per the request of @fey-dancer here are photos of the illumicrate edition of She Who Became the Sun. It is SOOOOO pretty also omg the pics of Ouyang and Zhu are perfect
Zhu-Double Snake, very obviously. She explicitly loves two people other than herself and likes one more, and while Snake primaries can like and love a large amount of people the small amount makes it clear that she is loyal to herself first, then her people, and not a group. And she finds it easy to change into who she needs to be, not viewing it as a change of self.
Ouyang-I thought at first a Double Snake, like Zhu, but I think now he is a Snake Bird. He’s a lot less able to improvise than Zhu. He’s always planning everything to the smallest detail. He also has an Explodedprimary. He, like Zhu, has one desire, but, unlike her, he is willing to hurt the one person he loves for that goal. There is nothing left for him but that, which is a super sad way of living.
Wang Baoxiang-Like Ouyang, he has a Bird secondary. I actually think that this is one of the reasons that Ouyang relates, though he doesn’t realize this reason. Wang’s incessant planning at his desk may be less ‘manly’ than Ouyang’s incessant war planning, but they are similar. His primary was harder for to figure out but I think that he is a Double Bird (Burnt primary).
(spoilers) Ma Xiuying-Was there ever a stronger Badger primary? She helps change who Zhu is through this. At the end, yes, she chooses Zhu above her ideals, but I think it is possible to see that as her dehuminizing everyone except Zhu. As for her secondary, she and Zhu seem to be entirely on the same page through this and it’s why their relationship teasing works. In conclusion: Badger Snake.
Xu Da-Like Zhu, Ouyang and Ma his primary practically screams itself to the world, but his is a Bird primary. He has set ideas about the rules he lives his life by and when he accidentally breaks one of them he feels that he has to change his whole self. As for his secondary, we don’t see his do or decide much so I’m not going to comment on that.
Esen-I was thinking Badger primary for him at first, based on the way that both Ouyang and Wang describe him as friendly and outgoing, but the more I thought about the more I realized that Ouyang and Wang were just extroverts describing an introvert. He feels loyal to his group because that’s the right thing to do, but when push comes to shove he has his people and an order within those people. I think that he is a Snake (Lion model) Lion.
Wondering about this description of an exploded Snake: “He, like Zhu, has one desire, but, unlike her, he is willing to hurt the one person he loves for that goal.” Does that mean that he has one person he loves, but is maybe willing to not consider how that person feels about things, and hurt them ‘for their own good?’ Because that would definitely be an exploded Snake.
Hm, maybe I meant a Burned Snake then. He’s willing to hurt everybody-Ouyang, himself, and any other miscellaneous people-for his goal of revenge for his family. So, yeah, Burned, I guess? Definitely not healthy.
god I just. love ruthlessness as a character trait so much. sexy sexy sexy
this one. absolutely in love with this definition. give me a character who thinks like this and I’ll love them to pieces
[ID: a quote reading “People don’t understand the word ruthless. They think it means ‘mean.’ It’s not about being mean. It’s about seeing the bright, clear line that leads from A to B. The line that goes from motive to means. Beginning to end. It’s about seeing that bright, clear line and not caring about anything but the beautiful fact that you can see the solution. Not caring about anything else but the perfection of it.”
A book that starts with S: She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan
A book with a bird on the cover: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
A book with an insect on the cover: I don’t own a book with an insect on the cover, so here’s a book with rabbits on the cover instead… Everyone in this Room Will Someday be Dead by Emily Austin
A book with flowers on the cover: Instructions for Dancing by Nicola Yoon
A book that takes place during spring: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Tagging anyone else who wants to do this! (If you do, tag me!)
Hi hello good afternoon I am supplying you with wlw book recs because we all deserve them. Please reblog with your own recs because I’ve only been reading sapphic books for a few months so haven’t covered loads of amazing ones, and hopefully this can become a massive rec list of wlw books :)
Also please please please check the TWs for all of these so that you can stay happy, healthy and safe .
Fantasy:
-The Priory of the Orange Tree: [“We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs”] Look I know you’ve all heard of it. Now read it. Swords. Queer women. Queer women with swords. Dragons. Castles. Battles. Many many many pages of beautiful words. There is nothing missing from this book.
-Cinderella is Dead: [“I don’t want to be saved by some knight in shining armour. I’d like to be the one in the armour, and I’d like to be the one doing the saving.”] Fuck the patriarchy. Dystpian. Gay. Fantasy. Cinderella is dead (wow). Badass main character. Fighting for rights and fighting for eachother. ❤️
-Girls of Paper and Fire: [“Instead of disappearing, she makes me feel reappeared. Reimagined. Her touch shapes me, draws out the boldness that had been hiding in my core.”] We said learning to heal! We said finding safety in eachothers arms! We said fighting the oppressive government! We said fuck the patriarchy! We said fantasy women with swords! We said (kinda) enemies to lovers! We said please check the trigger warnings for this book!
- A Dark and Hollow Star: [“The number one law of the universe is choice, after all — bad things happen to the people who take that option away from you.”] Fantasy that actually uses the words bisexual and lesbian and gay and genderfluid!!! Urban fantasy. Four main characters: two mlm, two wlw. Swords and monsters and fae and powers and tension and fate. Read for the pretty cover, stay for the characters.
-Gideon the Ninth: [“I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it”] This book is dark and horror-y and gory and weird as fuck. This book has skeletons and necromancy and a huge weird haunted house and everyone dying under mysterious circumstances. This book has enemies to i-dont-even-know-what. You will not know what is happening in this book but you will love it. Trust me.
Dystopian:
-We Set the Dark on Fire: [“Maybe this was trust … Giving someone the power to ruin you, betting your life on the belief that they wouldn’t.”] once again, repeat after me: fuck the patriarchy. Rebellion. Enemies to lovers. Dystopian world where every man gets two wives. Guess what happens
Contemporary:
-The Henna Wars: [“I’ve never really thought about having a type. I guess my type is….beautiful girl. Which is a lot of them. Most of them? Pretty much all girls”]. Girl dealing with the aftermath of coming out to her parents has a crush on a girl who is competing against her in a school competition. Main character is muslim, bangladeshi and lesbian and love interest is black, brazilian and bisexual. Just read it. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. You deserve to smile.
-Her Royal Highness: [“PERRY I’VE FOUND AN AMERICAN!”] Look this book may be cliche and predictable and a little ridiculous at times but it made me unfathomably happy so I don’t care. Scottish boarding school+royalty+an american. Enemies to lovers but not im-gonna-stab-you enemies to lovers (which ive read my fair share of truet me), more like why-are-you-so-unbearably-irritating enemies to lovers you know?
-Written in the Stars: [“I’ll break into your apartment and move everything three inches to the left and fuck with your flow, okay?”] Good, solid contemporary new adult romance. Enemies to lovers. Grump x sunshine. Actually has a sex scene (this might not be everyones thing i just noticed wlw books often skirt around them so thought id point it out). Ugh its just so cute.
-You Should See Me In a Crown: [“When I open my mouth, everything happens so fast—the way I can feel her everywhere, the way my hands steady instead of shake where they tangle in her hair because I’ve maybe never felt so grounded before, so rooted in a moment”] What happens when a black queer girl tries for prom queen in a weird, cliquey prom-obsessed school? What happens when one of the other competitors is the unabashedly gay cute new girl? This is what happens. Guys. Guys. Guys. Read this one oh my god. I say this about every book but seriously READ THIS ONE. So so so so so good. Everything you could ever want in a queer coming of age book.
-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: [“You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until someone stands behind you and says, “It’s OK, you can fall down now. I’ll catch you.”] I know you’ve all heard this but you’re about to hear it again. Queer women in the 50s? Sign me up! Sign yourself up! Buy this book and then read this book! Freak out about this book! Cry about this book! Tell everyone you’ve ever met to read this book! Cry some more about this book! Make this book your whole personality!
Thriller(?):
-The Girls I’ve Been: [“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There’s just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there’s a normal.”] Thriller. Guns. Menstrual cups. Con artists. That awkward moment when you’re stuck in a bank robbery with two murderous men, a child, your ex boyfriend and your current girlfriend. Not romance but has romantic themes (established relationship). Coming to terms with childhood trauma and abuse. This book is short but deceptively heavy with the themes it deals with so, again, please check the TWs.
Ones on my TBR:
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post
- A Memory Called Empire
- This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn
- This Poison Heart
- One Last Stop
- She Who Became The Sun (omg i want to read this so so so badly)
- The Weight of the Stars
- These Feathered Flames
- Honey Girl
- The Chosen and the Beautiful
- She Drives Me Crazy
Okay I’ve read another one:
-Last Night at the Telegraph Club: [“Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to have nothing keeping you attached to the ground?”] Lesbian club!! Space nerd x aeroplane nerd!! 1950s San Francisco China Town!! Friends to lovers!! Coming to terms with your sexuality!! Drag kings!! Please!! Read!! It!! (Note: this book has some pretty heavy homophobia, especially the parental type and this is never really resolved so please take that into account)
ATTENTION!!! I HAVE MORE!
-Afterlove: [Not everyone knows how to say I love you so learn to hear the different ways they tell you. They say it all the time.] Okay…so I want you to imagine two girls. They’re teenagers. They’re lesbians. They’re in love. They go on dates. They drink too much. They laugh and smile and cry. They get shouted at by their parents. Just normal, teenager things. Now, imagine one of them is dead. And becomes this crazy, badass reaper girl. And is absolutely not prepared to let her girlfriend go (despite, you know, being literally dead). That is this book. And it is GOOD.
-Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake-Dating: [Gathered up in her arms with the beat of Bollywood music all around me, everything feels strangely right. Like none of the bad stuff even matters any more. Because as long as Hani and I are side-by-side, everything will be all right]. Two bengali sapphic grumpy x sunshine girls fake date. That should literally be enough for you to find this book and read it right now. One word to describe it would just be wonderful.Its incredibly joyful, while also discussing things like homophobia, islamaphobia, racism and biphobia. Discusses coming out but isn’t completely focused on it. Also includes at least one set of accepting, loving and supporting parents! Just go to a bookshop or pick up your kindle and READ THIS BOOK. It just made me so…happy.
MORE
-The Midnight Lie: [I love everything more when I leave it. Maybe, then, it’s the most I’ll ever love it.] Magic, magic, magic + lesbians + crime. Honestly, I can’t really remember much about the plot but I do remember that the writing was absolutely GORGEOUS and it was very atmospheric. Basically: good vibes.
Hi hello good afternoon I am supplying you with wlw book recs because we all deserve them. Please reblog with your own recs because I’ve only been reading sapphic books for a few months so haven’t covered loads of amazing ones, and hopefully this can become a massive rec list of wlw books :)
Also please please please check the TWs for all of these so that you can stay happy, healthy and safe .
Fantasy:
-The Priory of the Orange Tree: [“We may be small, and we may be young, but we will shake the world for our beliefs”] Look I know you’ve all heard of it. Now read it. Swords. Queer women. Queer women with swords. Dragons. Castles. Battles. Many many many pages of beautiful words. There is nothing missing from this book.
-Cinderella is Dead: [“I don’t want to be saved by some knight in shining armour. I’d like to be the one in the armour, and I’d like to be the one doing the saving.”] Fuck the patriarchy. Dystpian. Gay. Fantasy. Cinderella is dead (wow). Badass main character. Fighting for rights and fighting for eachother. ❤️
-Girls of Paper and Fire: [“Instead of disappearing, she makes me feel reappeared. Reimagined. Her touch shapes me, draws out the boldness that had been hiding in my core.”] We said learning to heal! We said finding safety in eachothers arms! We said fighting the oppressive government! We said fuck the patriarchy! We said fantasy women with swords! We said (kinda) enemies to lovers! We said please check the trigger warnings for this book!
- A Dark and Hollow Star: [“The number one law of the universe is choice, after all — bad things happen to the people who take that option away from you.”] Fantasy that actually uses the words bisexual and lesbian and gay and genderfluid!!! Urban fantasy. Four main characters: two mlm, two wlw. Swords and monsters and fae and powers and tension and fate. Read for the pretty cover, stay for the characters.
-Gideon the Ninth: [“I cannot conceive of a universe without you in it”] This book is dark and horror-y and gory and weird as fuck. This book has skeletons and necromancy and a huge weird haunted house and everyone dying under mysterious circumstances. This book has enemies to i-dont-even-know-what. You will not know what is happening in this book but you will love it. Trust me.
Dystopian:
-We Set the Dark on Fire: [“Maybe this was trust … Giving someone the power to ruin you, betting your life on the belief that they wouldn’t.”] once again, repeat after me: fuck the patriarchy. Rebellion. Enemies to lovers. Dystopian world where every man gets two wives. Guess what happens
Contemporary:
-The Henna Wars: [“I’ve never really thought about having a type. I guess my type is….beautiful girl. Which is a lot of them. Most of them? Pretty much all girls”]. Girl dealing with the aftermath of coming out to her parents has a crush on a girl who is competing against her in a school competition. Main character is muslim, bangladeshi and lesbian and love interest is black, brazilian and bisexual. Just read it. Don’t do it for me. Do it for yourself. You deserve to smile.
-Her Royal Highness: [“PERRY I’VE FOUND AN AMERICAN!”] Look this book may be cliche and predictable and a little ridiculous at times but it made me unfathomably happy so I don’t care. Scottish boarding school+royalty+an american. Enemies to lovers but not im-gonna-stab-you enemies to lovers (which ive read my fair share of truet me), more like why-are-you-so-unbearably-irritating enemies to lovers you know?
-Written in the Stars: [“I’ll break into your apartment and move everything three inches to the left and fuck with your flow, okay?”] Good, solid contemporary new adult romance. Enemies to lovers. Grump x sunshine. Actually has a sex scene (this might not be everyones thing i just noticed wlw books often skirt around them so thought id point it out). Ugh its just so cute.
-You Should See Me In a Crown: [“When I open my mouth, everything happens so fast—the way I can feel her everywhere, the way my hands steady instead of shake where they tangle in her hair because I’ve maybe never felt so grounded before, so rooted in a moment”] What happens when a black queer girl tries for prom queen in a weird, cliquey prom-obsessed school? What happens when one of the other competitors is the unabashedly gay cute new girl? This is what happens. Guys. Guys. Guys. Read this one oh my god. I say this about every book but seriously READ THIS ONE. So so so so so good. Everything you could ever want in a queer coming of age book.
-The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo: [“You do not know how fast you have been running, how hard you have been working, how truly exhausted you are, until someone stands behind you and says, “It’s OK, you can fall down now. I’ll catch you.”] I know you’ve all heard this but you’re about to hear it again. Queer women in the 50s? Sign me up! Sign yourself up! Buy this book and then read this book! Freak out about this book! Cry about this book! Tell everyone you’ve ever met to read this book! Cry some more about this book! Make this book your whole personality!
Thriller(?):
-The Girls I’ve Been: [“There is no normal. There is just a bunch of people pretending there is. There’s just different levels of pain. Different stages of safe. The biggest con of all is that there’s a normal.”] Thriller. Guns. Menstrual cups. Con artists. That awkward moment when you’re stuck in a bank robbery with two murderous men, a child, your ex boyfriend and your current girlfriend. Not romance but has romantic themes (established relationship). Coming to terms with childhood trauma and abuse. This book is short but deceptively heavy with the themes it deals with so, again, please check the TWs.
Ones on my TBR:
- Last Night at the Telegraph Club
- The Miseducation of Cameron Post
- A Memory Called Empire
- This Is How You Lose the Time War
- Girl, Serpent, Thorn
- This Poison Heart
- One Last Stop
- She Who Became The Sun (omg i want to read this so so so badly)
- The Weight of the Stars
- These Feathered Flames
- Honey Girl
- The Chosen and the Beautiful
- She Drives Me Crazy
Okay I’ve read another one:
-Last Night at the Telegraph Club: [“Haven’t you ever wondered what it would be like to have nothing keeping you attached to the ground?”] Lesbian club!! Space nerd x aeroplane nerd!! 1950s San Francisco China Town!! Friends to lovers!! Coming to terms with your sexuality!! Drag kings!! Please!! Read!! It!! (Note: this book has some pretty heavy homophobia, especially the parental type and this is never really resolved so please take that into account)
ATTENTION!!! I HAVE MORE!
-Afterlove: [Not everyone knows how to say I love you so learn to hear the different ways they tell you. They say it all the time.] Okay…so I want you to imagine two girls. They’re teenagers. They’re lesbians. They’re in love. They go on dates. They drink too much. They laugh and smile and cry. They get shouted at by their parents. Just normal, teenager things. Now, imagine one of them is dead. And becomes this crazy, badass reaper girl. And is absolutely not prepared to let her girlfriend go (despite, you know, being literally dead). That is this book. And it is GOOD.
-Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake-Dating: [Gathered up in her arms with the beat of Bollywood music all around me, everything feels strangely right. Like none of the bad stuff even matters any more. Because as long as Hani and I are side-by-side, everything will be all right]. Two bengali sapphic grumpy x sunshine girls fake date. That should literally be enough for you to find this book and read it right now. One word to describe it would just be wonderful.Its incredibly joyful, while also discussing things like homophobia, islamaphobia, racism and biphobia. Discusses coming out but isn’t completely focused on it. Also includes at least one set of accepting, loving and supporting parents! Just go to a bookshop or pick up your kindle and READ THIS BOOK. It just made me so…happy.
