Kate’s Review: “Nowhere Burning”

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Book: “Nowhere Burning” by Catriona Ward

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, February 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Set in the unforgiving maw of the Rocky Mountains, Nowhere Burning is the latest harrowing novel from bestselling author Catriona Ward, perfect for fans of Riley Sager and the hit series Yellowjackets.

A refuge for lost children may also be their prison.

In the middle of the night, Riley pulls her younger brother Oliver out of bed, and the two run away from home. Riley is intent on joining a group of teenagers squatting in the abandoned ruins of an infamous movie star’s ranch, Nowhere. For actor Leaf Winham, Nowhere was a place to hide from his fame, and to hide his crimes―until a fire ravaged his home and exposed him as a murderer.

It is rumored that the ranch nestled in the peaks of the Rocky Mountains is now home to group of feral children, a place where adults cannot enter, and Riley hopes to find a new family there. But the Nowhere Kids are fierce in defending their turf and their clan, and Riley quickly realizes that while she and Oliver may have left the devil they knew, this group is a new type of diabolical.

For something dark lives in the burned shell of Nowhere, something which asks a terrible price for sanctuary…

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

I haven’t every been super into “Peter Pan”. I watched the Disney movie as a kid (though I’m not sure I’d show it to my own kid these days), and enjoyed the Mary Martin version that we had on video cassette and has apparently been kind of forgotten by post-Millennial generations (when I saw a random video about how NOVEL and UNKNOWN this movie was I felt my bones turn to dust), but it was never a favorite of mine. But I do like the idea of reimagining classic tales as horror stories. “Nowhere Burning” by Catriona Ward is a horror story that takes some “Peter Pan” themes and changes it into something weird, unique, and unnerving.

I always love the vibes of a cult themed horror novel, and this one feels like it mixes some Branch Davidian lore with a “Children of the Corn” feel to it to make something weird and creepy as hell. I also enjoyed the “Peter Pan” allusions, with children fending for themselves feeling like they will never grow up after following vague ‘second star to the right’ directions into the Rockies. We follow a few different threads and narratives, which are unclear in how they line up at first. The most prominent one is Riley, a desperate teenage girl who escapes with her younger brother from an abusive situation, looking for solitude and thinking she’s found it with the kids at Nowhere. We also have a documentarian who is hoping to get some answers about Nowhere and the history and notoriety, as well as an architect who was hired on by Leaf Winham, the original owner of Nowhere who went on to commit the unspeakable, and who falls into a complex and obsessive web. Riley’s was, for me, the most interesting, seeing her slowly realize that perhaps she and Oliver aren’t super safe with the Nowhere Kids as things become weirder and weirder and more and more danger becomes apparent, though I will say that once we do figure out where the timeline falls for all the narratives it made them all pretty interesting.

And the “Peter Pan” references were pretty enjoyable. It’s not like The Rockies are what I imagine when I think of ‘Neverland’, but the way that Ward creates a symbol of freedom and feralness within the mountains that is very in line with the idea of The Lost Boys wasn’t lost on me. From alligators named Tinkerbell to many exits out of windows to ‘flying’ thanks to ziplines in the wilderness. There are even more meta references to Peter Pan adjacent mythos, specifically how much notorious filmmaker Leaf Williams mirrors Michael Jackson, with his eccentricities, his isolated and sprawling ranch, and some of the details within the ranch (such as a ferris wheel) clearly making reference to the now deceased and controversial King of Pop. I love a reference, and seeing the details sprinkled throughout the narratives was very, very fun for me.

“Nowhere Burning” is a solid horror novel that will surely satisfy horror fans who like a “Peter Pan” homage.

Rating 7: A strange and unnerving homage to “Peter Pan” that brings Neverland to an unforgiving Rockies, “Nowhere” is a weird and entertaining cult horror tale.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Nowhere Burning” is included on the Goodreads list “2026 Women in Horror”.

Not Just Books: February 2026

While we do love us some books, believe it not, we do have a life outside of reading. So to highlight our other pop culture interests, on the last Monday of each month, we each will highlight three other “happenings” from the last month. Big events on favorite TV shows, new movies we’ve watched, old movies we’ve “discovered,” etc. Pretty much whatever we found of particular interest outside of the book world during the last month. Share your own favorite things in the comments!

Serena’s Picks

Sports: Winter Olympics

Dun, dun, dun dun dun dun, Dun, Dun dun dun dun dada dadada DUN! It’s that time once again, the time when I both watch more sports than ever before and more TV altogether more than ever. This year is even more fun because both of my kids are finally old enough that they actually will sit down and watch a lot of it. My primary mission this year has been to get them past any “ew girls” kneejerk reactions and to truly appreciate the art that is ice skating. But there are simply so many great sports to watch, that we had a hard time picking and limiting it all, truth be told!

MORE Sports: Superbowl

Yes, not one sports entry but two from me this month! What can I say, February was the perfect month for me, sports-wise! While I’ve lived in Minnesota now for over a decade, I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest and the Seahawks have always been my team of choice. The Vikings can be second, I guess. So this was great for me either way! All the more so because there was some smirking sent my husband’s direction since the Seahawks’ new quarterback previously played for the Vikings…heh.

Video Game: “Blue Prince”

There are a few other games I’ve been playing recently, but this puzzle game that I’ve been working my way through with my husband really stands out. It’s such a quiet, compelling experience, each day building a blue print of a sprawling manor and trying to piece together the history of the place and the location of the final, mystery room. It’s hard to gauge how far we are in it yet, but the puzzles we’ve solved so far have all been great and there a bunch of tantalizing loose ends that we still haven’t managed to figure out. I definitely recommend this one if you enjoy slower, puzzle games, especially if you have someone to play it alongside!

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”

We all know that I absolutely hated the way that “Game of Thrones” ended. And we also know that I won’t watch “House of the Dragon” because I just can’t abide watching the Targaryens fighting each other and the start of the downfall of the dragons in Westeros. So maybe it’s surprising that I’m watching “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms”, the newest “Game of Thrones” spin off. But I am actually really enjoying it so far! Mostly because it just has so much more WHIMSY than the other GOT shows we’ve seen. Taking place between “GOT” and “HOTD”, we follow aspiring Hedgeknight Ser Duncan the Tall, who wants to become a legitimate knight. So he enters a prestigious jousting tournament. When he takes on a new young squire, a chatty and precocious boy who calls himself ‘Egg’, it turns into a bit of a misfit buddy comedy, though Egg has some secrets he’s hiding from his master. One downside is that there are no dragons in this show (sorry, Aerion, you don’t count). But that’s also a good thing because without the spectacle of dragons and magic, it has to rely on characters and engaging plot points. Also, we have Lyonel Barathon, aka the one good Baratheon male, popping up from time to time. It’s very fun, something I haven’t been able to say about other Westeros series.

Film: “Black Phone 2”

I greatly enjoyed the first “Black Phone” movie, not only because it was well done, super scary, and well acted, but because it was based on a Joe Hill short story that they adapted incredibly well. I was admittedly a little skeptical about “Black Phone 2”, because there was no Joe Hill short story to pull from and I didn’t see how it would work with The Grabber dead. But I was wrong to doubt, because I sat down and watched it this month and really liked it! A few years after he killed The Grabber, Finn and his sister Gwen are trying to adjust, though Finn is traumatized and Gwen is still having disturbing dreams of missing children. When her dreams seem to point her towards a youth camp in the Rockies, she convinces Finn that they are meant to go there. Unfortunately for them, there is, indeed, a dead phone that can contact them. And The Grabber may not be done with them after all. Not only was this a scary winter horror movie, it once again boasts fantastic performances from Mason Thames and Madeline McGraw. And the cinematography during the dream sequences is very Lynchian at its creepiest. Great sequel!

Film: “Waiting for Guffman”

This is not a new film to me in any way, shape, or form. I’ve actually been a fan of “Waiting for Guffman” since I was a high school theater kid, but when Catherine O’Hara died at the end of January I felt compelled to revisit it in her honor. The premise is simple: a small town in Missouri is preparing for its 150th Anniversary celebration and they ask local theater expert Corky St. Clair to write and direct a show about the town’s history. This faux documentary follows the people who are cast, the townsfolk, and the wacky journey they take creating a hometown show that they HOPE will end up on broadway because of rumors of a producer coming to see it. The cast is spectacular, with the usual suspects of Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, and Fred Willard, and of course Catherine O’Hara playing Sheila, a confident travel agent who has done community theater with her husband Ron (Willard) before. As a former theater kid I can tell you it nails the theater kid (or in this case local theater aficionado) culture, poking fun but never cruel. It’s a favorite O’Hara film of mine and I love hers and Willard’s RIDICULOUS rendition of “Midnight at the Oasis”. Rest in Peace, queen!

Serena’s Review: “A Secret in the Garden”

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Book: “A Secret in the Garden” by Jeneane O’Riley

Publishing Info: Bloom Books, February 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Some secrets were never meant to be unearthed.

Perched on a windswept cliff, Blackwood Manor looms like a dark monument to a mysterious family. Behind its grand iron gates, one part of the estate has been left to rot since the tragic death of Hester Blackwood: the once-glorious conservatory, now choked by vines and shattered glass. The rest of the family is gone—only her brooding son, Jasper, remains, the heir to a weapons empire.

Desperate to save her job and out of options, botanist Eliza Arnold makes a bold gamble—drive to the manor and beg the elusive millionaire for a donation. Jasper agrees…on one chilling condition: restore the conservatory. Alone. No help. No leaving.

But the manor is not empty.

As Eliza battles thorns and secrets, a magnetic tension builds between her and Jasper—dark, dangerous, and impossible to ignore. And something else stirs among the roots and ruins…whispers in the walls, confusing disturbances, and a presence watching her every move.

The deeper Eliza digs, the more she uncovers a garden of grief, longing…and desire. Because in Blackwood Manor, even buried things can bloom again.

Review: I’ve had a lot of luck with gothic fantasy novels recently, so I guess I was due for one to not hit for me eventually. And, perhaps not surprisingly, it was the contemporary one that did it. To be fair, there are plenty of contemporary romances that I do really enjoy; this one just didn’t hold up.

Much of this book didn’t work for me, so I’m struggling a bit with the positives. I’ll say that the overall concept was appealing. Gothic fantasy/romances often have a similar premise: some call to action brings in the protagonist to a mysterious manor/castle/what-have-you where they discover much is not as it seems, including, often, the truth regarding some sort of brooding caretaker. So this one set up in a similar way, and the book took no time in getting our main character on location. The story moves quickly, so I was well into it before really settling into why it wasn’t working.

I think my problems with this book come down to two factors: structure of the plot and characterization. To start with the plot, quite quickly the book settles into a pattern of every day: Eliza gardens and Jasper broods. For all that we’re meant to believe there is a great mystery brewing here, the story itself does very little to move this plot forward. Honestly, it all became very tiresome, very quickly. Gothic novels are usually a bit on the slower pace, devoting a lot of time to the development of atmosphere and tension before the inevitable payoff, often late in the story. But here, nothing that was going on contributed to this atmosphere. Instead, it all felt tedious, and I was left frustrated that Eliza was so passive with regards to the mysteries surrounding her circumstances.

And this leads into my primary issue with the book: the characters and the romance itself. First, Eliza. Like I said, she’s an incredibly passive character, and even if you try to make the case that this is part of her emotional arc, I don’t think it makes her a particularly compelling or sympathetic character to follow. While the story sets up a deeper backstory for her, one that includes past traumas that would reflect her behaviors today, I don’t think enough was done to really address these things. Eliza’s thoughts and choices, particularly with regards to the romantic interest, remained deeply unhealthy throughout.

And look, I’m not a dark romance fan for a reason. I get that it works for others, but it very much doesn’t for me. And I think this book strayed a bit too far in this direction for my particular taste. See, there is a very important distinction to be found between fantasy romance and contemporary romance, for me. In a fantasy world, life is often violent, dangerous, and cruel. In this way, the characters that people these worlds have very different views of life and the ways in which death plays a role in their everyday life. In a romantasy, for example, if a romantic lead is slightly murderous, this is often completely reasonable, even necessary, for survival in this world; an attractive trait, to boot, for the heroine in these books. But here, we have a contemporary setting, a romantic interest who seems quite murderous at times, and a passive heroine who seems not only not warned off by these toxic traits, but actively turned on by it all. And combined with her other traumas, I was left feeling like Eliza needed therapy more than a boyfriend. And if she did find love, Jasper is the last person she should be turning to.

Beyond this, the romance itself was very insta-lust-y. Jasper has been a recluse, but for some reason, he’s immediately into Eliza. And like I said, Eliza’s interest in him is portrayed as quite unhealthy, the speed of which it occurs only solidifying this point.

Now, much of what I described above is probably quite tame as far as contemporary dark romance goes, so it’s all quite subjective. If you enjoy this style of romance, all of these complaints may actually be points in its favor.

That said, I also think the writing itself was quite juvenile at times, too often spiraling into repetitive thoughts spinning through our heroine’s head again and again. At best, I felt distanced from the story itself, and at worst, downright bored. Even for dark romance readers, I have to imagine there are better options out there.

Rating 6: Unfortunately, even the gothic setting couldn’t save this one for me. The characters were unlikable in different ways, and the romance relied too heavily on insta-lust.

Kate’s Review: “We’re Not Safe Here”

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Book: “We’re Not Safe Here” by Rin Chupeco

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Fire, November 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Wispy Falls’ town motto is: “You’ll be safe here!” But that doesn’t seem to be true. Because in Wispy Falls, monsters live in the woods, and children go missing, and the bodies are beginning to stack up.

A seventeen-year-old vlogger known as Storymancer is determined to get to the bottom of what’s wrong in Wispy Falls. A few years ago his six-year-old brother went missing in the woods and no one in town seemed to care enough to find him.

So now he’s investigating why every household participates in something called the Bloodmoon Ritual, why cryptid sightings are so common, and why everyone who goes into the woods goes missing. If he can’t fix what’s wrong with the town, he just might be the next body in the woods.

Told primarily through video transcripts, message boards, and radio shows, this Welcome to Nightvale-inspired horror will chill you to your core.

Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for sending me an ARC of this novel!

It’s been awhile since I read a Rin Chupeco book, not necessarily because I was avoiding it (on the contrary, I’ve enjoyed basically all of the Chupeco books I’ve read!), but just because I lose track of authors sometimes. So when “We’re Not Safe Here” ended up in my mailbox I was excited to say the least. And reading the description of the book made me all the more interested. I love a found footage/media story format, I like the idea of weird dangerous cryptids lurking outside a strange town, and if you’re going to reference “Welcome to Night Vale” I’m going to be all the more intrigued. Quirky and weird podcast reference from awhile back in my personal lore? Yes please! I went in with pretty optimistic expectations. But I’m sorry to say that “We’re Not Safe Here” didn’t live up to the expectations I had.

But first the good. The description does reference the podcast “Welcome to Night Vale”, which was a huge incentive for me to read it because I was REALLY into “Night Vale” for a few years back in the day (I kind of lost interest after the StrexCorp storyline wrapped up). And as I was reading it I definitely got the “Night Vale” vibes, with the found media transcripts of broadcasts and the generally casual speak of cryptids and monsters stalking to woods really harkening to the charm of that podcast that really pulled me in. I also loved some of the gnarly descriptions of the various cryptids, especially The Backwards Lady. Because man, do I LOVE a weirdly misshapen and creepy and menacing lady whose face you cannot see. Chupeco has always done a really good job of taking on these kinds of unsettling horror tropes, and the concept of all of these cryptids and the found footage transcriptions really was incredibly interesting and promising for a horror novel. Top tier concept for sure.

Unfortunately, it never really quite came together. I feel like we were getting hints throughout our transcripts and video descriptions and chat logs and message boards, but it felt like it kept going on and on and there wasn’t really much steady build up. It was more of a continual stall out. I also found a lot of aspects of it to be pretty confusing. I had to keep paging back earlier to double check my facts, and I don’t know if it was because of the format of so much transcription and video footage or if it was something else. And by the time we did get to the end I felt like there were a lot of questions that remained unanswered, as well as a really abrupt end which felt unsatisfying. It was such a shame because I generally have enjoyed the books that Chupeco has put out in the past, and this one felt like such a miss it was kind of shocking.

“We’re Not Safe Here” had a great concept and premise but didn’t execute it super well. I’d sadly have to say skip it.

Rating 5: A great concept with some nice callbacks to “Welcome To Night Vale”, but it dragged a bit by the end and felt rushed and muddled.

Reader’s Advisory:

“We’re Not Safe Here” is included on the Goodreads list “Midnight Reads”.

Serena’s Review: “Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter”

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Book: “Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter” by Heather Fawcett

Publishing Info: Del Rey, February 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: Agnes Aubert leads a meticulously organized life—and she likes it that way. As the proudly type-A manager of a much-needed cat rescue charity, she has devoted her life to finding forever homes for lost cats.

But after she is forced to move the cat shelter, Agnes learns that her new landlord is using her charity as a front—for an internationally renowned and thoroughly disreputable magic shop. Owned by the disorganized—not to mention self-absorbed, irritating, but also decidedly handsome—Havelock Renard, magician and failed Dark Lord, the shop draws magical clientele from around the world, partly due to the quality of Havelock’s illicit goods as well as their curiosity about his shadowy past and rumors of his incredible powers. Agnes’s charity offers the perfect cover for illegal magics.

Agnes couldn’t care less about the shop—magical intrigue or not, there are cats to be rescued. But when an enemy from Havelock’s past surfaces, the magic shop—and more importantly, the cat shelter—are suddenly in jeopardy. To save the shelter, will Agnes have to set aside her social conscience and protect the man who once tried to bring about the apocalypse—and is now trying to steal her heart?

Review: The ways this book immediately landed on the top of my TBR list are numerous and probably obvious. Heather Fawcett, author of the awesome Emily Wilde trilogy? Yes. Title/cover/subject matter having to do with cats? Hell yes! The only factor holding me back a bit, however, was the cozy factor, as too often I find myself bouncing off that subgenre, especially when it strays into the “day in the life” type of coziness. Ultimately, this book was a bit more of a mixed bag than I had hoped, but I also enjoyed it for the most part.

To start, I think I have to acknowledge the basic fact that this book’s subject matter carried me through a lot of complaints that I may have had with it had it been focused on some other topics. Per my usual preferences, I struggled with the day-in-the-life moments of this book. However, as here these moments focused on cats and the quirky personalities of the various cats in residence, I found myself smiling and nodding along much of the time. What can I say? Cats are charming, and what could have been slow-moving scenes were helped by my inclination to identify the various cats with my own real-world companions. That said, if I was less interested in cats, I do think some of these cozy moments were a bit lackluster. The book had a lot of charm, but I’m not sure it had an equal amount of heart.

This extended to our main character and the love interest. Perhaps it isn’t fair to compare these two to Emily and Wendell from the Emily Wilde series, but it’s unfortunately a reality that must be dealt with by all authors who find great success with a trilogy. Comparisons are inevitable. Unfortunately, neither of these two characters quite lived up to the previous two. There were clear, defining traits about them both, but, again, it felt like there was no true depth to be found or connection to these characters to be made.

Agnes is a very different person than Emily, and once I realized that and I was better able to settle in to the sort of character I was following. I particularly enjoyed the way the book grappled with her grief over the loss of her husband years prior. I just recently read a book (The Trident and the Pearl) where this same topic was handled and, in my opinion, bungled badly. But here, Fawcett devotes just the right amount of time and depth of feeling to give this prior relationship its due without undercutting the development of Agnes’s new relationship.

What I liked the most about this book, however, was the magic and setting of this world. In many ways it reminded me of Howl’s Moving Castle in the best of ways. Of course, much of this was also tied closely to the actual plot of the book and thus more disconnected from the day-in-the-life portions that I didn’t connect with as well. Here, the book established a nice balance between whimsy and dark menace and even took a few wild turns towards the end that I didn’t expect at all!

I also liked the romance, for the most part. It felt very familiar, but in a good way. Again, the Howl vibes are clear, and as long as readers clearly disconnect these new characters from Emily/Wendell, I think the romance works well. That said, I do think the book would have benefited from a bit more page time devoted to these two interacting with one another. While their love story was slow and sweet, looking back on how much page time they actually have with one another, it’s fairly limited.

So, I liked this book, but didn’t love it. It wasn’t nearly the high of the Emily Wilde books, unfortunately. Everything was just slightly…less. Part of this may come down to my own preferences with cozy fantasy, but I also think the character work simply wasn’t as strong here. And for books like these, they really live and die on the strength of the leads. That said, it was by no means a bad time, and I definitely think fans of Fawcett’s other books should check this out, as well as any/all cozy fantasy readers!

Rating 8: The cats definitely carried a decent portion of this book! However, I don’t think the characters were quite as strong as I would have liked.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Agnes Aubert’s Mystical Cat Shelter” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Clowders, Glarings: Cat Hoarding, etc. in Fiction and Best Cozy Fantasy Books.

Kate’s Review: “Maria the Wanted”

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Book: “Maria the Wanted” by V. Castro

Publishing Info: Titan Books, February 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Newly turned Mexican vampire, Maria, is not just out for blood, she wants answers.

From the twice Bram Stoker-nominated author of The Haunting of Alejandra and Immortal Pleasures, a gripping tale of empowerment, desire and belonging, perfect for readers of A Dowry of Blood and Certain Dark Things.

Maria is a wanted woman. She’s wanted by an Aztec trafficker, a cartel boss, the people she fights for, and now the Devil she can’t resist. Her journey begins as a would-be immigrant turned vampire in Juarez, Mexico until the injustices of the world turn her into something else.

Forced to leave her home and family, she embarks on a journey across Mexico seeking those answers. She learns a new language and how to survive as a vampire. To ease her restlessness she finds work with an ex-boxer and learns to fight, becoming an unlikely bad ass enforcer of justice for the community that has embraced her. Is she a saint or an old God from a forgotten past?

An encounter with a violent, ruthless vampire boss leads her to finally find her creator, and he is nothing like she imagined. Drawn into a world of ancient vampires, deadly conspiracies and a dangerously seductive devil, Maria must find a way to fight for herself and all humankind.

A fierce and seductive vampire thriller, pulsing with rage, fear and desire, that explores the dark back streets of Mexico and a vampire woman’s determination to find her place in the world.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

After being a bit let down by V. Castro’s previous vampire novel, I was pretty pleased to see that her newest book, “Maria the Wanted”, was another vampire story! Researching it further I found out that this new novel is actually a re-release, which will hopefully allow it to find new readers now that Castro has gained a bit more attention in the past few years. I had pretty high hopes for “Maria the Wanted”, and I’m happy to report that, for the most part, it was a pretty solid read! For the most part.

But first the good, and the good news is that there is a lot of good to be had! I really enjoyed our vampire protagonist Maria, whose story starts as a worker in a maquiladora in Juarez, but whose life is forever changed when some cartel vampire thugs break in to cause havoc. Maria is turned into a vampire by the most mysterious of the attackers, who disappears and leaves her to pick up the pieces of her old life and to adjust to her new one. I really liked seeing her not only have to find strength within herself to keep going, but also liked her growth journey from fledgling vampire to an avenging force not only looking for her maker, but also someone who helps the helpless, many of whom are women and girls, in a world of violence and corruption. Castro very effectively utilizes Maria’s backstory and culture to make for an interesting arc, and I was pretty damn invested in her from the jump as the moves around Mexico and beyond. I also enjoyed the vampire mythology, as Castro has some interesting twists on what her vampires are like compared to vampires in other tales.

I will say though, I feel like this book had a weird shift between the first two thirds into the final third that felt like a whole new book, but with no proper time or pages to explore it fully. I don’t really want to spoil too much of it here, but I will have to say SOME things to explain what my gripes were, so perhaps proceed with some caution. The first two thirds I greatly enjoyed, as Maria is trying to find her maker, get some justice for those who rarely get justice, and figure out what her place in the world is now that she is a vampire. All of this was solid and I enjoyed watching her go on her journey, meeting up with cartels, other women, and some fun characters be they vampires or not. But then we get to the last arc of the book, and suddenly there are prophecies, a potential armageddon at hand, and maybe even the Devil himself that she has to square up against. And that aspect felt like it needed a lot more breathing room to really flesh out a fairly significant plot point like the literal end of the world. I just felt to me like it was a wild swerve that wasn’t super well explored. It probably should have been a book in and of itself, to be honest, as it took away from the rest of the novel by confusing me as we headed into the climax.

But overall I enjoyed “Maria the Wanted”! I’m glad that they decided to re-release it for new audiences to find!

Rating 7: A really solid and entertaining first two thirds was muddled by a confusing final third, but overall an enjoyable vampire thriller.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Maria the Wanted” is included on the Goodreads list “2026 Women in Horror”.

Book Club Review: “The Magic Fish”


This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

We are part of a group of librarian friends who have had an ongoing book club running for the last several years. Each “season” (we’re nerds) we pick a theme and each of us chooses a book within that theme for us all to read. Re-visiting some of our past themes, we’re once again pulling random words from and finding a book that matches the prompts. For this blog, we will post a joint review of each book we read for book club. We’ll also post the next book coming up in book club. So feel free to read along with us or use our book selections and questions in your own book club!

Book: “The Magic Fish” by Trung Le Nguyen

Publishing Info: Random House Graphic, October 2020

Where Did We Get This Book: The library!

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Prompt Words: Asian, Voyage

Book Description: Tiến loves his family and his friends…but Tiến has a secret he’s been keeping from them, and it might change everything. An amazing YA graphic novel that deals with the complexity of family and how stories can bring us together.

Real life isn’t a fairytale.

But Tiến still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It’s hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tiến, he doesn’t even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he’s going through?

Is there a way to tell them he’s gay?

A beautifully illustrated story by Trung Le Nguyen that follows a young boy as he tries to navigate life through fairytales, an instant classic that shows us how we are all connected. The Magic Fish tackles tough subjects in a way that accessible with readers of all ages, and teaches us that no matter what—we can all have our own happy endings.

Kate’s Thoughts

This is my second time reading “The Magic Fish” by Trung Le Nguyen, and this was actually my pick for book club after pulling the phrases ‘Asian’ and ‘Voyage’ from the hat. I had to think about it a bit, and decided that this would be a good fit to fill the prompts. It had been a bit since I had first read it, so going back in had some surprises that I hadn’t remembered.

I still really enjoyed this book on the second time around. Tiến’s story and how it juxtaposes with his mother Hiền’s story, as well as three fairy tales with commonalities, is still very sweet, sometimes sad, and really moving. We have Tiế, who is contemplating coming out to his family and feeling nervous and hesitant about doing so. And we also have his mother Hiến, who has to return home to Viet Nam after years of being away after she and her husband left after the war, leaving family behind for a new life, one that puts in place a barrier to her life before. We both see their anxieties and their sadness, whether it is Tiến being Othered by greater society and fearing his family’s rejection, or Hiến who made a choice to leave her family behind, and then didn’t have them in her life, and the worries about how they viewed her choice. I also found more appreciation for the themes of communication and stories as a universal connector, as both mother and son connect via fairy tales, and how the fairy tales they connect with reflect their own feelings and thoughts within the moment.

And yes, I still love the artwork. It harkens to manga a bit, and it is so ethereal and beautiful. I also appreciated more of the details this time around, really noticing the coloring corresponding to the timeline and the storyline at hand, which was subtle and clever and a really neat choice to make.

It was great revisiting “The Magic Fish”! It’s still a lovely coming of age novel with sprinkles of fairy tale magic.

Serena’s Thoughts

I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again: one of the best things about being in a bookclub is that it will encourage you to read outside of your usual genres or formats. I hardly ever pick up graphic novels on my own, but it’s great having a bookclub full of people who know how to pick them, so that when I do read one, it’s always so great! Kate actually gifted me this book years ago and, sadly, I hadn’t gotten around to reading it until now. But she has now done the job of not only getting me the book but also placing it physically on the top of my TBR through bookclub!

This is a great example of a graphic novel where the art and subject matter come across in a lovely way. The art itself was beautiful and it paired so nicely with the deeper things of family and identity. There were several pages that I just lingered over, appreciating the depth of detail and beauty.

Of course, I love everything having to do with fairytales as well! And the inclusion of tales from both Eastern and Western cultures were beautifully woven through the story, reflecting the themes that were being explored in the primary story. Each tale on its own was lovely, and I think the way they tied into our main character’s struggles with his identity, his fears and sense of “otherness” was perfect.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! The artwork itself is the true standout for me, but I also think the story is charming in pretty much every way!

Kate’s Rating 9: A charming and gentle coming of age tale that seamlessly incorporates fairy tale magic into the pages.

Serena’s Rating 8: A lovely pairing of fairytale magic alongside a heart-felt story about identity and family.

Book Club Questions

  1. How familiar were you with the three fairy tales that Nguyen picked to contrast the story at hand? Did you felt like they lined up well with the story of Tiến and his mother?
  2. Since one of the prompts was ‘voyage’, let’s focus on the immigration voyage that Hien took from Vietnam and the new life she made and the life she left behind. What did you think of her story compared to that of Tiến’s?
  3. Language and communication is another huge theme in this book. What kinds of examples of language or communication are portrayed either as a gap or a bridge between characters?
  4. What were your thoughts on the tweaks and changes that Nguyen made to the fairy tales?
  5. What did you think of the use of colors to communicate timelines and story lines?
  6. What were your thoughts on Tiến’s coming out to his mom and the ending in general?

Reader’s Advisory

“The Magic Fish” is included on the Goodreads lists “YA Pride Graphic Novels”, and “Queer Books by AAPI Authors”.

Next Book Club Pick: “Girls Made of Snow and Glass” by Melissa Bashardoust

Serena’s Review: “A Rose of Blood and Binding”

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Book: “A Rose of Blood and Binding” by Claire Legrand

Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Casablanca, February 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: The battered Middlemist can barely hold itself together. Olden monsters terrorize the land. The gods are awakening from their ancient slumber, but if the vengeful Kilraith destroys them, all will be lost. And it’s up to the Ashbourne sisters—demigods, daughters of the goddess Kerezen—to stop him.

But the sisters are spread thin. Gemma and Talan travel the world in a desperate search for the gods. In the capital, Farrin and Ryder shelter countless refugees amid roiling unrest. And Mara Ashbourne, bound to the Middlemist and longing for a home she can never return to, is just trying to survive.

Every day is chaos as Mara battles invaders and fights to protect her fellow Roses. The presence of librarian Gareth Fontaine—assigned to aid the Roses’ war efforts—doesn’t help. Charming, brilliant, far too confident, and annoyingly reverent of the Roses—Mara most of all—he’s a distraction Mara can’t avoid or afford. Especially since she can see the shadows of Mhorghast brimming underneath his dazzling smile. Shadows of violence and shame that she knows all too well. Shadows that terrify her more than any monster.

As Mara and Gareth search the Old Country for Kilraith’s final three curse-anchors, a slow-burning passion born of sorrow and solace sparks between them, one that could finally bring Mara to the very home she longs for…or drive her toward the dark fate she secretly craves, and bring both worlds crashing down alongside her.

Previously Reviewed: “A Crown of Ivy and Glass” and “A Song of Ash and Moonlight”

Review: I’ve had a bit of a bumpy ride with this trilogy. Overall, I kept wanting to really love it, but finding myself struggling more often than not. My biggest stumbling block was the main characters in both of the first two books, each seeming to merge into the same self-loathing, fairly whiny person when all was said and done. And here, in the last book, we finally got to follow Mara, the brave warrior daughter who has been an absolute hit during her cameos in the other books. The thought of her getting the same treatment…oof.

But before I get into all of my feelings there, let’s go over other parts of this book and how it holds up as a novel itself and as a conclusion to this trilogy. First of all, I want to again go back to the often-visited trough of writing quality with regards to this trilogy. Like the first two books, this one was tightly written, balancing both detailed world-building and some truly poetic quieter moments of inner reflection. For a series that has dealt so strongly with mental health issues, I want to commend the author for exploring some truly complicated subjects without getting caught up in purple prose or simply telling readers about these struggles, rather than showing them on the page.

Further, I enjoyed the epic nature of much of the plot. As the trilogy has progressed, the world and lore have greatly expanded, so much so that by this book, we are dealing with gods and their fallout so often that it makes the political dramas of the first book seem a bit trite in comparison. Just remember, the first book was likened to “Bridgerton”…. And then here, by the end, we’re fully in epic fantasy with massive, galactic conflict taking up the majority of the plot. It’s truly a wild swing, but one that I think Legrand pulls off well. I’d definitely read more epic fantasy from her!

Unfortunately, I once again struggled with the main character and the romance. At this point, I think these books just aren’t for me as far as my own preferences go with character reading and romance. Critically, however, I do think that the manner in which Legrand explored important mental themes ultimately resulted in her writing three characters who not only sounded very similar, but all dealt with (or didn’t deal with) their individual mental health struggles in exactly the same way. All three: pushing away those they love, incredible levels of self-loathing, an unfortunate tendency to come across as whiny in their own narratives. It was incredibly frustrating each and every time, and all the more so here.

Mara’s story is clearly tragic, being taken away from her family so young and the scars this would leave on her psyche. Further, I loved the exploration of her relationship with the Warden, a deeply unhealthy bond of manipulation and dependence. But for all of these unique factors, and the fact that we’ve had two other books in which to see Mara presented as a strong, brave warrior character, Mara’s narration sounded almost exactly the same as the previous two characters. I can’t speak to every aspect of mental health that has been covered in these books, but from a writing level, it’s frustrating to see these topics covered in a way that now only seems repetitive. Mara’s experiences of her struggles are almost identical to her sisters’, and her arc through the story thus feels incredibly familiar and tired. What’s more, people are more than their mental health struggles, and I have to imagine that different people will respond differently to different challenges. But here we had essentially a bait-and-switch where everything we saw about Mara before was wiped away beneath the burdens of yet more self-loathing and self-isolation, just like the other two.

As for the romance, I was a bit lukewarm on this as well. There was nothing wrong with this relationship, but I do think it suffered a bit in comparison to the more deep and intricately complicated relationship we saw between Mara and the Warden.

Overall, this book was only fine, and I’m truly sad to say it. I was very nervous going in and, unfortunately, that now feels well warranted. Like I said, I do think Legrand is a strong writer, and I enjoyed her character work with pretty much any character whose head we were NOT in at the moment. I’ll definitely consider giving her books another chance, but if there is another strong focus on mental health (for all that it’s a worthy topic!), I might have to pass. I’ve already read that book three times now.

Rating 7: As an epic fantasy, I think this succeeds. But on a character level, I struggled in the same way I did with the first two.

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Rose of Blood and Binding” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All the New Romantasy Books Arriving in February 2026 and “Bind” Titles.

Kate’s Review: “Death and Dinuguan”

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Book: “Death and Dinuguan” by Mia P. Manansala

Publishing Info: Berkley, November 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an eARC from NetGalley

Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound

Book Description: Love is in the air for the citizens of Shady Palms, but Cupid’s arrow isn’t the only thing striking the town—not with another killer on the loose.

Things are looking up for the Brew-ha Cafe, and Lila Macapagal can’t think of anything that could break the spell, especially with Valentine’s Day coming up—she can’t wait to celebrate with her boyfriend, Jae Park. Adding to the lovey-dovey atmosphere is Hana Lee, Shady Palms’s newest resident. She’s also Jae’s beloved cousin and chocolatier at Choco Noir, the latest addition to the town’s culinary offerings. Everything is coming into place for Hana, who left her old life in Minnesota behind to work at Choco Noir, owned by her best friend.

Unfortunately, beneath the sweet surface of Shady Palms runs a bitter undercurrent, as a series of attacks against women-owned businesses in the area escalates from petty theft to assault and murder when Hana is found knocked unconscious inside Choco Noir, and the chocolate shop owner is put out of business—for good.

With Hana left in a coma, a murderer hiding amongst them, and the safety of the women entrepreneurs of Shady Palms at risk, the Park brothers team up with the Brew-ha crew to put a stop to the villain before they strike again.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this novel!

Valentine’s Day is this weekend! I’ll be honest, we aren’t doing much to celebrate the day (we don’t usually make a big deal of it), I’m just going to make a nice dinner for me and my husband and we will probably watch a movie with champagne, and will also get my kid hepped up on chocolate because why not. But I do like picking out a romance or an on theme read for the holiday, and if you are also looking for a book to commemorate the day, “Death and Dinuguan” by Mia P. Manansala is a pretty solid choice. When I first requested this book I hadn’t realized that it was going to be the final story in the “Tita Rosie’s Kitchen Mysteries” series, and was pretty sad when I found out. I have enjoyed this series so much over the years, and I had hoped that it would end on a high note for amateur detective Lila Macapagal. And it didn’t quite hit the heights I hoped for.

I’m going to switch it up this time around and talk about what didn’t work first. Overall, I wasn’t as invested in the mystery at hand. One pretty consistent issue is that when so many people are murdered in a small town population, it seems like it should be a bigger problem than the story acknowledges! That’s obviously not unique to Shady Palms, Illinois (thinking of Cabot Cove in “Murder, She Wrote”, or Midsomer in “Midsomer Murders”), but I do think that you have to do something to make each murder mystery interesting enough to be able to wave it away a bit. And in “Death and Dinuguan”, the murder of a chocolate shop owner (with Jae’s cousin Hana, who also runs the shop, left in a coma), I just wasn’t as interested as the story went on, hitting a lot of beats that are pretty familiar to the previous books in the series. I also was able to call the solution pretty quickly, and if a mystery and the journey is entertaining that usually won’t bother me. But I just felt like it was going through the motions this time around, so it was harder to ignore.

But Lila is still very fun and charming. It is so gratifying to see the way that she has evolved from the start of the series, starting as a bit of a prodigal daughter (well, niece) returning to her tight knit community from the big city, and ending as a pillar of the community with a huge village of people who care for her surrounding her. She’s still scrappy but imperfect, sticking her foot in her mouth a few times as she investigates, but always determined to help and solve the crimes that have hurt her loved ones. And while I was kind of underwhelmed by the way this one came together, I think that it did, ultimately, solidify Lila’s place in Shady Palms and shows just how much she cares about her community, and how much her community cares about her. And as a Valentine’s Day story, it’s a nice on theme mystery for the upcoming holiday.

Finally, the recipes. We once again get a nice set of recipes that go along with the story at hand, and I am always going to be on board with recipes included at the end of a cozy mystery, and these are a fun group that readers may not be as familiar with.

“Death and Dinuguan” may have been a bit of an underwhelming end to a series that I really enjoyed, but I think that overall I’m very satisfied with how it all turned out for Lila and her friends and her little dog Longganisa. I will definitely check out what other mystery series Manansala brings forth in the future. So long, Shady Palms! I’ll miss you!

Rating 6: Kind of a clunky ending for an overall fun series, but a nice fast read for Valentine’s Day.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Death and Dinuguan” is included on the Goodreads list “2025 Cozy Mystery New Releases”.

Serena’s Review: “Crown of War and Shadow”

This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend.  Read the full disclosure here.

Book: “Crown of War and Shadow” by J.R. Ward

Publishing Info: Bramble, February 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: ARC from the publisher!

Where Can You Get this Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | IndieBound

Book Description: The Fulcrum is failing, and demons are slipping into the mortal world, stalking the night. No one is safe. Especially not Sorrel. An orphan and an outcast, she’s spent her whole life within the walls of her small village, ostracized for her mystical abilities. She wants to survive…and maybe find somewhere she can call her true home. But Fate has other plans.

Sorrel has been chosen. Cursed. She must cross the Badlands to return the Queen’s crown and convince the fearsome female to save their world from destruction. Well aware she’s no brave hero, Sorrel makes a dangerous deal with Merc, a brooding, commanding mercenary known only by his unscrupulous profession. The deal? A night in his bed that she will never forget, in exchange for her safe passage. But Merc has secrets of his own, and even though passion runs hot between them, enemies are around every corner, and danger and betrayal threaten at every turn.

Review: One of my fellow book club librarians is a big fan of this author, so I’ve been wanting to check out her books for a while. That said, her primary series is, uh, long. So I was excited to see she was releasing the first book in a brand new series this spring, an excellent place to jump in!

Overall, this book didn’t quite live up to my expectations. That said, I can definitely see the author’s strengths, so without having read her other books, I can’t say whether this was a diversion from quality or not. But to start, her writing is incredibly “readable” right from the start. Readers are quickly brought into this world and given enough information about it, its history, and our main character to quickly become invested in what was going on. So much so that there was one side character who, I believe, only appears in one brief scene who later brought me to tears, all in the first quarter of the book!

I also liked the broad strokes of Sorrel’s character. Unlike many romantasy heroines, she didn’t actively annoy me much of the time. That said, she also fell into a few too many silly tropes. We have her repeatedly denying her own beauty, impulsively throwing herself into dangerous situations where she is actively unskilled, and then miraculously discovering previously unknown abilities, etc., etc. You get the gist. It was all quite familiar and predictable, if still well executed overall.

I did enjoy the slow reveals of her history, even if it felt like these were too easily telegraphed at times. Naturally, it doesn’t make sense for Sorrel to put things together as quickly as the reader, but it was still frustrating to watch her stumble around for as long as she did. Part of this speaks to the pacing issues I had, however. This is a long book, and by the middle portion, I was definitely feeling it. The mysteries that had been hinted at were still only the barest brushes, even if the reader was already a mile ahead of things. And instead of making progress, the book became bogged down in tedious traveling adventures. Sure, there were action-packed scenes happening on the page, but the actual plot itself felt mired in tedium.

This was then contrasted by the breakneck speed of the romance, which jumped immediately into insta-lust on both sides. I liked the general idea of the MMC; he even had some interesting backstory that I enjoyed learning about. But the story opened with a truly ridiculous misunderstanding between these two characters and proceeded to just…go with it. The entire thing could have been cleared up so easily, and it was just such a stupid element that was thrown in as a wrench between these two understanding each other. Honestly, I rolled my eyes so many times at both of these characters.

Overall, I didn’t love this book. The author is clearly talented, and I think there are the bones of a good story to be found here. Unfortunately, this was badly in need of an editor to trim down the fat and focus the story on the plot that actually mattered. With some adjustments to pacing, both of the romance and the actual plot, this could have been a much more fun read. That said, I’d guess that this will still hit well for fans of this author, so if you’ve enjoyed her other books, this is probably for you!

Rating 7: At least a hundred pages longer than it needed to be, this book is a key example of failing to follow the mantra “sometimes you get more with less.”

Reader’s Advisory:

“Crown of War and Shadow” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2026 and 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases.