The Sparkle Trap wins a major US nonfiction prize for queer narcissistic abuse

A Spanish author survived narcissistic abuse in a gay relationship, wrote the book that didn't exist, and just won a major US nonfiction prize

The Sparkle Trap beat over 1,000 submissions across all genres to win the Overall Nonfiction First Prize at the 2026 IndieReader Discovery Awards. Daniel de Llano couldn't find a book like this when he needed one. So he wrote it.

When Daniel de Llano came out the other side of narcissistic abuse in a same-sex relationship, he looked for a book that could help him understand what had happened. Not a general self-help guide. Something that spoke to the specific dynamics of queer relationships: the invisibility, the gaslighting amplified by community, the particular barriers to being believed when you are already living outside the mainstream.

He couldn't find one. So he wrote it.

The Sparkle Trap: Recognizing, Escaping, and Healing from Narcissistic Abuse in LGBTQ+ Love was named Overall Nonfiction First Prize winner at the 2026 IndieReader Discovery Awards on 28 May. The prize is notable for what it is not: a diversity or specialty category. The Sparkle Trap competed against every nonfiction title submitted regardless of topic or genre and came out on top. Over 1,000 submissions. One winner.

De Llano is a Spanish author, coach and hypnotherapist based in Spain, whose professional training and work with survivors was developed in the United States. He is the founder of IPSAR, the Association for Research, Prevention and Recovery from Relational Abuse, and has spoken at the First International Congress on Narcissistic Abuse in Spanish.

The book addresses the specific dimensions of narcissistic abuse in queer relationships that mainstream resources routinely miss: the way shared community can be used as a weapon, the added complexity of internalised homophobia, the ways survivors are gaslit within spaces that are supposed to be safe.

The Sparkle Trap is available in English and in Spanish as Tu Brillo en Vena on Amazon and IngramSpark.