Tag Archives: Pride or Die

Authors in Conversation: CL Montblanc and Jamie D’Amato

Today on the site I’m delighted to present a conversation between two YA debuts, Pride or Die author CL Montblanc and The Good Vampire’s Guide to Blood and Boyfriends author Jamie D’Amato! Pride or Die just released on April 15th (though as you’ll see, this conversation took place beforehand, and I opted out of editing that), while Vampire is still to come at the end of August, but you can get hyped for both right now!

CW from authors: Discussion of mental health topics/suicidal ideation.

JD: Hey there! First of all, I always love chatting with you, but I’m especially excited to be talking with you for LGBTQ Reads, which I’ve always admired as a resource, and which feels more important than ever in today’s climate.

CLM: Agreed. More so than anywhere else right now, this feels like the safest space for us to be talking about our two queer books. Promoting an LGBTQ title has been really challenging so far—I’ve already had pushback elsewhere for simply “having pronouns” while trying to talk about writing craft.

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Happy Lesbian Visibility Day 2024!

Happy Lesbian Visibility Day 2024! We’re celebrating with these lesbian protagonists, and you can too! For more recs, check out past years’ posts! 

Young Adult

We Got the Beat by Jenna Miller

Jordan Elliott is a fat, nerdy lesbian, and the first junior to be named editor in chief of the school newspaper. Okay, that last part hasn’t happened yet, but it will. It’s positive thinking that has gotten Jordan this far. Ever since Mackenzie West, her friend-turned-enemy, humiliated her at the start of freshman year, Jordan has thrown herself into journalism and kept her eyes trained on the future.

So it’s a total blow when Jordan discovers that she not only didn’t get the editor in chief spot, but she’s been assigned the volleyball beat instead. And who is the star and newly crowned captain of the volleyball team? Mackenzie West. But words are Jordan’s weapon, and she has some ideas about how to exact a long-awaited revenge on her nemesis. Then things get murky when forced time together has Mack and Jordan falling back into their friendship, and into something more. And when Mack confesses the real reason she turned on Jordan freshman year, it has Jordan questioning everything—past, present, and future.

If Jordan lets her guard down and Mack in, will she get everything she wants, or will she be humiliated all over again?

Buy it: Bookshop | Amazon

Continue reading Happy Lesbian Visibility Day 2024!