All of the things that I loved about Hailey Piper's writing in The Worm and His Kings is on full display in Queen of Teeth: the wit, the centering of queerness, and the visceral gross-outs that don't rely on simple violence and mutilation to be disturbing.

But this book is very much its own monster. It follows Yaya as her body--already a contested ground as she has a genetic condition that means a pharmaceutical company owns half of her DNA as intellectual property--begins rapidly transforming into something else, something with teeth, and tentacles, and its own consciousness. It's kind of like the movie Teeth (you know the one) mixed with Venom, and it's a fun ride with sad implications.

This was my second Hailey Piper book this month, and at this point, I think I'll read anything she writes. Her voice feels like a trustworthy one, and she can hit all the notes that make horror uniquely escapist and comforting for me. It's not gentle, but it's kind.