#representation of chronic illness in books

[serenebutterfly]

As Invisible In Books As I Am In Life

"The more time I spend inside books, the more my life feels as fictional as what I'm reading. Because books rarely reflect any fragments of my reality of living with a #chronicillness."

[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

---

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!

---

Submit a Book:

[skys-archive]

Does anyone know some comic/web comics or manga with physically disabled characters, especially main characters or strong supporting roles?

For example I really relate to Kakashi from Naruto due to my chronic fatigue, and I know FMA has many disabled characters and I plan on reading and/or watching it. I like fantasy but I'd also love some more realistic world ones, like Saiki k being a pretty good allegory for disability. (Even though that's technically still fantasy lol)

I'm really loving to hear any of these with disability, whether it can be read that way but isn't canon or invisible disabilities or whatever. I'd especially love to see mobility aid users, like Charlotte Webber from spiderverse comics (she uses forearm crutches! Like me! And a wheelchair when she's not fighting crime!) or various characters from FMA.

I don't really read webcomics usually so I don't know any of thos examples but I'd love to hear some of those too.

I'd also be interested in fanfics that take non disabled characters in canon and write them as disabled.

Anyway yeah please I want to read disability representation and I prefer to get my media visually or from world building I already know

[chronicallyillbookwyrm]

I'm hoping to start reviewing books for the sake of neurodivergent people, queer people, and people with physical disabilities. Basically marginalized groups.a With that in mind, what are some things that you lovely peeps wish was included in book reviews and recommendations? Also if you are looking for books with a certain type of representation. Reblog and comment plsssss!! Love y'all 🫶

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Regency Romantasy

So...it has been brought to my attention that I perhaps have a type, and this book ticked a lot of really good boxes for me. It's regency-inspired. It's fantasy. It's a romance. It has a chronically ill main character. It has sewing and fashion. Literally 90% of the characters are LGBTQIA. It has a BALCONY SCENE for crying out loud. It even has a gossip columnist who might be better than Lady Whistledown (do NOT come for me, Bridgerton Fandom, I said what I said). I could go on, but at that point I think we would have completely dissolved from actual review to screamed list of things I enjoyed, so let's rein it in for a minute and talk A Fragile Enchantment.

I'm going to start with setting, because while this book is regency-inspired, it also plays a little fast and loose with other historical inspirations. The reality of the blight and famine in historical Ireland (and frankly also the troubles and every time that Ireland revolted against England) was that it came after the regency, but here Niamh is the first generation after a similar event and subsequent revolt in her home country of fantasy Irel--I mean Machland. She has grown up surrounded by survivors of the blight and revolt, and like everyone who reads Maus learns, generational trauma is a BITCH. So when our dressmaker protagonist is invited to make the wedding clothes for the son of the king who murdered her people, it's politically and emotionally charged. Add to that the fact that Niamh's magic is hereditary and weirdly murdery, and yeah, things are emotional as heck.

Possibly I shouldn't relate quite so hard to a protagonist who is literally hurting herself for people who ultimately couldn't give a damn about her, but that IS my villain origin story, so all I had for Niamh was compassion at how hard a position that is to be in.

Niamh herself is beautifully written, and Saft balances all the threads tied around and pulling at Niamh's heart just beautifully. Every choice is complex and fraught, and so-deeply-ingrained-she-doesnt-even-notice-it impulse to shape herself around other people's pain and grief and comfort them instead of sitting with her own feelings is just stunningly well executed without feeling dramatic or indulgent.

Niamh is so desperate for friends, and the little ring she constructs around herself couldn't be stranger or more wonderful. From the enraged, grumpy Kit to Sinclair to Rosa and Miriam, this found family is wildly unlikely and prickly, but they fit between each other's thorns just perfectly.

And speaking of people having thorns...we need to address Kit Carmine. Younger son of a mad (and abusive before he went mad) king with an alcohol problem and green magic, our boy is GRUMPY. And BLUNT. And honestly I love him for that, because those thorns are hiding a very stressed out, distinctly squishy center. And also one that is deathly afraid of hurting people, because that's also a thing.

Kit is so tangled up between rage and duty and the few people he cares about that he and Niamh really have to work to develop a compassionate understanding based on wildly different personalities. And then you add all the imperialist and decolonizing stress between them plus the fact that KIT IS LITERALLY ABOUT TO MARRY SOMEONE ELSE and it's a whole deal.

There are so many wonderful moments in this book, it was a delight from start to finish. I objectively have more to say about this book, but I want to avoid spoilers here to inspire y'all to go read this book. I promise, it's worth it. Now, go get it and read. *shoos you toward the bookstore/library/tablet/place you get your books from*

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

'The Second Mango'- Glassman, Shira

Disability Rep: Severe Food Intolerance

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Age: Young Adult

Setting: Fictional: Perach

Additional Rep: Jewish Themes, Lesbian MC, F/F, F/M, Platonic Female Friendship, POC

For more information on summaries, content warnings and additional tropes, see here:

[littleevil0ne1]

I'd like to take this time to thank Chloe Liese for gifting us the autistic rep we deserve and the hot bisexuals making out in a bookstore scene that we NEEDED

[pipperoni32-blog]

Fourth Wing

By Rebecca Yarros / 5 stars

Man. I don't know where to start with this one. There's so much I want to say. I absolutely love the dragons, and the relationship the riders share with them. The way that they can talk to each other. The world they are in is often cruel, but I felt like it wasn't dwelt on overly so. On top of the world being so realized and fleshed out, you can picture everything. The writing is so good, and the pacing is spot on.

Then there's the personal aspect. From the very beginning, I sent excited texts out to my friends who were also reading - "Violet has janky joints like me!" Even before I finished the book and had it confirmed that Rebecca Yarros also has EDS, I'd connected to Violet on a deeper level. Is Violet a character study on EDS? Does she live my reality and show the severity of my symptoms? No. But she lives in an unstable body. She lives in pain. For once, I got to look at a character through one of their biggest flaws, their biggest liabilities and say "she's like me! And she's awesome!"

Plus, can I just say that the way Tairn (and Andarna) accept her weaknesses and help her realize her strengths? That they know her limitations, and work with them so she can be the best she can be. Even if that support comes in Tairn's grumpy way. Not her dragons alone, Xaden also does, but he's a whole 'nother thing. If I hadn't thought it before, it's confirmed. Guys, I want a dragon!

And then, oh yeah. There's Xaden. He's a category all to himself. My words cannot do Xaden Riorson justice.

I'm still in the book coma that came from finishing this book. Maybe some day I'd be able to do a review that encapsulates the gratitude, the representation, and just the general enjoyment I felt reading this book. I didn't want it to end. I'm so ready for the second one. I'm ready to start listening to the audiobook so I can rest and still get to be in this world.

[thatbitch151]

I’m currently character building for a novel I’m going to write in a dystopian world. Are there any disabilities y’all want to see in there?

I wish there was more representation of disabilities and chronic illness in fantasy, science fiction and action genres.

Not just a side character with 30 seconds of screentime. An important character that doesn't just exist to further the storylines of other characters. I want a character that doesn't get "cured" or healed. A character that stays disabled and/or chronically ill. A character that isn't afraid to ask for help. One that doesn't think they're a burden and doesn't try to hide their disability/ chronic illness.

I want to see how it affects them, not just know they're disabled/chronically ill and it jist never gets mentioned again. I don't mean it should be their entire personality but being disabled and or chronically ill can affect many parts of life.

I just wish there was more representation of disabilities and chronic illness that shows every part of it. Especially in fantasy and science fiction it's lacking.

[wahlpaper]

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet Review

The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet by Jake Maia Arlow

CW: Poop, Divorce, Parental Fighting, Internalized Queerphobia, Low Self Esteem, Anxiety, Medical Descriptions, Tween Angst, Mentioned Racism, Ableism

5/5

Libby (the app) recommended Jake Maia Arlow's The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet to me. This was likely because I asked my library to add Arlow's How to Excavate a Heart. This is the first book I've read by them, but I know they're going to continue to be one of my favorite authors. This book was filled with Queer, Jewish, and chronic illness representation! The story wasn't a reflection of my life or anything close, but I still found myself relating to the feelings of the characters. I'm glad Arlow wrote a character as complex as themself.

In The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet, Al is diagnosed with Crohn's Disease at age 12. She has been pooping a lot, often having to run to the bathroom in urgency. She's not feeling good, physically or about herself, but it's made worse by her mother's constant worrying and the thought that she may lose her best friend, Leo. While Leo is busy finally following his passion by joining the school musical, Al gives in to joining an IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disorder) peer support group. Things start looking up for Al, but how long can it stay like that? Will her secrets or her stool come out first?

Although the pacing in Arlow's novel was hard to follow at times, I have zero other complaints about how it was written. This book invoked an impressive balance of emotions from me. There were funny moments, relatable ones, ones that made me annoyed with Al or other characters, and ones that brought me close to tears. There were just enough characters to make Al's life feel real, but not to overwhelm the audience. I know that middle-grade novels aren't for everyone, but I love how wholesome they are. They can tackle poop, anxiety, fights among friends, divorce, and big promises broken while still being sweet and healthy. Writers for adult romances could learn something from them, especially through the middle school romance featured in The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet.

The copy I listened to of Arlow's book had an Afterwards by the author. They talked about being nervous about writing a character who is queer and Jewish and has a chronic illness that involves poop. They worried about people calling it silly or too much, which I imagine bigots would do with even just one of these. Arlow figured that if all three were true for them, they could be true for Al too. I'm so glad they did! I don't have Crohn's, but these three things are true of me. I appreciate the representation very much and can empathize with Al and her friends. The diversity representation in this book includes anxiety, non-binary, racial, and aromantic. Nothing feels shoehorned, it all matters.

Singling out the queer rep, I appreciate that almost every character is a part of the queer community. It's highly unrealistic in TV shows where there are a bunch of straight characters and one queer one. We flock together. I also appreciate that this is just a slice of Al's queer identity journey. It's not the beginning or the end. It's unlikely that we figure it all out quickly. Al knows she likes girls and gets the chance to like a specific one. She tries out a label for herself, but she doesn't sound 100% sure of it, but that doesn't get resolved. She makes a non-binary friend who uses "she/they" pronouns (pronouns beautifully woven throughout the narrative) and starts to question if maybe that would work for her. She's in the stage that older trans people might call an "egg". Someday after the story ends, she may just find herself hatched as a non-binary person.

As multiple characters are Jewish, the audience gets to experience a nice sample of different personal relationships to the religion. Al and her mother aren't very religious, but they care about their Jewish identity. Leo and his mother are more religious. His mother runs a Jewish bakery and uses a lot of Yiddish. Leo is dealing with the realities of being a biracial Jew. He doesn't look much like his mother and doesn't "look Jewish". There's also Sephardic Jewish representation, although not as heavily explored. If you're looking for Jewish joy, you'll absolutely find that in The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet.

As long as medical descriptions don't deter you completely, I definitely recommend Jake Maia Arlow's The Year My Life Went Down the Toilet. Either you can relate to the chronic illnesses of the characters or you can learn a lot about it. You'll be treated to the sweetest cast of characters along the way in addition to Jewish food ideas. If you're looking for your next bathroom read, this is the one!

[blindbeta]

Hello! I have two questions, so I'll send two asks in case you want to answer them separately. First, a lot of your posts suggest writing multiple blind characters into your story to help avoid tokenism. However, when I try to write multiple blind characters, they always stand out or feel shoehorned in. Do you have any advice for writing multiple blind characters more "casually" so they don't feel as out of place?

Examples of How to Write Multiple Blind Characters Using The Owl House

Hello. Thank you for your questions! I actually started on this months ago and returned to it answering this question here.

I suspect this is what stops many writers, although they aren’t aware of it. This feeling of forcing representation is the result of society’s ableism and it can be difficult to recognize or deal with.

It might help to think about the reverse- isn’t it strange that so many characters in books and shows are abled? Isn’t it strange that so many disabled characters have no community?

When you write multiple blind characters, you are giving your blind character a community.

Another thing that might help is to show different characters having different conditions and different ways of dealing with their blindness. This is a technique I use all the time. You can even list all the blind characters and their characteristics so you can consider them all at once. For fun, we’ll use The Owl House. I feel that using all-ages examples might help writers feel comfortable engaging with the material.

The following will contain discussions of external and internalized ableism. It will also contain heavy spoilers for The Owl House up to the show’s finale.

Here is an example I came up with:

Main character, Luz, has a low vision in both eyes. She uses a cane for nighttime, mostly, but she feels like more of an outcast when she uses it at school, compared to the enthusiasm with which she used it and showed it to her classmates when she was a child. She stopped using a cane before entering high school. She packs it for camp just in case and uses it all the time on The Boiling Isles. There, she feels more comfortable using it every day. She is eventually able to use her cane and other assistive devices, whether magical or non-magical, whenever she needs to. Growing up, she struggled in school due to neurodivergence and not always getting her accommodations or maybe even struggling to ask for accommodations. She is happy to find that Eda and Hexside are able to accommodate her without making her feel othered. Although she has felt rejected in the past, she is able to fully embrace her blindness once more, celebrating a part of her in a way she was able to as a child. Also, she has several copies of The Good Witch Azura books in regular print, large print, and audiobook forms.

Eda, her mentor, had total enucleation in one eye and wears a prosthetic. How did she lose her eye? She doesn’t remember, now stop bugging her. Due to macular degeneration, her vision isn’t so good in the other eye and is decreasing over time. She doesn’t use a cane after struggling against her mother in childhood. She can use her Palisman or King as guides if she needs help. (King appointed himself her unofficial guide demon.) Her visually impaired partner, Raine, has gently and jokingly encouraged her to do what helps, including using assistive devices. After they started dating again, Eda feels comfortable using Raine as a guide, which also gives her an excuse to cozy up to them. Eda eventually comes to terms with her blindness much like her chronic illness. When she and Raine go on walks, she jokingly makes them carry things, stating if they want her to use a guide demon or a cane so bad, they can lend her a hand considering she only has one. She switches between the cane and guide depending on what suits her that day. Raine also supports her in her times of vulnerability. She can also have her phone or use spells to read, but reading is for nerds so she would rather have someone else read to her, such as her sister, Luz, Raine, or King.

Principal Bump is blind with residual vision and uses a guide Paliman to help him navigate and magnify things if he needs it. When he had Eda as a student, he was excited to help a student with similar experiences, but he quickly learned she was a troublemaker.

Willow is totally blind and uses a fluffy guide demon. She also has a cane decorated with flowering vines, which she enjoys using because she can have interesting tactile feedback. She was born blind and doesn’t struggle with her blindness beyond the occasional frustration with ableism or lack of accessibility. Her dads are very supportive and helpful. They sent her to Hexside hoping having a blind principal would assure she would get accommodations. She enjoys using magic with physical and textural elements, which is why she tried the magical school tracks she chose.

Gus is also blind with a bit of remaining vision. He enjoys looking at colors and lights. Gus chose to focus on illusions because they make interesting shapes and colors, providing his brain with a lot of sweet, sweet stimulation. Gus also enjoys that a track that is very visual is something he can excel at. He met Willow when complimenting her on how pretty her plants looked, describing to her what looked like a colorful blossom on a vine. He uses a cane to navigate, finding it more helpful for stairs and general independence even if canes aren’t quite as popular on the Boiling Isles as magically assisted options such as Palismans and guide demons. He also enjoys using something more similar to what humans use, as he is very interested in humans. He feels very comfortable with his blindness, finding a similar outlook in his friend Willow. Together, the two feel more understood. Willow and Gus pass Braille notes to each other in class. Gus prefers to have his spelled books or illusions read to him, though.

Amity deals with internalized ableism stemming from a need to be perfect, as well as many terrible implications from her parents that she doesn’t let on hurt her. She concentrates on not letting her disability stop her, as that’s what a Blight does. She has low vision, similar to Luz, and progressive vision loss. Unlike the other characters, she does not have much positive support. Principal Bump tries to encourage her to use the many aids and accommodations provided by the school, surprised that she knows the Boiling Isles equivalent of Braille, but only because her parents thought it would give their child an edge and because she attended the same early childhood classes as Willow. Amity politely rejects his help and goes on the be the top student just to prove a point to everyone (a.k.a her parents). She grows up being friends with other kids who say ableist things, leading to Amity feeling even more pressured to rely on her remaining vision. Eventually, her relationships with Luz and Willow help her to accept herself. She is able to act more authentically. This includes confronting her former friends, apologizing to the people she bullied, and attempting to use a cane at school. She is surprised to find that nothing really changes and a few people, including her siblings, even comment on her cane use positively. Willow also shows her how to get her phone to read to her, as well as use the spelled books you can buy that read out loud, which helps reduce eye strain. The similarities between her and Luz helps to strengthen their bond, but otherwise their relationship is unchanged from canon. Amity also has another troublesome barrier to asking Luz to Grom, such as how to make the note accessible. She ends up going with large print and high contrast ink. If she can read it, she knows Luz will be able to.

Hunter has an inherited retinal disorder, such as LCA or Stargardt disease. All of his predecessors have had a similar experience and Hunter takes pride in being part of that line. Each Golden Guard has decreased vision compared to the last, it seems. Hunter views his blindness as a part of him. His blindness allows him to adapt in ways others may not have a chance to explore. He becomes aware of advantages he has over the many sighted people he works with. He is known for his talent, adaptability, and resourcefulness. Hunter struggles with photophobia, which his mask helps with. For navigation, he has a cane, as well as his staff, which he prefers to adapt for navigating. It is about chest height and acts similarly to a WeWalk cane. He can use it to teleport and use magic, but it is mostly for identification and navigating if needed. Eventually, he considers switching to a guide demon like Willow’s, which can also offer companionship along with his new Palisman. Hunter can read the Boiling Isles equivalent of Braille, which he uses for labeling, personal note-keeping, and reading when his eyes are tired. He can keep working longer this way, although he does occasionally read or write for fun if he has a spare few minutes. Hunter also makes tactile maps.

There we go. I provided examples of several blind characters in the same place. Many of them know each other and maybe even meet because of their blindness. They all have different types of blindness and different experiences with their blindness, even when compared to characters who are on similar places on the blindness spectrum. I explored how they navigate, how they view their blindness, and ways in which they relate to others. Some struggle with internalized ableism, but not all of them. They have their own arcs related to their blindness, although they have the same arcs and interests as in canon.

Rather than seeing multiple blind characters as an obstacle, view it as an opportunity for characterization. For example, Amity’s experience with ableism is heavily rooted in how she was raised, in how her parents treated her blindness as a defect or something to be ignored. Meanwhile, Luz’s experience with ableism originated in childhood rejection. Compared to them, Willow, Gus, Principle Bump, and Hunter are all thriving. Even Eda is mostly cool with everything, only having a confusing and uncertain relationship with mobility aids. Additionally, Luz is able to let go of and unlearn her internalized ableism as soon as she finds people who accept her. Amity, in comparison, takes much longer to accept herself.

I know that some writers who aren’t blind may feel unequipped to write internalized ableism. It isn’t necessary, but instead something I thought fit Amity’s original character arc. Internalized ableism can be a lot more subtle than this or not feature in your story at all. Luz and Eda might struggle with this as well, but to a lesser degree. It would also be similar to their arcs in canon.

Here are additional character breakdowns because I thought they were fun:

Who uses Braille?

Willow, Hunter, and to some extent, Gus

Braille literacy is declining, so not everyone knows it in this A.U, which is similar to real life. However, I prefer to have at least some of my characters use Braille to push back against that.

Who uses audio to read, primarily or some of the time?

Gus, Amity, Luz, Eda

Who uses regular or large print?

Luz, Amity, Principal Bump

Who uses magnification?

Principal Bump and probably Luz in childhood

Who uses a cane?

Luz, Amity, Hunter, Willow, Eda

However, Luz, Amity, and Eda all struggled to get there to some degree. In real life, few blind people actually use canes despite possibly benefiting from them.

Who uses an animal guide?

Eda, Willow, and, later, Hunter

On the Boiling Isles, creatures participate in training schools and are matched with potential handlers. They are mostly given to adults, although some schools allow kids to apply, such as those in their upper teens. I have a post on guide animals here.

Who has some residual vision?

Luz, Eda, Bump, Gus, Amity, Hunter

Who is totally blind?

Willow

In real life, 85 to 90% of people who are blind have some residual vision, depending on what source you draw from. Most of the cast can still see something, even if only colors, light, and shadow.

I hope this helps. This is my first time sharing something like this. Readers, feel free to use this however you like, for stories or fan art.

-BlindBeta

[checkoutmybookshelf]

Sisterhood of the Stab Stab

Both teenage asthmatic me and 20-year-old newly diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis me desperately needed this book, and I am so, so grateful that 30-year-old me had the chance to read it so I can point kids and peers who might need this book as badly as I did toward it. This book has just stunningly well-done chronic illness (specifically POTs) representation, and some really excellent LGBTQ+ representation. It's also rare I get in on preorder goodies, but when I saw how beautiful these character cards were, I couldn't resist! Let's talk One for All.

The tagline for this book is a gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, but honestly the chronic illness representation is what made this book so impactful for me. I'm not a POTsie, but I knew exactly how the crushing fatigue, the constant fight against your own body, and the cruel responses of people around you feel when you have hard physical limits.

Tania is a lovely character to follow and share a headspace with throughout the book. Her complex relationships with her parents, her peers, her musketeer mentor, and her fellow lady musketeers are nuanced and always interesting. As a former dancer (the RA didn't actually kill that activity for me, that was the pandemic), I also strongly identified with Tania's insistence on honing her skills in her chosen sport--fencing--to the fullest extent of her abilities, and accommodating the very real physical limitations her body has rather than pushing to try to be like fencers without POTs. The space that Tania and the other musketeers make to accommodate the POTs rather than trying to magically fix it, ignore it, or insist that Tania could somehow "overcome" it is absolutely incredible. I would love for that accommodation to be the norm rather than the vanishingly rare exception.

Tania is not the only kickass character, however. Our other three lady musketeers are full, round characters who grow with Tania even as they prove that they will never ever let her fall. Each of our girls has a clear character all her own, and they mesh with and bup up against each other's personalities in ways that were never not a treat to see.

Simply put, I adore this book and cannot say enough good things about it. I'm hopeful that we get more stories with Tania and the rest of the sisterhood of the stab stab.

[thedisabilitybookarchive]

[ID: A book cover. The corners and bottom of the book are covered in red vines. A red figure lies at the bottom of the book, above the authors name, on a red chaise lounge. A figure falls towards them, also red. Behind them, a large tower in the centre of the book, surrounded by smaller towers. All are black and pointed at the top. At the top of the tallest tower, a hand, with a finger pointing towards the tower and drop of red blood between the hand and the point. Text over the top of all of this reads, from top to bottom: The title “A Spindle Splintered” in large white capitals across the top half of the cover. A review directly below the title, lower left, in smaller white font, reading “”A vivid, subversive, and feminist reimagining of Sleeping Beauty”-Katherine Arden” The authors name “Alix E. Harrow” at the bottom of the book, in large white capitals. /end]

Disability: Chronic/Terminal Genetic Illness

Genre: Fairy Tale Retelling (Sleeping Beauty)

Series: Fractured Fables

Archive Entry

A Spindle Splintered

Alix E. Harrow

It's Zinnia Gray's twenty-first birthday, which is extra-special because it's the last birthday she'll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no-one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia's last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

(Affiliate link above)

[daybringersol]

alloaro book recs !

took some time but alright ! well first i gotta say, i havent read any of them (yet), but i will try to find reviews online.

this is mostly based on this database (link) i found, cuz im gonna be so honest with you, its straight up the only place where i could find that information.

Commit to the kick by Tris Lawrence

Urban fantasy. Lead is a demiromantic gay man. Found family. Queer-platonic partnership, though not defined that way (not sure what that means either). Writer is a queer woman. 4.7/5 on Goodreads (link), though only with 7 ratings. Seems batshit insane tbh, the guy transforms into a bear, theres clan politics, magic and sports. Can be read online for free here (link) I think? Can also be bought as a book here (link).

Viral airwaves by Claudie Arsenault

Science fiction. One of the main characters is a gay non-binary aromantic person, and has a queerplatonic relationship with a man. Book cover is the colors of the aroallo flag. Writer is an aroace woman from Québec (sorry, that's important to me, I'm québecois). 4.09/5 on Goodreads (link). Can be bought here (link). Look in comments for more info.

The ascencion by A. M. Blaushild

Fantasy, science fiction. One of the main characters is a bisexual aromantic woman. No pairings, only friendships. Author is disabled (chronically ill & autistic) and LGBT+. Can't find that specific book anywhere gonna be honest. Still leaving this here in case I do at some point. Look in comments for more info.

Baker thief by Claudie Arsenault

Fantasy, superhero. Lead is a bisexual aromantic non-binary person. Relationships explored are family, friendship, mentor, queer-platonic relationship (with a woman). Enemies to lovers (?). Lead is mainly attracted to women and femme non-binary genders. Writer is an aroace woman from Québec. 3.95/5 on Goodreads (link). Read it online for 2.99$ USD (minimum) here (link). Can also be bought as a book here (link).

The trouble by Daria Defore

Contemporary, romance, new adult. Lead is an aromantic gay man. Around an indie rock band. Relationships explored are friendships (bandmates), but includes a M/M pairing and explicit sexual content, so I'm guessing it's a friends with benefits situation? I don't know. Written by a most likely queer woman (haven't found her saying it herself but she only writes queer fiction). 3.85/5 on Goodreads (link). Currently unavailable everywhere, including Amazon (link), Ebay (link), Thriftbooks (link), for some reason, which is unfortunate for me because I'd like to read it. First 15 pages are available on Book Read Free (link) though. If you find a way to get it, please link me up.

Mangoverse by Shira Glassman

Fantasy. A series of books. Side character is a straight aromantic woman. Woman-focused, jewish-focused. Don't know if the character is in all the books, and if not, in which ones she is. Her name is Eshvat if that helps. Lots of other queer representation in all the books though. Ratings on Goodreads (link) range from 3.70/5 to 4.35/5.

Holding Onto Day by E. H. Timms

Fantasy, science fiction, paranormal. One of the main characters is a non-binary pansexual aromantic person. Relationships explored are found family and friendships. No pairings. Written by an aroace genderqueer person (she/they). 4/5 on Goodreads (link), though only out of 15 ratings. Involves vampires and werewolves. Only available for kindle on Amazon (link).

Novis by Rachel Tonks Hill

Science fiction. One of the main characters is an allosexual (attraction not specified but I'd assume sapphic) aromantic woman. Relationships explored are queer-platonic (F/F/F) and friendships. Includes moments of microaggressions against aces and aros and a fade-to-black sex scene. Writer is non-binary, bisexual and polyamorous. 4/5 on Bookreads (link), though only out of 9 ratings. Women-focused. Available as a paperback here (link) and as a kindle here (link).

The representative by Ripley Santo

Cuil (link), erotica, dark fantasy, paranormal. One of the leads is a bisexual aromantic man. M/M/F/NB relationship explored (could be romantic or QPR, not sure. probably sexual in nature.). 0 ratings on Goodreads (link). Currently out of print on Amazon (link).

more recommendations in comments !

taglist : @sorting-algorithm

[vigilantempathy]

Headcanon on Daniel Molloy's Sexual Orientation

TLDR: Bisexual (/pansexual/omnisexual/...) people exist. Spoilers for IWTV Season 2!

HC: Daniel Molloy is a bi guy who was comfortable being openly queer and very active in the queer community in the "Free Love" scene of the 1970s. However, the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the early 1980s led to him effectively re-closeting himself. And his failed marriages and inability to maintain intimate relationships made him choose to be alone, which let him avoid reassessing his sexual orientation/identity.

In the 1970s, Daniel met Louis and Armand for the first time in a gay bar. During the first 1973 scene, in S1E6, the bartender at Polynesian Mary's asks Daniel "Do you have money tonight, Danny?" indicating he's there often enough to have a reputation and be known on a first-name basis, so he's not just there because "it was a good place to score" like he lies to Louis during their present-day interview. (Contrast with the nondescript and anonymous recountings of the blacked-out fragments of memory punctuating the rest of Daniel's drug-fueled escapades.) In S2E5, young!Daniel makes obvious passes at both Louis and Armand, telling Louis "I can cheer you up" and taking his shirt off; offering to Armand, "I could be on my knees in a second".

It's not like Daniel was trying to pass for heterosexual in 1973.

In the ad for Daniel's pay-to-order journalism class at the start of S1E1, the first few news clippings selected to show his journalism cred are about the HIV/AIDS crisis and are oriented towards representing LGBT+ activism in response to it, indicating that this was a focus of Daniel's early journalism. In S2E5, one of 1973!Daniel's interview tapes that Armand grills him on focuses on Kevin, a Vietnam vet and his double-amputee Vietnamese refugee boyfriend who live in the Castro together. (The Castro is the historically gay neighborhood in San Francisco where queer activist Harvey Milk became the first openly gay elected official in California.)

Daniel, even as early as the 1970s and throughout the increased stigmatization of homosexuality in the 1980s, wanted to tell the stories of the queer community.

But telling the stories of the queer community in the 1980s meant telling the stories of lives and loved ones lost to the AIDS crisis, before research had yielded medical management regimens or any understanding about how to prevent the spread of HIV. AIDS was still seen as "the gay plague". AIDS was still a death sentence.

And Daniel likes women, too. And had the readily available excuse of any of his queer relationships/encounters/community in the 1970s being about the drugs, or a result of them. He could claim he was an addict willing to do anything for drugs rather than a queer man who had an easier time acting on his non-heterosexual attractions while high. And he's the reporter who catches the stories that slip through the cracks, he made a name for himself getting the angle none of the mainstream outlets can see, so he could still engage with the queer community as an "interviewer" and "journalist" and straight-passing "ally". He could likely publish more articles and books at that time as an ally journalist telling the queer perspective than he would have as a stigmatized/blacklisted openly queer journalist. Being an "ally" would give him access to platforms and audiences that would never hear a queer perspective otherwise.

Even though Daniel re-closeted himself and "passed" for decades as a straight ally, he never turned his back on the queer community or stopped trying to tell queer stories or represent queer lives.

But that let him continue to justify his re-closeting to himself as "I can do more good for the queer community as an ally." And even as the AIDS crisis shifted into AZT, then single-pill ART, then PrEP, even as HIV became a manageable chronic illness, even as decades passed and times changed and LGBTQ+ representation changed, Daniel stayed closeted.

And in that time he fell genuinely in love with Alice, who initially refused to marry him even though she wanted to because he'd given her no reason to trust him, eventually agreed to marry him, and later divorced him. Decades later, he still gets emotional talking about Alice. And then he got married, again, and divorced, again. He says he "ruined two marriages" and "fucked up two daughters." All that mattered was his work. It was his lifeline. It was his legacy. Interpersonal relationships were not.

He ruined all his romantic relationships. He ruined his families. And it was easier to be alone after that, and it was an easy excuse for why he continued to choose to be alone. But it was also a continuation of the logic behind his initial intentional re-closeting during the AIDS crisis in the 1980s: "I can do more good this way."

1980s Daniel: "I can do more good telling the queer perspective as an ally than as a member of the queer community. If I'm just an ally, people will actually read these stories."

2020s Daniel: "I can do more good alone. If I try dating again, I'll just wind up ruining someone else. And there are still stories that need to be told; work can keep me busy."

He was openly bisexual/queer in the 1970s, then bisexual/queer but intentionally "straight-passing" and in exclusively heterosexual relationships from the 1980s until the show's present-day, and still bisexual/queer throughout his interviews with Louis and Armand.

Bisexual orientation, attraction to multiple genders, and queer identity don't go away when a bisexual person is in heterosexual relationships/homosexual relationships/single. Daniel in a gay bar in the 1970s was bisexual; Daniel in love with Alice in Paris was still bisexual; Daniel married to women and ultimately divorced from them was still bisexual; Daniel in S2E5 being obviously disappointed to learn that he and Louis didn't get it on in the 1970s and making big vulnerable eyes at him in present-day when he jokes, "do you want to [have sex] now?" is still bisexual.

But now it's 2022 and Daniel's ruined two marriages and estranged from his kids and opted to be alone for a long time and may as well have been married to his work, and he's just been diagnosed with Parkinson's and he's anticipating dying alone.

And instead he flies to Dubai, has a bunch of really long therapy sessions with two absurdly gorgeous openly gay vampires (both of whom he has made passes at, back when he was still openly queer), many of which focus on the vampires' respective sexual orientation journeys of self-discovery and coming out, even more of which focus on stupid-hot queer gothic romances between various configurations of stupid-hot gothic romantic queers , and one of which involves him meeting Louis and Armand in a gay bar in the 1970s back when he was still openly queer. Mortal-ass, Parkinson's-impaired, forever-alone, septuagenarian Daniel Molloy brings his factchecking skills and token snark to a duel with an angelically beautiful 500-year-old master gaslighter with superpowers and Daniel fucking WINS, and if that isn't Viagra for the soul, I don't know what is. And instead of dying alone, Daniel Molloy gets to live forever.

Louis comes to see vampirism as a gift because it allows him time to work through his issues and become someone he can learn to live with.

Daniel might come to see vampirism as a gift because it gives him time (and a community, and motivation in the form of an assortment of really hot vampires who are suddenly all single thanks to Daniel's mad homewrecking/therapy skills) to figure out how to live an openly bisexual/queer life.

So it's 2024, Daniel Molloy is newly immortal and invincible and has the virility of a fledgling and wants to explore his queer identity. The rest of the world better hydrate well and buckle the fuck up.

[captaindibbzy]

Anyway, I highly recommend A Taste of Gold And Iron. A Tumblr style advert for you:

Queer slow burn romance, not quite enemies to lovers, but certainly distain to complete devotion.

Slow burn doesn't do it justice. This book is over 18 hours long at 1x speed. Over 500 pages.

More non-binary representation than you can shake a stick at. Not just one non-binary. Every new character has a 1/3 chance of being çe/çey and there's a whole third gender culture.

In that regard homophobia is not a thing, and sexism isn't. The Sultain is a lady. The head of the guards is a lady. No one comments on it.

The prince is gay and that is as normal as being straight. He's just as likely to marry a man, woman, or NB for political reasons, as nobility do, even though he has a let his sister know his preference. She respects this. This is a plot point.

Everyone is POC, I think? Certainly most of them. The culture is Persian/Turkish/middle eastern inspired so they only white people are foreigners, which we do meet a few, but I can't remember what they were described as.

Captain of the guard is black, in her 50's and WILL kick your ass for looking at her babies (Sultain and prince) funny.

All the characters are amazing and I love them.

Such rich world building. Like you would not believe. There's a big wide world out there and you can feel it.

Conspiracy, political uncertainty. The plot is thick, but there's also so much space for it to flow. Nothing is rushed and it works so well for it.

Mental illness. The main character has chronic and deliberating anxiety, and it is written so well.

Gorgeous description of food. Makes me wish I liked coffee. Gonna need 7 kinds of jam and a basket of simit.

Happy ending. :)