What better to read during Pride Month than a sapphic monster romance? A man-eating shapeshifter falls in love with the daughter of a powerful monster hunting family in Someone You Can Build a Nest In, a delightful fantasy romance debut by John Wiswell that came out earlier this year. Continue reading Review of Someone You Can Build a Nest In—Monster Romance
Tag: LGBTQ
Books with Nonbinary/Ungendered Protagonists
Happy Pride Month, dear readers! I’ve written a few times on this blog about how Gothic literature has been used to explore marginalized genders and sexualities, both in joyful, celebratory ways and as a way of exploring societal and personal anxieties about not conforming to the norm. Many queer authors have found their place in the field of Gothic fiction, and you’ll also find many queer characters both as villains and as protagonists (or sometimes, both). Today I want to highlight a few of my favorite recent reads in Gothic-descended genres that are written from the point of view of a nonbinary or ungendered protagonist: Continue reading Books with Nonbinary/Ungendered Protagonists
Review of What Grows in the Dark—A Spooky Debut
What if you could turn your trauma into your hustle? It might not be the healthiest way of dealing, but Brigit does just that by creating a ghost hunting show centered on her connection to her dead sister in What Grows in the Dark, a debut horror novel by Jaq Evans that came out earlier this year. Continue reading Review of What Grows in the Dark—A Spooky Debut
Review of A Power Unbound—Fantasy Politics and Power Plays
There’s just nothing quite like a satisfying conclusion to a stellar trilogy. I’ve been eagerly awaiting A Power Unbound, the conclusion to Freya Marske’s The Last Binding series, which finally came out earlier this month. I was sucked into Marske’s intricate world of Edwardian magic from the first few pages of A Marvellous Light and fell even more in love with the series and its recurring characters when I read Book 2, A Restless Truth. With A Power Unbound, Freya Marske does a masterful job of rounding off the series and orchestrating a large cast of characters and complex plot to a satisfying conclusion. Continue reading Review of A Power Unbound—Fantasy Politics and Power Plays
Review of The Sleepless—A Debut Sci-Fi Thriller
What would you do if you had twenty-four waking hours per day? As tempting as that prospect sounds, journalist Jamie Vega learns that these extra hours aren’t necessarily all they’re cracked up to be in Victor Manibo’s debut, The Sleepless, a sci-fi thriller which came out last year. Continue reading Review of The Sleepless—A Debut Sci-Fi Thriller
Review of Camp Damascus—Horrors Real and Imagined
Summer camp is one of the last places you want to find yourself if you’re living inside a horror novel. But the scariest thing about Camp Damascus? Rose can’t even remember attending it. Internet-famous erotica author Chuck Tingle deftly pivots to serious horror in his first traditionally published novel Camp Damascus, out tomorrow, July 18. Continue reading Review of Camp Damascus—Horrors Real and Imagined
Review of Night’s Edge—A Vampire Pandemic
You’re not sick of pandemic books yet, are you? Liz Kerin uses the premise of a vampire pandemic—and the restrictions and lockdowns that come with it—to explore complicated family relationships in her sophomore horror novel Night’s Edge. The book, which follows a young woman who has devoted her life to being caretaker to her infected mother, comes out tomorrow, June 20. Continue reading Review of Night’s Edge—A Vampire Pandemic
Review of The Scourge Between Stars
“Don’t open the door.” This warning comes just a little bit too late for Jacklyn and her crew in The Scourge Between Stars, a stunning debut sci-fi thriller by Ness Brown that came out in April. This tense game of cat-and-mouse between a starship crew and unseen alien intruders lurking within the vessel’s walls is perfect for fans of the Alien film franchise who have been waiting for something new and fresh in that vein. Continue reading Review of The Scourge Between Stars
Review of The Writing Retreat—Channeling Stories and Spirits
How far would you go for a book deal? Five aspiring authors are faced with this question in Julia Bartz’s deliciously suspenseful debut The Writing Retreat, which came out earlier this year.
Alex has been suffering from writer’s block for over a year, ever since she had a catastrophic falling out with her former roommate and best friend Wren. But then she gets the opportunity of a lifetime to help her break out of her slump: a spot in an exclusive month-long writing retreat at the estate of her literary idol: the mysterious and reclusive genius of feminist literary horror, Roza Vallo. The only problem? Wren has been invited, too. Upon arrival at Blackbriar, Roza’s isolated mansion in snowy Upstate New York, Alex learns that she will be competing against Wren and three other young women to write a novel from scratch, with grueling daily word-count requirements and critique sessions. The winner will receive a seven-figure book deal and get to tour with Roza. Choosing the house’s dark history as the subject of her book, Alex will have to confront her own demons and those that haunt the estate if she’s going to have any chance at winning the contest. But as the retreat progresses, it becomes clear that not all of these young women may be quite who they appear and that even Roza Vallo may be harboring dark—perhaps deadly—secrets. Continue reading Review of The Writing Retreat—Channeling Stories and Spirits
Review of Tell Me I’m Worthless
Today I want to take a deeper dive into one of the books I read for the Trans Rights Readathon the other week: Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt. This debut haunted house story came out in the U.S. earlier this year and showcases how examples of real-world horrors can be transformed and explored with nuance in fiction. Continue reading Review of Tell Me I’m Worthless