Haley Cass returns to her Washington set universe with a slow burn roommates to lovers romance that feels like a warm light left on after a long day. The Snowball Effect pairs sunshine chaos with frosty restraint, then lets patience do the […]
S.T. Gibson’s Savage Blooms is a dark, sensual, and unsettling descent into gothic desire and ancient enchantment. Set in the misty isolation of the Scottish Highlands, the novel entwines lust, loneliness, and faerie folklore into a story that feels both timeless and […]
Sarah Adler’s rom-com pairs a sunshiney optimist with a grumpy writer on a chaotic drive from Washington, D.C. to Key West, with three spoonfuls of an elderly friend’s ashes tucked in a backpack. It sounds zany, yet the humor is wrapped around […]
Aria Aber’s debut novel follows Nila Haddadi, a nineteen year old born in Germany to Afghan refugees, as she tries on new selves inside Berlin’s club culture and art scene. Warehouses throb with techno, drugs feel like possibility, and a much older […]
Kiersten White’s Hide takes a childhood game and turns it into a deadly nightmare. Equal parts psychological thriller, survival horror, and mythological allegory, this novel invites readers into a weeklong contest where the stakes are much higher than anyone imagines. It’s dark, […]
Laura Pearson’s The Last List of Mabel Beaumont is a deeply touching and life-affirming novel about grief, friendship, and second chances. Beautifully written and brimming with quiet wisdom, it’s the kind of story that slips gently into your heart and lingers long […]
Adam Cesare’s Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives delivers a bloody, chaotic encore that dives deeper into trauma, fame, and small-town paranoia. Following up one of the most talked-about modern slashers in YA horror is no easy feat, but Cesare leans […]
Ling Ling Huang’s Natural Beauty is a haunting, provocative debut that blends horror, satire, and social commentary into a dark reflection of our beauty-obsessed culture. With an atmosphere that is both luxurious and grotesque, this novel exposes the monstrous side of perfectionism […]
Christopher Buehlman’s The Daughters’ War is a magnificent, heart-wrenching return to the grim, goblin-haunted world he first introduced in The Blacktongue Thief. Set during the devastating years before that novel, this prequel doesn’t merely expand the mythology; it deepens it. Through blood, […]
Book Review: Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki – A Luminous Blend of Music, Magic, and Humanity
Ryka Aoki’s Light from Uncommon Stars is a novel that defies categorization. It’s part science fiction, part fantasy, part contemporary drama and entirely original. It’s a story about a violin teacher who owes her soul to the devil, a runaway transgender prodigy […]