As someone who read and loved Nell Stevens’s previous historical novel, Briefly, a Delicious Life (2022), I was eagerly anticipating her latest release, The Original (Norton, 2025), and it did not disappoint! Set primarily in England in 1899, Grace is the longtime ward of her uncle’s family on their once-grand estate. After her parents were sent to mental institutions,Read More
Curses, Forgeries, and Family Secrets: The Original by Nell Stevens Review
When Grace’s parents are institutionalized, she’s sent to live with her uncle’s family, where she’s looked at with suspicion. The family considers her an inconvenience at best: they think she’s strange and destined to go “mad,” like her parents. She mostly tries to stay out of the way. It doesn’t help that she has faceRead More
A Twisty Sapphic Spiritualist Con: Spitting Gold by Carmella Lowkins
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Carmella Lowkins’s new historical novel, Spitting Gold (Atria Books 2024), is a fabulously atmospheric story with a twisting plot that keeps you guessing until the very end! Spitting Gold is set in nineteenth-century Paris. Baroness Sylvie Devereux has worked tirelessly for years to distance herself from herRead More
An Anti-Capitalist Murder Mystery in Space: Stars, Hide Your Fires by Jessica Mary Best
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link You ever read something that you really really want to love but can’t? That was Stars, Hide Your Fires for me. I’m a huge sucker for political sci-fi/fantasy, and while I more often read heftier adult novels, I do occasionally browse the young adult section of my local bookstore. From the back-cover blurb toRead More
A Fabulously Smart Summer Read: The Fake by Zoe Whittall
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link A short novel with a lot of heart and an unputdownable plot, Zoe Whittall’s The Fake (2023 Ballantine Books) is a fabulously smart story. The Fake follows Shelia and Gibson, two unconnected characters who are drawn unwittingly into the same oppressive scheme. Shelia is still reeling from the sudden death ofRead More
A Con Artist at Grief Counselling: The Fake by Zoe Whittall
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Zoe Whittall is a master at writing broody queer novels, and ever since reading Bottle Rocket Hearts, I just can’t resist them. The description and first chapter of this might lead you to believe that it’s an action book or at least a mystery. Befriending a con artistRead More
Danika reviews The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe
Nora was raised by her con artist mother to be many girls: whoever their mark needed her to be. When her mother falls for the criminal, abusive man she was supposed to be conning, though, Nora made a risky escape. Now, she’s been trying to live a normal life. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have that optionRead More