At 36 I'm definitely not the target audience, but I enjoyed this middle-grade adventure fantasy enough to continue reading the series. It awoke my nostalgia for the books I loved back when I was in the target age group, and has an interesting premise. The queer crush was sweet & I'm glad to see it in a middle-grade novel. 

A post-apocalyptic/post-pandemic, queer (cheers for bi representation), road trip romance.  Dark themes, lovable characters, funny banter. Well worth the read. 

The Antlered King is by far my favourite new book for 2025 so far. It was bleak & brilliant, heartbreaking & hopeful, terrifying & tender. Sullivain is monstrous and utterly, devastatingly human. I found so much to relate to in Hellevir, a young woman who carves literal pieces out of herself to bring people back from death because she is able to help.  If you love happily ever afters this book may not be for you. If (like me) you love dark themes, political intrigue and epic queer love so deep & destructive that it changes the course of the world and leaves you sobbing through its last chapters - you are in luck. This book will stay with me for a long time.