I don’t think I’ve ever been so pulled into a novel by the dedication, author’s note, and epigraph. (The epigraph to Part One is “i did not come to preach of peace / for that’s not the hunted’s duty.” -Danez Smith.) In the author’s note, Johnson explains the inspiration behind this book coming from her time participating in the 62-day sit in at Nashville’s Tennessee State Capitol. I found myself writing down multiple quotations, including…
A Queer Girl Detective Romp: Goldie Vance (Volume One) by Hope Larson, Brittney Williams, and Sarah Stern Review
Goldie Vance (Volume One) centers on a girl detective with a passion for cars, ideally fast ones. She’s the daughter of a hotel manager and a professional mermaid in Cold War-era Florida. Goldie is a friendly, outgoing, direct girl, and when she hears of a necklace gone missing in her dad’s hotel, she’s right on theRead More
A Sentimental Romance That Takes You for a Ride: Whenever You’re Ready by Rachel Runya Katz Review
Despite not reading reviews about Whenever You’re Ready by Rachel Runya Katz, I set my expectations high for this contemporary romance. Estranged childhood friends-to-lovers, a road trip, siblings, grief and healing, a dual timeline, and third person present tense? Maybe I have some specific selling points, but consider me sold.
An Open Wound of a Novel: Chain-Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah Review
This is a book I respect, and it’s one I struggled to get through. The subject matter is difficult—not only is it set in a near-future dystopia where prisoners fight each other to the death for a chance at freedom, but it also includes footnotes about the real-life atrocities of the prison-industrial complex. I canRead More
A Sweet and Swoony YA Romance: Love Points to You by Alice Lin Review
First of all, this is of my all-time favourite YA covers. It’s so adorable. And I’m happy to say that the story delivered. We’re following Lynda, a teenager who is devoted to getting into her dream art school. Unfortunately, her father just remarried and she now has to share a room with her stepsister, Josie.Read More
In Defense of Messy Main Characters: Skye Falling by Mia McKenzie Review
I can’t count how many people I’ve recommended The Summer We Got Free by Mia McKenzie since I read it ten years ago. It’s just such an atmospheric, beautifully written, absorbing story. And yet, when she came out with her next novel, Skye Falling, I inexplicably didn’t pick it up. Since then, Skye Falling hasRead More
Sliding Doors Meets Mad Max: The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
When The Space Between Worlds came out in 2020, it was all anyone was talking about on Book Riot. (That’s the site I work for now and wrote for then.) It’s not often a sapphic book gets that much attention outside the queer book world, and the premise immediately hooked me. So, of course, IRead More
A Delicious Debut: A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen
A Bánh Mì for Two by Trinity Nguyen (she/her) is the perfect delicacy to round out your February reading. This dual perspective debut novel follows two young women over the course of a semester as they learn more about themselves, each other, and the rich, beautiful, and complex Vietnamese culture that binds them. Lan is aRead More
It’s Never Too Late to Learn: Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory Review
Flirting Lessons by Jasmine Guillory (out April 8, 2025) is a book that reminded me that I do actually like romance novels. If I go too long without reading one because my head is stuck in tragic fantasy-and-horror land, I start to delude myself into thinking that I hate cheesy romance and feel-good stories. Fortunately,Read More
Horror that Lingers: We Came to Welcome You by Vincent Tirado Review
Mesmerizing, sickening, echoing-hole-in-your-stomach, roller coaster lurch of a creeping inferno: Vincent Tirado’s We Came to Welcome You: A Novel of Suburban Horror is all that and more. Released in the last quarter of 2024, to the tune of “The Other Black Girl meets Midsommar,” the book takes the banal normalcy of racism and colonialism and twists it until itsRead More
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