I admit, I am tired of feminist retellings. Or rather, books marketed as powerful treatises on female rage, when in reality, they are often little more than palatable, watered-down morsels of women’s empowerment, lacking any nuance. Unfortunately, even fictional empowerment remains a privilege usually afforded to classically beautiful, relatively upper-class white women, who enjoy maximumRead More
The Best Vampire Novel Since Interview with a Vampire: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab Review
In one of the most anticipated releases of 2025, V.E. Schwab crafts an entirely new sapphic vampire story. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil (Tor 2025) is the best vampire novel since Interview with the Vampire (1976). Set across three distinct timelines spanning almost five centuries and countless countries, Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil follows three womenRead More
An Exploration of Queer Muslim Diasporic Identity: The Last One by Fatima Daas
I snagged Fatima Daas’s The Last One because someone—I forget both where and who—mentioned it had won France’s Prix de Flore. Look, I’ll admit it, I’m a magpie for any book that makes the French literary crowd uncomfortable enough to shower it with accolades. What blindsided me? Three hours hunched over the book in my café’s corner,Read 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
Love in the Times of Seaside Horror: Providence Girls by Morgan Dante Review
In the past couple of years, I have discovered some real gems of independent and self-published sapphic literature. Last May, I read Morgan Dante’s stunning Providence Girls, which won Best Historical Fiction at the 2023 Indie Ink awards. The author pitches it as “a seaside sapphic cosmic horror romance” in the vein of The Handmaiden and The Shape ofRead More
Have a Fire Extinguisher Ready: All Fired Up by M. K. England Review
Nicole Wells left Seattle two years ago for a master’s in fire dynamics and some much-needed space. Now she’s back, ready to hit reset on her life…and take one last chance on best friend/unrequited love Skylar Clark. But Nic’s plans crumble when Skylar announces she’s quitting her job and moving to Fiji. Kira McKinney steppedRead More
Edge of the World: An Anthology of Queer Travel Writing edited by Alden Jones Review
I cried a bunch while reading Edge of the World (out May 6, 2025). A profoundly topical collection, Alden Jones’s latest anthology collects sixteen* autobiographical pieces about travel from writers loosely connected by their complicated American-ness and LGBTQ+ identities. I appreciated Jones’s intentions in titling the anthology—in hoping that “the contents undermine the idea ofRead More
Hiding and Healing: Cover Story by Celia Laskey
What’s the biggest lie you’ve told about yourself? It’s 2005, and Ali is a publicist for Hollywood’s biggest stars. Part of her job entails keeping gay celebrities in the closet—which is pretty ironic, since she’s a lesbian. When Ali is assigned a new gay client, Cara Bisset, who’s breaking onto the scene with a (hetero)Read More
A Worthy Sequel to Shirley Jackson’s Classic: A Haunting on the Hill by Elizabeth Hand
From award-winning author Elizabeth Hand comes the first ever authorized retelling of Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959). A Haunting on the Hill (Mulholland Books, 2023) is a startlingly contemporary and frighteningly vivid take on one of the most well-known haunted house novels of the twentieth century. A Haunting on the Hill follows Holly, a playwright turnedRead More
The Dark Secrets of the Beauty Industry: You Belong To Me by Hayley Kirscher
Hayley Kirscher’s You Belong To Me (out April 15, 2025) is a compendium of hot topics seemingly tailored for the algorithm. It’s got cults, skincare, girls kissing, goths, spot-on references to gothic literature. It’s almost tailor-made for the TikTok savvy teen. It’s also an empathetic exploration of power, belonging, and identity. Refreshingly, that last one doesn’t haveRead More
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