Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The moody, fraught, and atmospheric energy of Bronwyn Fischer’s novel The Adult (Random House, 2023) is the perfect September read that reflects the joy and the chaos of a new academic year! The Adult follows Natalie, an eighteen-year-old student who has just arrived in Toronto to begin her first year of university. Moving from herRead More
The Perfect Sapphic Historical Fiction for Your Fall TBR: Learned by Heart by Emma Donoghue
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Emma Donoghue’s much-anticipated new novel, Learned by Heart (29 August 2023), is a heartfelt biofiction about the life—and love—of Eliza Raine and her relationship with the famous Anne Lister. Drawing on Lister’s copious five-million-word diaries, Donoghue brings Raine’s story to life in this vivid novel. While Anne Lister’s life and work have become enormouslyRead More
A Fraught, Erotic Fever Dream: Mrs. S by K. Patrick
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Every so often I read a novel that just has the perfect summer energy about it—and even though I read a review copy of Mrs. S by K. Patrick (Europa Editions, 2023) in the spring, I was thinking of summer the entire time. Perfect for fans of novelists like Emma Cline, Mona Awad, orRead More
Sci-Fi Meets Historical Fiction Meets Classic Lesbian Vampire Novel: The Gilda Stories by Jewelle Gomez
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Equal parts science fiction, historical fiction, and lesbian fiction, The Gilda Stories (1991) by Jewelle Gomez is a classic queer vampire novel. The novel begins in the Southern United States in the 1850s and follows Gilda, who escapes from slavery and is taken in by two lesbian brothel proprietors whoRead More
Rachel reviews The Disenchantment by Celia Bell
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Celia Bell’s debut novel, The Disenchantment (Pantheon 2023), is a stunning example of queer historical fiction at its finest. Set in seventeenth-century Paris, The Disenchantment follows Baroness Marie Catherine, who lives in a world of luxury, entertainment, and intrigue. However, there is also an undercurrent of darkness racing through ParisianRead More
Rachel reviews The World Cannot Give by Tara Isabella Burton
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link Described as a cross between Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and Patricia Highsmith’s The Price of Salt, Tara Isabella Burton’s novel The World Cannot Give (2022) is a dark, Gothic, and powerful meditation on the dangers of desire and the consequences of ambition. The novel follows Laura Stearns as she arrives at St.Read More
Rachel reviews House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link From the author of The Year of the Witching (Penguin 2020) comes a new queer Gothic novel about blood, power, and control. House of Hunger (Penguin 2022) was enthralling until the very last page, and I still want more! House of Hunger is set in a world where the upper class literallyRead More
Rachel reviews Fayne by Ann-Marie MacDonald
Amazon Affiliate Link Famous Canadian author Ann-Marie MacDonald returns with an incredible new historical novel. Fayne (2022) sweeps readers away to an expansive world of fantasy and wonder. Set in late-nineteenth-century Scotland, Fayne follows Charlotte Bell, who is growing up at Fayne, the lonely and isolated Scottish estate that straddles the border between England and Scotland. Charlotte has beenRead More
Rachel reviews The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link A fast-paced, truly unputdownable fantasy novel, Sunyi Dean’s The Book Eaters is the kind of expansive adventure novel that draws you in and keeps you there. Dean’s writing represents a fabulous new voice in fantasy literature. The world of The Book Eaters introduces us to a secret lineage of aristocratic beings whoRead 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