Genre/Piece : Gay realistic fiction book called Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Ratings : 4.3/5 (Goodreads), 4.9/5 (Barnes and Noble), 5/5 (Common Sense Media)

The Story : Aristotle is an angry teen with a brother in prison. Dante is a know-it-all who has an unusual way of looking at the world. When the two meet at the swimming pool, they seem to have nothing in common. But as the loners start spending time together, they discover that they share a special friendship—the kind that changes lives and lasts a lifetime. And it is through this friendship that Ari and Dante will learn the most important truths about themselves and the kind of people they want to be. (Source: https://www.amazon.com/Aristotle-Dante-Discover-Secrets-Universe/dp/1442408936)

Personal Opinion : I loved this book. It was beautifully written and really captured the struggles of being a teen. I read it straight through without stopping.

1) There’s a whole ton of character development, and it’s realistic and doesn’t feel forced. You really get invested in these characters.

2) Both main characters are Mexican, so this is some good quality queer POC representation!

3) Everything feels authentic. Nothing feels forced and the plot is diverse. The characters’ emotions are vibrant and real and relatable. Also, it’s not one of those books where the entire point of the character is their queerness. The characters have a lot of aspects to them, and they are imperfect people! And their flaws are clearly shown and elaborated on, not hidden!

4) The author, Benjamin Alire Sáenz, is gay.

5) There are some really beautiful quotes in this book.

6) A few trigger warnings: Alcohol and drugs, physical violence (minor), swearing, talk of puberty, kissing.

Rating : 9.5/10.

Side note : I checked this book out from my library on July 14, read it several times, and I still have it today (August 15th). I have incurred no charges for keeping it this long. So it’s a pretty magical book. ;)

Mod Mary’s note : This is a sweet review from a coolio pal named Sage @programming-ace, they are so nice, pls send them all the love !

here’s the post about the rules !!!

please help your fave queer meme as she’s going to do her Finals™ and she’s also v v v depressed right now so that would be awesome thanks !!! ^_^

thanks a bunch babes and see you soon ! <3 <3 <3

Genre/Piece : Canadian lesbian romantic story made by Dominique Cardona and Laurie Colbert, featuring Nicola Correia Damude and Christine Horne

Ratings : 6.2/10 (IMDb), 59% (Rotten Tomatoes)

The Story : Margarita is a nanny working for rich people in Canada (I think ???) and she seems to do pretty much all the housework while the parents are away, working all the time. The father is an addict (trigger warning for substance abuse) and the mother wanted to work with a charity in Africa, but the closest she could ever get to was to name her daughter Mali.

With the couple drowning in debts and their daughter going to high-school and turning fourteen, they take the decision to fire Margarita, as they can’t afford her anymore. Being an illegal worker who managed to do just fine for six years, her life is tearing apart, as well as her relationship with her girlfriend, a beautiful law student called Jane…

What will happen to Margarita as the authorities want to send her back to Mexico where she comes from ?

Personal Opinion : Another great movie featuring women of colour !!!

Margarita is a very strong Latina girl, who turns down men and tells them blatantly about her lesbianism, and her girlfriend Jane isn’t a secret to the family where she works. However, Jane is still closeted to her family and they probably don’t know about her, so it’s a little bit more complicated.

This isn’t all about romance, though ; other themes in this movie include nannies, the hard-work they do so white folks can have a luxurious and priviledged life, her friendship with Mali despite the age gap that doesn’t seem to bother them, and loads more.

A very sweet movie with a happy ending (stay until the very very very end to see it though !!!) and featuring a lesbian of colour. Great, am I right ?

Rating : 7/10.

Please, for dear life, watch this video.

It’s a very moving poem that will move you to tears.

Genre/Piece : Lesbian Chinese-American Romantic movie made by Alice Wu, featuring Michelle Krusiec, Lynn Chen and Joan Chen

The Story : Wil is a doctor, and a lesbian, still in the closet. She’s also secretly Vivian, a dancer who happens to be her boss’s daughter. Vivian is openly gay and would love to make their relationship official to the Chinese-American community they live in, and the rest of the world. However, Wil isn’t exactly ready to come out of the closet, out of fear and judgment.

Now throw in a conservatist mother, daughter of parents who fled the war, who had been kicked out of her home for being pregnant and unmarried, and who has to find a husband for the child, an opportunity for Vivian to go to dance at the Paris Opéra Ballet, and a very tight community thriving off word-of-mouth and secret backstabbing, and Wil will have to face her destiny : not only will she have to find her mother a husband as soon as possible, but also will have to deal with Vivian leaving, their blossoming relationship, and so much more…

Personal Opinion : You said you wanted women of colour ? GAY women of colour ? GAY women of colour WITH A HAPPY ENDING ?????

Well, YOU JUST GOT SERVED !!!

You have a movie about Chinese-American lesbians, made by a Chinese-American lesbian (Alice Wu herself), based on her own personal experience coming out as gay in her own Chinese-American community. How AWESOME is that ???

The story is so lovely, and wait until the very end to have the best ending line EVER. I cracked up so hard when I heard it, but seriously, I won’t spoil you anything, it wouldn’t be funny.

In other news, we have lovely Chinese-American gay women, falling in love, having a very cute (and sexy) relationship, and having a super happy ending. What else could we hope for ? This is PERFECTION.

Great movie, very wonderful, lots of good things. Wonderful (although a little bit sad at times, but otherwise, it’s okay).

Rating : 9/10.

Genre/Piece : Gay Romantic Italian book written by Pier Vittorio Tondelli

Ratings : 4/5 (Goodreads), 5/5 (Qlibri)

The Story : Two years ago, Leo lost his boyfriend, Thomas, from a premature death. This is the book of his reconstruction, his long lost relationship with the man of his dreams, and how he copes with Thomas’ death, after a three-year relationship, to find the strength to finally move on and see what awaits him after he lost his beloved one.

Personal Opinion : Though this is a very sad book (you know right in the beginning that the boyfriend is dead), this book is very important and it might interest you because of the following important thematics :

1) Leo is gay AND a Christian, having lived most of his life with his Christian parents in a Christian village. And he doesn’t give up on religion because he’s gay. In the contrary, he finds in religion the spirituality he needed and he talks about his relationship with Thomas and his link to religion quite nicely, and he doesn’t think about being gay as a sin. (He says he wanted to fit in as “straight” but he never managed to be attracted to any girl, in the end.)

2) There are loads of gay friends and flirts in gay bars and Leo, as a writer, travels a lot with Thomas (who’s a musician). And it’s so adorable and they are disgustigly cute. Leo’s will to have his relationship seen by the world “just like the straights” made me cry a little because I also would love a girlfriend but also would need some validation when the majority of the world is still pretty homophobic.

3) It shows that grief isn’t always all pretty and all great. (Trigger warning for alchohol abuse, drug abuse, unprotected sex, non-con, and so much more. Be careful if you might be triggered by any of this. Please stay safe friendos.)

4) It was written in 1989, at the beginning of the spread of AIDS, and Thomas actually dies from it. It’s also based on a real-life experience from the author himself (it’s basically a romanticisation of a part of his life), and it was a very bold move at the time. Props to him.

5) In the end, he moves on, and it shows Leo’s great strength not only to move on from his past relationship, but also to “get back to work”, a.k.a. writing. And this is, I believe, the most beautiful message you could be offered in time of suffering or loss : that everything moves, and you will find the strength to do so, too. It doesn’t mean you have to erase the past from your mind ; it just means to find something new, and being happy with your new choices.

Rating : 10/10.

Four years after Lana, Lilly also makes the big step to reveal her true self !!!

Congratulations and hoping for a happy life. She definitely deserves it !!!

All my love to the Wachowski sisters !!! <3

and the baby is here !!! https://twitter.com/arcobalenocc

so if you want to follow me there it’s super-mega cool !

thanks so much and see you later !!! <3

Genre/Piece : Teenage Gay Belgian romance movie made by Bavo Defurne (based on the novel Nooit gaat dit over by André Sollie), featuring Jelle Floorizoone, Nathan Naenen, and Nina Marie Kortekaas

Ratings : 7.3/10 (IMDb), 81% (Rotten Tomatoes), 2.5/4 (RogerEbert.com)

The Story : As young teenagers, two boys, Pim and Gino, fall in love and spend all of their time together, as they are growing up newt to the see together. They keep their relationship as a secret for now, but they seem to be happy with it and their life couldn’t be better.

Through the obstacles they face together (Pim’s mother’s new boyfriend, Gino’s sister, Sabrina, having a crush on Pim, Gino having to work and meeting a girl, yadda yadda yadda…), they struggle, evolve, grow up, and mature. And in the end, they learn more than what they expected…

Personal Opinion : Very cute and sweet, you can’t help but want to take “little Pim” in your arms and give him a big hug for what he’s been through. And basically everyone, with their little flaws, their worries, they all have their own situations and they all want to be better, in a way.

In other words, it’s a delicate movie that is very nice (the ending is good though, even if there’s a little thing that will make you weep a little bit, but you’ll see for yourself), and it’s very watchable.

Rating : 7/10.