Recs if you like The Finalist...

in shoujo manga/anime, the “crimson rose and candy” archetype historically features romance between a confident, alluring “crimson rose” (often with high-contrast, dramatic or gothic features and aesthetics) and a more feminine, blithe “candy” (often with low-contrast, airy or pink features and aesthetics). while these stories in yuri originated as queer coming-of-age tragedy, i love identifying similar polarity frameworks in my favourite lesbian/sapphic novels alongside its various subversions!

One of my special interests is my book calendar...and I see no reason everyone else shouldn't benefit from my obsessing over upcoming books! Made up of a combination of books I've read early (and therefore KNOW are excellent) and ones I'm just plain excited for! Skewing diverse and/or less conventional, Adult with very occasional YA. I will update this constantly, but if you want weekly updates on new releases, check my blog (link in profile). Suggestions welcome but may not always be utilised!

Fiction books where ballet is central to the plot, include various genres.