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phaedraismyusername · 7 months

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Happy International Lesbian Day! Here's some super brief book recs to celebrate

Books dealing with love, loss, longing and abandonment

This is How You Lose The Time War is a short but beautifully written epistolary novel between two agents on opposite sides of a time war as they slowly fall in love.

Our Wives Under the Sea is one of the most beautifully written debuts I've ever read about a woman whose wife comes home wrong after they thought she'd died at sea and how it feels to grieve the loss of someone who's still in your home.

Lucky Red is a western novel about a young girl working in a brothel who meets her first female gunslinger and falls head over heels for her, and the consequences that come with loving dangerous people.

Body horror galore

Camp Damascus is about a young woman living in a super conservative christian town built around the worlds most successful conversion camp and the horrors that are uncovered there when praying the gay away fails.

To Be Devoured is about a woman whose fascination with the local vultures turns into obsession and the urge to know what carrion tastes like overtakes her life and leads her down stranger and stranger paths.

Chlorine is about a girl whose entire life revolves around being a competitive swimmer, and how abuse, neglect, and obsession with being the best takes its toll on the young women caught up in these destructive cycles.

Flawed character studies

Big Swiss is about a woman who has a kitchen floor reset in her 40s, moves away and starts a new life as a transcriber for a sex therapist and becomes obsessed with one of his clients before inserting herself into this poor woman's life.

The Seep is a speculative sci-fi set in a future where there's been a quiet alien invasion that has given people the ability to make almost any changes to their own bodies and what that world feels like to someone who doesn't want to partake.

Milk Fed is about a woman in therapy who feels cut off from almost everything until she meets another woman who triggers in her a melding of sex, hunger, and religion and where that takes her. Huge trigger warnings for ED content. It gets tough, y'all.

Fantastical wlw books

Bitterthorn is an amalgamation of fairytales retold as a slow burn sapphic love story between a sad young girl from a cursed land and the evil witch who takes her as a companion in the latest of the generational sacrifices made to appease her.

All the Bad Apples may be set in contemporary Ireland but it is a fairytale following a young girl as she travels across the country looking for a sister she refuses to believe is dead and the people she meets along the way.

Gideon the Ninth needs no introduction on this site but for the sake of formatting - lesbian necromancers in space who find themselves in an isolated murder mystery plot. It's not a romance but it is a love story and this series will change your life if you let it.

Translated novels

Boulder is a short character study following a free spirited woman when she accidentally settles down with the woman she loves and how love and resentment can take up the same space in your chest when life doesn't turn out the way you hoped it would.

Notes of a Crocodile is a cult classic coming of age story about queer teens in Taipei in the 1980s. It was written in the 90s so please keep that in mind if you choose to read it.

Paradise Rot is about an international student studying in Australia and her growing obsession with her housemate as they share a space that allows no privacy. I've never read anything that feels stickier.

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sendme-2hell · 1 year

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The Lost Girls of Camp Forevermore - Kim Fu

Summary: A group of young girls at sleepaway camp get stranded in the woods by themselves in Canada (sound familiar?). The narrative alternates between what happened in the woods, and a vignette from each girl in their adult life.

Yellowjackets connection: This book is so spiritually similar to Yellowjackets it’s wild. The way that we see what happened in the woods and flash forward to the adults and how it affected them. The way that it's partially about the viciousness that comes out when girls are left alone. The way that hierarchies break down in the woods. I find myself thinking about this book while watching Yellowjackets.

Is it queer?: only a very little with one character in her adult life

My Brilliant Friend - Elena Ferrante

Summary: Elena and Lila are two intelligent girls growing up in poverty in 1950’s Naples. They have an obsessive and competitive relationship. Elena is able to get an education when Lila is not, and their paths diverge here. The entire four-part book series follows their relationship and distinct lives into late adulthood.

Yellowjackets Connection: My Brilliant Friend is about a lot more than just female friendship, class differences foremost. But obsessive homoerotic female friendships and their complications are front and center. The Neapolitan series follows Elena and Lila as they grow into adults and have their own children, so it shows young women and the adults they grow into. Also has themes of trauma, unreliable narrators, patriarchy, jealousy, ambitious women.

If you follow my tumblr you know I will connect anything to MBF but Yellowjackets writers did it for me in the show. They literally said Shauna/Jackie = Elena/Lila. If you don’t remember, this is when adult Shauna has dinner with Jackie’s mom who says she’s reading MBF and that the girls in the book remind her so much of Shauna and Jackie. She meant it as an insult to Shauna but it really is a great comparison. Especially since Lila and Elena def had something vaguely fruity going on (but also for other, spoilery reasons). Elena Ferrante is pretty much the go-to when it comes to writing about complicated female friendships so it is not a surprise that they reference it in the show. If you are obsessed with the Shauna/Jackie “friendship” this book series is for you!

Is it queer? if you consider Jackie and Shauna’s relationship to be queer then yes. There is a lot of subtext and in the later books a little more than subtext.

Cat’s Eye - Margaret Atwood

Summary: A painter returns to where she grew up and memories that she blocked out of a traumatic childhood friendship resurface.

Yellowjackets connection: Women thinking about their traumatic friendships! And how these affected them going forward in life. The girls in this are a little younger than Yellowjackets girls but I think it is still a foundational text about traumatic female friendships and unreliable narrators. I am absolutely a Margaret Atwood apologist so don’t come for me (or do. I love messages in my inbox)

Is it queer?: no ):

Big Swiss - Jen Beagin

Summary: Greta is a transcriber for a sex therapist where she learns all sorts of intimate details of his clients. She becomes obsessed with a client and even starts a sexual relationship with her! She does not disclose her prior knowledge of this woman so things get messy.

Fun fact for Killing Eve fans: It is going to be made into a series starring Jodie Comer!

Yellowjackets connection: This is the only book on this list that doesn’t really flash between old and young versions of a character (a bit at the end). Yet I think it deserves to be on this list because messy queer women and obsession and mental illness. Also now that I am thinking about it actually the main character does think about her childhood in the woods a bit...

Is it queer?: The main relationship is between two women and they have a lot of sex. So, yes!

Trust Exercise - Susan Choi

Summary: Don’t want to spoil any of the big reveals but it’s vaguely about highschool theatre kids and their unhealthy dynamic with their abusive theatre teacher. Trigger warnings for statutory rape and general predatory behavior.

Yellowjackets connection: The reason I put this on my list is because it is about women in high school going through trauma and their adult selves dealing with it. It is about the stories they tell themselves to cope. It is about unreliable narrators. It is about narrative and truth and figuring out what actually happened. The book will not tell you directly, you have to discover it yourself (or read a review that explains it).

Is it queer? no ):

#yellowjackets #book reccomendatons #book recs #queer books #queer book recs #my lists #listen you know i love a good book rec list and this has just been sitting in my HEAD #close followers of my blog are SHOCKED I brought up elena ferrante.SHOCKED #I do truly believe all yellowjackets fans who like to read should read the lost girls of camp forevermore since it is SO similar #the lost girls of camp forevermore #my brilliant friend #cat's eye #trust exercise #big swiss

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villaneve-apologist · 6 months

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I miss killing eve, I miss having Jodie Comer on my tv every sunday.. when are we getting big swiss?

#killing eve #jodie comer #big swiss

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j-ayne · 3 months

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3rd read of the year

#2024 tbr #currently reading #big swiss #booklr #bookblr

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hungryfictions · 10 months

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Jen Beagin, Big Swiss

#quotes #big swiss #jen beagin #my quotes

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justatiredlesbian · 2 years

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I'm so tired of this mentality of "fanfic will fix it". Yes, fanfics are great and the writers are literally doing god's work but is it too much to ask not to have a wlw movie end in tragedy? The cute funny wlw series not to get cancelled? Can we fucking have a canon happy ending for once and not just some bullshit open ending?

#killing eve #villaneve #first kill #calliette #rumors about:#big swiss #maybe (I hope fucking not):#a league of their own #gretson #and all of the movies like ammonite and poalof #I feel like straight people have fanfic that add to the story #while wlw have fanfics to fix it cause it never ends well

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sapphicvampyy · 5 months

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Hey lesbians , sapphic and queers looking to make new friends or just chat with some fellow lesbigays about your fave tv shows and movies come join my server!! We host movie nights, play games and also will be doing a sapphic only speed dating event in the future so come join meet some cool new peeps we also just added a new channel for all the law & order svu fans aka Olivia benson enjoyers we also have a bunch of other channels killing eve , Buffy the vampire slayer , Yellowjackets, stranger things , l word , euphoria, arcane , xena , big Swiss , channels for gayming, music , fashion , writing , cooking p much channels for alot of cool stuff!! Come join!! https://discord.gg/hSxm8uKM 18 +++++

#queer server #queer discord #sapphic event #law & order svu #olivia benson #killing eve #yellowjackets #the l word #arcane #xena warrior princess #big Swiss #queers who game #queers who cook #queers who make music #queers who do art

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belle-keys · 1 year

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so, i saw this post on instagram and my response is just the hardest disagree ever... you want characters who are morally black, or unhinged, or problematic, but you don’t want them to do, say, or think truly problematic, prejudiced things? listen, you cannot call for unlikeable characters in media who only do tasteful evils like murder but not uncomfortable evils like racism or hate speech. you cannot call for novels with characters who are acknowledged to be problematic and at the same time demand only a socially acceptable and clean form of problematic behavior. the reality of messy, problematic characters isn’t to have the reader root for or against these characters or even internalize their ideas. the point of these problematic characters is to reveal the harshness and complexity of the world, not to reinforce moral or political ideals. you cannot explore the truth of society and people in books if you will only accept characters who are sanitized of reality.

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literatureaesthetic · 9 months

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mini reviews / 2023 sapphic contemporary releases

— the adult by bronwyn fischer

'the adult' is a "sad girl", coming-of-age novel following natalie as she moves to university. she develops a relationship with an older woman. it's primarily about this toxic relationship and the power disparity between the two, all while natalie is navigating stepping into the world for the first time

it was gentle, tender, and intimate. with a soft but vivid style of writing, fischer depicts the all-consuming power of first loves and heartbreaks. she captures post-adolescent confusion and the clumsy awkwardness of entering adulthood perfectly

— big swiss by jen beagin

the only way i know how to describe this book is eccentric—odd but full of charm. in ‘big swiss’, beagin completely deviates from the blueprint for trauma plots. rather than a burdening and bleak look into female trauma, this book is a wry, witty, and sexy dark comedy that delves into queer desire, therapy and medical biases, and coping with formative wounds

beagin presents us with two women who function as opposite models for processing trauma. our protagonist, greta, struggles with a tragic childhood incident. the love interest, flavia (aka big swiss), was brutally assaulted by a man. where big swiss maintains a pedantic approach to life and refuses to play the victim, greta allows her past trauma to shape the present, causing her to live a life void of comfort. these two opposing perspectives clash, creating a seductive and confronting whirlwind of a novel that borders on the absurd. it won't be for everyone, but it was definitely for me!!

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phaedraismyusername · 8 months

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I've literally just started Big Swiss and i love it when you know you're going to enjoy a writing style within the first few paragraphs

Just top tier usage of the english language to communicate the intangible 🤌🤌🤌

#big swiss #jen beagin #i think #mona awad #is also very good at this #bunny #is full of this kind of description #my favourite is when she talks about an old crush #he always smelled sort of biblical #like incense and roasted flesh #its just 🤌🤌🤌#its just so good #booklr #book recs #book quotes

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fat-fem-and-asian · 7 months

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Big Swiss Prompt List

mix of quotes from "big swiss" by jen beagin. can be used as either a direct quote to incorporate or a jumping off point! Dialogue

"My triggers are covered in wet sand," She said, "because my head is a giant cement mixer."

"Fuck you, sunshine."

"Actually, her voice reminds me of metal," Sabine said, "Liquid metal."

"You distracted me. That's why I fell."

"But you? You, I loved."

"Don't tell me you talk to me in your head." "I do, all day, all night."

"We're just having an affair." "Think of all the calls you missed, the meals you've skipped, how late to work I've made you."

"Are you in love with her?" "It feels that way."

"We're not dating. Don't be disgusting," Big Swiss said, "I love you."

"When I'm fucking you, you get this bored expression on your face, its confusing, disorienting, and - if I'm being honest - extremely exciting."

"Its not love/hate so much as push/pull, and its very hard to stop once the cycle starts."

"Are you trying to get me to leave you?" Greta didn't answer.

"Your wounds are getting some much needed air."

"I'm not done with you. I'm not sure I'll ever be."

"I chose you, over and over, for months and months. "

"Yes is a pleasant country,"

Prose

"Her bad habit was to talk to him like a dog."

"Yes, people age horribly. They suffer strokes. Their bodies and brains fall apart. But the male ego? Firmly intact until the bitter end."

"Unfortunately, her real self was horny, easily enraged, and no longer interested in making money."

"In fact, she felt distinctly as though she were sleepwalking, or in a perpetual state of daydreaming."

"Her only need, seemingly, was to satisfy her own curiosity."

“Kissing Big Swiss’s teeth was jarring and humiliating, like kissing a bathroom sink. But maybe that was too unkind. It was like kissing a baptismal font full of holy water.”

"Although Big Swiss seemed increasingly oceanic: vast, unknowable, capable of swallowing Greta whole."

"You never felt as thoroughly fucked as you did with a woman."

"But there, in the corners of her mouth, the hint of a cruel streak."

"One of the pitfalls of same-sex relationships was that you couldn't break down in public restrooms. At least, not in peace. The bitch followed you in there."

"I wanted her to know me, to blow it wide open, and I nearly told her my real name, but I was too startled by her face, her faint smile, the way she nodded her head."

"Shame was something you passed like kidney stones, and it was leaving her body at last."

"She was crashing, it appeared, and the comedown was rough. Greta felt it too - a doomed sadness."

#writing prompt #big swiss #<3 for shivlina tbh #i myself am not taking these prompts sdklsldsjd these are for all my writer friends #intended for wlw only pls <3

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saphiiiic · 2 years

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“So there’s this story that revolves around two women”

Jodie: “Go on...”

“It’s quite dark, it’s dramatic, both women are complex characters”

Jodie: “I’m listening...”

“One becomes obsessed with the other and they end up having an affai-“

Jodie: