Friends, I’m really excited to bring you today’s post. At the start of the new year, I was thinking about all the books I wanted to include on my anticipated reads of 2019 list, and so many of them were queer (we’re truly being blessed this year guys). But then I started wondering if other queer readers were anticipating the same books as me? So I did a little bit of planning and yesterday I posted my 25 most anticipated release for the first half of 2019, with hints that something new was coming today.
That ‘something new’ is a brand new series on my blog, where queer readers give us five of their most anticipated queer reads of 2019. This will be a weekly series, posting every Thursday, and will feature a different reader/blogger every week.
Today’s very FIRST instalment comes from Imi @ImiReviewsBooks, who is blessing us with five of her most anticipated queer reads for 2019, most of which are F/F. OK, fine, six of her most anticipated because she couldn’t narrow it down.
1. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon – I’m cheating because I’ve read this so I guess I’m not anxiously awaiting release for any reason other than to see this book SOAR. This brilliant feminist reclaiming of high fantasy has the most beautiful slow burn F/F romance and together it’s ALL. I. HAVE. EVER. WANTED.
2. Once & Future by Amy Rose Capetta & Cori McCarthy – so Rock the Boat sent me an ARC for this the other week and I am SO EXCITED to dig in. But seriously, HELLO sci fi, futuristic, genderbent retelling of the King Arthur legend. YES PLS.
3. Wilder Girls by Rory Power – this has so many yeses for me, a) boarding school, b) F/F romance in a boarding school, c) feminist horror with an F/F romance in a boarding school.
4. The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Hermann – Having followed Christine since I heard about this release, I know this book is witchy vibes, likened to Raven Boys and Stranger Things and supposedly gayer than it seems and I am SO HERE FOR THIS.
5. Kingsbane by Claire Legrand – the sequel to last year’s Furyborn which features two implied bisexual protagonists and for this one, I am HOPING AND PRAYING that it will be confirmed and we will SEE THEM. Claire Legrand is a queen and she will make this happen.
6. Song of the Dead by Sarah Glenn Marsh – I adored Reign of the Fallen last year and I am crazy excited for my F/F babes to go on more necromantic adventures.
Writer at heart, reader in reality, Imi spends as much time as possible with her nose in a book. She adores fantasy and believes there is nothing better than being transported by words to another land/world/planet/universe. Beyond books, Imi is a singer, actor, traveller, photographer and theatre producer, though her day job is fighting pirates. And that isn’t even a joke.
Find her on Twitter and Instagram, and check out her blog, Imi Reviews Books.
What are some of your most anticipated LGBT+ reads for this year? Do you plan to read any of Imi’s six?
Check out the other posts in this series!
Week two // Olivia @HeirofGlitter
Week three // Charlotte @WonderfullyBookish
coffeeinonehandbookintheother.wordpress.com 
I didn’t even realise The Priory of the Orange Tree had a F/F romance! I haven’t read it yet, but I think that can only make it more interesting 🙂
Ah this is amazing, Kate! I’m looking forward to the next post in this series! Imi you picked some great books, I’m so excited for Priory! I hadn’t heard of Wilder Girls, but that book sounds great.
I LOVE YOU THANK YOU FOR FEATURING ME, so excited to see what the rest of this series brings!
I am so late with replying to this but THANK YOU SO MUCH for being part of the series! I seriously loved everything you wrote for your post ❤
These books sound amazing, I’ll have to check ‘m out! 😊
Xoxo
Shirley | https://shirleycuypers.blogspot.com
I’m honestly sad because I’m gay yet the only reason I know of SOME of the queer books coming out this year is ’cause other bloggers or booktubers have mentioned them. Either way, I’m just ready for queer books in general. I am slowly making a mental list of some so I can make my year a lot queerer.
what if i read all of these? becausei wannnnaaaa!!
Ahh what a lovely new feature, Kate! I really love this list, too. I am so impatient to read Once & Future, as well as The Devouring Gray, they both sound so good! I’m curious about Wilder Girls and I love this cover, but, aerm… I’m not good with horror hahaha. 🙂 thank you for sharing this!! 🙂
Once & Future sounds SO GOOD and I’m so excited to read it!!
I have both The Priory of the Orange Tree and Once & Future on my pre-order list for this year! The other ones sound really interesting as well, I’ll have to check them out. Thanks for this 😀
This is such an awesome idea and I can’t wait to see all of your future posts in this series! I too am SO excited for Priory, but I actually hadn’t heard of the others on this list, besides Kingsbane (I am yet to read Furyborn.. oops) but I am definitely going to add them to my tbr! fab post!
I definitely Once & Future in my life. That sounds freaking amazing, and I hadn’t heard of it before this post.
I read Once & Future a couple of months back and the rep was great, but I found the plot and narrative sadly lacking. 😦
I’ve heard that. I’m interested to see what I think with such mixed reviews. The concept is really appealing to me, but execution may not work out.
Definitely give it a go and see what you think! I honestly wished I could have liked it more, but it was a case of good idea, poor execution, as you say 😦
I have an ARC of Once & Future and I’m so looking forward to starting it too! I hope it’s as good as the description sounds!
This is such a great idea! I can’t wait to see the rest of the series. Imi is so awesome, great pick! I loved Song of the Dead so much – the rep is beautiful. Really excited for Wilder Girls and Once & Future.
Looking forward to Kingsbane!
I love this feature! I’m always on the lookout for more queer books especially ones with bisexual rep! I haven’t read any gothic horror in YA, so I’ll need to check out Wilder Girls!
Ah what a fab idea – I can’t wait to read more! I have Reign if the Fallen on my shelf so I definitely need to get around to reading that then!
Aww thanks Jaz! The second installment will be up on Thursday 🙂 Reign of the Fallen of Song of the Dead both sound really good, so I hope you enjoy the first book when you pick it up!
Ah fab I’ll look forward to it! I hope so too ☺️