Perhaps I’m a bit cynical, but I feel like so much queer literature is either wish-fulfillment, porn, plain (and just exists to represent queerness), or the romance seems tacked on (a la the movie All of Us Strangers – moving movie but felt like a childhood trauma movie with romance forced into it).
I’d like to find something that has something to say about queerness and life and love. I know that’s general, but I want every part of the story to belong and have a reason and the story should exist for a reason other than to be a fantasy about love. Something poetic and moving – not pulpy, sentimental, focused on making you horny, or trauma porn that’s desperate to make you cry. A great romance with characters that have existed outside of their romance. Idk if any of this makes sense?
by buzzingreenpoint123
8 Comments
YMMV but I really enjoyed both Song of Achilles and The Spear that Cuts Through Water.
The former is a retelling of The Iliad. So… Yeah expect tragedy. But I wouldn’t personally call it “trauma porn.” Again, YMMV.
The Spear That Cuts Through Water is a fantasy novel that’s incredibly well-written. The romance didn’t come off trite or tacked on or just there to make you cry. It was more just a reflection of, I imagine, the experiences of the author who is queer. It felt whole and authentic.
Brandon Taylor’s work might hit right for you
I think because there’s so much less queer romance than straight romance, bad queer romance can feel more galling/offensive/unavoidable. Here’s some books with queer romance that I’ve loved:
Maurice by EM Forster is a really moving book of what internalized homophobia does and different ways of finding yourself and others within that
Less and Less is Lost are sillier, but Less especially has a really wonderful set of characters that feel so real and vivid and funny and kind and present
How to be both by Ali Smith was one of the best books I read last year. There’s so many different kinds of queerness and so much else going on as well. The romance isn’t an epic love but I found it lovely for what it was.
Two or three things I know for sure by Dorothy Allison is a lot about trauma, childhood and societal, but the romance in it is deeply moving and healing
The price of salt by Patricia Highsmith is to me a striking portrait of what it feels like to be understood by one person in a world that doesn’t understand you.
It’s not a book but the movie Portrait of a Lady on Fire is probably the best queer romance I’ve ever seen. Obviously Moonlight as well.
I’m nearly through book 3 of the trilogy so my apologies if it absolutely fails at the end…but I love the series by Freya Marske that starts with A Marvellous Light. They’re a fun and nuanced look at a Victorian-type world with a creative magic system, and each book focuses on two same sex characters who have to untangle a mystery related to the overarching evil magicians trying to seize power. First and third books are m/m, second is f/f. I’ve been impressed by the writing of some complex and thorny people and some beautiful love stories that occasionally veer into spicy while also showing the true connections between characters.
Also check out This is How You Lose the Time War for a beautiful and absolutely bizarre queer romance that literally spans all of time.
Everyone should be reading the Locked Tomb series. A story about great and terrible love, and life and death and meaning and futility.
They both die at the end!
go read Mary Renault babe
Tipping the velvet by Sarah Waters should fit the bill! I found it a great portrayal of a character on their journey to understand what love is and shouldn’t be and the story is amazing and the prose beautiful and it’s just impossible to put down. It’s a bit gruesome at times like all Sarah Waters’s books but a really great book. I liked the love story in the paying guest as well and the ones in the nightwatch also are good!