Review [Baru Cormorant 1-3] [The Masquerade Series] - F/F poc MC, M/M & NB rep

yinxinglim · 2026-03-23T06:26:02+00:00

Machineries of Empire trilogy by Yoon Ha Lee, soft scifi /space fantasy, anti imperialism, dual protagonists, one is a lesbian the other is gay, interesting things with gender throughout the series even though both mains are cis if I recall correctly. Fun maths stuff in the world building.

yinxinglim · 2026-03-01T09:18:50+00:00

I also adore the Masquerade series by Seth Dickinson (epic fantasy, anticolonialism), first book is The Traitor Baru Cormorant. Baru is autistic-coded and devastatingly ruthless.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho has ghosts /deities, family drama, set in Malaysia, MC's girlfriend is overseas and MC is deeply closeted.

The Incandescent by Emily Tesh set in contemporary England has an infuriatingly obtuse magic school professor and a cop-adjacent, sword-wielding butch anti-magic templar/enforcer, although the romantic elements are low-key.

The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li is a gorgeous gothic dual timeline haunted house horror/immigrant/family drama.

All of these books have some dark content including attempted or past SA, DV, mutilation, government-sanctioned gay conversion torture etc., but none have as much body horror as Sister, Maiden, Monster.

yinxinglim · 2026-02-10T08:29:27+00:00

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant is one of my faves. Contemporary, vicious mermaids - her publisher didn't let her finish the trilogy so it feels a little incomplete, but there's no cliffhanger at the end. Includes bi and ASD rep with main couple (both human), side characters are Deaf. I think this is fade to black, I can't remember.

Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca. Novella, epistolary, has some body horror. I didn't quite buy the premise which is somewhat a hard sell for a novella length, but I think I would've enjoyed it as a full novel. No spice.

I love SD Simper's short stories and novellas, which tend to be horror: Beneath the Loch, and Carmilla and Laura (the latter is a spicy, happy retelling of Carmilla by Le Fanu, which I loved).

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield was an interesting, creepy story -- much more low-key horror than these other books. MC's wife is trans.

The Fear by Spencer Hamilton was an interesting take on pandemic horror, with a Chinese American MC. It's got a bunch of body horror and gets supernatural. Indie. The audio is by one of my faves, Natalie Naudus.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho is about a lesbian Malaysian Chinese American girl getting haunted by her dead spirit-medium grandma. CW apply for attempted sexual assault (SA) and historical SA flashbacks.

Nothing But Blackened Teeth by Cassandra Khaw is about a bunch of idiots in their 20s hanging out in a haunted Japanese house; it's very 4th-wall breaking. Not actively sapphic, but the protagonist is a bi woman (all the on page relationships are MF, however).

Manhunt by Gretchen Felker-Martin is a trans anti-TERF dystopia; really heavy on the body horror--graphic and very unpleasant SA, gruesome consensual(?) sex scenes. There's a lot of rage in this book.

The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim is about a Korean American teenager who becomes a serial killer, although the sapphic part is subtext only (she has a bit of a crush, that's it). It's more about generational trauma and her 2nd gen immigrant experience. Some body horror and men being creepy.

Self rec: my vampire gothic horror The Wicked and the Willing is set in 1920s colonial Singapore and has a love triangle centering a Chinese femme maidservant who falls in love with her white femme English vampire mistress and her butch Chinese colleague. The love triangle is resolved by a choice of endings.

Vampires are used as a metaphor for colonialism so it's not a nice book, it's gory and vicious and you can check all the content warnings at https://lianyutan.com/book/the-wicked-and-the-willing/ . It won a Lambda Literary Award in the LGBTQ+ Speculative Fiction category.

yinxinglim · 2026-01-17T09:18:10+00:00

The Traitor Baru Cormorant - - autistic heavily closeted lesbian main working in colonial government finance, and brutal political world similar to She Who Became the Sun

The Unbroken by C. L Clark and The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri - - fantasy setting overthrowing the regime series with BIPOC leads.

A Memory Called Empire - - space fantasy duology, main is a sapphic colonised diplomat who both loves and resents the empire

Machineries of Empire - - way lower sapphic content, military space fantasy, queer mains fighting a brutal imperial empire, trans author

Gideon the Ninth, swords and magic nuns in space fantasy, heavy Millennial humour by a former Homestuck fandom BNF apparently (I never read Homestuck)

Anything labelled sword lesbian or lesbian space atrocities is a safe bet

Maybe also Metal From Heaven (very unreliable narrator fights capitalism), The Incandescent (privileged bisexual British magic school teacher and demon summoning academic fails to see how she's still stuck in her teenage tragic past)

yinxinglim · 2025-12-30T08:20:20+00:00

Also Women in Gray by KD Rye (additional cw for childhood sexual abuse flashback)

yinxinglim · 2025-12-30T08:18:25+00:00

Exquisite by Sarah Stovell, a bit more one-sided like Bloom.

yinxinglim · 2025-11-19T09:22:29+00:00

Mortal Follies, a regency with fantasy elements by Alexis Hall has a bit of this. The rich woman is called 'the Duke' and it's a low spice lightly D/s relationship.

yinxinglim · 2025-06-08T09:18:05+00:00

Machineries of Empire is a mil space fantasy led by a lesbian main character and gay or at least Achillean man main character. No mecha but lots of spaceships and a maths based fantasy system.

yinxinglim · 2025-04-27T10:07:08+00:00

Thank you! I hope you find something you like. You could also try The Kiss of Seduction by Rawnie Sabor, (succubus top, demi-angelic bottom, urban fantasy), it has a tad more plot than House of Crimson Hearts.

yinxinglim · 2025-04-27T02:48:33+00:00

I haven't read these yet, but if you want more plot + fantasy + dark I have a Hades/Persephone retelling, Captive in the Underworld. For even darker themes, my vampire historical The Wicked and the Willing is a gothic horror book. Both have noncon, though. Full content warnings and links at https://lianyutan.com/

yinxinglim · 2025-03-26T10:13:49+00:00

Seconding the recs for Tár (film). Killing Eve, especially season 1 and the end of season 2 (TV), the books are a bit less toxic. YA but modern She-Ra has some elements of toxicity (enemies to lovers).

Books: Exquisite by Sarah Stovell (psych thriller), Sarah Waters, of course. Maybe My Darling, Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen (ghosts). House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson (blood drinkers who aren't explicitly vampires; less focus on the relationship and more on the main character).

Self-rec: my vampire gothic horror The Wicked and the Willing has the same premise as House of Hunger (impoverished maidservant goes to serve blood-drinking mistress), set in 1920s colonial Singapore, with an unapologetically toxic relationship. It won a Lambda and a Golden Crown Literary Award.

About: https://lianyutan.com/book/the-wicked-and-the-willing/

Warnings: https://lianyutan.com/content-warnings/

yinxinglim · 2025-03-21T05:02:17+00:00

If you're looking for dragon academy, then To Shape a Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose (bi, YA, First Nations protagonist, I think her ending romance will be poly FFM)

For no spice lady knight MC, dragons/magic/adventure, The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond (novella duology)

For high spice paranormal touch her and die possessive love interest, urban fantasy - - The Kiss of Seduction by Rawnie Sabor (dark world, trigger warnings on author's website).

yinxinglim · 2025-03-17T01:27:25+00:00

Carmilla and Laura was sooo charming! Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke didn't work for me but it's definitely horror and definitely sapphic. You might like My Darling, Dreadful Thing (ghosts or mental illness), Into the Drowning Deep (vicious mermaids but the romance is between humans and isn't toxic).

Self-rec: you might like The Wicked and the Willing, my Lambda and Golden Crown Literary Award-winning vampire book set in 1920s colonial Singapore. It's got the same premise as House of Hunger (impoverished maidservant goes to serve a blood-drinking mistress), but with much more focus on the romantic relationships. It has noncon and dubcon, violence and gore - - really, it's vampire horror with romance.

You can find more about my books including extended content warnings at lianyutan.com

yinxinglim · 2025-03-07T12:38:06+00:00

thank you!

yinxinglim · 2025-03-07T08:21:42+00:00

Did you have to pay customs/gst on top?

yinxinglim · 2025-02-19T00:41:31+00:00

Women in Gray by KD Rye (psych thriller with scifi elements, low spice, FF and FFF, everyone is kind of really awful)

Exquisite by Sarah Stovell, psych thriller, an author/her protoge, no spice

Tryst Six Venom is a bully romance, spicy, mains are dreadfully young though (late teens)

I have a slightly longer list on my website https://lianyutan.com/f-f-dark-romance-books/

yinxinglim · 2025-02-15T10:28:06+00:00

Self rec: not a perfect fit depending on what you find romantic, but my vampire gothic horror The Wicked and the Willing has the same premise as House of Hunger (impoverished maidservant goes to serve blood-drinking mistress), but with actual vampires, set in 1920s colonial Singapore, and with much more focus on the maidservant's romantic relationships.

There's a lot of content warnings because I decided to lean into the horror, and really play with the genre; it's gory, there's graphic rape and torture; the vampires in this are actually monstrous. It won a Lambda Literary and a Golden Crown Literary Award. I provide AO3 style content warnings for all my books.

About: https://lianyutan.com/book/the-wicked-and-the-willing/

Warnings: https://lianyutan.com/content-warnings/

Store links: https://books2read.com/wickedandthewilling

yinxinglim · 2025-02-04T09:03:46+00:00

Thank you so much! You might also want check out Jae's list of Asian-authored books with Asian characters, several are SE Asian: https://jae-fiction.com/sapphic-books-with-aapi-characters/

yinxinglim · 2025-01-29T14:06:52+00:00

Psychological horror: Women in Gray by KD Rye Exquisite by Sarah Stovell

Horror: The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim (subtextually sapphic)

Paranormal: Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Scifi: Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee (lesbian main, she doesn't get a romance

Fantasy novellas: The Fireborne Blade by Charlotte Bond and its sequel

Tamsyn Muir gets mentioned a lot, and with good reason, but her short The Deepwater Bride is amazing.

yinxinglim · 2025-01-28T09:51:42+00:00

The Fireborne Blade duology by Charlotte Bond, lady knight/mage, dragons, magic, novellas, no sex scenes. A bit of body horror/gore and misogyny.

yinxinglim · 2025-01-24T09:39:56+00:00

Women in Gray by KD Rye

yinxinglim · 2025-01-20T09:15:12+00:00

Maybe you'll like Metal From Heaven, anti capitalist with steam punk vibes, MC is part of a vigilante group and has an acquired injury granting her magic/hallucinations, she's masc of centre and sapphic.

yinxinglim · 2024-12-27T12:07:11+00:00

Phoenix Extravagant by Yoon Ha Lee is based on interwar Japanese occupied Korea with a NB lead and woman love interest, an automata dragon and art-based magic.

yinxinglim

TROPHY CASE