Strange Birds: A Sapphic Futuristic Fantasy Romance

by Denise Minka

Strange Birds is a positive dystopian sapphic sci-fi romance that features many LGBTQ+ representations.Set millions of years in the future, in a futuristic fantasy world, the story follows two women whose destinies clash as they investigate the mysterious disappearances of young people in downtown High Clouds, a central city on Earth. In numerous adventures and action-packed stories, they unravel dark mysteries and intricate conspiracies, leaving readers with unexpected cliffhangers.
Birdy is an assassin with a small rural village upbringing. She has trained her whole life and is a proficient fighter and scientist. She is also something else, a secret she has never revealed.
She came to Olivia's hometown with a to kill a man. In her investigation to find the target, she stumbles upon a dark mystery and heart-wrenching crime.
Olivia is a vigilante who was raised in high society, received the best education and upbringing. However, after being stranded on a distant planet, she had to fight for her survival and return home far from the princess she once was. Olivia barely recognised herself or the city she had always called home.
She made it her mission to uncover the dark secrets of her society and the crime lurking beneath the high towers. This put her in a deadly combat with the mysterious ninja assassin. Only one of them could obtain the precious compound capable of saving the human race.
In a sapphic fantasy romance tale and numerous fights against monsters, Birdy and Olivia must find common ground and shared morals for a greater saving the Earth. Both are on personal quests for redemption, recognition, and peace of mind, but they may discover something even more profound than they had ever anticipated.

What you can badass female heroes with grey morals and dark pastEnemies to lovers angsty romance with good tension build upFound family and well developed secondary characters and world buildingA lot of LGBT+ representationDark mystery and action in a fast paced story with nasty aliens and vicious villains

451 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2025

Reviews

[Bonnie Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Romance, mystery, action, and just a splash of horror... Strange Birds explores a world close enough to our own that every twist feels like half reflection, half prophecy. Minka takes current social issues, imagines how these issues might progress, and explodes them into a divisive future, exploring the various avenues that different sects of society might follow – as well as the dark ways these issues might be twisted and used for selfish, powerful people's own purposes.

A refreshing array of LGBT+ characters, both heroes and villains, situated in a world where identity is no longer a defining factor for how someone is viewed or what someone can achieve in life... unless that identity offers value to someone else. Strange Birds sets up expectations only to subvert them again and again, inviting the reader to question all of their assumptions.

[Veneta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly captivating and addictive. A definite must-read!

For everyone who loves romance, this story has a lot of adventure, graphic fights, and saucy sapphic love. It explores tropes like enemies-to-lovers in a very refreshing way.

The romance develops gradually through friendship and a lot of existential conversations between the main characters. The love at first sight is described realistically as an attraction, and the deeper, real love comes later with the common fight and path the two women discover.
It also has everything a sci-fi book lover's desire - amazing world-building, distant planets, dystopian future cities riddled with crime, aliens, and powerful villains who make you question the existence of life.
The book also touches on up-to-date social topics and feels very relevant. Makes you think about the direction of the current world and what the future might really hold.
The characters are colorful and complex, and go through a lot of development. Among the two main female characters, we meet many more friends, allies and enemies, and all of them are very well developed.
Olivia and Birdie have everything that you can want from a female protagonist in a sci-fi genre that is usually missing otherwise.
They are not just bad ass, but have vulnerabilities and flaws, and are allowed to be dark and loving at the same time. They have very different personalities but a common goal, and make it work in the relationship without the need for personal sacrifices. They also have their own independent story lines, which is so refreshing in lesbian romances.

[Katie B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ok so I nearly DNF’d this at 30% because the writing style, sentence structure, descriptions and dialogue just weren’t for me. BUT. The plot, general concepts, ideas, characters, backstory and elements of the world building are pretty good and really interesting! Writing a book in general is a massive achievement, and all the love and support for indie sapphic authors! So massive kudos to Denise Minka for her achievement and having some pretty fun ideas. I was rooting for Olivia and Birdie the whole way.
I’m not sure if it’s intended to be more humorous than serious, but a gang leader called ‘Billy Bob’, strip club owner called ‘The Pimp Prince’, Mr Corn, and a half cyborg, robotically enhanced battle tank of a woman called Karen? Very funny! There’s so many things to enjoy in this, the writting just needs more work for me.

Plot Summary:
A dystopian, sapphic sci-fi set after WWIII. ‘High Society’ run everything and have made themselves genetically ‘perfect’, very much look down on the common folk. Birdie, an assassin with nanotechnology, regeneration and a habit of turning into a bird, meets Olivia, a previous ‘high society’ girl turned vigilante with a robotic arm and eye. Both getting in the way of the others mission but end up having to work together to solve some stuff and save some people.

Things I liked:
- The Cabbits - like rabbits but clumsier
- The idea of High Society
- The cat
- Gang leader ‘Billy Bob’ and strip club owner ‘The Pimp Prince’ as surprisingly funny names.
- The backstory for Birdie & Olivia
- The plot & ideas

Overall, a sapphic, dystopian sci-fi with lots of action, mystery and secrets, with some Mass Effect and Borderlands vibes.

[Bilyana Ruskova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Strange Birds is an amazing journey through a fantasy dystopian world with a lot of references to our modern society. I loved all the lgbtq+ representation and topics told interestingly and refreshingly. The characters were also very exciting and the romance grabs you from the start. The tension and the angst are slowly building keeping you on the edge.
The story follows a murder mystery which unravels to be a big conspiracy and the two main female heroes develop nicely along the way. I was totally drawn towards their bickering about world topics and discussions of their grey morals. The action is captivating and there are some dark moments and challenges the heroines have to face which gives the book a cool post-punk feel.
Overall I enjoyed this novel to the fullest.

[Iveta Savova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Strange Birds. I loved the most the topic about family and the family issues of the main characters. As a new parent, it hit me hard the constant discussion of parenthood and all the responsibilities of shaping a decent human being.
The action was a little too much for my taste, but I cried and laughed with the characters, who were well-rounded and dimensional. And after all who doesn't love a good romance between two women in a world that felt a little too fantastical because of all the alien monsters but had a great lgbtq+ representation.

[Daniele Vaccaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a page turner to say the least, it's futuristic, dark and magical.
The romantic side of the story is also done perfectly, never rushed and engaging.
What else can I say? Well done Denise!