What if the governess fell in love with … the wife in the attic? This is essentially the premise of Rose Lerner’s new novel The Wife in the Attic, which was just released as an Audible Original last month. I’ve been devouring audiobooks like candy since the start of the pandemic, so what could be better than a queer reimagining of one of my favorite Gothic novels released exclusively in audio? And as someone who has always been way more sympathetic toward Bertha Mason than Mr. Rochester, The Wife in the Attic was everything I could ask for. Continue reading Review of The Wife in the Attic—A Sapphic Jane Eyre
Tag: book review
The Gentleman and the Thief Review
A music teacher who moonlights as a sneak thief and a penniless gentleman with a knack for uncovering secrets—what could possibly go wrong? The Gentleman and the Thief by Sarah M. Eden is the sequel to The Lady and the Highwayman, one of my favorite books from 2019. I’ve been keeping this cozy historical romance at the ready to serve as a comfort read during this dark and dreary winter, and I’m so glad I did. This book had everything I’ve come to expect from the Dread Penny Society series: an abundance of mystery, a sweet courtship between two lovable protagonists, and a clever interplay with the uniquely Victorian literary phenomenon of the penny dreadful. If you need to keep the love going post–Valentine’s Day, I can’t recommend this series enough! Continue reading The Gentleman and the Thief Review
Review of A Dowry of Blood–Vampires and Toxic Relationships
So many stories focus on the great romance between a human and a vampire and end with that human joining the undead in a happily ever after. But when you’re immortal, that “ever after” is a long, long time. What happens to a relationship over the course of centuries? And what if the immortal being you’ve tied yourself to isn’t the perfect romantic partner after all? S. T. Gibson explores these themes and more in her new adult fantasy novel A Dowry of Blood, which comes out on Sunday, January 31. Continue reading Review of A Dowry of Blood–Vampires and Toxic Relationships
Review of Vampires Never Get Old—Giving the Genre New Life
“Vampires are dead.” People have been saying this ever since the overwhelming popularity of the Twilight series led to an explosion of young adult paranormal fantasy in the mid-2000s that saturated the market. But as a life-long vampire fan, I’ve always felt that these denizens of the undead still have more to teach us. There is something universally appealing about the vampire that isn’t going away anytime soon, and there are still infinite new angles from which the topic can be approached. Instead of telling everyone that the genre has been done to death already, why not open it up to a diversity of fresh new voices that haven’t yet had the chance to tell their story? That’s exactly what Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker do in their new anthology Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite, which came out back in September. Continue reading Review of Vampires Never Get Old—Giving the Genre New Life
Harrow the Ninth Review
Our favorite lesbian necromancer is back! Gideon the Ninth was one of my favorite books that I read in 2020, so it’s only fitting that I would start off the new year by finishing the sequel. Harrow the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir came out last August, and is the perfect thing to soothe the wound of having your heart ripped out at the end of the first book. Well, after it pokes that wound a few times first, for good measure. Continue reading Harrow the Ninth Review
Review of The Only Good Indians—Indigenous Horror
What happens when the hunters become the hunted? The Only Good Indians by renowned indigenous author Stephen Graham Jones was one of the most-talked about horror novels this year and came out back in July. I finally decided to check out for myself whether it lives up to the hype. Continue reading Review of The Only Good Indians—Indigenous Horror
Gideon the Ninth Review—Haunted Necromancers
A skull-faced girl in black slicing her way through an explosion of skeletons—I only needed to see the cover of this book to know that it would be exactly up my alley. Despite the fact that this debut novel was one of the most talked-about fantasy releases of 2019, it took me over a year to finally get my hands on a copy. I am, of course, talking about Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. But if you’re late to the bandwagon like I was, now is the perfect time to hop on—especially since the second book in the series, Harrow the Ninth, just came out this summer. Continue reading Gideon the Ninth Review—Haunted Necromancers
The Monster of Elendhaven Review
Even a monster can have a heart. Two monstrous men make an exquisite pair in Jennifer Giesbrecht’s dark fantasy debut The Monster of Elendhaven, which came out last year from Tor.com. Though I devoured this bite-sized novella in a single day, I have a feeling its lyrical prose and intricately constructed world will linger with me for some time to come. Continue reading The Monster of Elendhaven Review
The Year of the Witching Review
Witches lurk in the Darkwood … and they seem to be calling out to Immanuelle. A young woman struggling to be accepted by the Puritanical society she lives in discovers her true power in The Year of the Witching, a stunning debut fantasy novel by Alexis Henderson, which came out back in July. I know Halloween is well over, but it’s never too late in the year to pick up a good witchy book! Continue reading The Year of the Witching Review
Review of Cursed Once More
How many curses can one woman handle? Clara Blackwood finds her happily-ever-after interrupted by yet another family curse in Cursed Once More by Amanda DeWees. I had reviewed the initial book in this duology, With This Curse, quite a few years ago and was very impressed with DeWees’s grasp of classic Gothic tropes. After hearing how much I loved the first book, the author was kind enough to send along the sequel. It had gotten buried in my TBR pile until now, but I was delighted to finally dive back into DeWees’s luscious Victorian Gothic world with Cursed Once More. Continue reading Review of Cursed Once More