#representation ya

[prokopetz]

It's actually vital for there to be ostensibly queer-friendly YA media where the leads are all some flavour of gay but go out of their way to prove how Normal they are about it while the villain is queer-coded like something out of The Rocky Horror Picture Show because everyone should have the chance to be represented in media that sucks ass.

[likesdoodling]

Been the victim of morbid inspiration yet again ~ this is a representation of Annatar's mental state/his ties to all the past preconceptions that are... Very messed up. from The Harrowing by Chthonion :D

(I was originally gonna do this with a vague image of Melkor in the background and have it be pre-redemption Sauron, but then decided I didn't want to go quite that dark- so this is the toned down version :D)

@chthonion

>:)

[rocksanddeadflowers]

character: *shows the slightest disgust/disinterest in romantic or sexual anything*

me, grabbing them and shaking them violently around, chanting: ASPEC ASPEC ASPEC!!!!!!!!

[demonfangart]

Don't let the forest in :)

Started this book yesterday and I'm in love already (170ish pages in)

[artemisapollo97]

I don't really post on here, so hi?? What's up? Greetings and salutations! Behold! Etc.

I'm an indie author headbutting a brick wall against ✨algorithms✨ so here I am to pester you lot!

Eyes of Violet will be a seven-part series by the end of 2026. The first three volumes are out now, available on Amazon and Waterstones 🎉 I've added the blurb to the first one in the images with ALT text.

I've gone the traditional way with the covers, hand-drawn and painted with watercolours. I am no van Gogh but I am mighty proud of them! 😁

Magic and mystery, 12 years+/YA typically, although my 82-year-old nan has read and enjoyed them 😂

In order:

Eyes of Violet (purple!)

Eyes of Violet: Damian (blue!)

Eyes of Violet: Finn (green!)

Book 4 will be out in May, so watch this space 😉

Happy reading!

[bigheartedbibliophile]

I've been feeling extremely anxious about the US elections, so I went to my comfort place: the bookstore.

I saw this and it looked amazing, so I bought it lol. I can't wait to read it!

🍂asexual rep

🍂mental health rep

🍂YA dark academia

🍂Forest horror

[sircarolyn]

can i be a hater for a second. rogue the episode rly sucked didn't it

[hrizantemy]

Why did I just see a post making fun of Chaol’s disability?? Like… be so serious for a second. I don’t care if you love him, hate him, or feel neutral—mocking a character for becoming disabled is just nasty.

I don’t have strong feelings on Chaol either way. I think he’s human, he made mistakes, and he had flaws, but he’s not some irredeemable villain the fandom makes him out to be. He did what a lot of characters did—he messed up, he learned, he grew. And the fact that he went through a brutal, life-altering injury, struggled with his identity because of it, and had to redefine his own worth was actually one of the most raw, real, and well-written parts of his arc.

Like, if you want to drag him for his actual character flaws, fine. But making fun of the fact that he became disabled?? That’s not fandom discourse, that’s just gross.

[amkalus]

Looking for Potential Audience

Heya, I'm new to Writeblr world and willing to give it a try. Would anyone be interested in reading an adventure fantasy YA novel set mostly at sea? After being rejected 50+ times, I am considering potentially self-publishing it (and wondering if it'd be worth the trouble).

I have longed to have a heroine who represents this technically incurable health issue, given it affects one in every ten women. And I've longed for a story that encapsulates what it feels like to be hopelessly in love with the sea... so I wrote one.

The Sea Whisperer features:

FMC dealing with symptoms of PCOS [severe acne, suicidal depression, infertility etc.]

Enchanted lighthouse with a mysterious lighthouse keeper [there is sea magic involved]

Thousand-year-old prophecy and sea monsters

Old maps, leather-bound journals, and a pet sea hawk

Tall ships! lots of sails and ropes action

Friendships between women

Extremely subtle F/M romance

Sea Shanties

Island kingdoms and castles with opulent ballrooms [Anti-Colonialism Theme]

Here is the premise: The fishing village of Galacair has been the only home Earwyn’s ever known. Between the mysterious illness that plagues her and the villagers who consider her cursed, surviving gets harder with each dreary day. But there are whispers coming from the sea which ceaselessly beckon her, and an ominous vision of a calamity that haunts her dreams. Earwyn fears they could be a part of her illness too, and that madness has befallen her. The only one who seems to know something about it is Galacair’s lighthouse keeper, whose tower is as strange and remote as he is.

While I mainly wrote this story in dedication to all the PCOS women out there like me who are struggling to live with this and often failing, I also wanted it to be a personal tribute of mine to a lifetime spent by the sea, and to a family history filled with the adventurous spirit of mariners.

[valewritessss]

I hate it when people want the actual books to have some non-middle grade appropriate things in them.

Like, yes, I get wanting some dark Percy or whatever but realistically, Rick would never make Percy do some vile shit because it’s a middle grade book. And I’m talking about the really vile things people have written in fanfics that would make the book 10x darker.

I understand that most of us are past middle-grade ages but that age category is still the main target.

“Rick’s a coward for not doing this” or maybe he’s writing age appropriate stuff for the age range he specializes in. Don’t get me wrong some things would actually be cool if they happened but others, are actually too much.

This especially goes to people who want Rick to actually write ~things~ happening with percabeth and other popular ships. THEY ARE MINORS. RICK IS AN ADULT. THE BOOKS ARE FOR MIDDLE-GRADE.

Rick didn’t write “they had sex to have babies” when he was writing a book about how Greek gods came to be, what makes you think he would write something even more descriptive for his usual stories.

Yes, there are some mature topics in different stories, but they are topics that are addressed in a way that doesn’t surpass the middle-grade line.

Write fanfics about it all you want but complaining because Percy murdering his whole family in a fit of rage(I’ve seen this before okay) is not actually canon is crazy.

[ireadyabooks]

Fallen Angels: Read an Excerpt

An exciting, eye-catching repackage of acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers' bestselling novel with an Introduction by National Ambassador of Young People's Literature Jason Reynolds and bonus material by Coretta Scott King Award winner Christopher Myers.

A coming-of-age tale for young adults set in the trenches of the Vietnam War in the late 1960s, this is the story of Perry, a Harlem teenager who volunteers for the service when his dream of attending college falls through. Sent to the front lines, Perry and his platoon come face-to-face with the Vietcong and the real horror of warfare. But violence and death aren't the only hardships. As Perry struggles to find virtue in himself and his comrades, he questions why Black troops are given the most dangerous assignments, and why the US is even there at all.

READ AN EXCERPT

Fallen Angels Excerpt by I Read YA on Scribd

GET YOUR COPY

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Bookshop.org

Apple Books

Google Play

[writerbeemedina]

I’M NOT DEAD!!! And I have a book now???

• • •

Synopsis: Nonverbal autistic girl Cassandra Ventura finders the world to be a lot sometimes — especially people. They’re confusing and hard to understand, and they don’t always get her either. Then she meets Juno.

After a bizarre first encounter, Cass and Juno connect pretty much instantly. They come to understand each other more than anyone else. Soon, Cass’ best friend becomes a romantic interest.

With prom just around the corner, Cass finds herself wanting to step out of her comfort zone with a big question. But it doesn’t quite go as planned . . .

• • •

This book was made with a lot of love and I’m so excited (and nervous!) to finally be able to share it with the world. I hope it makes the autistic and queer community feel seen with this short but sweet story.

Also huge thank you to @atrous_yolks on IG for the GORGEOUS cover art!! 💕💕💕

P.S. I know I haven’t been consistent with my content . . . But it’s only going to get better from here! I promise this is book is a gem in the midst of this mediocrity. 🥴

Thank y’all for your time and your support would mean the world to me.

[jetwhenitsmidnight]

This Fatal Kiss by Alicia Jasinska

Release date: 24 September 2024

Genre: young adult romance fantasy

If you like:

Cozy/whimsical fantasy, Ghibli vibes

Slavik folklore

Disaster bisexuals

Poly romance

Enemies to lovers

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Synopsis

Cursed to haunt the river running through the magical spa town where she drowned, Gisela is a water nymph who dreams of returning to the living world and the family she left behind. All it takes to regain her humanity is a kiss from a mortal...but everyone sees her as a monster.

And then there’s Kazik, the brooding, interfering, spirit-hunting grandson of a local witch. He's determined to rid the world of unholy creatures like Gisela. After Kazik botches Gisela’s exorcism, she strikes up a deal. She won’t tell the other spirits that he’s losing his magic, if he agrees to play matchmaker and helps her get a kiss. But Gisela’s plan goes awry when Kazik also falls for the devilishly handsome young man that she sets her heart on—someone who could be linked to Gisela’s troubled past.

Content warnings

Death, violence, injury, a little blood

Mentions of past murder, suicide, rape (not explicit)

Biphobia, implied homophobia

Parental abandonment

Parentification

Suicidal thoughts

Religious bigotry

Review

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I LOVE THIS BOOK!!!💖💖💖

This book is so swoon-y and romantic and whimsical and fun, like I can't remember the last time I had so much fun while reading. My very serious stoic reputation is in tatters from grinning at my phone like a goof.

(In public what's more! The embarrassment!)

The setting is straight up so wondrous and whimsical, it reminds me a lot of Ghibli movies. Not just because it's a spa town like Spirited Away, but because of the way the spirits and magical creatures are secretly living amongst the humans + the connection to nature.

The main focus is on the relationship between Gisela and Kazik. I loved how the dynamic between them grew over the course of the book, like, their enemies era is so fun to read, but the way they gradually grew closer to each other is so 🤌. The banter between them was so much fun to read, like this book could just be Gisela and Kazik talking and I would eat it up.

Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't talk about their relationship with Aleksey. I feel like Aleksey actually had more chemistry with Kazik than with Gisela, mainly because of, uh, major spoiler reasons, but also they just happened to spend more one-on-one time together. When all three of them are together though, their chemistry is pure FIRE 🔥🔥🔥.

Outside of the romance, each of the MCs have their own motivations and character arcs going on, all of which I found very compelling. I will not elaborate for spoiler reasons, but Gisela's is my favourite.

There is quite a lot going on in this book though. I found myself wondering how on earth the author was going to wrap everything up satisfactorily, because there was no way everything was getting resolved perfectly. Turns out I was right, because THIS IS THE FIRST BOOK OF A SERIES.

I am more than fine with getting more of this world and its characters, but I wish I had known that this was the start of a series so that I could have adjusted my expectations accordingly, because I went into this book fully believing it was a standalone.

Anyway, I adore this book so much, and I am very much looking forward to the sequel <3

[alexyquest]

i tried that ya book trend, how’d i do?

[artemisapollo97]

From today until Friday 14th February, Book 1 of the Eyes of Violet series is free on Kindle!

That is FREE ✨

So have some of my favourite stupid bits from the book

Who doesn't love a freebie? 😉

https://amzn.eu/d/7Mcxce9

[fire-in-my-woods]

"CaitVi is toxic" and "I'm happy to see blatant representation" are two opinions that coexist within me