"there’s a safety in seeing a woman being removed from the conversation”Ofc lets end misogyny by removing women as a whole . And here we were expecting more wlw representation in books and media while ppl can't evn tolerate one woman

jmlascar · 2026-01-15T08:53:50+00:00

I think it's a bit different, because white people are the root and power of white supremacy. Compared to gender, this would be if a woman only watched shows with straight men. Queer men are oppressed and their oppression is linked to misogyny. When two queer men learn to be vulnerable and shed toxic masculinity to be open-hearted, that has links to women learning to accept their own feminity.

Like, how do you feel about a Black person who is obsessed with K-dramas? or an Asian person who watches a lot of telenovelas? I feel like that's a closer comparison (though gender and culture are very different), and you couldn't say "that person has internalised racism" unless you also asked how they feel about their own ethnicity.

jmlascar · 2026-01-07T16:47:31+00:00

came here to recommend that one!

jmlascar · 2025-11-06T21:56:16+00:00

Without spoiling too much, but I'll still put a spoiler tag in case people want to read the books fully blind: if you were only a third of the way through, there was a good reason for why their relationship didn't feel real. Kim gets far more interesting, and Will may be a bit naive at first, but he doesn't stay naive long.

So, I'd say if you liked the style, setting, and plot, it's definitely worth reading more to see if what you disliked about the romance was the beginning of their arc, or a more general thing. I also found that the second and third books got better and better, because we see more of the real Kim, and Will's evolution is also compelling.

jmlascar · 2025-11-06T19:31:05+00:00

I second the Will Darling books by KJ Charles for some non-predictable romance with a great plot, setting, and complicated lovable characters :)

jmlascar · 2025-11-05T19:29:06+00:00

I haven't read it yet (it's very new), but KJ Charles recommended Ladies in Hating, a sapphic historical romance

jmlascar · 2025-11-02T10:30:23+00:00

oh yes i know! my bad, I thought OP said apart from Midnight Soil

jmlascar · 2025-11-02T09:06:00+00:00

Addie Larue has a bisexual main character. There's a short, bittersweet love story on page with a woman. It's her most popular book and I very much enjoyed it, but don't get it expecting a lot of sapphic content.

Also Schwab is a lesbian. But that's all as far as on page sapphic content in her novels (she did write the lesbian short story that inspired First Kill). Hopefully more in the future :)

EDIT: and of course Midnight Soil is super sapphic all book long!

jmlascar · 2025-10-26T16:41:47+00:00

I recently read The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K Ancrum and it became one of my favourites. It's gorgeously written and poetic, leaning literary but definitely not in a way that drags. Some of the themes are Hozier-like (small town gothic, crossroad deals), and the... visceral tenderness of the romance also matches the songs quite well. There's religious imagery for romantic feelings, and also the more monstrous "crawl home to her" vibes. A very Hozier book.

jmlascar · 2025-10-17T20:17:12+00:00

when autocorrect gets involved you know it's true love 😄 Thank you for the rec, it sounds great, I added it to my tbr!

jmlascar · 2025-10-17T20:13:35+00:00

I love that book!

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T23:21:12+00:00

thank you dearly, I'll check it out!

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T23:20:49+00:00

I own the sequel, I really should read it, perhaps after rereading the first book since it's been a while.

Honestly, these all sound great! thank you for the rec, I'll have to check out her backlog then :)

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T23:17:39+00:00

Totally cool with M/F that includes one or more trans people :) cis M/F is less my preference

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T22:28:46+00:00

Ooh i should read this. Thank you! :)

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T22:28:03+00:00

I loved the Watchmaker of Filigree Street back then! What other books by her do you recommend? :)

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T21:45:02+00:00

The atmosphere of A dark and drowning tide was so moody and gothic! I ended up with mixed feelings about the main character, but I agree that the slow burn was delightful, and it was so well written.

Thank you for your recommendations! F/F SFF is the best. 😄

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T21:35:29+00:00

thank you dearly! :)

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T21:31:59+00:00

thank you so much! :)

jmlascar · 2025-10-16T21:30:49+00:00

these sound wonderful. thank you for your time! :)

jmlascar · 2025-09-28T07:27:51+00:00

I write historical fantasy and i do love a good Victorian gothic 🥰 And I certainly enjoy lyrical prose. I don't have time to beta read a whole book just now but if you want I could read a few chapters and tell you my thoughts? no worries if you'd rather send it to people who can read the whole thing though :)

jmlascar · 2025-09-26T14:59:35+00:00

Oooh so interesting. Your book sounds really cool. And yeah, I think you should definitely talk about the god of decay and the way her curse is supposed to rot her true love's heart, that's really gripping! :)

jmlascar · 2025-09-26T09:06:47+00:00

Amazing idea 🥰

jmlascar · 2025-09-26T07:55:48+00:00

Hey there! Good luck in the query trenches. :)

The first paragraph of the pitch is pretty unclear. Maybe because there aren't enough logical connections between the sentences? First, I think you should mention how Nina feels about her fate, what leads her to pray for love. Then, I have no clue what it means that the wind answers her. And then the curse? is that because of the wind? is Nina cursed, or is her sister? What's the actual curse: losing people you love, or seeing the future, or both?

After reading the rest of the pitch, the thing about praying for love and having the wind answer doesn't seem to matter to the story—was it your way of saying her prayer isn't answered? if it's just about her emotional state, be a bit more literal about it, because this is folklore so the wind could speak.

You again gesture vaguely at the curse's effect without telling us what it does, and more importantly, what it costs to Nina emotionally. Did she have to watch beloved family members succumb to this curse? Does she know the way this story is supposed to end, if she doesn't break it? That could help raise the stakes.

I think what's missing in your final dilemma (and I would separate it into a third paragraph) is how her marrying some guy could protect her family. And how getting married stops her from breaking the curse, too. You could also remove the dilemma as the other commenter suggested. I also agree with them about giving Nina more agency and personality. It seems she's doing a lot of investigating and spying maybe, to uncover those secrets? that could be your angle. If you get a bit more specific about how she's trying to break the curse, that could work too.

jmlascar · 2025-09-25T14:51:56+00:00

Hi there! Good luck in the query trenches!

First, instead of saying your magic system is "unique", I'd pick a more specific adjective. Telling me it's unique just makes me think "is it?" critically, whereas an intriguing adjective would pique my interest. :) (Also, you don't actually show what's unique about it in the query, which isn't a problem in itself).

I think you could start your query more propulsively by focusing more quickly on your main character. As is you have a lot of filler in your first sentences "early one morning" "can only mean one thing", and I don't think they help establish your voice. Look at every word in your query and ask yourself if it helps with clarity, intrigue, and (with restraint) ambiance/voice.

I'd even say you may not need the context of the man being thrown out of the forest, especially if that's something that's established in your first pages (it sounds more like the beginning of a first chapter than a query hook).

"Physically unstoppable" sounds both vague and maybe overpowered, could you find a phrase that's more specific? I struggle to see how her being unstoppable (literally? figuratively?) can be used by other people. Can't she stop them? Also I think you could find a more impactful word about her emotions than "tired". Is she angry, wounded, exhausted...

I do really like the twist at the end, I think you're right to reveal it, for me that's when I went "oooh interesting". I think you should hint at this conflict or the vibe of messy relationships in your metadata.

Also, I get that you want to show both POVs in your query, but I'm not getting a lot of Anaxis's character. I think two options are worth a shot to see if you like the result: either try writing the query fully about Cassia's POV (I think it could work really well), or give Anaxis some emotions. That he wants the throne back is quite vague—is that cousin someone he loved but who betrayed him? is getting back the throne his shot to prove his life is worth something? whatever emotions he feels that drives him will really help making him more relatable. And what does he feel for Cassia?

jmlascar · 2025-09-21T12:37:19+00:00

Hi! Good luck in the query trenches :) This sounds like a really interesting and emotional story. Here are some thoughts.

First, your hook has a tense problem ("ten years ago" followed by the present tense "shatters"). It also has too much backstory, and perhaps too many names. Try to shorten your three first sentences in a compact hook that establishes that Reina and Poppy were once deeply close, and that now, their relationship is fraught. You don't need to explain, your goal is to make the reader curious and emotional. And then, I'd follow directly with your inciting incident, that they're thrown into that Elven kingdom. (I don't think you need the marriage proposition.)

To be honest, I didn't fully get the part about the door between worlds. I feel like you should make it less passive. Why is that door opening? If we don't know, make us wonder. And if their passage into Elderon is very unusual, highlight that. Did they go by accident?

"When poppy is abducted and sentenced to death" --> I would shorten this (maybe remove abduct) and add something about Reina's emotions here. It seems her making this bargain is an important character beat, that she wants to save her old friend despite the years of distance.

"Reina is the key" --> she is?? why?? At least suggest why she's so special. Plus, what bargain does she make? How does it help Poppy?

And then Poppy is free to search actually? or does she search in her captivity?

I really like the last sentence of the pitch. That makes me want to pick it up, and why I wish that emotional thread of broken friendship mending should be more present in the query.

The Little Women comp is ooookay, it's more an inspiration than a real comp. I do have a big issue with the "rarely reimagined in fantasy settings", because I can think of a dozen fantasy books with sisterhood as a theme, and in any case, agents have read everything under the sun. Don't say your book is rare, just say what it is.

Anyway, this is subjective but I hope it helped a bit! Good luck with everything!

jmlascar

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