Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph

Teenage sisters unexpectedly upend everything they know to be true of their colonized homelands in this high fantasy political drama.

Sisters Effie and Vanna, three years apart, have been orphaned in the violent plundering of their village and consequential imperial rule from the Celestials. Claiming to protect them from piracy, the Celestials proclaim that their “lands are too rich to avoid unwanted attention, and your Gifts, however bountiful, will not be enough to deter those who would do you harm.”

The Celestials host an annual ceremony where villagers who have come of age and demonstrated proof of magical powers are tested for a particularly rare valuable skillset. Winners are honored with the duty to use their talents at the imperial army’s will. No one questions this or the Celestials’ intentions because the lore of the bloodshed they were saved from hangs heavy and haunting.

Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies spans years, venturing with Vanna and Effie into hidden, unfamiliar places, from alternating points of view: Effie and Vanna alone on their journeys. This is a politically intriguing and morally challenging story, a coming-of-age, a reckoning with colonialism and corruption—and it’s rooted in authentic sibling energy that anyone who grew up with a sibling just a few years apart in age will understand and feel deep to their core.

All Effie wants is to manifest powers and travel the world doing the duty she’s dreamed of for all her fifteen years of life. When Vanna manifests powers and joins the dragoons, Effie’s powers remain elusive, keeping her home. Their relationship becomes tense, especially with Effie sulking as she grows desperate to claim her destiny.

Alternating chapters provide insight into their strained sisterhood: We read Vanna’s pride in and protective heart for Effie, while we watch the sisters (both under increasing stress) verbally clash whenever they meet; Vanna’s duty takes her away for days on end, and we feel Effie’s tangled jealousy of Vanna colliding with the ache of realizing she misses her sister.

When Vanna is sent to stop rebels in another village who have “taken up arms to deny our host her tithe” she learns about the corruption and control used to enforce the Celestials’ power.

Back home, a conniving, entitled Effie lies, cheats, and demands her way into the audience of people with the power to grant her the job of her dreams. The determined sisters follow their hearts and sense of justice—Vanna’s aligned with duty to her country, army, and humanity; Effie’s led by her belief that the life granted to those with powers is her birthright.

Along the way, both teenagers are unexpectedly faced with an awakening about the reality behind the Celestial empire. Confronted with the patriarchy masquerading as servants to their Celestial queen, they begin to question their allegiance.

As an older sister, and someone who was nowhere near as bold (and frankly, daringly arrogant) a teenager as Effie, I related most to Vanna. I appreciated her compassion and capacity to recognize the enemy rebels as untrained, unskilled fighters not much older than Effie. She sees them for what they are: “children playing at soldier, armed with deadly weapons they didn’t understand.” I loved the strategic moves reflected in Vanna’s chapters and how her heart shone through even more than her very capable skills on the battlefield. Effie’s plans to claim her “rightful” place are twisted and so typical of a teenager willing to risk it all. I was thrilled and entertained by the lengths she was willing to go.

“To work the craft, you need to lie truthfully. You need to be honest and false, mysterious and bare. You need to bend in half without breaking. How many men do you know capable of containing so many contradictions?”

With a brilliantly evocative representation of imperialist tactics, Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies’ stunning setting serves as a background to the teenage girls’ feminist fueling, empowering understandings of their own power, and reckoning with the rewarding reality of rebellion. I read this book while following the proceedings at the UN General Assembly and was struck by the sharp, incisive clarity with which the author was able to mirror the struggle and strength of countless nations represented at the conference.

Author Z. Bennett Lorimer’s glittering high-fantasy world mirrors ours with remarkable emotional impact. Readers can’t help but be struck by the heartbreak and manipulation of a town left in ruins “as a reminder of all they had lost —all they might lose again without their host’s protection,” even as Effie and Vanna’s people live in peaceful gratitude to them.

“You’re balanced on a knife’s edge over bare sky…You’re going to spend the rest of your natural life falling through it. You’re going to fall and fall and fall—until your heart stops or your organs give out.” I frequently paused in awe of the author’s vivid descriptions of moments like a side character changing their beard’s style, a lavishly worded villainous threat, or an already-shocking-in-context scene turning into a truly astonishing sight, so gorgeous that anyone’s jaw would drop. Z. Bennett Lorimer has a gift for not only imagining spectacular, staggering drama, but writing these moments with searing emotion felt from each character’s specific desires.

I’d recommend this book for readers who love magical stories with real-world impact, listen to Paris Paloma songs, and prefer their revolutionary ideology served with a heaping dose of magnificent fantasy worldbuilding. More than anything, I’ll remember this book for its representation of siblinghood. I have not read so true and honest a reflection of the tangled emotions between similarly-aged siblings who aren’t on the best of terms but remain the one person on the planet who knows you deeply and (in their own complicated, questionable way) can’t help wanting the best for you.

Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies is worth recommending for Vanna and Effie’s sisterhood alone, but it’s also an expansive call for young women to follow their desires, and to listen carefully when older women impart their riotous feminist wisdom.

Plot-wise, I’m extremely stressed and enthralled about what will happen next. Luckily, the author has given us a wealth of thought-provoking, bewitching implications for each storyline Vanna and Effie find themselves in. I’ll be thinking about every possible angle—knowing that author Z. Bennett Lorimer will certainly continue to shock both his characters and his readers in unimaginable ways—while I wait for the urgently-needed, well-earned sequel.

Thank you for reading Andrea Marks-Joseph’s book review of Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies by Z. Bennett Lorimer! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Victoria Lilly

A multi-generational gothic saga set against the backdrop of 20th-century New England, blending psychological horror, supernatural intrigue, and family drama

The novel opens in 1946 with the harrowing story of Sofia Tarantino, a teenager impregnated under mysterious and disturbing circumstances—a harrowing episode among many in a generational curse involving a seductive, violent spirit named Daedrian. Fast forward to the present-day, 18-year-old Francesca “Fran” Tarantino is grappling with the recent death of her beloved great-aunt Aurora Ciccone, who has left her not just a considerable estate but a sprawling archive chronicling generations of women haunted by the same ghost.

As Fran begins to read Aurora’s journals and assorted historical documents—including letters, priest’s diaries, and legal testimony—she uncovers the dark legacy of the “blood witch” women in her lineage. Each was seduced and possessed by Daedrian, who seeks to perpetuate his influence by impregnating the next female heir. Fran must confront not only the supernatural presence that has haunted her since childhood but also the weight of her inheritance, her emerging identity, and the unspoken traumas of her family’s past. As she begins her new life in New York City, her autonomy, sanity, and survival hang in the balance. Can she survive his growing power without revealing her family’s secret—or will she become the next bride in his endless, blood-soaked history?

A Blood Witch is a dark and unflinching exploration of generational trauma as well as wider social evils such as domestic violence, sexism, and incest. Stone’s prose is polished and immersive, featuring historical epistolary fragments, contemporary narrative, and chilling confessions from multiple point-of-view characters. The novel is graphic in its treatment of themes and supernatural motifs and intentionally unsettling in explicit depiction of violence of varying sorts.

The strongest aspect of the novel is its ambitious structure and slowly-building suspense plot. Stone employs a patchwork of narrative techniques to weave a multi-generational story of spiritual possession and inherited suffering, organically nudging the reader to piece together its sinister history along with the protagonist Fran. The use of archival material echoes the epistolary horror tradition of Dracula or The Turn of the Screw.

Fran’s grief combined with her confusion and gradual unraveling tells a quite fascinating story. Her relations with her overbearing great-aunt Lily, darling cousin Mary Jane, and the spectral Daedrian are complex and often fraught. The supporting characters, especially Aurora and the earlier “brides” of Daedrian, are also given significant development. Aurora, in particular, is portrayed with nuance: she is at once a victim, a guardian, and an imperfect moral compass for Fran. Her letters are among the novel’s most haunting and eloquent passages.

The supernatural elements are handled with restraint, keeping the fantastical to the minimum. Daedrian is less a demonic presence or a monster like Dracula and primarily an allegory for intergenerational abuse and female disempowerment. He is seductive, manipulative, and, most terrifyingly, patient. The terror lies not in jump scares or gore but in the insidious way he violates boundaries—familial, physical, and spiritual.

Transitions between past records and present events are occasionally abrupt, and some sections—especially historical documents—can slow the momentum. Daedrian’s psychological profile, while fascinating at first glance, remains frustratingly static. Readers may wish for more from his origin and motivations.

A Blood Witch is a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle. It interrogates themes of bodily autonomy, inherited trauma, and the haunting persistence of misogyny with a significant degree of literary sophistication. Though its graphic content and nonlinear structure can be challenging, the novel offers sophisticated explorations of themes interweaved with a suspenseful and gripping plot. This is not a comforting read—but it is a valuable one.

Thank you for reading Victoria Lilly’s book review of A Blood Witch by Joseph Stone! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Nick Rees Gardner

A family drama with a mythological twist, Stephen Statler’s Gods of Glenhaven transcends the humor of sex jokes to imbue everyman’s life with meaning.

Christian Orr, a high school counselor with a failed PhD, is in crisis. His wife Sloan has cheated on him, and as they discuss their impending divorce with their daughter Francesca caught in the middle, Christian begins struggling with erectile dysfunction. Everything changes, though, when a seductive woman named Ari presents Christian with her son, Maron, a high school football star who wants to start over at Glenhaven High.

Enter the Greek Gods. While Ari flirts with Christian, bringing the anxiety-ridden, weak man new confidence, Sloan begins courting her new neighbor Dee, who seems to hold some mystical, sexual power over all the women of their small town. At the same time, Francesca and Maron try to figure each other out, unsure of where to start their relationship while first the cheerleaders, then the football players and students’ mothers are driven to wild orgies in the background.

In a wise move, Stephen Statler doesn’t disguise the fact that Dee is actually Dionysus and Ari is Ariadne. He allows the reader to play along with the gods of Glenhaven as they fool and play with the weakling human characters. Of course Ariadne, the powerful Greek god, falls for Christian, the aptly named failure of a human. And of course, Maron, the son of two gods, falls for Francesca, the virgin nerd who feels awkward inside her own body.

But as Christian and Francesca miss the signs of otherworldly intervention into their lives, the plot evolves with plenty of humor at the humans’ expense. While Francesca attempts to intervene in the gods’ unhealthy relationship, Christian stumbles through his own virility.

To add to the humor, Statler inserts single panel cartoons between chapters which, aside from egging the reader on to scan the scene that the drawing references, draw laughs of their own. Images like a urologist with his hands beneath Christian’s gown or Christian flying off a balcony are not only exciting, but funny to see. Not to mention that these scenes add to the characters themselves, making them more real.

While Gods of Glenhaven is fairly predictable overall, there are some outlying scenes that add nuance, even if they are a bit disturbing. One such scene involves sexual conduct between the high school football team and the mothers of students. While much of the sexual conduct in the book is consensual and appropriate, if not at times laughable, this scene of inappropriate sexual conduct feels a bit awkward to read, stretching beyond the joke into an area that feels, frankly, icky.

Gods of Glenhaven is, without a doubt, an adult novel. An extended sex joke. But it is also the story of a weak and impotent man finding his meaning and succeeding in life. While Christian lacks strength and resolve, he endeavors to be caring and appropriate, a genuinely good guy in spite of the powerful people around him always getting what they want. To see the good guy succeed isn’t just a comedy trope in Statler’s book, but also a call to kindness. Gods of Glenhaven is a fun, fast-paced, even hilarious read, but it is also filled with heart, kindness, and model human behavior. It’s a good book that just happens to leave the reader chuckling to themself as much as rolling their eyes.

Thank you for reading Nick Rees Gardner’s book review of Gods of Glenhaven by Stephen Statler! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Chelsey Tucker

Suspenseful sci-fi that provokes questions of morality and tests the convictions of the characters we have come to love.

The Phoenix Elite are back again for a third time in the most exciting installment yet, Prisoner’s Dilemma. After the group publicly defeated the Hitler clones, more secrets surrounding Talos start to burn a deep desire for the truth.

Carlos and Lequoia begin to search all over the globe in hopes of finding the hidden prison that many of the members of the Phoenix Elite remember being at during their childhood. Eventually, they run into trouble and are warned off by warriors in animal masks. Now they have a new set of people to worry about, but it feels like they are on the right track.

While Carlos and Lequoia trek through the jungle, Adam is having a hard time adjusting to being a family man. Not because he isn’t a good husband or father, but because he is struggling with being confined to a wheelchair. He starts to suffer from even higher levels of anxiety and PTSD while questioning his purpose. “He was born the way he was for a reason. His anxious, relentless mind found purpose in the Phoenix Elite, defeating Bricker, dismantling his nuclear arsenal, and stopping Zed’s global insurrection. But was that all?”

Soon after Adam saved the world, video footage of the incident was analyzed. It turns out something remarkable had taken place: Adam shot some sort of energy out of the palm of his hand. The terror of the unknown was fueled by Talos, inciting doubt upon whether the Phoenix Elite will always be heroes and not liabilities. It is a race for the team to discover external and internal truths before they are outsmarted and wiped off the planet.

Each character seems to be in the final rounds of many of their personal battles all before their special talents can be fully harnessed. Everyone’s superpowers reflect their personality and/or point to something special about the person their DNA is sourced from. Two of the best superpowers belong to Carlos and Henrietta.

Carlos Ramirez is a badass doctor who is a clone of the fiery revolutionary Che Guevara. His insatiable thirst for truth and burning corrupt systems to the ground make it no surprise that he can throw fireballs out of his hands. “His fists burst into flames. Fire orbits his hands like ethereal torches, flickering with the wind. He doesn’t feel their heat. Papi told him the fire in his heart would come through his hands. Carlos always thought it meant the work in the ER. Guess not.”

Henrietta Kebe, the current director of the Phoenix Elite, is a clone of the great liberator Harriet Tubman. Entrusted with secrets beyond her zone of comfort, Henrietta often needs to get in and out of situations quickly, which makes teleporting an invaluable and perfect weapon for her.

The shifting perspectives from chapter to chapter add more suspense than we’ve seen previously in the Phoenix Elite series. Clark lets readers in on secrets that certain characters know and other things they don’t know while still keeping the mystery guarded for us until the right time. This book is filled with hard-hitting reveals.

There are times when certain scenes feel rushed, leaving me wanting more of a reaction out of other characters. However, the theme of unveiling secrets is consistent throughout. There are times when you don’t know who to trust or who is telling the truth. While constantly questioning everyone’s motives, you are confronted with the sense that for many of the characters, it could go either way whether or not they will finally get caught in a Talos trap.

Before starting Prisoner’s Dilemma I was excited to get back to the lives of the “Bird Buddies” as Brandon, the resident Benjamin Franklin clone, would say. Without a doubt, C.T. Clark did not disappoint with this one. I’m filled with as much giddy anticipation for the fourth book as I was the third.

This novel could be enjoyed on its own, but with how excellent the first few books are and how much fuller the world is by now because of it, I don’t know why you’d skip them. High school teachers and libraries will appreciate this series’ cross-genre capabilities, and sci-fi lovers with an appreciation of influential history will find it deeply satisfying.

Thank you for reading Chelsey Tucker’s book review of Prisoner’s Dilemma (The Phoenix Elite, 3) by C.T. Clark! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Erin Britton

An explosive sci-fi thriller where magic and technology collide with devastating consequences

A Stellar Spy mixes espionage tension with the intrigue of near-future galactic exploration and the wonder of magic in this compelling tale of double agents, vengeful mages, and corrupt politicians.

A Navasi mage has attacked the Rose Palais, seat of the Rulani government, marking it with a cerulean blue shimmer that exposes the planet’s vulnerability. “I stare at the brilliance as it slices through the night, an illuminated sigil telling me everything’s changed.” Tessa Daevana—ex-wife of Premier Finn Daevana and mother of his two children, Morgana and Sage—rushes to the scene.

Tessa’s desperation to find out what has happened is certainly due to concern about her family, but it’s also due to duty. She’s the Planetary Security Counselor and is responsible for the safety of the regime and its figurehead. Despite this, Tessa has no desire to be swept up in the thirst for vengeance that is sure to consume Rula. “Save me from the bloodlust, the hawkishness, the need to punch back ten times harder.”

Of course, Tessa has to keep the reason for her reticence secret from those around her—she’s a sleeper agent for Elitha, a rival planet, “home to a host of unchipped Navasi, who have been taught to control their powers.” Every aspect of her cover has been planned to perfection, even her drab home. “Like every other facet of my life, it’s curated to portray a certain lifestyle, a certain milquetoast vegetable of a person.” And it’s worked well so far.

However, the attack on the Rose Palais prompts Finn to consider implementing Operation Paradoxum, a “way to destroy the magic of unchipped Navasi on the planet.” It’s supposed to be a doomsday plan to prevent planetary collapse, not a means of revenge against a lone attacker, and it has the potential to spread to other planets and effect chipped Navasi too, including Tessa.

The situation places her in an impossible position. “I stand on a precipice, under which roils a river of magma.” Tessa knows she needs to protect the Navasi throughout the Human Consortium, but she also still loves Finn and wants to safeguard their children. Which way will she leap from the precipice?

Maya Darjani has crafted a universe in the not-so-distant future that is both delightfully fantastical and recognizably human. A great deal of thought has clearly gone into the backstory of the Human Consortium, which was formed “after humanity escaped the gravitational well of Gaia and stumbled its way to interplanetary civilization.”

Such details establish the background to the story well and ensure that a certain sense of realism and logical technological progression is maintained throughout. The worldbuilding in terms of the individual planets is also richly detailed and convincing. For instance, “Rula’s a planet of ash and regolith, of granite and basalt. Indestructible like polymer, but as volatile as lava.” This makes it easy to imagine the environments that the characters face.

Darjani also ensures that the unusual combination of chimerical magic and technological innovation seems organic and flows throughout the story. While both are woven into the fabric of life on Rula, magic is strictly controlled—save for the escapades of the occasional would-be assassin—whereas technology is abundant. Amusingly, the latter even facilitates multilevel marketing: “Buy one, get the second half off on NanoImprove smoothies!”

On a more serious note, despite being the subject of far less suspicion than magic, Darjani stresses that technology can be equally dangerous. From the REALM machine—the gateway to a highly advanced virtual reality environment—found in every home hosting meetings between spies and their handlers to Operation Paradoxum comprising “a technological virus with an activated biological component,” there is peril lurking everywhere.

And then there’s all the espionage and counterespionage. A Stellar Spy is just as much a spy thriller as it is a sci-fi novel, and Darjani provides plenty of detail about the spycraft of the future. From clandestine meetings to dead drops to covert listening devices, all the key aspects of the spy genre are present, albeit in more advanced forms. There are also a few tongue-in-check nods to the classics: “Covert Ops 101, always keep blackmail material, even if you plan on never using it.”

As for the main spy, Tessa is certainly good at what she does, although she doesn’t like it. She ditched her handler and got out of the game years ago, assimilating into her fate life on Rula as best she can, but her conscience pulls her back in following the attack on the Rose Palais. “I have to make a choice. Protect my family, or prevent a war crime.” This sense of conflict permeates the story, adding to the tension.

Darjani provides real insight into Tessa’s thoughts, motivations, and doubts, establishing her as a conflicted and rather surly character who wants to do what is right and save as many people as possible. And despite all the lies and fake background details, she really does care about Finn and love her children. Such emotions exacerbate the difficulty of her situation.

Like all good spy novels, there are double agents and double crosses aplenty in A Stellar Spy, making it difficult to know who to trust and where things might be heading for Tessa. What’s more, the magic-filled action scenes are exciting and the exposition is well handled. A Stellar Spy is a stellar choice for your next read.

Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of A Stellar Spy by Maya Darjani! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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by Eric Mayrhofer

The final quarter of 2025 is upon us.

Autumn—the season when we start pulling out cozy sweatshirts, putting pumpkin in everything, and getting started on our Christmas lists (if we’re ambitious). If you’d rather binge Gilmore Girls for the ninetieth time, you have my blessing, but I also highly recommend checking out this season’s new book releases instead.

The books coming out between October and December 2025 are gearing up to freak you out and give you hope. They’re getting ready to show you the magic in the world and remind you that it’s a wild place to live. In a season of so many extraordinary reads, these are some of the best indie books to add to your TBR.

Here are 12 new release books you won’t want to miss.

1. Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre

Author: Brandie June

Genre: YA Fantasy

Release Date: October 7

ISBN: 9780744311792

Publisher: CamCat Books

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To me, autumn is the season of writing. From the motivation of the former beast known as NaNoWriMo to the coziness of drafting by hand while watching the leaves change beyond the window, nothing feels quite as right as writing. But when you add forbidden magic? Now that makes a story worth savoring. 

Those elements are the starting point in Brandie June’s new release Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre. Playwright Violet Ashmore lives in the shadow of her sister Iris, who has promised to protect Violet and her dangerous magic from from the Crown. But when bounty hunter Alec Morgan infiltrates the theater and begins falling for Iris, their life—and the theater—could all come undone.

With a literary protagonist longing for more, the danger of books like Caraval and the lyrical magic of The Night Circus, Magic at the Grand Dragonfly Theatre has the potential to be the most enchanting read of the end of 2025.

2. But the Wicked Shall Perish

Author: Catori Sarmiento

Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Fantasy

Release Date: October 7

ISBN: 9781960018762

Publisher: Running Wild Press

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More than a few years ago now, The Golem and the Jinni used Jewish folklore to incredible effect, creating a lush and heartwarming fantasy about the immigrant experience in America. This year, Catori Sarmiento incorporates the culture’s mythology to paint a blood-red portrait of a woman seeking her murderer—and revenge.

But the Wicked Shall Perish slips readers into Tziporah Curiel’s resurrected shoes. When she comes back to life in 1920s Venice, Italy, she begins a quest for justice that will leave a trail of souls in her wake and lead to a deal with a demon, forcing her to come to terms with what happened and what she has become. Supernatural, heart-wrenching, and pulse-pounding, this might be exactly the early Halloween treat you’ve been looking for.

3. The Scald Crow

Author: Grace Daly

Genre: Literary Fiction / Horror

Release Date: October 14

ISBN: 9781951971311

Publisher: Creature Horror

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“This isn’t a dream… This is really happening!” Could that iconic quote from Rosemary’s Baby be the inspiration for a new spooky season favorite? It may seem like it when you read The Scald Crow by Grace Daly. Offering laughs and scares in equal measure, the novel asks, “Can a sick woman ever be trusted?”

The sick woman in question is Brigid, a self-doubting protagonist living with chronic pain so severe it cost her her job. To add misfortune to injury, her mother goes missing, a turn of events that forces her back into her childhood home. Soon, a crow starts following her, a painting returns no matter how often she rids herself of it, and nightmares of her mother keep startling her awake. Is it all in her head? After all, her pain has no identifiable cause, and that must be her own fault too…right?

A book that confronts readers with the one thing that is all too often our own worst enemies—the negative voices in our heads—The Scald Crow is a spine-tingling, ultimately empowering entry in the horror genre.

4. The Ten Thousand Things

Author: Debbi Flittner

Genre: Memoir

Release Date: October 7

ISBN: 9798992424218

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2025 isn’t all about the scares though. Any time is a good time for beautifully written memoirs. This memoir on silence and belonging is the author’s lifelong attempt to understand her “elusive, unnerving” mother.

Lauren Hayataka of IBR says it’s the lyricism of the prose that elevates the memoir. She says, “Flittner writes with the precision of someone who has carried these memories for decades, shaping them into vivid, almost cinematic scenes: hiding beneath plastic during a sudden storm, watching rain blur the world into a secret cave; lying in the plastic-covered back seat of the family’s Buick as the desert slid past; screaming for help in a kitchen where no one came.”

For all those looking for moving true stories about complex family in lyrical prose, find out why Hayataka calls it “radiant” and “unforgettable.”

5. Bloodletting a Butterfly

Author: Alec B. Hood

Genre: Poetry / Dark

Release Date: Oct 14

ISBN: 9798891328266

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

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Okay, back to the dead. But with a twist.

Alec B. Hood’s poetry is “visceral, devastating, and brilliantly gory,” says Mandy Bach of IBR. The speaker of the collection is completely preoccupied with death and dying and discusses it with raw, physical imagery.

“Hood expertly uses surreal descriptions of the body to help readers understand the disturbing nature of this preoccupation with suffering and death. He writes, ‘there are insect eggs / embedded in my esophagus // parasites peering / through my pupils // my lungs / flooded with webs // my blood / blinking with lightning bugs.‘” 

Feast your eyes on roadkill, ghosts, and more in this “beautifully ugly” collection.

6. The Mongoose

Author: Joana mosi

Genre: Graphic Novel

Release Date: October 14

ISBN: 9782925114475

Publisher: Pow Pow Press

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Pow Pow Press is doing some amazing work! After the unique power of The Jellyfish and Botanica Drama, I couldn’t help but get excited about The Mongoose.

This black and white graphic novel about grief and ghosts and, oddly, a phantom mongoose combines what I’ve come to expect from Pow Pow Press: thoughtful and moving visual stories with a dash of strange.

7. A Blood Witch

Author: Joseph Stone

Genre: Fantasy / Dark

Release Date: November 5

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Joseph Stone is no stranger to captivating dark fantasy. From the alluring darkness of The Lykanos Chronicles, which we included in our list of best book series of the past few years, to the first book in the Haunted Women series, which Alexandria Ducksworth raved about, Stone writes evocative fantasy with “jaw-dropping” and “downright scary” results.

And now, book two! Victoria Lilly of IBR called it “a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle… Not a comforting read, but a valuable one.”

8. The Sofa

Author: Sam Munson

Genre: Horror / Literary

Release Date: November 11

ISBN: 9781953387974

Publisher: Two Dollar Radio

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Mr. Montessori goes downstairs one morning to find his sofa is different. The doors are all locked. Windows too. Nobody’s broken in. So how did this get here, and where did their old, perfect couch go?

Suddenly, the image of a man in a bowler hat starts popping up all around him. His son’s drawing used to only have the new sofa in it. The mirror used to be only him staring back.

The Sofa by Sam Munson is a surreal piece of everyday horror that nails down obsession in an eerily painful way. Man, what if Montessori just stepped away from this fascination? What if he accepted this weirdly outdated sofa as his own and moved on with his perfectly fine life? It surely wouldn’t turn out like this.

9. A Gathering Place

Author: Vicki salloum

Genre: Literary Fiction

Release Date: November 18

ISBN: 9798999042286

Publisher: Silent Clamor Press

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Sometimes faith is all but a voice.

81-year-old Blue Hamieh follows her faith to New Orleans in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, believing that the Virgin Mary wants her to open a gathering place, a cafe, for downtrodden people in the devastated city. Is this a true calling, or is her family right and she should return to Mississippi?

Vicki Salloum imbues this community-driven novel of faith and resilience with artful, meaningful prose and a big heart. I dare you not to fall for Blue by the novel’s end.

10. Hotel Melikov (Citizen Orlov Book 2)

Author: Jonathan Payne

Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense / Crime

Release Date: November 18, 2025

ISBN: 9780744311808

Publisher: CamCat Books

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What better way to prepare for the oncoming winter chill than to immerse yourself in the chilling espionage of a mountainous, central-European country?

In Hotel Melikov, the second book of Jonathan Payne’s Citizen Orlov series, readers find Orlov as the Minister for Security of a nation on the verge of collapsing. When tension between the government and revolutionaries erupt, all he wants is to return to his former life as a fishmonger. But when he discovers a sinister plot that threatens everyone, what will he choose?

Featuring tense thrills, political intrigue, nuns who are more than they seem, and a comedic twist, Jonathan Payne returns us to the world of Citizen Orlov in style.

11. Hope

Author: Sommer Schafer

Genre: Literary Fiction / Short Stories

Release Date: November 25

ISBN: 9781963115475

Publisher: Unsolicited Press

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Previously published in Best American Short Stories, Sommer Schafer returns with Hope, a story collection to keep you warm as winter approaches.

Set in the small island community of Hope, Alaska, Hope offers an experience that will delight fans of small-town, big-emotion collections like Olive Kitteridge. Linked stories show the hopes and dreams the townsfolk have for the future, all while questioning how well (or how much) they can bury the past.

With precise descriptions, sharp insights, and subtle humor, Schafer’s collection holds all the promise of an uplifting read on these lengthening nights.

12. Dark Matter

Author: Kaja Kothe

Genre: Science Fiction

Release Date: December 2, 2025

ISBN: 9781946154972

Publisher: Meerkat Press

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Bunny Graves has to make this list. Kathe Koja’s Dark Factory series has already been praised for its wild and mind-bending prose, the esoteric experience it gives readers, and its thrilling combinations of art, technology, and a willingness to explore both reality and virtual reality.

Readers might just have their minds blown in Dark Matter. Here, Bunny and Koja’s array of characters wind through a cyberpunk-ish landscape to break the rules, chase ancient myths into virtual reality and back again, and make it through in a world where corporate wars can be life and death. It’s set up to be a rewarding finish for longtime fans of the acclaimed Koja and a bold new world for readers in search of a Snow Crash-meets-Cyberpunk 2077 fix.

What new release books are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments!

Author Bio

Eric Mayrhofer is a marketing creative living in Connecticut with his partner and their three cats, Frosty, Korra, and Zoe. A lifelong reader, Eric is working on his first novel in between illustrating, watching spooky movies, and pretending he knows how to bake after watching reruns of The Great British Baking Show.

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Reviewed by Shelby Zwintscher

A twisted, whimsical young adult fantasy

Stacy is not pleased to be moving into a new house and changing schools. Her new room smells of dog urine, her best friends are no longer speaking with her, and her new town has a peculiar amount of missing children posters plastered about. Tensions are high between Stacy and her parents, and after an argument where Stacy accuses her parents of not caring about her opinion, Stacy cries herself into a curiously dream-filled sleep.

In her dream, whispers from the woods beckon her to a stream where, in the distance, fairies shimmer and glow. With a deep breath, Stacy takes a leap, believing she can fly across to join them. Instead, she is met with the frigid chill of stream water. She thrashes against the water until light emanates and breaks free from her body, and she feels a sense of relief of knowing who she truly is.

Upon waking, Stacy’s curiosity carries her to the real woods, where she leaps across the stream and finds an alarming sight. Fairies, resembling children with wings, are having some kind of ceremony. In the center of it all, a human child tied to a rock altar, about to be sacrificed by a faded, ghostly fairy. Stacy is desperate to help, but an older man rushes to stop her from intervening, warning her she’ll be next.

The next night, Stacy returns to the woods to find the phone she dropped when she fled. She stumbles across the kind old man from the night before, but not long after, she is captured by the fairies as a prisoner of the Queen.

Stacy’s story unravels and twists as she is thrust into the remarkable world of fairies. With the guidance of the kind old man, a wizard called Bower, Stacy learns about the world of magic dust, the reason fairies sacrifice human children, and the queen’s dark ambition.

The Queen’s Dark Ambition oozes with childlike wonder and whimsy. The fairies live in harmony with the natural world, residing in doorless tree houses to welcome their coexistence with nature. Each description of this world within the wood feels carefully and thoughtfully laid out, immersing the reader into the deep wonder of nature and fairy magic. The childlike whimsy is apparent in common activities of the fairy world, such as flying races and foraging about the woods.

“Deep purple lupins were scattered amongst the large foxgloves, with their spectacular luscious flowering turrets. Bees and butterflies hummed and fluttered above… In the air, particles of dust, unsettled by a light breeze, shimmered in the light as they fell.”

The Queen’s Dark Ambition covers a lot of ground, sometimes more than necessary. There are a few parts where the story drags, but there is still plenty of tension and unanswered questions that keep you going through the slower parts. The magic system is complex but engaging, especially when interwoven with religion.

In part two of her story, Stacy spends a lot of time with Bower, the wizard. Stacy and Bower’s relationship is sweet and heartwarming as he takes care of her and teaches her the ways of this new world she’s trapped inside of. They form a touching familial bond within the cozy, warm setting of Bower’s lodge. Their relationship is a true highlight.

“I perched on his lap like he was an elderly family relative, offering what little comfort I could. Soon, I put my full weight on him, resting my head on his chest. I felt safe, missing the childhood attentions I had received from my parents until recent years.”

A modern fairy tale that fuses playfulness with eeriness, The Queen’s Dark Ambition will send you to the whimsical, yet dangerous natural world and make you feel glad you came.

Thank you for reading Shelby Zwintscher’s book review of The Queen’s Dark Ambition by Jessica L. Scott! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Alexandria Ducksworth

A sweet romantasy treat for readers who loved The Time Traveler’s Wife

The Floating City’s great World Tree is depriving the people of their precious dreams. Without it, the citizens are a husk of the imaginative human beings they once were. But there is light in the world of darkness. A prophesized time traveler is supposed to arrive in their land with their dreams.

When an enslaved fairy, Saya, is sent out to find the famed time traveler, she is forced to reflect on everything she thought was true. Was the dream where someone gave her wings true? Or is there something more to this story?

Meanwhile, Andreas is having dreams of Saya. She seems like a distant memory giving him purpose, leading him to the answers he’s been searching for. With his extraordinary time-traveling ability, he’ll defy the rules of his society. Nobody braver would fight for love more than he does, even if it means the world will fall apart.

Alessandro Candotti’s Across Time and Starlight is like if The Time Traveler’s Wife had more fantasy. There is more to this story than its romantic premise, that’s for sure. This book gets readers thinking about the complications of time travel and the endless loop of life.

Candotti cleverly adds well-known aspects from world mythology into this story too. The Fates in Candotti’s world are seen as the heavenly overseers. People may recall the same “Fates” from the three women who measure a human’s lifespan in Greek mythology. People may connect the dream-devouring World Tree to the Nordic mythology’s Yggdrasil tree; both trees symbolize great power and have deep-rooted foundations.

Saya and Andreas endure heavy trials throughout this book. The two fated lovers start off as enemies. Only in their dreams do they realize they are meant to be together. While Saya starts off as a passive character—a fairy is a valuable specimen and so she is taken and gets her wings removed—she grows bolder and more resilient during her journey with Andreas. The battle to reunite with her lover (and her wings) again pushes her where she needs to go.

Some of the time switches in the chapters can be confusing to keep track of, but the book is largely clear and remains enjoyable when you’re locked in.

Across Time and Starlight is an engrossing fantasy romance featuring a vast world and plenty of time-traveling adventure. But it’s the romance that shines. You’ll be wishing for Saya and Andreas’s happy ending.

Thank you for reading Alexandria Ducksworth’s book review of Across Time and Starlight by Alessandro Candotti! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Erin Britton

The battle for Earth continues to rage in this third installment of the imaginative Wings series.

M.A. Arana’s Wing Rebel is built on richly detailed lore and populated by an eclectic cast of fantastical heroes and villains—including a few inscrutable characters who fall somewhere between the two.

With the threat posed by King Waqar and his Garghon horde still looming, the winged Avan warriors led by King Mabon seek to rebuild their kingdom in the clouds and ensure that the Earth below remains safe. However, King Mabon still suffers from physical wounds inflicted during previous battles as well as deep-seated doubts that could be manipulated to draw the Avans into a trap.

At the same time, the danger caused by the specter of Ibis, King Mabon’s former bride—and the mother of his eldest child, Sada—continues to grow. Although Ibis’s corpse has long been trapped in a tomb of ice, “Magic had kept her alive [as] a spirit who could take physical form. Yet, without a heart, she was doomed.” The chill of her burial has done nothing to quench her burning desire for both vengeance and the throne of Ava.

King Mabon will have to rely on the power of his extraordinary offspring to defeat dangers on several fronts. Sada has the gift of foresight, allowing her disturbing insight into the machinations of her mother’s ghost, while her twin brothers, Xander and Xio, are skilled in both magic and combat, although Xio continues to battle the darkness that entered his psyche after he was kidnapped by the Garghons.

Down on Earth, Gabriel Rosales tries to blend in while working at a market, anxious to remain incognito despite being “a secret keeper and the sole connection to the magic.” He and Edouard are the first to notice the Garghon incursion, but they little suspect what its real purpose is. As various fates converge, the true horror of what faces Ava and Earth slowly emerges and sundry characters must confront their role in it.

As the third book in an epic speculative series, Wing Rebel is built on a lot of backstory and a great number of trials and tribulations on the part of the central characters. While M.A. Arana does provide explanations for most things through either dialogue or exposition, to properly enjoy and appreciate the full breadth of the story, it is recommended to read Wing Clipped and Wing Stroke first.

Of course, all the detail that has gone into the character- and world-building means that Wing Rebel is rich and immersive. From the overarching lore to the petty squabbles between minor characters to the potentially devastating schemes of the myriad villains, Arana has clearly put a great deal of thought into the plotting and ensuring that all the strands of the story hang together.

One of the main connections between those strands is the theme of family. King Mabon certainly has a very complicated home life, with both a homicidal phantom ex-wife and a conciliatory human current wife, as well as children who are battling more than their fair share of demons. However, they all draw strength from their familial bonds, even during times of conflict, which unites them when dark forces threaten to tear them apart.

By contrast, King Waqar has little time for the idea of family and views his Garghon subjects are little more than cannon fodder. For instance, following losses in the last battle against the Avans, he has instituted a decidedly unemotional breeding project to replenish his forces. “He didn’t want familial ties that bound his Garghons to another instead of to him. He didn’t want complications in an age where Garghons would think of defending their kin.”

And while King Mabon being pursued by the ghost of his former spouse is hard to beat, he is far from the only character with a complex romantic history—Sada and Gabriel have an entanglement too. “Sada had come to help Declan heal him, but she remained distant, claiming her role took much of her time. He should be grateful. But his heart had broken into pieces long before.”

The romantic aspects of Wing Rebel add further depth to the story, as well as some much-appreciated humor and humanity. As the dialogue doesn’t always flow naturally, such aspects help to ensure a connection is maintained to the characters. What’s more, while romance can provide a nice break from brutal combat, Arana makes sure that the tangled relationships reflect the overall tone and atmosphere of the story.

In other words, true love never does run smoothly, and neither does a kingdom in which mythical creatures and magic exist. Arana does a great job of realistically integrating the magical aspects into daily life for the winged inhabitants of Ava. For example, Xander and Xio are not permitted to use magic to change their clothes when they get soaked during combat training.

“Magic comes at a cost, my sons. Many have suffered for it.”

Wing Rebel makes for an exciting continuation of The Wings series, posing questions for the future of both Ava and Earth and placing great danger between characters and their goals. Given the threat offered by magic and standard combat, there is a real sense of peril and a distinct possibility that the forces of good will not emerge unscathed.

Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of Wing Rebel (The Wings, 3) by M.A. Arana! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Melissa Suggitt

Fate is a cruel game, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

Tracey Kyler’s Seizing Fate plunges readers into a post-apocalyptic world where shadows conceal both predators and protectors and where destiny binds people in a dangerous, breathtaking way.

Cora Whitley lives in the city of Amara, a fragile refuge rebuilt after the world fell apart decades earlier. By day, she runs the library, but by night, she walks home through streets filled with missing persons and whispered threats. Her life is already marked by betrayal and loss, and she shields herself with quiet routines, caution, and a belief that she has no one left to rely on.

That is, until the night three men corner her in an alley. Her would-be killers are no ordinary thugs; they’re Fallen Ones, creatures who thrive on destruction. Cora’s survival comes only because of Arik Stanton, a gargoyle warrior of the Order, who intervenes with lethal precision.

Arik has been watching Cora from the rooftops for weeks, charged with protecting humanity but helplessly drawn to her in ways that unsettle even him. For centuries he has fought against his father and brother, leaders among the Fallen, but none of those battles have prepared him for the pull of meeting his “One.” From the moment he touches Cora’s trembling hands and slips his jacket around her shoulders, the bond between them is undeniable, even as Arik insists he should keep his distance.

What follows is a tense dance of attraction and restraint. Cora is shaken but fascinated by this mysterious protector who seems to know more about her than he should. Arik, meanwhile, fights a losing battle against the instinct to be near her. Their moments together pulse with tenderness, whether it’s his quiet inspection of her injured wrist or the simple act of replacing her ruined dinner with a fresh pizza and a heartfelt note. These gestures of care make the action scenes sharper and the dangers further into the story, particularly involving his evil half-brother Aaron, more terrifying because readers understand exactly what is at stake if either of them is lost.

Cora is more than a damsel-in-distress figure. She’s thoughtful, resilient, and scarred in ways that make her wary of trusting again. Her voice carries both vulnerability and strength, and the reader feels every ounce of her hesitation when faced with Arik’s world. Arik is written as a perfect contradiction: brutal in battle yet vulnerable with Cora, and that balance makes their growing connection feel deeply human despite the mythological backdrop.

The mythology adds weight to the romance. Gargoyles here are not grotesque statues but graceful warriors created to protect humankind after the Fallen Ones were cast out. Their secrecy, their code of loyalty, and their eternal war give context to why Arik resists giving in to what he feels for Cora. Fate might be drawing them together, but choice—and the danger of making the wrong one—hangs over every interaction.

Kyler’s writing is smooth and immersive. The dialogue occasionally drifts into the dramatic, but it suits characters who are larger-than-life and carrying centuries of conflict. What impresses most is the balance between tender, intimate moments and explosive action. A single smile from Arik can be as powerful as his blade.

I never thought I’d find myself invested in gargoyles. My only reference point was the stone caricatures from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and yet this novel made me buy into the mythology completely. By the midway point, I wasn’t just curious about worldbuilding, I was rooting for this couple with everything I had.

Seizing Fate is a novel that thrives on contrasts: ferocity and gentleness, secrecy and vulnerability, destiny and choice. It’s a story where love doesn’t soften the stakes but sharpens them, where every kiss is both a promise and a risk. Readers looking for a romance that is equal parts heart-stopping danger and tender devotion will find themselves caught in its spell.

Thank you for reading Melissa Suggitt’s book review of Seizing Fate by Tracey Kyler! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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