#gaywyck

[ibrithir-was-here]

"Alright Mr Virga, I hear you have a new book to pitch?"

"Yes, so, its a gothic novel, something akin to Anya Seton's Dragonwyck"

"Indeed?"

"Yes, but--we make it gay"

"Oh ho! And what shall we call this, the first gay gothic novel that is akin to Dragonwyck?"

[kuslalumonka]

[drawulan]

Recently me and my friends have been reading an American queer gothic novel Gaywick by Vincent Virga, it’s insanely good! And also it’s second part Vadriel Veil!

The heroes of Gaywick:

Donough Gaylord (!) and Robert

[cosynopsis]

thank you mr vincent virga for "GAYWYCK"

Upd: but be careful, there are a lot of tw

[tako-fktsu]

Two kittens

[eliseikim]

this story sounds melancholy, but at this moment (I hope I remember correctly) it was hard not to giggle silly for me

[jackrussle]

Gaylord left a bookmarked Walt whitman book of poems for protag Robert before leaving his ridiculous manor that said "beware my vibes, I'm not your friend" which Robert sobbed himself to sleep about and then this

[fahye]

your book reccomendations are always excellent, do you have any favorite queer romance authors? looking for the standard “trashy” romance vibes but with queer people if possible, thank you so much!

let's see! romance vibes but make it queer.

Delilah Green Doesn't Care by Ashley Herring Blake (f/f contemp small town romance)

One Night in Hartswood by Emma Denny (m/m medieval historical, fluff and identity shenanigans in a forest)

Mistakes Were Made by Meryl Wilsner (f/f contemp 'oh shit I banged my roommate's hot mum')

basically anything by Alexis Hall but start with Boyfriend Material (m/m contemp romcom) or A Lady For A Duke (m/f regency with a trans heroine) for classic romance vibes

Teacher of the Year by M.A. Wardell (m/m contemp about a teacher and a student's dad) is extremely sweet

I can't imagine you've spent any time around my tumblr without hearing me yell READ EVERYTHING BY KJ CHARLES!! but today I will rec Any Old Diamonds (m/m historical, thief/aristocrat with HEIST SHENANIGANS)

For the Love of April French by Penny Aimes (m/f contemp with trans heroine and lots of kink) is scorching hot and heaps of fun

I have heard great things about An Island Princess Starts a Scandal by Adriana Herrera (f/f historical, SEX PACT WITH A DUCHESS) but my ordered copy hasn't arrived yet

ditto The Fiancée Farce by Alexandria Bellefleur (contemporary f/f celebrity marriage of convenience/fake dating), which I JUST got my paws on today and am excited to read

fuck it, Gaywyck by Vincent Virga was the first m/m gothic romance (1980!) and it's Truly The Most Gothic so if you like oldschool romances where the vibes are problematic but extremely delicious, check it out.

...and then read this great article by chels about Problematic Queer Books and why we need them

[fated-mates]

In one of our most beloved trailblazers conversations, we talked with Vincent Virga—author of the Gaywyck trilogy, the first m/m gothic romance, and one of the first m/m romances ending with a happily ever after.

He shares rich, wonderful stories about his vibrant life as a picture editor in publishing, the literary set in New York City in the 70s and 80s, writing during the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, the times in a writer’s life when the words don’t come easily, and the times when they can’t be stopped.

Listen for the first 30 seconds and trust us when we tell you that the whole thing is that good. There's lots of good info in show notes, too, plus a high quality transcription made by a human being.

[bloody-wonder]

mid-year book tag

1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2024? i have read so many good ones this year but no particular one stands out to me as The Best so i'll name top 5 instead (in the order i read them in): a thousand stitches, doctrine of labyrinths, in other lands, big swiss, my brilliant friend - so, quite a range of genres and tones, as usual :)

2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2024? the virtu is definitely my favorite part of doctrine of labyrinths and the tropic of serpents, the second book in the memoirs of lady trent, was just a perfect historical fantasy adventure novel - it's like if jane austen wrote indiana jones except it's also a nature documentary about dragons. last but not least, empire of the damned which came out in march solidified jay kristoff's empire of the vampire as my favorite vampire book series. you might have heard me screaming about it from the rooftops. all three of these sequels, i find, are even better than the previous book in their respective series.

3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To? i'm saving kj charles' death in the spires for the fall since it's a spooky campus murder mystery (i think?) and i also want to read apostles of mercy and so finish lindsay ellis' sci fi series (which i have lost interest in somewhat tbh but i'm nothing if not a completionist lol). i was curious about the familiar but the reviews i've seen don't look too promising so i'm probably not going to prioritize it.

4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2024? i'm looking forward to kj charles' new romance book, the duke at hazard, as well as the new evander mills mystery, rough pages, but the piece of fiction i'm anticipating the most is actually the radioapple southern gothic au by my favorite fanfic author reminiscentbells. she's going to write the whole thing this summer and start posting in september - i'm so excitedddd😱

5. Biggest Disappointment? emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries is the book equivalent of a ghoul wearing the skin of your beloved. i wasn't a fan of a deadly education either😒 was very excited to read gaywyck but the expectations of "jane eyre but gay" which the cover of that book gave me were unfortunately not met🤷‍♀️

6. Biggest Surprise? i didn't think i might be into extreme horror and neither did i fancy myself a sally rooney girlie so i was quite surprised that i liked her conversations with friends as well as the sluts by dennis cooper. will definitely read more from both authors next year. an even bigger surprise however was solitaire which i picked up on a whim after tori came out as ace in the last heartstopper volume. i have a complicated relationship with alice oseman's books mostly due to the fact that i'm years past the target demographic age but still feel compelled to read them bc it seems they're the only mainstream books with prominent aro/ace rep out there. so i didn't expect much and was astonished to discover that tori spring is like looking at a mirror reflection of my 18yo self - uncanny in a fun way. ig i shouldn't be so surprised this turned out to be my favorite oseman book since it's the one with the most mixed reviews lol people like to hate a depressed teenage girl😬

7. Favorite New Author? i have devoured doctrine of labyrinths and the cemeteries of amalo in february so now i can safely say sarah monette aka katherine addison is one of my favorite authors. each of her series has a different tone but there are consistent themes of real or magical disability and non amatonormative relationships which are explored in creative ways throughout her stories. i also like her worldbuilding quite a bit, especially the naming systems and fantasy terminology. i read more books by celeste ng as well as by vale aida - both are likely to become favorite authors too. in the latter's case - provided she writes a sequel to hostis. if not, i shall never forgive her😅

8. Newest Favorite Character? okay this is just impossible to narrow down! first of all, liathe from empire of the damned bc i want her Gender: wearing a porcelain mask and a splendid crimson coat, formally bowing to her adversaries before she beats the shit out of them with her blood sword, referring to herself by the royal we and hissing every time she speaks - character of all time material right there. behold my beautiful girl who has done nothing wrong!🥰

(official illustrations by bon orthwick)

secondly, elliot schafer bc he's the most obnoxious prickly boy in other lands and yet everyone wants him carnally lol. i adore his internal monologue - probably the best i've read in ya. his dialogue too tbh - his cutting repartee game is off the charts. honestly, he's just my favorite type of character: a mean bisexual gremlin who scolds people so creatively that they fall in love with him on the spot. what more can you ask.

finally, i have to mention that to my great surprise i liked mildmay more than felix harrowgate🤯 idk felix is this cunty traumatized savant which is a character archetype i'm used to liking so it was a safe bet. the opposites attract sidekick or love interest of such a character is usually not my cup of tea but mildmay is the exception that proves the rule ig. mostly it's bc of his unusual manner of speaking with those funny slang turns of phrase and just generally the contrast between his expressive internal monologue and his reserved demeanor. as a result, he easily rivals felix as the most interesting guy in the book. such excellent character work! taking my hat off to monette🎩

9. Newest Fictional Crush? i reserve this question for that special kind of obsession only a very particular character can inspire and this year it's alastor from hazbin hotel. which, i know, is not a book but i have read so much alastor fanfic in the last few months that he's basically like a book character to me at this point lol

💕Best Ship💕 elliot schafer and luke sunborn are very cute. i don't usually go for cute but here we are. especially after reading that short story from luke's pov i realized i just need more of these two together😌 felix and mildmay with their unholy magic bdsm union - need i say more? forbidden ship that watered my crops. last but not least, i'm currently trudging through the realm of the elderings bc of fitz and the fool and as of assassin's quest it finally started paying off: i'm being queerbaited and asking for more🥲

10. Book That Made You Cry? a thousand stitches is such a wholesome cozy book and it made me cry multiple times the way that a nostalgic movie from childhood can make you cry sometimes. especially the pug scene😭 the scenes of thara celehar walking the corn maze in the cemeteries of amalo made me cry a lot too. the symbolic depths addison is able to achieve with the labyrinth motif, the exploration of grief and forgiveness and letting go - unparalleled🤌

11. Book That Made You Happy? a thousand stitches made me happy! especially the pug scene!!😅 honestly it was like watching a disney movie back when they were good except also more relatable bc atwater's characters read neurodivergent and aspec-coded to me. love how she maintains that the kiss of true love that breaks the faerie curse doesn't have to be romantic. re-reading the three musketeers made me very happy too - it's one of my top 10 favorite books of all time and i was kinda nervous i might not like it as much as an adult. well the joke's on me bc now i can confirm it's one of the best books ever written😊 reading in other lands and big swiss cheered me up a lot too bc they're just so damn funney😄

12. Favorite Book Adaptation You Saw This Year? haven't seen a lot of adaptations so ig dune part two wins by default. twas a fine movie. the wheel of time is also a nice show in my opinion but i didn't read the source material so idk how good it is adaptation-wise🤷‍♀️

13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year? my favorite ones are probably the ones i wrote about the three musketeers and in other lands but i think i also wrote some good critical/negative reviews of the mask of mirrors and of the vorkosigan books i read this year (1 2 3)

14. Most Beautiful Cover? behold the cover of the voyage of the basilisk!🤩 i want to frame it and hang it on my wall so that i can gaze at it adoringly and connect with my inner ishmael

(art by todd lockwood)

i also like this vintage romance cover of gaywyck and the uk covers of the farseer trilogy. it's a shame that the books are not as good as the covers led me to believe. especially in the case of gaywyck - this cover is Such A Vibe! but alas

15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year? in terms of series i want to finish the memoirs of lady trent, read one more witcher book, at least a couple vampire chronicles and then reread swordspoint and hopefully complete that series too. other fantasy i want to get to at last is fire & blood and the hands of the emperor - both are big and intimidating tho. for my classics challenge i need to finish a couple of tomes i'm reading slowly throughout the year and then also read the name of the rose. american psycho and mona awad's bunny have been on my tbr for ages - maybe i'll finally read them this fall. and i also want to finish reading kj charles' backlist bc the completionism drive is stronger than the fear of having no kj charles to read lol

i never do things a normal amount - every time i take up new media i go all in. so i had a musicals phase, a movies phase, a tv show phase - each lasting a few years and then i barely watched any of these once the phase ended. which is why i've been wondering if my current Book Phase is about to wrap up soon but, given how many books i managed to read since january, it sure doesn't seem that way. instead, it feels like the more i read the better i am at finding books that i'm likely to enjoy - which leads to more reading. and i cannot complain about that tbh😁📚

tagging @magpiefngrl @doh-rae-me @oliviermiraarmstrongs @fugitoidkry @pinkasrenzo @counterwiddershins @figuringthengsout @sugarbabywenkexing @fandomreferencepending @venndaai @weirdsociology @sixappleseeds @theodoradove

please tell me what you've been reading this year (if you want)! one can't have too many book recs👀

goodreads │ old mid year tags 2020 2021 2022 2023

[marwyn]

Tagged by @aboutmercy to list 9 books I’d like to read in 2025–you reminded me that I’ve been wanting to read Gaywyck, ty!

Tagging @saessenach @melrosing @asmeninas @diorstarr @dwellordream @harrowscore

[ibrithir-was-here]

Reading about Gaywyck,

"When Gaywyck first appeared in 1980, it was hailed as the first gay gothic romance."

actually 🤓☝️ the first gay gothic romance in which one of them is described as "magnetic and brooding" and the other as a blonde who "was so innocent" until they met, while it all takes place in a manor the two have mutual ancestral ties with, is Carmilla (1872)

Jokes aside yes this does seem to have been the first gay male gothic romance book. The description shows its gothicness with "Gaywyck charts an inter-generational terror" and tragedy. While probably expected of the genre, there's a family history of incest and abuse. also I'll warn that the blonde one is 17 jic

Also the family name is Gaylord.....

Good grief is that really the name?? 😂 Hey fair enough!

And yeah, I had the same thought re:Carmilla (ha) but yeah they must mean the first 'gay as in openly m/m and such" and yeah, good for them 👍

(Not so yay on the abuse/incest/underageness- within the world of the story- but hey that's the genre, wouldn’t be gothic without being messed up right?)

[kuslalumonka]

“The eye of Polyphemos,” I said aloud, and shuddered. “The cyclops is watching! He whom Odysseus tricked, declaring, ‘I am No One.’”

[cosynopsis]

my depression vs gothic mlm novel retelling on twitter

[mermaidsirennikita]

I was shocked they chose A Night to Surrender by Tessa Dare over A Week to Be Wicked, Any Duchess Will Do or The Duchess Deal. Obviously Tessa is incredibly talented but I don’t feel like that’s one of her best (or even most popular) books. What was the selection process like???

Lol yeah that was when I went "... hmm." It's like, they wanted to be approachable, and yet they DIDN'T, and it really comes off as so low effort. I appreciate the nod towards racial diversity (though it could still be better) BUT I also found that the queer representation was very lacking, and virtually everything is tradpub, and monogamous, and it's overwhelmingly cis.

Not only does this not reflect where romance is GOING (not just in terms of diversity, which it still needs a lot of work on and you get that work done in part by PROMOTING AND ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO BUY DIVERSE BOOKS; but also in terms of the increasing presence of indie/selfpub influence) but it's not going to appeal to people who need to see themselves in the genre.

So yeah now I have to break it down

Cecilia, P&P, Friday's Child--I honestly find it very difficult to reconcile any book written before the 20th century with genre romance. Haven't read Cecilia, to be honest. P&P is social commentary with a romance subplot—a great one, but it's not genre romance, and tbh I wouldn't even call it Austen's most romantic book.

I struggle with Heyer, because her books are beloved and readable, and she is a huge influence. However, I first think that any "read romance right now" list meaning to get people to read the genre shouldn't feature books because they're influential. This is not an academic list lol. Recommend books that give people what the genre is more recently, what will HOOK them. And I struggle with Heyer because she was a major antisemite, so.

The Price of Salt--obviously very influential; would not consider it a romance despite that, and we could've recommended an explicitly sapphic ROMANCE. If this is about influence, where is Gaywyck?

Lord of Scoundrels--it's a classic, Loretta is one of the GOATs, I've never been in the right mindset to read this but I'll try again soon

Indigo--a mega classic and a great representation of what makes Bev so great, I'd recommend this to anyone

If Only It Were True--never read but ngl the summary makes me skeptical

Jewels of the Sun--Nora is another GOAT, but uh, this??? WTF??? Nora has written SO diversely in terms of subgenre, and you could pull from literally hundreds of books, and THIS is what you choose??? Okay lmao nah

The Viscount Who Loved Me--let us be real, it's a Bton book. Not the best in the series, but the second best, and if Bton had to be here (I wouldn't put it there whatever) this is one of the ones I'd choose. People who loved s2 might be startled.

Twilight--lmao crazy, not only does this not represent the genre well, but it's essentially Mormon propaganda that leads to a massively racist subplot that is even more problematic when you consider the history of Mormonism and indigenous people. Also, I say this as someone who considers Twilight a formative part of my girlhood.

A Hunger Like No Other--An amazing book, love it, a fab representation of early 2000s PNR, however I do think it will be a shock to the system for many readers due to how intense it is and how much Lachlain... doesn't respect consent. Nonetheless, I adore this book.

Devil in Winter--obviously a banger and a great representation of Kleypas's work. I think it's hard to recommend as a standalone as it functions better IMO after Autumn, BUT. Otherwise, no notes.

Lover Awakened--I've never been able to get into JR Ward, but I'm gonna try again someday, she's obviously very influential

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh--a really good book and a great intro in my experience

All Through the Night--I've never read this so I can't speak to its romance quality, but it's so weird to me that the summary talks about it being one of the first romances with a gay main character and then discusses the protagonist and his female fiance as the main couple...? I am... confused. Is it a queer romance? It doesn't sound like it. Is it supposed to be a representation of queer people in romance...? Just recommend a queer romance.

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake--great, awesome intro to MacLean

A Night to Surrender--I feel like they literally recommended this because it's the first Spindle Cover but you literally don't have to read them in order lmao read A Week to Be Wicked??? And I say this as a series reader? If you can only recommend one, recommend that?

Crazy Rich Asians--not a romance, basically satire, next

The Lotus Palace--haven't read this yet but I adore Jeannie Lin

The Luckiest Lady in London--a great intro to Sherry and a great book

To All the Boys I've Loved Before--YA coming of age girlhood with a romance subplot imo

All In--never read it

An Extraordinary Union--need to read

Wildfire--never read

Intercepted--couldn't get into

The Wedding Date--Jasmine Guillory's comments about being like... the first Black woman to write romance... make me upset... but also, her books are terminally unromantic to me

Ayesha At Last--haven't read, heard great things

Forget Me Not--haven't ready, happy to see Brenda Jackson here

Get a Life, Chloe Brown--love, great intro to Talia

Red, White, & Royal Blue--I get why it's here... I like the movie a LOT more

The Bride Test--this is very good, would definitely recommend The Kiss Quotient as your Hoang intro

The Flatshare--I didn't find this romantic

Xeni--I hate to say it, but I couldn't get into this

Boyfriend Material--I love Alexis Hall so fucking much. Glitterland was RIGHT THERE. A Lady for a Duke was RIGHT THERE. For the love of God, streeeetch a little

The Duke Who Didn't--haven't read, have heard great things

You had Me at Hola--I won't lie, I don't looove this, but I respect it

It Happened One Summer--apologies, I'm not a Tessa Bailey girly but I know how popular this is

Last Night at the Telegraph Club--Malinda Lo is a talented writer... I've never considered a book of hers romance so much as a book with a romance subplot... and I'm curious to see if this is different. If not, it's kinda depressing that this is one of a couple sapphic books here and isn't romance.

Seven Days in June--this is well-written and I get it, I could not get into it

A Caribbean Heiress in Paris--love this book, deserving, can't help but wish An Island Princess Starts a Scandal was here for more sapphic rep

Before I Let Go--this is so good and Kennedy should be here; I would've chosen Reel, personally, for several reasons

Book Lovers--y'all know I don't like Emily Henry's books

Dating Dr. Dil--haven't read, Nisha is very talented

Honey & Spice--have heard great things

Icebreaker--... choices!

Part of Your World--the one Abby Jiminez book I read was not for me

The Very Irregular Society of Witches--haven't read

The Vibrant Years--haven't read, Sonali Dev is very talented tho

Chef's Choice--I really like this book! It's so good. But I would've picked Triple Sec for a few reasons. If they were looking for their One Romance About People Who Aren't Cis... you still get it with that book...

Love, Theoretically--was my favorite Hazelwood until Bride and Not in Love! I get why she's here

[jackrussle]

around this time last yr I was reading twins, dead ringers' source material, and im like hmmm trashy gay book to start off the new yr again, please. barely even read the summary of gaywyck before buying the kindle download. Soooo there are gay twins in this. The narrator protag brought up 'my new employers backstory involves his dead twin brother-' erm cool so rest assured there is going to be insane melodramatic twincest in this. Idgaf at all, but it's crazy that I'm doing this again. I bought Twins at a used bookstore in SLC when the hotel room wasn't ready, and we were wandering around the block. It's fate, I guess. Look how cool the og cover art is