You know when a bunch of factors work together in your favour to make a book particularly immersive for you? This was my experience, earlier during a holiday weekend (late October), when I read Carmella Lowkis’s sophomore novel A Slow and Secret Poison (February 10, 2026). A wonderfully atmospheric and twisty, somewhat slow-burn sapphic horror thrillerRead More
Sapphic Yearning Galore: Meeting Millie by Clare Ashton Review
For the month of September, I let people on my Instagram and Threads choose what books I should read. I narrowed the options down to 12 books on my shelves or Kindle. The top vote getter for the month was Clare Ashton’s Meeting Millie. I am so happy that it ended up winning, as thisRead More
A Knight, A Princess, and Sapphic Soulmates: The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tashi Suri Review
The Isle in the Silver Sea (out October 21, 2025) by Tashi Suri is a story about stories, set in an alternate version of England, called the Isle. In it, we follow two incarnates—people who are reincarnated to follow the path of a written tale, like The Merciless Maiden, or in this case, The Knight and the Witch.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
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
The Little Things that Add Up: The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows by Olivia Waite Review
Olivia Waite’s The Care and Feeding of Waspish Widows is the second book in her Feminine Pursuits historical romance series, and although they are connected loosely, one can easily start here. Waspish Widows centers on beekeeper Penelope and printer Agatha, two women in their 40s who form a deep friendship through caring for a colony of bees that happenedRead More
A Haunting Carmilla Retelling: Hungerstone by Kat Dunn Review
From Gothic fiction author Kat Dunn comes a new retelling of Carmilla that is equal parts haunting and thrilling. Hungerstone (Zando, February 18 2025) is one of the best new releases of 2025. Set in mid-nineteenth-century England, Lenore has been married to her husband Henry for a decade. A steel magnate and social climber, their marriage has benefitted fromRead More
Rachel reviews Small Angels by Lauren Owen
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Dark, Gothic, and atmospheric, Lauren Owen’s new novel Small Angels (August 2022) is perfect for fans of spooky queer fiction and it’s out just in time for autumn! This book is definitely one to add to your Halloween TBR. Small Angels begins in a small English village with a story thatRead More
Nat reviews Plain English by Rachel Spangler
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Rachel Spangler is probably one of my most read authors of sapphic romance because they are so darn reliable. I’ve never been disappointed. In my mind, I often refer to Spangler as “the author who writes sports romance,” and yeah, I’m a big sucker for a feel-good sportsRead More
Rachel reviews The Animals at Lockwood Manor by Jane Healey
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link If you like dark, historical novels with a brooding mystery at the center, you’ll love Jane Healey’s The Animals at Lockwood Manor. A queer novel set at a remote country estate in England at the beginning of World War II, the twists and turns of this novel—like theRead More