Wilberton Academy takes its theater seriously. Members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society are revered by the student body, and beautiful, talented Elizabeth Woodward is a shining star among them. The whole school is abuzz over the production of Romeo and Juliet that Elizabeth is starring in as the tragic leading lady—until she’s found dead the morningRead More
Lesbians, Vampire Hunters, and Dark Academia: The Book of Blood and Roses by Annie Summerlee
Rejoice, lesbian Blade fans! Annie Summerlee’s latest novel is a vampire-killer thriller that richly evokes the dank shadows, steel blades, simmering tensions and artfully moody gloom of the iconic film, amongst others. But with the singular improvement of lesbian leads! Operating out of a deliciously gothic ruined convent, vampire hunter Rebecca spends her days nerfingRead More
Southern Gothic Horror Meets Dark Academia: I’ll Make a Spectacle of You by Beatrice Winifred Iker Review
In I’ll Make a Spectacle of You, we meet Zora Robinson, an ambitious graduate student and Hoodoo practitioner, as she enters her first year at the most respected HBCU in the country. Bricksbury University has a long and storied history, with more than a few secrets, the biggest of all involving a beast that roams theRead More
Chronic Illness in Dark Academia Fantasy: A Sharper, More Lasting Pain by Alex Harvey-Rivas Review
I feel like I need to start this review of A Sharper, More Lasting Pain by Alex Harvey-Rivas (they/them) with an unusual amount of personal context, stemming from this quoted passage: “Nine months is a long time,” she echoes. And, in this moment, it feels like a lifetime. The line stopped me short because I’m just overRead More
A Fresh Take on Magic Schools: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
In what has quickly become one of my top novels of the year, Emily Tesh crafts a unique fantasy world full of violence, intensity, and intrigue in The Incandescent (Tor 2025). In Tesh’s newest novel, which has been compared to fiction by Naomi Novik and Emily Danforth, Doctor Walden is the Director of Magic at Chetwood Academy—a schoolRead More
Not-So-Dark Academia: The Incandescent by Emily Tesh
I was very excited to get an ARC for The Incandescent by Emily Tesh, because Some Desperate Glory was one of my top books of 2023. Magical boarding school is a jump from space dystopia redemption arc, but Emily Tesh continues not to disappoint. The Incandescent is a zippy, fresh perspective of a boarding school story that sucked me from the beginningRead More
A TBR Shame Spiral in Six Titles
As a librarian, my TBR (to-be-read) shelf is never ending. Every time I think I am going to crack down on my whole bookshelf of unread books, something amazing comes through the returns chute, or my VERY well-meaning coworkers share something that they think I will love (most times they are right on the money)Read More
The Modern Sapphic Dorian Gray of My Dreams: Voice Like a Hyacinth by Mallory Pearson Review
Mallory Pearson’s newest release, Voice Like a Hyacinth, follows five best friends, Jo, Amrita, Saz, Caroline, and Finch, throughout their senior year at a prestigious art school. Senior painting students like our five main characters are expected to compete for the opportunity to have a solo gallery dedicated to their art. Jo, Amrita, Saz, Caroline,Read More
All of the Sapphic Vampires, None of the Victorian Homophobic Overtones: An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson
Like many queer women, I’m sure, I have a strange relationship with the original Carmilla. On the one hand, sapphic vampires are objectively sexy. On the other hand, the way the danger she poses is framed as inextricably linked to her queerness (and her foreignness) is, well, unpleasant, to say the least. I always say thatRead More
Blood, Sex, and Poetry: An Education in Malice by S. T. Gibson
“She kissed me with a martyr’s agonized desperation, like I was the only sword she ever wanted to fall on.” I’ve been eagerly anticipating this book since it was announced: I loved Gibson’s queer polyamorous take on Dracula’s wives in A Dowry of Blood, and I have written several times about my complicated relationship withRead More