town that wants no prying eyes. But she is going to do more than pry. The picture-perfect facade of Willowbee masks gruesome secrets, and she will rely on her wits, skills, and friends to tear off the mask and protect her family. Fantasy, young adult, mystery, paranormal

[yourfavebooklrsfavebooklr]

New Releases of April 2024!

I’ve been really excited for Dear Wendy for so long! Can’t wait for it to come out :) I have no clue how I’m going to find time to read everything coming out this month tho 😅

[bibliophilecats]

Currently reading: Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger

[e-b-reads]

"Your six-great-grandmother knew that she was capable of wonderful, dangerous things. That isn't a flaw. It's...enviable." "But she made a mistake, Mom. In the end." "No. She took a risk for love. That isn't a mistake. It isn't even a bad decision."

- Elatsoe, Darcie Little Badger

[aroaessidhe]

2023 reads / storygraph

Sheiné łénde

prequel to Elatsoe, following her grandmother as a teen in the 1970s

after a devastating flood and loss of family members & their traditional home, she works with her mother & their ghost dogs, tracking down missing people

when a local boy goes missing - and her mother, when trying to find him - strange fairy rings (not the usual, reliable ones used for transport) might be to blame, and she and her friends, brother, and lone (unreliable) grandfather have to try find them

friendship, family, ecology, no romance, ghost bugs :)

(title pronounciation: Sheh-ee-neh lehneh)

arc from netgalley, out 16 April 2024!

[aroaceinaerospace]

since it's the start of a new year and I'm a bookworm, I figured I'd share some of the aspec books I read in 2023. I've added any of the big content warnings I can think of as well as a link to the books on storygraph where there are more in depth content warnings.

Fiction:

Wren Martin Ruins It All by Amanda DeWitt follows the titular character Wren Martin during senior year of high school as he becomes student council president and fights his vice president to try and get the school's Valentine's Day dance shut down. Wren is very much an externally grumpy person who becomes much more loveable as you get to know him and see the reasoning behind his grumpiness. Rep includes asexual main character and an aromantic side character, and note this book is a romance.

Is Love The Answer by Uta Isaki is a coming of age manga following Chika as she tries to find the answer to who she is and explores her identity. This book is full of aro and ace rep with different life experiences. CW for aphobia and attempted SA.

Just Lizzie by Karen Wilfred is a middle grade book following Lizzie in how a science class assignment helped lead her to an understanding of her asexuality. At the same time, Lizzie is having to adjust to a new home and changes in what was once familiar and safe. CW for aphobia, harassment.

Non-fiction:

*note: these books cover some triggering topics in different parts of them, including racism, SA, aphobia, and more

Ace and Aro Journeys by The Ace and Aro Advocacy Project (TAAAP) is a really great overview of aspec identities, it gives more time to aro identities than a lot of other books, and provides quotes and information from people on various parts of the spectrums. This book brings in some intersectionality, though it is more broad than a deep dive.

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality by Sherronda J. Brown, which has been my favorite read. This book is fantastic if you're ready for a deep dive into intersectionality and some deeper history on asexuality. This book, despite being very short, is a much heavier read content-wise, but it is very thought provoking and will stick with you. Each chapter gives you content warnings up front for the materials that will be addressed in the chapter. Personally, this book has been my favorite book on the subject and I intend on reading it many more times to capture more of the nuance.

[bookcub]

i love elatsoe by darcie little badger for so many reasons but after reading a few different disappointing mysteries, i was thinking about how much i loved it, specifically how the mystery is not the "who" but the "how" and "why" and the reveals are so satisfying with the narrative and the themes of the text. *sigh* i love that book so much

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

Sheine Lende by Darcie Little Badger

Source: NetGalley ARC

Publisher: Levine Querido

Release date: 16 April 2024

Genre: young adult historical/urban fantasy (70s rural Texas)

If you like:

dogs (ghost dogs!)

various ghost animals, existing and extinct

no romance whatsoever

hope and community in the midst of grief and loss

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Synopsis

Shane works with her mother and their ghost dogs, tracking down missing persons even when their families can't afford to pay. Their own family was displaced from their traditional home years ago following a devastating flood - and the loss of Shane's father and her grandparents. They don't think they'll ever get their home back.

Then Shane's mother and a local boy go missing, after a strange interaction with a fairy ring. Shane, her brother, her friends, and her lone, surviving grandparent - who isn't to be trusted - set off on the road to find them. But they may not be anywhere in this world - or this place in time.

Nevertheless, Shane is going to find them.

Content warnings

Colonisation

Loss of close family members

Illness

Natural disasters

Grief

Review

I found out about this book while scrolling through NetGalley, and the second I saw that it was a prequel to Elatsoe, I had to read it.

This is a prequel about Elatsoe's grandmother Shane as a 17 year old girl, but you don't have to read Elatsoe to know what's going on, and both books can be read in either order as standalones.

This book is so well-crafted and thoughtful; it took me a little while to fully immerse myself in the story, because the setting and vibe is so different from Elatsoe, and it is a little slower paced, but once I got into the groove, the story flowed over me.

We follow Shane as she tries to figure out the mystery of her mother's and a child's disappearance, and along the way we learn about her history, as well as explore her relationships with her family and friends.

A strong focus of the book is on Shane's grief; grief from losing not only her home and her family members, but also losing her culture and language. This book tackles the harms caused by colonialism, which goes beyond stealing land, but also erases culture and peoples.

At its heart, this book is about family and community. At times Shane may feel alone, like she has to take on her burdens by herself, but her friends and family are always there for her (dead or alive).

I also loved Rovina Cai's lovely illustrations at each chapter heading; they tell a story parallel to the main story, and they add another layer of depth.

Overall, this is book was written full of heart, and it shows <3

[datsderbunnyblog]

A couple of days ago I started reading Elatsoe by Darcie Little Badger and I'm still absolutely in love with the opening paragraph.

[haveyoureadthismgyabook]

[displayheartcode]

I feel so validated rn!!!!!