Not Just Books: October 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

TV Show: “The Gentlemen” Season 2

This fall has been a great time for the return of some favorite shows, and this was one that my husband I jumped at right away! We were a bit late to the game, so we didn’t have quite so long a wait between seasons, but I was still very excited to get to return to the world of gentlemen drug dealers. There were some true high notes (the continued “will they/won’t they” tension between Eddie and Susie and some absolutely brutal action scenes), but there were also a few misses (I get what was being done with “The Godfather” homage, but it did spoil some important beats in the plot). However, I’m excited to see where season 3 takes things, and I hope we get a return of a bit of the humor from season 1 that was missed in this second entry.

Movie: “Obessession”

Hey, look at that! I actually watched a horror movie during October! Full points for me! I’m not sure how my husband and I even found this one, but we’d both heard about it independent of each other and decided why the heck not one night! And yeah, it’s upsetting, but it was also incredibly good. It’s a pretty simple concept and even if you are able to predict some of the major beats and the ultimate outcome, there were also moments of true horror and disgust that definitely had me covering my cat’s my eyes at certain points. If you’re looking for a thrill this October, this is definitely one to consider, even if you’re not a major horror fan on your own.

Kate’s Picks

TV Show: “Carrie”

I will admit that when I initially heard that “Carrie” was getting another adaptation my first thought was ‘why?’ But when I heard that Mike Flanagan was doing it I was definitely more on board because that man doesn’t miss. And then when it dropped I told myself that I would watch the first couple of episodes one night…. and then ended up binging the entire series into the wee hours of the morning. It was that good. It is SO good. It’s an adaptation of “Carrie” for modern sensibilities, and in the expected Flanagan fashion he adapts the story in his own way that holds on to the heart and essence of the source material. Summer H. Howell as Carrie is stupendous, bringing out the naiveté and vulnerability and coating it with earnest kindness that made her that much more tragic. But the show also goes a couple steps further and gives a lot of layers and complexity to usual two dimensional villains Chris, Carrie’s main bully at school who is watching her own life fall apart and looks for a victim to exert control over, and Mrs. White, Carrie’s zealous mother (played by an on point Samantha Sloyan), who isn’t an over the top abuser but is a more quiet fundamentalist who loves her daughter dearly, but who controls and manipulates her and hides her away from the world to keep her grip firm. It is absolutely fabulous AND it goes in a direction that opens up SO many possibilities for an extended King universe. I loved it.

TV Show: “Crystal Lake”

Hoo hoo, another horror classic reboot that brings in depth, complexity, and a hell of an emotional rollercoaster to a classic slasher tale!! Jason Voorhees from “Friday the 13th” has always held a special place in my heart, and the new show “Crystal Lake” decides to dive into his backstory. Well, mostly his mother Pamela’s backstory. The fans of the original franchise know that it is Pamela who is the slasher killer in the original “Friday the 13th”, driven insane by the death of her disabled and bullied son Jason when he drowned after the counselors at the camp she worked at were too busy flirting and fucking to pay him attention. Now we are seeing Linda Cardinelli as Pamela (she’s fantastic), in the depths of grief and falling into madness after her precious son’s death, and killing those she blames for it. This would be great on its own, but the show goes a couple steps further, not only showing us what little kid Jason is like as well as his relationship with Pamela (don’t think I wasn’t sobbing openly as we see the sweet little baby boy be adorable and precious ON TOP of his mother’s raw grief), but also a VERY interesting mystery about how Jason came to be, and secrets Pamela has been hiding even before she goes mad with grief. What a treat for this Jason fan girl.

Joint Pick:

Video Game: “Dressmaker”

Now for something COMPLETELY different. Along with all the usual fun scary spooky horror stuff I like to consume and cram in during October, I also found a new video game which was SO incredibly soothing and cozy that it held my attention in spite of the fact it was not horror related at all. “Dressmaker” is a game where you are, well, a dressmaker! You get commissions and prompts from customers, are given parameters and budgets, and get to design, measure, pattern, and sew dresses for all kinds of occasions! Someone need a dress for a funeral (but doesn’t want it to be black and it has to be OUTLANDISH?)? You can do it! Someone needs a new workwear outfit for doing chores and work around the farm? You are there to help! Someone need a spooky dress for a seance while she also harbors two spirits that have possessed her (and a possible vampire ALSO needs a dress to assist)? You KNOW you can make that work! As someone who used to watch “Project Runway” and currently watches “Drag Race” and could never fathom the concept of designing and sewing a dress, I’ve been having a lot of fun stretching my creativity muscles. I also like seeing storylines between various clients develop. All in all, it was an unexpected hit and I’m glad I stumbled upon it.

Hi, it’s me, Serena, tagging on to Kate’s pick! I actually started up an entry for this very same game before I scrolled down and came across Kate’s already completed portion! And it just goes to show how lovely, cozy, and approachable this game is! Because, like Kate, this isn’t necessarily my typical type of game. I usually go for my typical RPGs, be they action, tactical, what have you. But there was something so wholesome and soothing about this game. It had the perfect mix of opportunities for creativity without becoming overwhelming. And the simple process of constructing dresses was the perfect restful activity to get me through the last few hectic days of school break where my two boys were actively destroying my house. But boys, look at the pretty ballgown I made!!

Serena’s Review: “The Scarlet Ball”

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Book: “The Scarlet Ball” by Nghi Vo

Publishing Info: Tor Books, October 2026

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

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

Book Description: Judith Ban, former convent girl, courtesan, and failed thief, is on the lookout for her next identity. The daughter of a Vietnamese adventuress and a French naval officer, she’s no stranger to risk, but she’s unprepared for the secrets of New York’s legendary Four Hundred, or for the women who build their power at the city’s heart through blood-soaked, gold-etched rituals of demonic marriage.

In exchange for enough wealth to outrun her past, Judith strikes a deal with the matriarch of the powerful Howard family: she will stand in for the missing Howard granddaughter, who was poised to make her debut when she disappeared. With Miss Iphigenia Marshall’s face stitched over her own, Judith is white, rich, and about to risk body and soul in the deadly games that determine which girls will find a match—and which will be devoured. If she can keep her wits and her life, her reward will be a husband with undreamt-of power who will be hers to command… so long as she can keep his infinite hungers fed. But to survive the season, Judith will have to seduce a storm in the shape of a man, before the night to which everything has been leading—the Scarlet Ball where the demons choose their brides.

A razor-sharp subversion of romance tropes and nightmare of manners, Vo’s fusion of history and fantasy does for Edith Wharton what her acclaimed debut The Chosen and the Beautiful did for F. Scott Fitzgerald.

Review: I’ve read a few books from this author and really enjoyed them. In fact, if I had one criticism about my experience with her titles, it was the fact that each time I turned the last page, I was always left wishing there was just a bit more. Her worlds are always incredibly creative and her style lush. But I’ve only read novellas, so I was excited to see how her talents would play out over a full-length novel where more management of plotting and pacing is required. Well, I’m pleased to say that I was blown away by this book in almost every way.

I’ve used this term before, but I would describe this one as “hard fantasy.” What I mean by that is, like “hard science fiction,” this sort of fantasy doesn’t hand-hold the reader. Vo has created a truly wondrous and horrifying version of Gilded Age New York, a place rife with terrific magic and danger, but also compelling beauty. But there is no hand-holding given or magic system detailed. Things are simply thrown at the readers, who are left to either accept what they’re given or spend the rest of their reading experience banging their heads against a wall.

For me, this added to the beauty and horror of this world. When we’re told that women swallow songbirds to perfect their voices, we are given no more and no less than that horrifying image. This manner of presenting the fantasy elements as straightforward facts allows them to shine an even starker light on the themes and motifs of this story: the value placed on beauty, the pursuit of power, the inherent sacrifices that are placed at the altar of both. And, above all, the choices that remain.

The most obvious example, of course, is the central premise of women pursuing husbands who are the literal embodiment of natural disasters, beings of incredible power who, through their consuming obsession with their wives, both grant those women access to their power but also loom as an inevitable destruction that awaits them. There are the low-hanging-fruit approaches to a topic like this, but Vo sidesteps them all. Instead, tropes are subverted at every angle. But while this subversion is happening, Vo also lets you somehow eat your cake, too, writing a disturbing love story into the background of the tale.

Like the world-building, Judith is a complex and complicated woman. Her background is presented only slowly, and the book often simply presents facts about her life with very little commentary to be offered. It was oddly refreshing to read a character like this who was herself unapologetic for her choices but also free of the shadow of authorial self-awareness that you often see peeking out between the pages.

I also loved the interplay between fantasy and historical fiction. The fantasy elements were wondrous (and truly, the body horror here was on the next level, which surprised me), but I also loved the framework of historical fiction and historical romance that underpinned much of the pacing of the story. Familiar beats were struck, but each filtered through the lens of the fantastic and horrific.

Overall, this was an incredible read. I really didn’t have many expectations going in, other than a confidence that it would be well-written. But this was absolutely fantastic. I highly recommend it to all fantasy readers, especially those who enjoy dark fantasy and historical fiction.

Rating 10: Luscious and dark like velvet, Vo will sweep you up in the fantasy of it all before sweeping you away into the night where monsters lurk.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Scarlet Ball” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Gothic Fantasy  and Romance Novels with Asian Heroines… Upcoming and Current

Kate’s Review: “Our Cut of Salt”

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Book: “Our Cut of Salt” by Deena Helm

Publishing Info: Tor Nightfire, September 2026

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

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

Book Description: There is something haunting Nuhad’s childhood home in Haifa. Cats avoid its perimeter, strange noises come from within, and residents have mysteriously vanished without a trace. Although Nuhad has not returned to her home since the Nakba in 1948, she always held a place for the house in her heart.

And, in return, the house did the same for her.

After Nuhad passes away, her granddaughter, Marina, is determined to visit her grandmother’s home after a lifetime of being kept in the dark about her culture and family history. Marina’s mother, Haifa – named for the city that was lost to their family – reluctantly agrees to her trip, though she knows firsthand that some secrets are better left buried.

But the house is no longer a home. It is a painful, festering wound that infects everything it touches. The more Marina digs into her family’s past, the sicker she becomes. Despite Nuhad’s ghostly warnings, Haifa rushes to help her daughter.

As the three women converge in their ancestral home, they must put the haunting to rest before the secrets of the past drown them all.

Review: Thank you to Tor Nightfire for sending me an eARC of this novel via NetGalley!

I always find it funny when people have a knee jerk reaction to horror as a genre that is only there to upset and terrify people in a bad way. I grew up in a household where I was the only horror fan, and I definitely had comments from my parents about why I wanted to watch or read this kind of stuff that is so upsetting and, at times, tasteless (my poor mother, having to go up to the Blockbuster counter to rent YET ANOTHER slasher movie gore fest for her teenage Goth daughter). But I find horror to be a genre that has a capacity for so much empathy and connection, and whenever I read a book like “Our Cut of Salt” by Deena Helm I think of the way the genre can be written off when it can have SO MUCH TO SAY.

This is a haunted house story, but it is moreso a family saga involving three generations of Palestinian women who have dealt with immense trauma and grief, starting with the Nakba in 1948 and up to 2002 (the time this book is set). Marina feels disconnected from her Palestinian heritage, living in Chicago with her mother Haifa and wanting to understand her history, and decides to return to the family home in Haifa (it can be hard to keep track with a place and a character sharing a name, just be warned), which has been long lost to the family after her grandmother Nuhad and her family were driven out by Israeli occupation. Haifa doesn’t want Marina to go back, but she does, and discovers a brutal past and a house that seems to be alive, enraged, and hungry. We have multiple perspectives, jumping from Nuhad’s time during the Nakba, to Haifa’s strained relationship with her traumatized mother, to Marina’s return to a homeland that is now overtaken with hostile colonial violence targeted at her people. The historical and social aspects of this book are brutal and incredibly emotional, and while it is set almost twenty five years ago it is a really stark reminder that this violence in Palestine didn’t begin three years ago, and that the occupation has a long and terrible history. It’s a very difficult read at times, but it’s also an important one, and it is once again a horror story that taps into very real horrors and brings out despair and empathy on a deep and visceral level.

In terms of the haunted house bits, I think what I found most creative about this book was that not only do we see perspectives of our three generations of women, but also from the house itself. The house is angry and hungry, feeding upon settlers who attempt to make claim, and waits for its rightful owners to return, unwilling to allow anyone else inside for long. I liked having the house’s perspective a lot, as that is what kept the straight up paranormal horror afloat in a book that could have been enveloped fully by a family saga and real life horrors. This horror choice really worked for me. And the real life horrors, as mentioned above, really make this book the horrifying story that it sets out to be, and Helm doesn’t hold back. Be warned, this doesn’t take place during the current violence, but it goes to show that it has been happening a VERY long time.

I will say that I did have one criticism of this book, and it’s a criticism that I always need to address whenever it comes up in anything I’m reading, and that is the idea of relying too much of telling versus showing. This book has a very passionate and emotionally charged core (understandably so), and in a horror novel that has a lot of metaphors that it wants to convey, there is a trap that can be fallen into of over-explaining the metaphors and broader messages. This book has a lot of that, with a lot of repeated emphasis on what the reader is supposed to be getting from the metaphors or symbolism at hand, and any time we got an over-explanation it really stood out. The messages are important and I don’t even disagree with them and I understand what is being said, but it felt like there wasn’t enough trust in the reader to understand when I think that the messages and themes were powerful enough to stand on their own two feet, as it were.

But outside of that last criticism, I found “Our Cut of Salt” to be deeply emotional and very timely, a family saga with some real and metaphorical hauntings. Recommended for sure.

Rating 8: Timely, haunting, and filled to the brim with grief, “Our Cut of Salt” is about occupation, family, displacement, and home.

Reader’s Advisory

“Our Cut of Salt” is included on the Goodreads lists “2026 Gothic”, and “SWANA Fiction Books – 2026”.

Serena’s Review: “Mortal Things”

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Book: “Mortal Things” by Marie Lu

Publishing Info: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, October 2026

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

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

Book Description: Rose despises Raven, the god of Death. His mysterious commands. His mercurial moods. His closed heart. But most of all, she loathes that she was forced to become his Harbinger, a human mercenary tasked to fulfil their god’s every want and whim. Still, she would do it again, because being a Harbinger is the only thing keeping her best friend alive.

When a murder rocks the world of the gods, Rose is suddenly thrust into the immortal realm’s spotlight as Raven’s heir. This is her chance to free her friend once and for all. But in order for her to ascend, she must first prove herself to the other gods—and the one person standing in her way is a fellow Harbinger.

Étienne Beauchard is notorious for his sly wit and charming good looks. Rose can’t stand that he is the one assigned to test her abilities, but as their initial hostility evolves into an intense attraction, they find that the gods’ secrets go deeper than they ever expected. Something is wrong in the immortal world, something that threatens to break their bond and engulf them all in war.

As Rose and Étienne fight to uncover the truth and trust each other with their hearts, they realize that everything hinges on the same How far would you go to save the person you love?

Review: Unfortunately, I’m starting to come to the conclusion that Marie Lu’s books might just not be for me. I really enjoyed her original YA trilogy, and I even met her once at an ALA conference, and she was wonderful to talk with. However, I’ve now read several of her other books, and none of them have quite hit the way I’d like them to, and such was the case here again.

My main takeaway when I turned the last page on this book was an overwhelming sense of “fine-ness.” There was nothing offensive about it, it didn’t lack in technical skill, the story had its moments…but there also wasn’t anything that would make me ever think about it again. Everything we see here is familiar in one way or another. Gods toying with mortals and using them in complex political games. A chosen one-type main character who “defies” the gods. And, of course, the enemies/rivals romantic subplot. But on each of these counts, Lu didn’t add anything to make her version of these tropes stand out.

The world-building had its moments of interest, and when the world was first introduced, I was intrigued. But the story quickly introduced so many plot holes that I immediately was drawn out of the story. For such powerful gods, we never really see them do anything. And the system for how they become gods quickly becomes incoherent the moment you think about it too hard. Further, the way that our main character ends up in the position she does is also highly questionable. Wouldn’t this happen all of the time in this system?

As for our main character, again, there were moments that I liked from her. The flashbacks to her time as a mere mortal and the friendship that set her on her current trajectory were interesting. But as the story continued, it became more and more apparent that I was simply going to be told everything I needed to know both about our main character and about the relationships that are important to her. Again and again, Lu defaulted into a telling style of writing rather than showing, leaving me to begin questioning whether our main character had really shown anything that we were being told she was capable of.

As for the romance, there were moments that I liked here, especially the introduction of these two and their original dynamic. But again, the contrived nature of the plot that puts them at odds did very little to add anything to this relationship. Instead, it took anything that might have felt original about them and watered it down with overly familiar interactions. By the end, I couldn’t tell you what uniquely drew either of these characters to the other. Like everything in this book, they were interested in each other because that’s what the story needed.

Underwhelming, that’s my main takeaway. By the time I got to the end of this book, half of my mind was already thinking ahead to what I was going to read next. I didn’t hate this one by any means; I simply didn’t care. That said, I have to now assume that some of this disconnect is simply on my side. I know that Lu remains a very popular author for many fans, so if you’ve enjoyed many of her books in the past, I’m sure this one will also be up your alley. But if you’re on the fence, there are perhaps more original and interesting books to pick up this fall.

Rating 7: “Inoffensive” is the word that comes to mind. There were moments where I felt like this could have been something special, but those quickly sunk back beneath the wave of overly familiar story beats that made up most of this book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Mortal Things” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 – Paranormal Romance (Standalones and 1st in Series).

Kate’s Review: “The Darkness Bites Back”

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Book: “The Darkness Bites Back” by Laura R. Samotin & Ben Alderson

Publishing Info: Angry Robot Books, September 2026

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

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

Book Description: Centuries ago, Tobias Osian had his mortality stolen from him when he was unwillingly turned into a vampire. Ever since, he’s been consumed by the need for revenge against the monster who took his humanity – Vladimir Damianos, the head of Britain’s most powerful vampire clan.

Now, Tobias is finally ready to enact his plan for vengeance, using Vladimir’s son Alexander to infiltrate the family and bring down the entire clan. But what he doesn’t expect is that Alexander has rebelled against his bloodthirsty father by protecting mortals instead of hunting them. When the two meet, Alexander is instantly enamoured with Tobias. And as a string of attacks rocks the city of Oxford, Alexander proves himself committed to protecting Tobias, not knowing that Tobias is just as much of a monster as he is.

With his attraction to Alexander growing, Tobias must decide what means more to him: vengeance, or a love growing from the most tragic of places.

Perfect for fans of Interview With the Vampire and Saltburn, this high-heat paranormal romance brings together blood and lust in an intoxicating combination.

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

We are about halfway through Horrorpalooza (more even!), and while I’ve really been enjoying the all horror all the time thing I have going on with it, it is known that I also like to throw in a couple ‘horror adjacent’ reads during this time period. Things that may not be PURE horror, but could pass when it comes to themes. Usually this comes out in the form of romances, and that is true for how it shook out this year, as I decided to take on “The Darkness Bites Back” by Laura R. Samotin and Ben Alderson. This was in part due to the fact that even though it ended back in July, I’m still fully fixated on “Interview With the Vampire/The Vampire Lestat” and my favorite ship of the moment Lestat and Louis (this ship has been part of my collection since I was a teen but REALLY ramped back up thanks to the show). I’ve been feeling incredible withdrawals now that the show is done, and while I do/can rewatch it is a REALLY rough show at times and it takes a lot out of me. I’ve thought about finding some good Loustat fan fics, but parsing through seems daunting and I STILL REMEMBER when Anne Rice would get REALLY grumpy about people writing fan fiction with her characters, so I’ve held off. When I saw that this book was about two vampires, it was MLM, and it seemed to have smut AND angst, AND it had comparisons to “Interview with the Vampire” I was like ‘LET’S DO IT’ and hopped on board.

God only knows how long until these two are reunited on my screen again between season hiatus and where they are in the plotline…. (source)

In terms of giving me a sweet sweet Loustat-esque dopamine shot right to my veins, “The Darkness Bites Back” absolutely has the vibes and elements that I have been surely missing since the show ended back in July. Our MLM romance involves two vampires. The first is Tobin, a vampire who was forced to become a vampire centuries in the past when he was turned by the ruthless and infamous Vladamir Damianos, who is the head of one of the most dangerous vampire clans in all of Europe. The second is Alexander, who teaches at Oxford passing as a human, who also happens to be Vladamir’s son, and whom Tobin wants to target and seduce only to kill him in revenge. But of course, his plan is a bit thrown for a loop when, pretending to be someone he is not, he actually falls for the charming and secretly noble Alexander. Forbidden romance, enemies to lovers, dark academia, it certainly has a lot of things that I like, trope wise. It also has some pretty steamy romance scenes, and I did find myself hoping that Tobin and Alexander would be able to figure out a way to be together (aka that Tobin would realize that Alexander is not responsible for her father’s terribleness and is not a carbon copy of him, come ON Tobin!). The emotional moments were there, as was the banter, and I enjoyed their romance journey.

All that said, I think that in general this book is pretty middle of the road. I liked Alexander and Tobin, but I’m sure that was in part due to the fact I was looking for an outlet for a ship that I am really missing at the moment (they are enjoyable, don’t get me wrong). Some of the vampire lore was confusing, a lot of the secondary characters weren’t terribly interesting, and the ending felt pretty abrupt. It also didn’t really go outside of the tropes that I listed in ways that were interesting or unique. I was entertained, but after I was done it wasn’t really leaving much of an impression. I went into it with the express purpose of trying to chase the Loustat high I had been missing, and it provided that, but that was about it.

So all in all, “The Darkness Bites Back” was fun in the moment, but it wasn’t reinventing any wheels or lingering long after I was finished. I’m not mad I read it. But I think I probably just need to sit down and find some well done Loustat fan fics on AO3 to tide me over (I’m so sorry, Anne).

Rating 6: Steamy and fun, though not really moving outside the expected tropes, “The Darkness Bites Back” gave me a Loustat hit, but was fairly middle of the road.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Darkness Bites Back” is included on the Goodreads list “Adult Queer Romances of 2026”.

Joint Review: “The House of Gardenias”

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

Book: “The House of Gardenias” by Isabel Cañas

Publishing Info: Dutton Books for Young Readers, September 2026

Where Did We Get This Book: We received ARCs from the publisher at ALAAC26

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

Book Description: Sixteen-year-old Minerva has spent her whole life in the slums of the capital city of an unnamed country that resembles colonial Mexico. Though she lives in the shadow of constant government turmoil, her empty belly and her father’s brutality don’t leave time for politics—especially since her older brothers ran away. Minerva can’t take another beating or miss another meal, so she steals flees to a wealthy loyalist neighborhood to win a job as a lady’s maid to an elderly widow.

Minerva and Encarnación del Valle—the proud and acerbic widow—form an unlikely duo. They are both survivors in their own ways, stubborn and used to being underestimated. For a time, Minerva is happy. She has food and safety in a house lit and warmed by magical chispa. Why should she care who runs the country or how her employer afford the magic?

But when the viceroy sweeps back into power on a wave of horrific bloodshed that sweeps away any hope Minerva had of seeing her brothers again, Encarnación retreats to the del Valle’s mountainside estate, the Casa de la Gardenias. Minerva finds herself surrounded by dozens of more experienced servants and the cruel, scheming younger del Valles, but the living are the least of anyone’s worries at the Casa de las Gardenias, and soon Minerva discovers that this ancient estate is home to forces far older and more bloodthirsty than the fascist del Valles or the liberal guerrillas amassing in the surrounding wilderness.

Serena’s Thoughts

This is only the second book I’ve read by this author, but I loved the first one I read so much that I felt fairly confident going in that I would enjoy this one too! I wasn’t quite sure how her style would transfer to YA, however. Many authors seem to get caught in the weeds a bit when transitioning from one to the other, but the change from adult to YA seems particularly challenging. Too often, authors seem to interpret the changes needed through a lens of simplification, which often really kills what made their work special in the first place. But I’m glad to say that here Cañas made this jump fairly seamlessly! Other than the age of the characters and perhaps a very small tamping down of some of the horror, this reads first and foremost like an “Isabel Cañas” book and only secondly as a YA horror story.

And for me, the part that stands out the most between the adult book I’ve read by this author and this one is Cañas’s beautiful, atmospheric writing. “Lush” is a word that is probably thrown around too much, but I think it applies here. But what really stands out is the way that she uses this sense of atmosphere to ratchet up the tension and dread. The reader feels a real “presence” in the book, and this feeling only adds to the building horror.

But in a lot of ways, this book was also fairly tailor-made for me. I love a gothic story with a creepy mansion. I adore leading characters whose greatest strength isn’t necessarily bravery or literal strength. And I enjoy stories that slowly unspool while also winding the cinch tighter and tighter.

I do still struggle a bit with some horror conventions that aren’t necessarily to my taste. Look, I’m a “generally happy story” reader, and horror novels aren’t that. But Cañas also does a fantastic job threading that needle in a way that leaves even the most dedicated “happily ever after” reader largely satisfied by the ending. If you’re a fan of this author or gothic YA horror, definitely give this one a go!

Kate’s Thoughts

Much like Serena, I was quite interested to see just what Isabel Cañas was going to do with a YA novel. Her adult horror novels are so damn good, and while I absolutely do find a fair share of YA horror that I like, I also know that sometimes authors, especially authors who also delve in the adult side of things, can perhaps course correct a little too far when thinking they have to parse down the genre for a teen audience. But I needn’t have worried, because “The Hosue of Gardenias” does feel like YA, but it doesn’t feel like it is underestimating the reader because of it.

I really enjoyed the horror beats of this novel, as well as the dark fantasy systems of magic, hauntings, revenge, and colonialism all wrapped up in a Gothic bow. Cañas takes a country that COULD be Mexico (it absolutely lines up but isn’t ever explicitly stated as such) and examines political upheaval, imperialism, classism, and the way that sometimes those who can’t afford to be political find themselves caught up in politics. Minerva, our protagonist, is a teenage girl from a poverty stricken and abusive home life (thanks to her father) who finds herself hired on by an elite family named the del Valles that just so happens to be leading a violent far right coup. Minerva thinks that so long as she keeps her head down and her employers happy this will be easy living and CERTAINLY better than her previous circumstances, but when they relocate to an imposing estate known as the House of Gardenias, and the political turmoil starts to hit home, she finds herself having to look into herself… and also finds herself face to face with an entity named Ygnacio who is hellbent on revenge against the del Valles due to the violence and oppression they have doled out over the years (and towards his past self). I really enjoyed Minerva’s character arc as she starts to realize just how rotten the colonial state and the del Valles family in particular are, and how this is a tale as old as time that we see over and over throughout history. Cañas once again does a great job folding the history in with the horror tale at present.

And the horror aspects were really well done too, as were the dark fantasy magical systems at hand. The isolation of the daunting House of Gardenias makes for the perfect Gothic backdrop, and Ygnacio’s powers, rage, and haunting was creepy and at times tense… But he is also the kind of ‘villain’ that has a point, and I found myself enjoying him as the story went on, especially as he and Minerva get to know each other more and start to want the same things, and their fates become entwined. Cañas doesn’t promise any happy endings here, so be warned that this horror tale will potentially rip your heart out for Ygnacio and Minerva alike. But even so, I found it to be very satisfying, both on the horror and political fronts. It just hit a lot of the right beats for me as the story went on, and I quite enjoyed it.

“The House of Gardenias” is another great read from Isabel Cañas, and certainly a successful jump into YA! We still have some Halloween season left, so go check it out!

Serena’s Rating 8: Full of atmosphere and building dread, I was pleased to see Cañas make the jump from adult to YA so easily!

Kate’s Rating 8: Isabel Cañas continues to dazzle me with her horror tales, and “The House of Gardenias” is a well done YA debut!

Reader’s Advisory

“The House of Gardenias” is included on the Goodreads list “2026 Gothic”.

Serena’s Review: “Reap and Sow”

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Book: “Reap and Sow” by Charlotte B. Plumb

Publishing Info: Berkley XO, October 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley!

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

Book Description: The penniless in Blackbridge have only two choices: Sell the body or sell the soul. And thanks to Eda Shaw, business is booming.

Indentured to a capricious demon known as Mr. Night, Eda and her brothers arrange illicit Pacts on his behalf, luring the city’s most desperate into trading years of their lives for their deepest desires. When a Pact goes awry and her brothers are arrested, Eda realizes she’ll need an infernal ally of her own: Kit’rath, an infuriating demon with a curious penchant for humanity and the only being in Blackbridge that Mr. Night seems to fear. As they race to rescue her family and save the city from ruin, an undeniable connection sparks between mortal and demon.

But Kit’s help doesn’t come cheap. Now, Eda risks losing her heart to the one who claims her years—and saving herself may prove the steepest cost of all.

Review: I honestly can’t even remember how this ended up on my TBR list. I mean, the cover art is pretty, but not particularly memorable. And then the general description sounds fairly familiar. Honestly, there was a period this month where I was having a really hard time connecting with any book I picked up, so I think I was probably just cycling through my backlist on NetGalley and randomly opened this one. And this right here, folks, is a good lesson in sometimes giving those unknowns a fighting chance, because boy did I enjoy this one!

Something about the writing clicked with me right away. Honestly, part of it could come down to my desperate wish for third-person perspective to come back into fashion, so any book that chooses this style starts out a step ahead. But beyond that, from the very start, Plumb writes in a smooth, confident style that easily draws the reader into this world. The plotting and pacing throughout were tight, with the book deftly maneuvering between fast-moving and thrilling action scenes and then lulling back into heartfelt and often very comedic character beats. Many of these story beats are indeed familiar: young woman must save her siblings from danger, promptly gets in over her head in a magical setting, proceeds to become emotionally attached to an unavailable or inappropriate love interest. But man, somehow it all felt fresh and new in Plumb’s hands!

What’s more, the narrative voice and the dialogue were superb! Way too many romantasy authors essentially write something like “characters then banter banteringly” and call it good. But here, Plumb had me laughing out loud more than once and then swooning the very next moment. It also helped that the romance itself developed in what felt like a natural manner. Eda and Kit are never enemies, per se, but more reluctant allies. This dynamic worked incredibly well, and even while they drew closer together, it was a delight watching them still rub each other the wrong way with their own particularities.

I also really enjoyed the cast of side characters and the various villainous characters the book had to offer. This was particularly fun with one specific character who, when first introduced, I was worried would go in a certain, very currently popular romantasy direction. But instead, the book went the complete opposite route and even used Eda’s own perceptions of this character as an important arc of self-reflection for her to follow. I also really liked the dynamics between Eda and her brothers. We don’t get a ton of them all together (naturally, since the brothers still need to be rescued for much of the book), but I did like the bits we did see.

And, of course, Eda was a fantastic lead. Her story is one of learning to recognize her own strengths, but also to come to understand and appreciate those around her. Her love story with Kit is a delicious slow burn, and by the time I got to the end, I was sighing with happiness.

And then came the last paragraph…

Seriously, this was such an odd moment. The book felt fully wrapped up, a nice stand-alone story tied up in a perfect bow. And I’m not sure what happened? It honestly feels like the publisher recognized that this book and the author had a ton of potential and shot off a quick note to the author saying, “Hey, how about we make this a duology??” And the author was like, “Sure!” and then just tacked on this random selection of like three sentences that are just soul-crushing and called it a day. I mean, I’m excited to spend more time in this world and with these characters. But this last paragraph felt so disconnected from the rest of the book, lacking any foreshadowing or really anything to tie in to the book actually in hand, that the entire thing felt off.

I still enjoyed the heck out of this book, so it doesn’t affect my rating, but I couldn’t end without noting that there is a massive cliffhanger now. Of course, you could simply read the book and skip the last paragraph and honestly you’d be perfectly fine! Then just pick it back up and read that last bit right before the sequel releases!

Rating 9: If this is what comes from making a deal with a demon, sign me up! A delightfully charming romantasy that I can’t recommend enough!

Reader’s Advisory:

“Reap and Sow” can be found on this Goodreads list: 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases

Kate’s Review: “What Feeds Below”

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

Book: “What Feeds Below” by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Publishing Info: Bindery Books, October 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: The darkness isn’t empty. It’s hungry.

At the edge of the City of the Void, a massive chasm extends miles into the earth, its treacherous terrain overrun with vicious monsters and carnivorous plants. For orphaned best friends Petra and Jade, guiding treasure-seeking tourists down into the Void is the only way to earn enough to pull themselves up out of the slums for good.

Petra prefers to play it safe and take jobs only in the Void’s upper levels, where the dangers are better understood, while Jade wants to risk a descent to the deepest and most mysterious Sixth Layer. Because the deeper they go, the better the payout, and the sooner their dreams can become reality. Their friendship is Petra’s whole world, and Jade’s approval means everything—so Petra agrees to do it Jade’s way.

When their job goes wrong and Jade is lost in the Void, Petra must plunge deeper than she’s ever dared to save her friend. But she doesn’t know the truth of the Void . . . or what really waits for her in its depths.

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

I admittedly know nothing about it outside of a number of people in my life who love it, but I have not read “Dungeon Crawler Carl” even though I have been told by said people that I need to read it. Even my Mom sent me a New York Times piece about the books with the message ‘have you read this?’ (just to note, she is always sending me NYT or Guardian articles about pop culture things she thinks I will know things about/like and I really like getting these emails). I haven’t read it, but I will say that when I was reading the description of Tatiana Schlote-Bonne’s newest horror novel “What Feeds Below” I was thinking it sounded like DCC but horror and on PCP to amplify the horror. But I absolutely knew I wanted to read it. The idea of a weird cosmic chasm forming, and then becoming a demented tourist destination for the wealthy in a hugely wealth gapped and stricken society where ‘divers’ take people in on tours (though there’s a good chance they won’t come out) and treasure hunts, is so cool.

The world building in this book is incredibly well done. We follow Petra and Jade, two young women in a place called City of the Void, who as ‘divers’ lead people on the aforementioned tours into the aforementioned Void. We are thrown into The Void and City of the Void well into the setting being established and well known and understood for those who live there, but the framing of Petra and Jade being divers taking tourists down means that we get information in a way that isn’t overwrought or jammed in. And what a world that has been created! The mythology of The Void and the people who love near it/in it is so engrossing, and it is incredibly thought out. It is dungeon exploring Sci-Fi Fantasy with lots of nasty body and cosmic horror bits, and Schlote-Bonne has some REALLY gnarly moments that had me squirming in my seat as I read. The flora and fauna are so creative, and I also liked getting little tidbits about the Void in the chapter headings through diary entries or textbooks from that world. It’s just so fun. The entire race down the levels as Petra hopes to help Jade is just so fast faced and addictive, I couldn’t put it down.

But I also really liked our protagonist Petra, who has been making money with her best friend Jade (whom she credits with saving her life/being the only person who cares about her) as a Void diving team in hopes of making enough money to be able to open a health and healing clinic for the community, which has a lot of poverty and suffering in spite of the tourist dollars that come in. Petra is tenacious and spunky but unsure of herself, and I liked that when faced with the horrible concept of Jade being in danger after a bad dive, she finds strength, courage, and assurance within herself to be able to try and save the one person that she feels she owes everything. I also really enjoyed seeing Petra’s relationships with not just Jade, but also childhood friend turned chilly acquaintance Flint, who Petra feels spurned by and Jade is happy to keep at arm’s length, though he may be the only person who can help her when she needs it most. And as we see these relationships evolve, we also see how Petra may have some preconceived notions that may not be fully correct… I think the only qualm I had with this was a twist that felt like a twist for twist’s sake, but it’s important to remember that that is very much a ‘me’ kind of hang up and doesn’t necessarily say anything about the twist itself. Do with that what you will.

But frustrating twist aside, “What Feeds Below” is another fun horror tale from Tatiana Schlote-Bonne! Her creativity knows no bounds and I definitely recommend it!

Rating 8: Incredibly addictive and creative to boot, “What Feeds Below” is another fun horror novel from Tatiana Schlote-Bonne with some dungeon diving and gnarly body horror.

Reader’s Advisory:

“What Feeds Below” is included on the Goodreads list “Weird Botany”.

Serena’s Review: “This Shattered Tempest”

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

Book: “This Shattered Tempest” by Thea Guanzon

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, October 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: Netgalley

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

Book Description: Throughout their political marriage, Alaric and Talasyn struggled to resist the undeniable pull between them, even as rising tensions forced them on opposite sides of a looming war. Hand in hand, they vanquished the cataclysmic threat of the Moonless Dark—and started to hope for a future together.

That hope is shattered when a devastating attack sets off a chain of events that tears them apart once more. Now, as two rival nations prepare for a final, decisive clash, the Master of the Shadowforged Legion and the last Lightweaver fight to find their way back to each other. But the odds are stacked against them, and time is running out…

Is love enough to rewrite destiny? Can a new beginning rise from the ruins of the past? Or are Alaric and Talasyn doomed to meet as enemies on one last battlefield? This explosive third and final book brings the beloved Hurricane Wars series to a stunning conclusion—where passion and power collide, and the fate of a divided world hangs in the balance.

Previously Reviewed: “The Hurricane Wars” and “A Monsoon Rising”

Review: My review of this one could probably be summed up with one big, drawn-out sigh. I remember distinctly writing about two things in my review of the second book. One, that I was concerned that this didn’t need to be a trilogy, based on the pacing of the plot and its conflicts. And two, that I hoped the miscommunication/deception/general angst of the romance would finally cease in the third book. Well, unfortunately, both of those concerns feel well-founded, and, in hindsight, I think the fact that this was originally a fanfiction story shows more than it should in a traditionally published series.

It’s tough, because there are still things that in a vacuum I enjoyed about this book. But because it was wrapping up the trilogy and was retroactively lowering my opinion of the entire series as a whole, it was difficult to step back and try to evaluate this one on its own merits. I will say that I think this author’s writing is still incredibly strong. For all that I’m going to rant about fanfiction later, there are incredibly talented authors who write fanfiction, and many of them, like this author, deserve to make the leap to traditional publishing. When Guanzon publishes another book, I will definitely be first in line to read it. Her world-building is creative, her characters are complex and interesting, her dialogue is distinctly non-cringy (something I shouldn’t have to say, but unfortunately really does stand out when you finally see good dialogue on the page in romantasy novels), and while I think the romance here was too drawn out, she does write romantic tension well.

But yeah, this book and its place as the cap of the trilogy just didn’t work for me. It started off well enough, picking up immediately after the cliffhanger at the end of the second book. I had high hopes that would help the pacing along, but unfortunately, no. This entire situation was wrapped up so comedically fast and easily that I ran into the exact same question I had in the second book: was any of this really necessary? Instead of feeling like an actual plot point, it instead felt like only a small speed bump inserted to break up the romantic angst.

And, unfortunately, right after this is all wrapped up, we immediately dive right back into the same angst that we’ve been reading about for two books already. I like a slow burn as much as the next person, but this is an example of an author refusing to allow her characters to travel an actual romantic arc. They simply quickly climbed the first half of yearning, got to the angst, and have now hung out here for hundreds upon hundreds of pages.

And at a certain point, it doesn’t matter how strong an author is at writing romantic tension, it’s going to get pretty dull spending your time in the heads of two people who continue to travel the same tired ground of drama over and over in their own minds. It’s incredibly frustrating to read, and I was increasingly annoyed at both of these characters. We’re well past the “enemies” stage, so instead the author threw in tons of miscommunication, misunderstanding, and a truly baffling amount of time spent on each character internally bemoaning the secrets they were keeping from each other. It was honestly awful, and I wish that some editor had taken the author gently by the hand and said, “It’s ok to move on to the ‘lovers’ stage now, honey. Let it go…”

This romantic “tension” took up so much of the third book that the greater conflict largely fell to the side. At the end of the second book, Talasyn loses her magic. This is a pretty big deal. But she doesn’t even really bother with trying to get it back until nearly halfway through the book because instead so much energy must be focused on the romantic travails.

And this gets to the fanfiction roots of it all. Fanfiction, especially long-form fanfiction of the sort that this came from, is often a relationship-focused medium. Likewise, the longer fics out there are truly behemoths, going on for thousands of pages. And this was one of those, originally. But what works for fanfiction, a medium that releases periodically and is consumed in a very different manner than traditional books, doesn’t necessarily translate straight over to traditional publishing. This entire trilogy needed editing. I’m now fully convinced that with a firm editor at the helm, this could have been trimmed down to a duology and would have been a million times better for it. Every aspect would have been strengthened, from the actual plot and conflict to the progression of the romance. Needless side plots could have been removed, since it’s clear they were mostly there to break up the romantic drama. And that same romantic drama could have been pared down to a tight, satisfying romantic arc, instead of leaving readers stranded on a frustrating angst plateau for almost two entire books.

So it’s tough to know who to recommend this one to. Because, like I said, the writing was still strong, and some of the romantic beats were truly good. But the pacing and the romantic drama were all too much for me. If you don’t mind miscommunication/misunderstanding tropes and really enjoy angst, I’d say you’re much more likely to enjoy this book and this trilogy as a whole.

Rating 6: While I can still see the potential of this author, this book was a frustrating conclusion to a trilogy that started off so well.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Shattered Tempest” can be found on these Goodreads lists: October 2026 Most Anticipated Romance Releases and End of Series in 2026.

Kate’s Review: “Off the Reservation”

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

Book: “Off the Reservation” by Stephen Graham Jones

Publishing Info: S&S/Saga Press, October 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: A ragtag group of activists sets out to repatriate the bones of a Blackfeet boy taken to the infamous Carlisle Indian Industrial School in author Stephen Graham Jones’s return to the Blackfeet reservation of his award-winning New York Times bestsellers The Only Good Indians and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.

Five years have passed since the massacre on the Blackfeet reservation in Stephen Graham Jones’s breakout bestseller The Only Good Indians. Nathan Yellow Tail, one of the survivors of the revenge murders, finds himself in the hospital after a terrible accident that should’ve killed him and that nearly killed his best friend, Sebby, who is hanging on to life in a room a few doors down.

Nate’s life is out of balance, so when he is given the chance to reset his life, and maybe save Sebby in the process, Nate steps up, again. This time it’s into a camper van that is almost as run down as his broken body, filled with three older Blackfeet, to find the bones of the lone Blackfeet boy who died at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School—where many Indigenous children were abused—and repatriate this boy home. The problem is, when they get the bones, something terrible has escaped with them.

By turns terrifying and deeply moving, Off the Reservation is a haunting American Indian novel of survival, reckoning, and redemption, shining light on the dark corners of this country’s history while also showing the desperate choices people make when they’re put up against a wall.

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

I feel like it has been a bit since Stephen Graham Jones released a horror novel in October, which usually means they don’t get covered in my Horrorpalooza festival. So how lucky is it that his newest book, “Off the Reservation”, is finally here, and that it has been released during this most wonderful and holy of months, October! Jones has been a long time favorite of mine, and I’m definitely pleased that I had a new book of his for the Halloween season. And no surprises here, it’s great!

Jones has so much intention and detail to all of his books, and that was incredibly clear here as we start to unwind this new story set within the same storyline as “The Only Good Indians”. It’s referred to as a sequel but I would say that it is more of a companion piece, as while Nate Yellow Tail is definitely in “The Only Good Indians” (as he is present at the climactic scenes/massacre of that book), you need not read it to be able to understand all that is going on. And the story of Nate being recruited to help reclaim and return the remains of a murdered Blackfeet boy from the Carlisle Indian School back to his ancestral home in Montana takes time and details to set up before it goes into full wild out mode with possession horror. Jones wants to make sure that all of the important information is there so that when it all starts to come together, sometimes at breakneck speed, it has all been laid out so the reader can say ‘oh yes!’ as they plunge through the narrative. And it’s a good thing too, because as we get to know Nate’s compatriots, be it nurse Seine Plenty Wolf who met Nate whilst he was in the hospital and then brought him in for this mission, or mysterious driver Christian, or long mourning widow Mooch (who has lost her entire family), their back stories become incredibly important as everything starts to fall apart. The characterizations are well done and the back stories all inform what is to come.

In terms of the horror, we all know I do really like it when authors tweak and mess with the idea of ‘possession’, and Jones brings his own perspectives to the sub-genre that feel unique and pertinent for the themes at hand with Indigenous themes and history. There are a lot of creepy and really intense moments with this, running the gamut of emotions from scary to funny to heart-rendering. And it is once again the realities of the history of the injustices that the United States Government has committed towards Indigenous people that really drive the horror in this book. For God’s sake, the main plot is about repatriating the bones of a murdered child back to their ancestral land from the government institution that caused their death all in the name of ‘assimilation’ (but what was in actuality state sanctioned violent racism as well as cultural genocide ON TOP OF ACTUAL GENOCIDE). It has beats that absolutely devastated me, and between the overt plot points and the references to other historical moments in time (Little Big Horn, DAPL), the horrors do not stay confined to a mere supernatural tether, and that makes it all the more powerful and harrowing.

“Off the Reservation” is another good read from one of the most important horror voices of the present, and it continues a streak of well done stories that will stick with a reader after the last page has been turned.

Rating 9: Another visceral and haunting horror story from Jones, who brings in a unique take on possession and condemns, once again and rightfully, the United States and its treatment of Indigenous people, specifically with the boarding school system.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Off the Reservation” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2026”.