Title: The Goblin Emperor

Author: Katherine Addison

Rating: 5/5

(CW // Suicide — note: “The Goblin Emperor” does not contain references to suicide, but my notes in the review after the jump does)

Are there LGBT characters? Sure, there’s a gay character but he has almost no bearing on the plot. That’s not to say he isn’t an important, or in some ways critical, character, but his role is still relatively minor and besides, I would go so far as to say that rather than focusing on whether this character or that is gay, I am going to say that the spirit of the book is undeniably queer.

Brief summary / book review: CD Covington described Maia, our main character and Goblin Emperor, as a “pure cinnamon roll.” And you know what? She’s absolutely right. Because amid all the court politics and all the conniving and backstabbing that typically happens in stories like these, Maia isn’t a willing participant in the darker aspects of ruling. He doesn’t want to eliminate enemies (well, save one). He doesn’t want to hurt people. He doesn’t want punishment, or retribution, or anything like that.

No. His main goal? He just wants to make friends.

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Title: The House in the Cerulean Sea

Author: T.J. Klune

Rating: 4/5

Are there LGBT characters? It’d be a lot shorter to talk about what isn’t gay in this book. I mean, just look at the cover.

Brief summary / book review: Linus Baker is a middle-aged, overweight case worker who inspects orphanages filled with magical children, for the Department in Charge of Magical Youth (known as DICOMY). He gets a special assignment from the hilariously named Extremely Upper Management to go visit a strange orphanage far from home. It’s a secluded place, filled with very dangerous magical children, including the son of Satan.

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Title: Jade City

Author: Fonda Lee

Rating: 5/5

Are there LGBT characters? Yes, a principal point of view character

Brief summary / book review: Picture a noir gang story set in the 1940’s, in a city that’s Hong Kong-ish, and you get the general atmosphere of the book (note: I am way underselling it, but this is just meant to give you the gist). On Janloon, the Jade City in question, jade isn’t just a piece of jewelry, but a source of magic — magic that comes, of course, at a price. That price isn’t just the cost of doing business and running jade and doing what it takes to consolidate power in the city; it also exacts a price if you use it wrongly.

Even for those who are used to it, when they take off their jade, and put it back on later, they’ll have a brief moment of nausea, where it takes them a few minutes to get their bearings.

Reading this book was a bit like that. When I first started reading it, I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. It took me a little while (about 50 pages or so) to land on the author’s wavelength, but once I did? Wow. Yeah, I loved it.

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