Lida RichardsonFirst to rec
“Oh hi wow you’ve said the words to activate me. We have so much to discuss. This book isn’t a capital R Romance but I found it super compelling as someone in Twilight recovery. Dark lesbian vampire romance vibes. There are a lot of new (particularly queer) vampire romances I haven’t read yet, including Hungerstone by Kat Dunn, which I’m about to read. I’ve also recommended Carmilla before, which is not a romance but is the original dark lesbian vampire romance (ish). Lots of problems with that one, but it’s pretty fascinating. And then I’ve read some like…bad romantasy — The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Clarissa Broadbent is a really popular one, which I had a nice time with, if you can handle the romantasy conventions. People also really like The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo (more elevated). I haven’t read it yet, but I do like some of her other books. Also Dracula is really fun, with some caveats (Orientalism, weird about women, surprisingly Christian). Ohh and then people also like Bride by Ali Hazelwood; I haven’t read it though. Okay sending you weird Twilight solidarity! My best friend and I think it like broke both of our brains, and I love thinking about why it was so impactful. Those books are so weird.”
