Book Recommendations that you can find on Audible because sometimes visual reading is just Not Going to Happen:
How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann
A modern fairytale reimagining in which five women join an experimental support group in order to confront their very public trauma under the supervision of a seemingly sympathetic but suspiciously persistent male therapist.
Each of their stories mirrors a popular fairytale except for Ashlee, whose story is a call out of the manipulative and borderline abusive side of the reality tv industry. Blurs the lines between fiction and reality, so it's difficult to know what parts of each story are real and what parts are a coping mechanism to deal with their trauma. It's explicit, bizarre and sometimes really uncomfortable, but definitely worth a shot.
TW: Gore, Sexual Assault, Eating Disorders, Abuse, and Torture
CW: Public Humiliation, Misogyny, Violence, Mental Health Issues
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Lily Hu is a Chinese-American teenager living in the midst of the Red-scare. As the government threatens her father's citizenship and she grows increasingly frustrated with her childhood friend, Lily meets Kath, a social pariah with dreams of becoming a pilot. As she and Kath grow closer, the two begin sneaking out to attend nightly shows at a local lesbian bar called The Telegraph Club.
The narrative bounces back and forth between Lily in the 1950s and the journeys of her mother building a life in America and her aunt as Lily grows up. The ending is more realistic than happy, but it is hopeful.
TW: Racism, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Child Abuse, Underage Alcohol Consumption
CW: Misogyny, Outing
Until We Break by Matthew Dawkins (Audible Original)
Naomi is the only black student at a prestigious ballet academy and has structured her entire life around the art. When her closest friend dies and Naomi suffers an injury that means she must take a break from ballet right before the Grand Prix, grief begins to eat away at her. Meanwhile Saint, a street artist, is struggling to keep himself and his younger brother afloat as their father's health deteriorates. After a chance meeting, the two attempt to find their place in the world together.
A beautiful story, although there are certain parts of the narrative that felt unresolved (which is not uncommon with Audible Originals so grain of salt)
TW: Racism, Self-harm, Suicide, Child Abuse, Abuse
CW: Mental Health Issues, Violence
Young Rich Widows by Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie (Audible Original)
All four partners of a law firm die in a mysterious plane crash, leaving their wives to unravel the circumstances of their deaths— and find a way to pay back the large sum of money they owed to the local mafia.
Audible Original's Magnum Opus, it's legitimately the best they've released in my opinion. It has a bit of a detective noir vibe and the plot twist at the end is wild, although it's got a few plot holes here and there.
TW: Sexual Harassment, Homophobia, Alcohol Consumption, Implied Torture
CW: Violence, Child Endangerment, Misogyny
Plain Bad Heroines by Emily M. Danforth
In 1902, two students are found stung to death by wasps, with the only thing in their possession being a book by Mary MacLane that they were both obsessed with. After another student is found dead with the book in her possession, the headmistress and her lover attempt to quiet the distress and suspicion among the students and staff as a decades old curse turns it's sights on them.
In the present day, Hollywood darling Harper and former child actress Audrey are cast in a movie based on the biography of the original students' deaths under the direction of a famous horror director, the book's prickly author Merritt, and the now closed school's owner Elaine. As the filming begins and strange things begin to happen, it seems as though the curse may have found its newest victims.
If you go into this one expecting everyone to be good people and the story to be neat and tidy, you are going to be disappointed. It's a very hit or miss story. The narrative feels like a fever dream and the driving force of the plot is that the characters are all disaster gays. Sometimes the present day plot can feel rushed or pointless, but I personally enjoyed it. The ending isn't what you're expecting, but it feels consistent with the flow of the narrative.
TW: Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Self-harm, Purposeful Induction of Paranoia, Sexual Assault, Suicide, Emetophobia, Alcohol Consumption, Drug Use, Gore
CW: Graphic Depictions of Death, Wasps (No, I'm not kidding), Mental Health Issues
•••
Web Comic Recommendations
10 notes
·
View notes
Happy 4/13! Introducing....
Homestuck Book Club! (a Discord server)
Have you wanted to read this Homestuck thing for a while now, but the process seems too daunting? Do you want an excuse to re-read your favorite 2010s webcomic, but you're worried you'll have nobody to talk to about it because it's 2024? Maybe you're looking for a community of like-minded folks with a consistent weekly online meeting schedule to fill out your social calendar?
HAVE I GOT A DEAL FOR YOU!!
I have gone to the trouble of breaking up Homestuck into 52 manageable, (very) approximately equal sections, one per week for the next year, culminating on April 13th, 2025!
In Homestuck Book Club, we'll be meeting every Sunday in voice chat at 12pm (CST) to discuss a weeks worth of Homestuck at a time! New readers and longtime fans alike are welcome to join up and experience the comic together as a community.
There are channels specifically for new readers who want to avoid spoilers, as well as a zone for Homestuck veterans to spoil it up with impunity.
And for 4/13, (again, 12pm CST) I'll be holding a special intro meeting for folks to say hi and play some games! (Jackbox, Gartic Phone.... Dare I say..... Amogus????)
JOIN THE HOMESTUCK BOOK CLUB HERE
Happy 4/13 everyone!
792 notes
·
View notes