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 Noir Mystery with Angels and Demons: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk Review
In 1940s Chicago, a serial killer known as the White City Vampire spreads fear as everyone wonders who his next victim will be. Helen Brandt, an exiled magician deemed a warlock for her crimes against the Brotherhood, is on the case. But as the mystery unfolds, her past comes back to haunt her, and sheRead More
A Bittersweet Supernatural Romp: Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk Review
At the close of 2024, I offer up my favorite read of the year: C.L. Polk’s Even Though I Knew the End. This novella catapulted me through five acts in the span of 133 pages, and it hurt in the best possible way. Settle in for a gritty noir detective story: January 1941, Chicago. The coldRead More
Not Quite Scared Straight: Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle
“I was a cog in a terrible machine for years, and now I’m honored to be the monkey wrench dismantling it.” Rose grew up in the extremely religious town of Neverton, Montana, where the biggest industry is a gay conversion camp that boasts a 100% effectiveness rate. She’s just about to graduate high school, andRead More
Pick Up These Sapphic YA Graphic Novels for a Halloween Romp
Last weekend was Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon, and every October readathon, I pack my TBR full of short Halloween-themed reads. Naturally, those are usually queer. This year, I’ve discovered a couple of sapphic YA graphic novels that are perfect Halloween romps. They give Halloween vibes—one even has a talking Jack o’Lantern!—but aren’t too scary. They’reRead More
A Succubus, a Fallen Angel, and a Forbidden Romance: The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée
While I am usually pretty ambivalent about book covers, every once and a while a book will come along with such a beautiful cover that I can’t help but add it to my to-read list. One such book is Tamara Jerée’s The Fall That Saved Us. Once I read the summary, though, it went from just beingRead More
An Emotional Demon Hunter Romance: The Fall That Saved Us by Tamara Jerée
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! Tamara Jerée’s The Fall That Saved Us centers around Cassiel, a former demon hunter who has left her abusive family behind in favor of a quiet life in a little bookshop she now runs. When a succubus named Avitue shows up one day, the two fallRead More
Gory Bisexual Horror/Fantasy: The Dead Take the A Train by Cassandra Khaw and Richard Kadrey
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! One thing about a Cassandra Khaw book: I never know what I’m getting into. Even two-thirds of the way through this, completely invested in the story, I still kept thinking, “What genre is this? And also, what’s the plot?” Julie is a 30-year-old exorcistRead More
All The Pretty Girls Read Sapphic Stories: More Readalikes for Reneé Rapp’s Snow Angel
If you have Reneé Rapp’s album Snow Angel playing on repeat, these are the sapphic books you need to read! Pick up the one that matches your favorite song, or get the whole stack if it’s too hard to pick. You can get a copy of any of these titles from your local bookstore orRead More