Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Oh my. I need this in my hands YESTERDAY. It's queer normative, Gods are real, all three main characters are compelling, the world-building is extensive without being info-dumpy. Honestly, I'm upset that I got this as an ARC because 1. the cliffhanger was ILLEGAL and 2. I don't know how long I have to wait to read the second book. If you love complex, complicated characters, this is for you. They're awful and doing what they can to survive and it makes the whole story breathe. The last third of the book absolutely flies by, but without making the first two thirds feel slow. This was so so complex without being confusing. Brutal but intimate. This is the kind of book that you don't just think about for hours after reading, it's the type of book you think about forever. There are so many themes present regarding oppression and the idea of trying to change the system from the inside, and the hope of revolution.

In short, this was incredible. I want to say more but I fear it'll spoil the plot. Fans of Black Sun, and anyone who loves fantasy with extensive world-building and complex characters, this is for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts are my own.

This was a really impressive debut mystery. I think the synopsis missed the mark. I wouldn't call this cozy nor do I think the Halloween town part was integral enough to the story to be so heavily mentioned. I don't think it gave small-town spooky vibes as much as I had thought based on the synopsis. The plot was really tragic and there's definitely trigger warnings to be had regarding rape, killing, drug abuse and everything else related to serial killing and kidnapping. I will say, the plot twists were very twisty but not far fetched and everything came together by the end of the book. I think the cats on the cover emphasized a plot point that wasn't super consequential to the outcome.  I do think that the set up was well done and that jumps back and forth between the past and present made sense for the plot. The pacing was a little slow at the beginning and became a bit erratic until the last 30% or so. I'm ready for Adams' next book, I can't wait to see what she does next.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

This was okay but not what I was expecting or hoping for. I think marketing this as a romance was an awful choice. Ultimately, it was neither an important plot or sub-plot. This was more centered on themes of loneliness, friendship, and belonging more than any romance. The actual story was focused on the friendship between two women, developed through letters left in used books. However, the letter exchange didn't feel very meaningful or like there was really and deeper development between the women. I'm also not quite sure why Westley's POV was included other that to try to force a love-triangle. He felt like a background character despite being the reason the letter writing began. Also, warning, this was EXTREMELY slow paced. So slow paced I considered DNFing because nothing was happening. Even after changing my expectations from a romance to a more introspective, slice of life, comparable to Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop or Days at the Morisaki Bookshop, I still felt like there was something missing regarding the depth of the story. The story's saving grace was Macdonald's writing style. Her prose was stunning and I really enjoyed the sentence structuring and plot organization, even without really enjoying the plot. I'm sure my litfic lovers will adore this but it wasn't for me.

This was a fun little cyberpunk heist. I love that it was queer as fuck. I loved the Hawaiian Pidgin use in it; but it was lacking in almost every aspect when you think about it for more than 3 seconds. For a sci-fi novel, the world building was extremely lackluster. The events could've taken place on earth for all intents and purposes because so little was done regarding the scenery. The money system was pretty much just US dollars. Even the time cycle was 24 hours. The only time that you even realize it's taking place on a space station is because Edie thinks about what will happen to the air pressure in one of the locks if they blow up a wall. All of the characters were clearly an archetype. Edie is the gruff but kind-hearted butch, Angel is the intelligent ice queen. The remaining cast of characters are: the computer geek, the long-suffering sibling, the evil Musk-esque trillionaire. I was hoping for more after reading the synopsis, especially with the comp to The Locked Tomb, but ultimately, it was lackluster and too predictable, even for a heist.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The premise for this was so cool but ultimately, I felt very meh by the end. I liked that the setting was in 2000, but it felt like Juliano was trying too hard to make references to 90’s pop culture in every possible scene. I did really like the mixed media aspect. I think the fact that it was a story within a story, Piper’s blog entries, Avery’s journal entries, and Sam’s online scraping, brought new perspectives of all the moving parts to the story and it was interesting. Honestly, I’m pretty surprised that I haven’t read a horror novel surrounding those spam chain email threads before and I think Juliano’s take on those threads was really cool. Piper was a great protagonist, she’s inquisitive and compassionate, and was willing to believe the paranormal activity she saw.

It was a quick, entertaining read but felt too full of references to truly create a creepy atmosphere, ending up with a novel that lacked overall tension or climax.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit books for the chance to review this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


I needed this to be released and in my hands a week ago. I don't even know where to start talking about everything I loved. This was so distinctly and blatantly queer. Various genders and sexualities were present. I loved that Iriset was bisexual and how normalized it was to be trans, nonbinary (including with the use of neopronouns!!!), or experience same sex attraction (this was even pushed as preferable to having un-sanctioned children) which is something we need to see more of with the state of the world and the current push against trans and other queer people.

Iriset was everything I wanted in a main character. She's clever and intelligent, driven by her love for her father and her art. I loved her argumentative nature and how she pushed Lyric philosophically. She wasn't vengeful which I wouldn't have minded but it seems to be formulaic at this point when a heroine has her family taken or killed by the rulers. Her relationships with Amaranth, Lyric, Raia, her father, even Bittor, were all really well developed. 

The magic system was incredible. I have never seen anything like it before and it was well constructed without any failed logic holes in it. The rest of the world building was also really well done. I loved that the ruling class wasn't white, nor were the subjugated groups, which introduced even more shades of black and white when it came to the morality of the ruling class. There wasn't a lot of info dumping either, which tends to be normal when it comes to fantasy. All of the politics and morals, both for those who believe in Aharta and balance and those for chaos and apostasy, were subtly intertwined in the story which made it feel natural to question it with Iriset as you're reading.

I needed book two yesterday and book 1 hasn't even released yet. This is for fans of A Memory Called Empire and The Traitor Baru Cormorant. It's deliciously sexy (yes there are sex scenes), politically intriguing, and unapologetically queer. 

Thank you so much to Kayla Ancrum for sending me this ARC. I'm so happy we're oomfs <3

Oh my god, this was such and impressive and immersive read. Hollis, my poor, beloved, asshole. I don't even know where to start with this. The chapters were as short and abrasive as Hollis is, although I wish they were longer. Kayla's prose is so lyrical and charming like Walt. I loved how the blue collar, dying town was represented, and the fear of being stuck, the necessary reliance on community. Speaking of community, it permeated every single part of The Corruption of Hollis Brown. It's both realistic of small town living and the relationships between the kids, Hollis and Annie, Hollis and Yulia, Hollis and Tommy and even Jorge, all felt so realistic. The self harm of self destruction and the purposeful self sabotage in a town where being a part of the community is a need, not just a nice thing to have. 

The body horror was well done, I loved that Hollis explained every bit of how his body physically felt after being posses. Sometimes the relationship between Hollis and Walt felt a little too easy, like there was too short of a period of Hollis trying to leave or fighting with Walt.  I loved loved loved the codependency and how both boys had to see each other, truly, deeply, intimately, it was beautiful. I think Annie and Yulia's relationship was super cute and I loved the added sapphic rep. I need more sapphic rep in everything I read. I loved all of the relationships, the acceptance of queerness and comp-het, the representation of passive suicidality and depression, this was amazing.

This was so much fun to listen to. The pictures were a lot more than just a gimmick and I loved how they played into the plot. I was trying to connect the points while listening, and everything fell together and instead of feeling disappointed that I figured everything out, I felt smug that I could think of it. The ending felt like there wasn't a necessary suspension of belief for it to make sense. Uketsu is now on my murder mystery radar because this was fantastic and I'm glad it wasn't outlandish at all.

This started off so weird (pos). I really enjoyed the prose, it was very lyrical. About half way through, I began losing interest. I love queer obsession and longing but the relationships got so convoluted that instead of being drama filled and interested, it felt derivative. If I wanted to hear about shitty heterosexual relationships, I'd talk to my boyfriend's mom. The last third of the book felt especially off base compared to the first two thirds. I was hoping for more poison and botany and weirdness. I was hoping for more in general, but this wasn't bad.

I enjoyed so much of this. Now, I did not realize it wasn't a standalone and the ending caught me off guard. WOO BISEXUALS! Woo polyamory! However, it didn't feel like the romance was equally developed between all three. I really enjoyed the folklore and how it made the story without being the full the story. Gisela is probably one of my recent favorite YA heroines. The vibes were immaculate, I felt like I was part of the story. I couldn't tell what time period the story took place in though, and I felt like it was strange that the language felt so modern but the setting felt retro at the same time. I'll will definitely need the second book immediately.