I liked all of these so much that I had a very hard time deciding which order to put them in. So they’re random because it was impossible, I really loved this batch!

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder
Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah
Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
The Last City by H.J. Nelson
Frontier by Grace Curtis

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury
Published by Margaret K. McElderry Books on February 28, 2023
Pages: 512
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The Haunting of Hill House meets Sadie in this evocative and mind-bending psychological thriller following two teen girls navigating the treacherous past of a mysterious mansion ten years apart.

Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls…

A decade later, Brittney is desperate to get out from under the thumb of her abusive mother, a bestselling author who claims her stay at “Miracle Mansion” allowed her to see the error of her ways. But Brittney knows that’s nothing but a sham. She decides the new season of her popular Haunted web series will uncover what happened to a young Black girl in the mansion ten years prior and finally expose her mother’s lies. But as she gets more wrapped up in the investigation, she’ll have to decide: if she can only bring one story to light, which one matters most—Daisy’s or her own?

As Brittney investigates the mansion in the present, Daisy’s story runs parallel in the past, both timelines propelling the girls to face the most dangerous monsters of all: those that hide in plain sight.

Content Warning, via author’s note: “Content warnings: childhood sexual assault (off page, some details discussed), childhood physical abuse (corporal punishment, off page, described), childhood physical abuse (confinement punishment), childhood neglect, gaslighting, grooming, suicide (off page, mention), killing of a goat (off page, described), discussions of fatphobia, body horror/gore, violence, death”

I feel like I have been reading a lot of “messed up houses” books lately. I also feel like I have read a lot of “true crime media hosts” books lately. This fits into both categories, yet still somehow manages to stand out and shine in the crowd.

I’ll start by saying that this book is gorgeous. That is the best way for me to describe it. Not just the writing, though that is lovely too. But just the way the author so convincingly developed the complexity of each and every character and their relationships with each other was absolutely stunning. They are so multifaceted, so relatable and realistic, that it made the story all the more compelling. While we mainly follow characters Daisy and Brittney, ten years apart, we learn so much about the other characters in their lives too. Each of the main characters is wonderful in her own right, and I adored both of their stories- I genuinely could not decide whose perspective I enjoyed more.

Add to it that there are many deep rooted mysteries to be had, and it makes for a very entertaining story. I will say, the beginning is a bit slow. So if you wonder if it is going anywhere, I promise it is, please don’t give up! There is so much to explore in this story, from the complicated family relationships, to two young women coming of age, to the absolutely abhorrent and significant underrepresentation in the media for crimes against Black women and girls.

This book had me on the edge of my seat, and after the first couple chapters, I simply could not put it down. Both because I was so interested in the mystery and because of how much I loved the characters and wanted to read more of their stories. I don’t want to tell you too much more, because it is a mystery, after all, and you should discover all the amazing twists and excitement for yourself. So off you go.

Bottom Line: I fell so in love with Daisy and Brittney, as well as being completely enraptured by this unputdownable mystery.

Sister, Maiden, Monster by Lucy A. Snyder
Published by Tor Nightfire on February 21, 2023
Pages: 272
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Sister, Maiden, Monster is a visceral story set in the aftermath of our planet’s disastrous transformation and told through the eyes of three women trying to survive the nightmare, from Bram Stoker Award-winning author Lucy A. Snyder.

To survive they must evolve.

A virus tears across the globe, transforming its victims in nightmarish ways. As the world collapses, dark forces pull a small group of women together.

Erin, once quiet and closeted, acquires an appetite for a woman and her brain. Why does forbidden fruit taste so good?

Savannah, a professional BDSM switch, discovers a new turn-on: committing brutal murders for her eldritch masters.

Mareva, plagued with chronic tumors, is too horrified to acknowledge her divine role in the coming apocalypse, and as her growths multiply, so too does her desperation.

Inspired by her Bram Stoker Award-winning story “Magdala Amygdala,” Lucy A. Snyder delivers a cosmic tale about the planet’s disastrous transformation ... and what we become after.

Okay look. This might have been the most messed up book I have ever read, and that is saying something, because I read some really messed up stuff. But wow, kudos Ms. Snyder, because my jaw was on the floor for oh, a good 60 percent of this book. And I was completely riveted for 100% of it, make no mistake. I don’t even want to say too much about it because I do feel I’d be doing you, the reader, a disservice. You need to just experience it for yourself, frankly.

The book does an incredible job of making wonderful and extremely relevant societal commentary throughout the story. Sure, it’s a very different set of circumstances, but some things don’t change, specifically how human beings treat each other. I loved that the commentary is woven through the story so seamlessly. I also really loved the three different perspectives we get as the story goes on. Yes, they do end up crossing paths at the very least, which I loved, so don’t worry that you’ll never see a character again after you leave her perspective. The characters were from very different backgrounds, and each had so much to offer the story in terms of their own experiences and points of view.

The end for me got a little hard to follow, as there was a lot going on, but I still absolutely devoured this story. There were some great witty and humorous moments that give the reader a reprieve from the darkness and depravity, which I also love. If you can handle some truly messed up elements, and want a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat throughout, this is certainly that book.

Bottom Line: The plot was exciting, the story compelling and downright bananas, and I loved every minute.

Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth
Published by Tor Books on February 21, 2023
Pages: 128
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From dystopian visionary and bestselling phenomenon Veronica Roth comes a razor-sharp reimagining of Antigone. In Arch-Conspirator, Roth reaches back to the root of legend and delivers a world of tomorrow both timeless and unexpected.

Outside the last city on Earth, the planet is a wasteland. Without the Archive, where the genes of the dead are stored, humanity will end.

Passing into the Archive should be cause for celebration, but Antigone’s parents were murdered, leaving her father’s throne vacant. As her militant uncle Kreon rises to claim it, all Antigone feels is rage. When he welcomes her and her siblings into his mansion, Antigone sees it for what it really is: a gilded cage, where she is a captive as well as a guest.

But her uncle will soon learn that no cage is unbreakable. And neither is he.

Apparently, this is based on the story of Antigone. I won’t pretend that means anything to me, and you can just go ahead and think me an uncultured swine. Fair? Great. Anyway, being that I knew nothing of the source material, I can’t comment on that. But I can (and obviously will) comment on the story itself!

Now, we’re kind of thrown into the story, so it did take me a bit to figure out what was going on. And I think because there are quite a few points of view, especially for a short book, it took some time. However, once I got the gist of what was happening, I was hooked. I loved the family dynamics at play, and because of that, the emotions were definitely high. I was invested in the characters certainly, and probably more so because they were connected so deeply.

It’s a fast read, and an entertaining one at that. The story ends in a way that me, a person not knowing the source material, hoped lended itself to a sequel. But I have read that it is appropriate for the situation, and won’t have a sequel. I can hold out hope anyway, right?

Bottom Line: Very well developed for such a short story, I loved the emotions that familial connection brought to this engaging novella.

Where Darkness Blooms by Andrea Hannah
Published by Wednesday Books on February 21, 2023
Pages: 320
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Andrea Hannah's Where Darkness Blooms is a supernatural thriller about an eerie town where the sunflowers whisper secrets and the land hungers for blood.

The town of Bishop is known for exactly two things: recurring windstorms and an endless field of sunflowers that stretches farther than the eye can see. And women—missing women. So when three more women disappear one stormy night, no one in Bishop is surprised. The case is closed and their daughters are left in their dusty shared house with the shattered pieces of their lives. Until the wind kicks up a terrible secret at their mothers’ much-delayed memorial.

With secrets come the lies each of the girls is forced to confront. After caring for the other girls, Delilah would like to move on with her boyfriend, Bennett, but she can’t bear his touch. Whitney has already lost both her mother and her girlfriend, Eleanor, and now her only solace is an old weathervane that seems to whisper to her. Jude, Whitney's twin sister, would rather ignore it all, but the wind kicks up her secret too: the summer fling she had with Delilah's boyfriend. And more than anything, Bo wants answers and she wants them now. Something happened to their mothers and the townsfolk know what it was. She’s sure of it.

Bishop has always been a strange town. But what the girls don’t know is that Bishop was founded on blood—and now it craves theirs.

Content warning at start of book: “Some of the thematic material within contains discussions of sexual assault (implied, later revealed), stabbing/death, sex (implied), and underage drinking.”

Here we have another creepy-ass book, but this time, it’s the whole town that’s messed up! The town of Bloom is a bit of a mystery. Women and girls go missing on the regular, but the most that the town’s Powers That Be do is throw up a statue and move on. And even that is rare, frankly. But when three women go missing at once, their daughters have to band together to survive in this weird place.

I suppose you have to suspend some disbelief that this town can exist like it does in modern day society, but once you get past that, it is certainly an entertaining story, full of secrets and mysteries. Each young woman who lives in the house, Delilah, Jude, Bo, and Whitney, all have their own stories and their own buried secrets to content with, along with the pain of their missing mothers. While the girls used to be inseparable, things have been tense, and rifts are very clearly happening.

We get the points of view of each of these characters, which generally works well since it enables us to get to know each of them, though doesn’t make any one particularly stick out. But it does certainly make you feel for each of the girls, and make you realize that this town treats women as disposable, whether they’re missing or not. The book is also extremely atmospheric- I certainly felt the isolation and, for lack of a better word, “wrongness” of the town and its inhabitants.

The book was entertaining throughout, as I was definitely invested in finding out answers to the secrets and mysteries. I was certainly invested enough in the characters and their relationships to be desperate to see how it all played out for them. I was also really pleased with the ending, it worked really well with the story and I was satisfied.

Bottom Line: Overall, a solid mystery with a lot of likable characters and a definitely messed up town with an equally messed up past.

Immortality: A Love Story by Dana Schwartz
Series: The Anatomy Duology #2
Published by Wednesday Books on February 28, 2023
Pages: 374
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Hazel Sinnett is alone and half-convinced the events of the year before—the immortality, Beecham’s vial—were a figment of her imagination. She doesn’t even know whether Jack is alive or dead. All she can really do now is treat patients and maintain Hawthornden Castle as it starts to decay around her.

When saving a life leads to her arrest, Hazel seems doomed to rot in prison until a message intervenes: She has been specifically requested to be the personal physician of Princess Charlotte, the sickly daughter of King George IV. Soon Hazel is dragged into the glamor and romance of a court where everyone has something to hide, especially the enigmatic, brilliant members of a social club known as the Companions to the Death.

As Hazel’s work entangles her more and more with the British court, she realizes that her own future as a surgeon isn't the only thing at stake. Malicious forces are at work in the monarchy, and Hazel may be the only one capable of setting things right.

Immortality: A Love Story is the eagerly anticipated sequel to Dana Schwartz's bestselling gothic romance, Anatomy: A Love Story.

I really enjoyed the first book in the duology, Anatomy. I daresay this one is even better than its predecessor. We catch back up with our protagonist Hazel, who is basically shunned for acting like a dude so she can practice medicine, but plenty of people are in dire need of her services. So she’s holed up in her family home, helping people who need it the most. Because she’s awesome like that. Until she’s accused of murder, because of course we can’t just let the nice lady doctor live in peace.

Problem is, not only did Hazel not murder anyone, she hasn’t a clue who she’s even accused of murdering. But again, we all know society is not really concerned about fairness, so. She finds herself in the unenviable position of being told that her life basically depends on curing Princess Charlotte (no, not that Princess Charlotte, this Princess Charlotte) of her mystifying illness that no one has been able to figure out.

While she’s tending to this pretty serious new job, she ends up in the company of some… well, let’s just say some great historical minds. But maybe not in the way you’d think. Anyway, they want her to join their club. But of course, nothing is as it seems on the surface, and Hazel knows this. She’s trying to help the princess, figure out what happened to her lover, Jack, and you know, stay alive among the rich and powerful who see her medical ability as useful to them. It’s a lot for Hazel, and the stakes are therefore quite high- especially when put into context with the royal court’s future.

I loved this story even more than the first, found it exciting and entertaining. Hazel has certainly grown as a character, and continues to in this book, all while being charming and witty and certainly likable. I loved that we got to change the setting in this story, and were introduced to a lot more historical figures in this fabulous alt-historical fantasy.

Bottom Line: Immortality ties up this duology splendidly, with characters we grew to love, and great new introductions, as well as a storyline that keeps the reader guessing. Can’r wait for more from this author!

The Last City by H.J. Nelson
Series: The Last She #2
Published by Wattpad Books on February 14, 2023
Pages: 384
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The highly anticipated sequel to The Last She, which Goodreads has included in its Most Anticipated Young Adult Novels of December 2021
The first rule of living through the apocalypse. Trust no one.

Ara Is desperate to reunite with her father and put the events that happened in Boise behind her. Ara hopes to find sanctuary in The Last City, an almost-mythical place where the plague is nonexistent and she can finally discover the truth about her family. Once she arrives, she discovers the truth is stranger than fiction, and Ara wonders if she’s made a huge mistake . . .

Kaden Will go anywhere for Ara, will do anything, but he’s tested to his limits in The Last City. Forced to join a dangerous expedition, Kaden soon finds himself separated from Ara and, once again, on the run for his life. He barely escaped alive, and now he needs to risk it all again to find Ara in The Last City . . .

Sam Has hooked up a rigged electrical system, blasting away the silence with music, feeling almost normal since he nearly lost his life. He doesn’t know where Kaden and Ara are, and when he meets a mysterious girl named E, they embark on an adventure that will bring all of their lives clashing together . . .

All three must uncover the secrets of The Last City if they have any hope of getting out of this apocalypse alive.

Okay I am going to get my one qualm of this one out of the way before we get to all the good stuff: It took me a second to get back into this world and characters. But no need to worry, this book certainly doesn’t suffer from the dreaded “middle book syndrome”. In fact, quite the opposite. I found the story very exciting, and the way the author developed the plot to work really well, feeling like a complete story in itself rather than just setup for the final installment.

The book has three points of view, but they all are pretty necessary, and they all weave the story together in a way that really works. Of course, we’re catching up with the titular “last” She, Ara, as she attempts to figure out what the heck her dad had to do with the apocalypse, and why he wants her to go to this other titular “last” city. Her newfound love interest from book one, Kaden, is back to help her out, and we also get a point of view from Kaden’s brother Sam, who I adore. This was actually handled really well- I worried it might complicate the story, but instead it works really well to let the reader know what is happening in multiple locations. Speaking of which, I love that we get a lot more insight into the world, and get to travel to new locales in this installment.

Basically, this installment is going to answer a lot of Ara’s (and the readers’) questions, but it’s going to give us a whole new batch of questions going forward, and I love that. There is a lot that happens in this story, and a lot of it was pretty shocking. Because I don’t want to spoil anything for people who haven’t read the first book either, I will keep this short and simple, and say this: If you enjoyed book one, I think you’ll like this one just as much if not more. And if you didn’t start the series yet, you really should, because I love messy apocalypse fare.

Bottom Line: One of the best “middle books” I have read in a looong time, this one ups the ante and brings even more thrills to the series! Cannot wait for the next book!

Frontier by Grace Curtis
Published by Solaris on February 14, 2023
Pages: 304
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

FRONTIER is a heartfelt queer romance in a high noon standoff with our planet’s uncertian future.

Frontier is The Mandalorian meets Mad Max, with the emotional heart of the Wayfarers series. But at its core, Frontier is a love story, about two women who find each other, lose each other and then find each other again.

"Curtis oozes charm and humour in this pacey debut, which will be devoured by fans of Fallout and Firefly" -Tamsyn Muir

A dazzling debut for fans of Becky Chambers and Mary Robinette Kowal.

In the distant future most of the human race has fled a ravaged Earth to find new life on other planets. For those who stayed a lawless society remains. Technology has been renounced, and saints and sinners, lawmakers and sheriffs, travelers and gunslingers, abound.

What passes for justice is presided over by the High Sheriff, and carried out by his cruel and ruthless Deputy.
Then a ship falls from the sky, bringing the planet’s first visitor in three hundred years. This Stranger is a crewmember on the first ship in centuries to attempt a return to Earth and save what’s left. But her escape pod crashes hundreds of miles away from the rest of the wreckage.

The Stranger finds herself adrift in a ravaged, unwelcoming landscape, full of people who hate and fear her space-born existence. Scared, alone, and armed, she embarks on a journey across the wasteland to return to her ship, her mission, and the woman she loves.

Fusing the fire and brimstone of the American Old West with sprawling post-apocalyptic science fiction, FRONTIER is a heartfelt queer romance in a high noon standoff set against the backdrop of our planet’s uncertain future.

I have been trying to write this review for close to a month now, and it isn’t going well. Not because I didn’t like the book; quite the opposite. Because I think it is quite lovely, but I don’t exactly know how to tell you why it was lovely, because of the spoilery nature of many of the lovely bits. I’ll try though, because I have to.

Okay so. The main character is… I can’t tell you who it is, is the thing. The Stranger is obviously not from around here, and “here” is a mess. It’s basically what is left of a messy, abandoned Earth, years after humanity as a whole decided to up and leave. It tracks, basically: ruined one planet, so we went to find more to ruin. Anyway, we’re still being crappy on Earth, obviously. But what its dwellers do not expect is someone who left to come back.

It’s described as a “Space Western”, and it absolutely has those vibes. The atmosphere is absolutely on point, and frankly, if I had landed there I’d be reluctant to hang out in this place either. But the Stranger is not just here for funsies and to assess the dying planet. She’s there to find her love, which makes the story that much more compelling and emotive. There is also a lot of humor and charm infused throughout the story. I also was quite fond of some of the side characters we encountered along the journey, they certainly added to the story.

The worldbuilding was fascinating, and though I’d have liked to know even more of the things, I get that it isn’t really possible in the length of one novel. I did love the background we got, as well as the world building of the current time/location. I also absolutely loved the ending of this story. It’s one of the best and most fitting book endings I’ve encountered, and it made the reading experience feel even more worth it.

Bottom Line: Loved the atmosphere and concept, and that it was truly a love story at its core while still being really well developed and exciting.

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!  

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