Diversity Spotlight Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Aimal @ Bookshelves & Paperbacks. Every week, you come up with one book in each of three different categories: A diverse book you have read and enjoyed, a diverse book on your TBR, and one that has not yet been released. Check out the announcement post for more information.

 

Long Macchiatos and Monsters by Alison Evans

Jalen, lover of B-grade sci-fi movies, meets the far-too-handsome P in a cafe while deciding whether or not to skip uni again. When P invites them along to a double feature of Robot Monster and Cat Women of the Moon, Jalen can hardly believe that hot boys like bad sci-fi, too. But as their relationship progresses, Jalen realizes P leaves him wondering if they’re on the same page about what dating means, and if that’s what they’re doing.

(SUMMARY VIA GOODREADS)

I will be completely honest with you; this novella was probably one of the best pieces I’ve ever read. Genderqueer main character. Trans love interest. Both POC. Trans LI is disabled and mentally ill. I CANNOT recommend this one enough. It’s amazing, it’s cute, and I love it.

 

A Boy Called Cin – Cecil Wilde

In the search for a cup of coffee before the guest lecture he’s giving, Tom spies a tired, half-frozen young man who looks even more need of coffee than him. On impulse, he buys the man a cup—but an attempt to strike up conversation ends in the young man walking off, seemingly put off by Tom Walford—the tabloids’ favourite billionaire—buying him coffee. But when he reappears in Tom’s lecture, all Tom knows is that he doesn’t want the man slipping away a second time.

Agreeing to dinner with a man he only knows from internet gossip columns isn’t the wisest decision Cin’s ever made, but he wants to like the infamous Tom Walford and he can’t do that if he doesn’t give the man a fair chance to be likeable. Which he is, almost frustratingly so, to the point Cin wishes maybe he hadn’t been so fair because he never had any intention of getting attached to Tom, who seems to come from a world far too different from his own for anything between them to last. Little does Cin know, they’ve got a lot more in common than he imagines—including their shared discomfort with their assigned genders, and all the complications that go with it.

(Summary via Goodreads)

My friend Corey has recommended this book so many times I’ve lost count. Apparently, it has amazing nonbinary representation, so I’m really looking forward to it! I even recently acquired a copy of it.

Mask of Shadows – Linsey Miller

Sallot Leon is a thief, and a good one at that. But gender fluid Sal wants nothing more than to escape the drudgery of life as a highway robber and get closer to the upper-class―and the nobles who destroyed their home.

When Sal steals a flyer for an audition to become a member of The Left Hand―the Queen’s personal assassins, named after the rings she wears―Sal jumps at the chance to infiltrate the court and get revenge.

But the audition is a fight to the death filled with clever circus acrobats, lethal apothecaries, and vicious ex-soldiers. A childhood as a common criminal hardly prepared Sal for the trials. And as Sal succeeds in the competition, and wins the heart of Elise, an intriguing scribe at court, they start to dream of a new life and a different future, but one that Sal can have only if they survive.

(Summary via Goodreads)

All I’ve ever wanted was to see nonbinary characters in a fantasy setting, so y’all have NO IDEA how excited I am for this one. My friend Shauna sent me her physical ARC copy too, so my fragile eyes don’t have to suffer while reading an e-ARC on my phone. SO EXCITED!!!