Currently Reading: Red, White, and Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston

One day, I had a little spare time and was feeling restless, so I asked a friend of mine who I knew was a bit of a bookworm if she wanted to me to do some reading recommendations for her. As luck would have it, her taste as a big fan of urban fantasy was way outside of my wheelhouse. Some day, I’m going to do a Read Harder challenge, or at least make a reading goal to do a cursory read of some genre fic… in the meantime, I learned a lot giving these recommendations, and as a result, I’ve spent some time reading some urban fantasy on my own. In this post, I review an upcoming YA urban fantasy novel that drops in May – Carmilla, by Kim Turrisi – and I’ll offer up my recs. Special thanks to @genderqueerwolf and the SFF channel over at the Rogue Book Coven for being my go-to experts and helping me figure this one out! 

Carmilla

Netflix and chill is overrated when you could have spooky @lushcosmetics bath bombs and trashy queer vamp novels by @KimmyT22. pic.twitter.com/cwrQkj7N9O

— emmy, purveyor of spines // updates only (@emmy_of_spines) February 28, 2019

I received an ARC of Carmilla by Kim Turrisi from Edelweiss+. I saw it on a list of queer books coming out this year, and when I saw that this was about lesbian vampires and was based on a web series, I was like… yes. Obviously. And simply put, the book completely delivers. It’s tropey, it’s charming, and it’s clearly written for fans of Buffy or who have Twilight among their problematic faves. I loved it.

I don’t have a whole lot else to say about this book except that it made me laugh in a way that a lot of books don’t, and I was truly surprised that in a pretty light read, it had fantastic, accessible genderqueer representation that made this enby’s heart swell. Carmilla came out on May 7th, so order it, and treat yourself. Get a spooky bath bomb, too. (Unfortunately, the one in the photo is out of production, but my forever fave is Secret Arts.) You won’t regret it.

Recommendations

Here’s what I knew:

1. Reads mostly urban fantasy
2. Favourites are Anne Bishop’s Others series, and all of Holly Black’s novels 
3. Most recently read books include Karen Marie Moning’s Fever books.

My Picks

I’m going to start out with two recommendations that aren’t strictly urban fantasy, but will still appeal to fans of the genre. Both are superhero books in contemporary settings. The Heroine Complex books, by Sarah Kuhn, are an award-winning series that features Asian-American superheroines, and was pitched as “The Devil Wears Prada with superheroes”. This is a compelling comp for me, because The Devil Wears Prada has long been one of my comfort-watch movie go-tos. There are three books available in this series right now.

The Santa Olivia series by Jacqueline Carey is also a superhero series, but unlike Kuhn’s books, they also integrate fantasy creatures: comic book superheroes, meet werewolves. Carey is probably best known for her Phèdre Trilogy, the epic fantasy series which begins with the award-winning Kushiel’s Dart. In Santa Olivia, Carey brings the fantastic to a more urban, near-future setting, in a disenfranchised town between Texas and Mexico. My only caution with this series is that I couldn’t find any claim to Mexican heritage in my research that I did on Carey, and because of the setting of this book and use of “Santa Olivia” – a seemingly fabricated town and patron saint – I can’t be sure whether or not readers will encounter culturally appropriative elements in this series.

The Root is the first novel in the Wrath and Athanaeum series, by Black, queer author, named Na’amen Gobert Tilahun. This is a gritty series set in San Francisco, and featuring gods, secret government agencies, and hidden magic. It has a super diverse cast, including trans representation, and monster butt-kicking. The Root is Tilahun’s debut novel, and the third in the series is forthcoming.

Next up, I propose Mishell Baker’s Borderline. This is the first book in the Arcadia Project series, a three-book series. This book was a Nebula and World Fantasy Award nominee, and has characters that are queer, disabled, and neurodiverse… and fantasy creatures, of course.

Indigenous literature seems to be taking the world by storm these days, and this isn’t the first time I’ve recommended Trail of Lightning, by Rebecca Roanhorse. It isn’t without a caveat, since this book has been criticized by some Indigenous community members as containing some culturally appropriative material. That said, this powerhouse #OwnVoices novel is still on my own TBR, and has been nominated for several awards – just know when you read it that no book exists in a political vacuum, especially if you’re picking this one up as a settler reader.

Since the release of Trail of Lightning, Roanhorse has also finished a young adult novel called Race to the Sun, to be released in January of 2020, and has released the second book in the Sixth World series: Storm of Locusts, which continues the story of Diné monster hunter, Maggie Hoskie.

Okay, yall. Let’s talk Hillary Monahan for a second. Earlier this year, I picked up The Hollow Girl while on a plane ride between Toronto and Denver. This is a gruesome book, about the revenge of a Welsh Romani girl who is sexually assaulted and tortured by the son of her chieftan. I will write a full review of this book another day, but I could not put it down. It was an incredible book.

So when I was looking for diverse urban fantasy, I was scanning LGBTQ Reads, and came across a book called Snake Eyes, by Monahan. It is the third in the Gods and Monsters series. The first two are written by different authors, so I can’t vouch for them, but they appear to stand alone either way. If Snake Eyes is anywhere near the quality of the Hollow Girl, it is well worth giving this book a try – but if I know Monahan, this book may not be for the faint of heart.

Finally, I thought that Malinda Lo’s fast-paced, character-driven style might appeal to a fan of urban fantasy, even if I’m not sure that’s how her work is typically characterized. Her novel Huntress features the strong female protagonists that are typical of urban fantasy, in an adventure prequel to Lo’s most well-known work, Ash, an #OwnVoices title featuring Chinese cultural influences.

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