Tag: 8 Rating

Serena’s Review: “A Waltz of Sinister Import”

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Book: “A Waltz of Sinister Import” by Stephanie Burgis

Publishing Info: October 14, 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the author!

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

Book Description: When the notorious Lady Riven is summoned to Vienna to solve a supernatural mystery, her debonair vampiric husband insists on accompanying her. However, neither of them is prepared for the true scope of the danger lurking within the sprawling Hofburg Palace… and by the time they uncover the truth behind every glittering illusion, their relationship may change forever.

The third and final (for now!) sparkling installment of The Supernatural Adventures of Lady and Lord Riven contains copious amounts of delicious cake, a protective vampire husband, unexpected new friendships, and a waltz that might just sweep the whole continent into war unless Margaret is stubborn enough to prevent it.

Previously Reviewed: “A Marriage of Undead Inconvenience” and “A Honeymoon of Grave Consequence”

Review: I really enjoyed the first two novellas in this trilogy, so I was thrilled when the author reached out about a review for the final book in the series. The story picks up right where the second one left off, essentially, and immediately jumps back into the action.

It was easy to slip back into the world and rhythm of this story. There’s an ease to the storytelling, a perfect balance of coziness, mystery, and, of course, romance, all held together by the steady characterization of our leading lady. As I noted in my reviews for the first two books, Margaret is a familiar heroine, à la characters like Amelia Peabody and Emily Wilde. But in many ways, these notes of the familiar feel like friendly faces, not tired repeats. And, indeed, Margaret stands on her own with her unique blend of confidence and social wariness. Here, we see her once again thrust into the midst of high society, a place where she has only ever felt spurned and misunderstood. But this time she comes with renewed confidence from previous success, as well as the unwavering support of her vampire spouse.

Like in the first two books, other than the main character, my favorite part of this series is the use of less well-known magical creatures. Burgis clearly dives deeply into her fairytale folklore to find some of these beings, and while our delightful love interest may be a “common” vampire, the cast of supporting characters are often beings I’ve never heard of before and that then send me down my own research rabbit holes. Such was the case here, and I loved learning about some of these new (to me!) creatures.

I will say that this one felt a bit more uneven in its pacing than the previous books did. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there were bits that did seem to drag a bit, especially in the beginning as Margaret ran into wall after wall in her quest to uncover what was happening. On one hand, her frustration was palpable to the reader. On the other hand, that still left me, the reader, frustrated as well, which wasn’t always the best. I also feel like this entry was lighter on the romance and that Lord Riven took even more of a back seat than he has in the other two books. There were also a few moments where events that should have been challenging to solve or escape from were instead wrapped up in a bit too convenient of a manner.

Overall, however, I still very much enjoyed this book. I’m sad to hear that it’s currently the final book planned for the series, as I think there is a wealth of opportunity still left in this world and with these characters. But I still enjoyed all the time I spent with them and recommend it to readers who are looking for more bite-sized cozy fantasy options!

Rating 8: For those who may be missing Emily Wilde, this entire trilogy is sure to be a balm to the soul! Margaret and Lord Riven are a delight!

Reader’s Advisory:

“A Waltz of Sinister Import” isn’t on any Goodreads lists currently, but it should be on 12 Dancing Princesses.

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”.

Joint Review: “The House of Gardenias”

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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”.

Kate’s Review: “What Feeds Below”

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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”.

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”.

Serena’s Review: “Victorious”

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

Book: “Victorious” by V.E. Schwab

Publishing Info: Tor, October 2018

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

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

Book Description: Eli Ever. Victor Vale.

Two men, first best friends, then mortal enemies, each destined to be the other’s shadow.

One left standing—but the game isn’t over yet

Against all the years—and the odds—a group of allies and archrivals meet on a chessboard set by an opponent they couldn’t have predicted….to see who will be victorious.

Previously Reviewed: “Vicious” and “Vengeful”

Review: As I said, I think there’s definitely been a benefit in reading these books now, almost back to back. I think consuming the trilogy in this way both helped me appreciate the overarching story that Schwab was telling and lessened some of the frustrations that I think fans will have with this last entry.

To speak to the purely positive things first, Schwab continues to be a simply excellent storyteller. This world, the special abilities, the dynamics between the characters—it’s all so creative and interesting. While I didn’t necessarily love having a greater and greater cast of characters to follow and I had mixed feelings about the continued use of time jumps, the story was still incredibly compelling and well-paced throughout. Sometimes the strength of an author’s writing forgives many sins, and I think that was the case here.

This story picks up immediately after the first book, and the stakes should be incredibly high. However, some of my lower moments in this read did come in this early portion. Yet again, we were given new characters to get to know with their own complicated histories. This, of course, included a new antagonist. It’s tough, because I didn’t actively dislike any of these characters. But given the start of the series (so tightly focused on Eli and Victor) and the explosive conclusion of the second book, it was tough to pick this one up and have that gratification of seeing these two interact again delayed even further. And, like I said, I was only dealing with having had to wait a few weeks between books. Readers who have been on this ride from the beginning might find this continued delay even more frustrating. Of course, once we get closer to the end, we did get some of these scenes that I know readers were craving.

In hindsight, the trilogy seems to be trying to do much more than tell the story of two friends who become bitter rivals. However, it’s a bit of a tough sell at this point. The first book was so solid on its own, and Victor and Eli and their complicated relationship were so firmly placed at the center of the story, that the entire trilogy feels a bit wobbly with this refocus on these newly introduced characters in each book. For better or worse, readers are largely in it for these two characters, so even for me, reading these three books within a few months, it’s been tough to not resent page time that is devoted to any characters other than these two, no matter how interesting they are on their own.

That said, I think the ending of this book and the trilogy as a whole was the natural conclusion of the story. I was also having such a great time in the final third that it helped soothe some of the frustration of the slow start. Readers who have been enjoying the series so far are sure to enjoy this one. If, however, you were hoping for a hard switch back to a closer focus on Eli and Victor here in the final entry, you may be a bit disappointed.

Rating 8: A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, though I do wish we had gotten to spend more time with Eli and Victor here at the end of it all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Victorious” can be found on this Goodreads list: Can’t Wait Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi of 2026

Kate’s Review: “Something Followed Us Home”

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

Book: “Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror” by Cynthia Pelayo (Ed.)

Publishing Info: Atria, September 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC at ALAAC26

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

Book Description: Dive into the chilling depths of Latiné horror with Something Followed Us Home, edited by Bram Stoker Award–winner Cynthia Pelayo, a groundbreaking anthology where each story reimagines immigration, colonization, faith, and folklore as the fears we inherit and carry across borders and generations.

Something followed us home. It crawled in with our prayers, slipped into our beds, watched from mirrors, waited in water, and learned our names. In these stories, horror does not announce itself. It possesses, feeds, whispers, and waits.

Gathering chilling work from some of today’s most acclaimed Latiné voices, this anthology moves through haunted households, brutal landscapes, sacred spaces turned dangerous, and bodies claimed by forces both ancient and intimate. The dead murmur behind locked doors. Bones rebuild themselves under merciless suns. Love becomes a doorway for demonic hunger. Prayers summon answers that arrive too late…or too fully. Blood, devotion, and memory intertwine as the past presses back with teeth.

Something Followed Us Home is a landmark anthology of Latiné horror. These stories remind us that the past is never gone, the dead are never silent, and the places we come from will always find their way back to us. Featuring stories Agustina Bazterrica, Ann Dávila Cardinal, Cynthia Pelayo, Isabel Cañas, Gerardo Sámano Córdova, Zoraida Córdova, Mariana Enriquez, Carolina Flórez-Cerchiaro, Ananda Lima, Xochitl Gonzalez, Leopoldo Goût, Juan Martinez, Mónica Ojeda, Daniel Jóse Older, Lilliam Rivera, Alex Segura, Diana Rodriguez Wallach

Review: Thank you to Atria for providing me with an ARC of this novel at ALAAC26 and thank you to Cynthia Pelayo for signing it!

One of my favorite moments at ALAAC this past summer was getting to go to a panel that focused on horror and thriller novels, especially because Cynthia Pelayo was one of the speakers AND she was there to promote the short stories collection she edited entitled “Something Followed Us Home: Tales of Latiné Horror”. This book had been on my must read list for a long time, and not only getting a copy but also getting her to sign it (and to tell her how much we like her here on the blog!) was a true joy. I opted to save it for Horrorpalooza, and it was a good call because it is a great horror collection for the spooky season! No surprises here, given that I really enjoy a lot of the authors that contributed.

Like I always do, I will review in detail my three favorite stories from the collection, and then review the collection as a whole.

The Hand That Feeds by Isabel Cañas: We all know how much I love Cañas, and her contribution to the collection was pretty early on and it really sank its claws into me. A she wolf, La Loba, who can transform between human and canid is living her life, until she marries a controlling man who decides to take her wolf skin and therein steal away her powers and agency. This story feels like it’s within the same realm as the story of the selkie, but Cañas brings in some more tension and some gruesome beats to it, making it deeply satisfying.

El Jíbaro de Puerto Rico by Cynthia Pelayo: This is my favorite in the collection, and I was full on weeping by the end. Pelayo is one of my favorite horror authors because she can bring in such bittersweet beauty with incredible beats of frightening prose, and while this one isn’t exactly subtle, I think we can throw subtlety out the window when talking about colonization and the violent suppression of a people. A teenage girl lives with her abuelo outside of San Juan, preparing for a misa and seance with some strangers, all while her family is haunted by violence and despair as the American Government brings more and more force to the island. As I said, this one made me cry, but while it’s upsetting and horrifying it is also raw, dreamy, and beautiful.

We Are Gathered Together by Diana Rodriguez Wallach: There were a few quite humorous stories in this book to balance out some of the horrors, and this one was the last story in the collection and also helped it end on a charmingly funny note. A school community is gathering for the funeral of a fifteen year old girl, though many of them were either wholly removed from her life or downright awful to her. Little do they know that this funeral is inhabited by some things that aren’t quite human… I was cackling at this story, with some fun bitchy antagonists and a fun twist that felt pretty damn cathartic when all was said and done!

Taking the collection in as a whole, this was a well done anthology! I liked the variety of authors and their different perspectives, and while I generally enjoyed the horror and dark fantasy tales more than the speculative fiction ones I felt that each story had things that I enjoyed about them. The cultural throughline of various Latiné inspired stories, be it vis a vis history, folklore, horror mythologies, and more really blended together to bring a unique reading experience that I greatly enjoyed. Whether it be about the horrors of colonialism, the realities of living in America during this time period as a Latiné person, or just plain old horror stories from the various parts of the diaspora, it meshes well and I found it very entertaining and creepy at times.

“Something Followed Us Home” definitely lived up to my expectations! If you want some stories that you can tackle one at a time at your own pace, consider giving it a go!

Rating 8: A solid collection of horror, dark fantasy, and speculative fiction tales with Latiné experiences and perspectives at the forefront, “Something Followed Us Home” is must read for this Halloween season.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Something Followed Us Home” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror Books Coming in 2026”.

Kate’s Review: “Trad Wife”

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Book: “Trad Wife” by Sarah Langan

Publishing Info: Atria Books, September 2026

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: From the three-time Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Good Neighbors comes a chilling tale of a journalist’s descent into horror as she uncovers the dark secrets behind a trad wife influencer, blending suspense with a critique of modern femininity and the manipulative forces of social media.

Every day, millions watch Mia Wright, the “trad wife” queen, on her idyllic 300-acre farm. With her handsome husband, seven perfect children, and a life of from-scratch meals and pastoral bliss, she’s an icon of modern femininity. But behind every perfect image is a secret. And in this case, the secret is a horror.

Desperate to save her tarnished career, journalist Jenny Kaplan arrives at Black Swan Farm to profile Mia. Jenny is ready to write a scathing exposé, determined to expose the deception behind Mia’s curated life. But soon, Jenny has more to contend with than staged videos and picture-perfect poses. There’s something wrong at the farmhouse. Something slithers through Jenny’s dreams, and at night, the children sing strange nursery rhymes.

She’s losing time. She’s losing her hair. She starts to worry that she’s losing her mind.

There is a horror at the heart of Black Swan, and it’s waiting just for Jenny. Trad Wife will make you question what’s real and what’s just a perfectly curated deception…

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

2026 has been a stand out year for trad wife thrillers and horror. The books “Trad Wife” by Saratoga Schaefer and “Yesteryear” by Caro Claire Burke were both reviewed by me on the blog, and even though now some of the most visible trad wife influencers like Hannah Neeleman and Nara Smith are insisting that they AREN’T trying to promote a trad wife lifestyle (I scoff at this recent walking back from these women because you ABSOLUTELY WERE, I SAW THOSE VIDEOS!) it’s still a popular topic (and there will be more in the next couple of months). And the newest horror novel with a trad wife theme is “Trad Wife” by Sarah Langan, which is my third trad wife horror/thriller book I’ve read this year. And it is also the darkest one yet.

As a horror novel, “Trad Wife” has beats that I would expect from the set up. We have Jenny, a floundering journalist who is desperate to get a big story to save her career, who gets an invite from Mia Wright, a well known and well loved trad wife influencer, to write a large profile piece on her life on her property Black Swan Farm. Since this could be a lifeline, she agrees to meet with her, even though she doesn’t agree with her submissive wife and God first lifestyle she’s peddling to millions of followers. Jenny and Mia meet, and Jenny can tell that SOMETHING is off due to the way Mia behaves and the weird quirks in her videos, but agrees to stay the week to get the ins and outs of Black Swam Farm. As the week goes on, Jenny loses time, loses her hair, and has weird dreams and visions of a creeping doom. The dread takes its time, as Jenny sees more strange things, and learns more about the community and the connection to a string of murders of women that happened centuries before. Langan drops hints throughout the narrative and as things get stranger and stranger for Jenny, the tension tightens and tightens until it lets go in a crazy manner at the end. It’s mostly satisfying, though it will probably be pretty bleak for a lot of readers if they are expecting something more akin to “Yesteryear”.

But it is Jenny that really made this one stand out for me. In the aforementioned books I referenced in this review, the perspectives are from that of the trad wives themselves. But in this one we are following Jenny, a journalist who wrote a break out personal piece that made her a target for right wing violent misogynists, and who is flailing to find her feet again as the publication she writes for starts to crumble and want to cut her to try and appease angry right wingers and mens activists. Jenny is a very complicated and compelling character to follow, as she clearly carries a lot of trauma with her from multiple angles, struggling to keep her job and struggling to keep her life together. Whether it’s being parentified by a negligent mother in her childhood, having to play as on demand support system for the younger sister she raised (with little appreciation or understanding from said sister), or living with a man who became unstable and abusive during a mental health crisis which led to the end of their relationship, she’s been through it. And in a way, she is the exact audience that influencers like Mia hope to rope in because of the idealized life that is being pedaled, if only you submit to God and husband and patriarchy. For someone like Jenny, whose trauma has made her anxious about child rearing and family life, she is both someone you would think would be a terrible choice to do a retrospective on someone like Mia due to her incredibly different ideals and values, and yet a woman like her (who is ambitious, who rejects gender roles of being a mother and submissive wife) would almost be an exotic bird to cage for a far right movement and to use as an example. As Jenny is pulled more into the web of Mia and the forces behind her power, the more horrifying things get because we SEE her being taken in by a being that tries to convince its victims that this situation is, in fact, empowering, when it’s not. And if that doesn’t just sum up the veneer of the trad wife movement, I don’t know what does. It’s difficult and dark and it is incredibly unnerving, and it is a great metaphor for the insidiousness of the trad wife movement and who is pushing it.

On the whole I enjoyed “Trad Wife”! The trad wife themes continue on and they continue to be fresh and interesting in this novel.

Rating 8: The darkest trad wife themed horror/thriller book I’ve read yet, with a slow burn of dread and a searing point to make.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Trad Wife” is included on the Goodreads list “Tradwife Thrillers”.

Serena’s Review: “Vengeful”

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Book: “Vengeful” by V.E. Schwab

Publishing Info: Tor, September 2018

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

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

Book Description: Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine.

But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her new-found power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other.

With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

Previously Reviewed: “Vicious”

Review: It’s an interesting experience reading this series for the first time as I am. That is, when the first book came out, people rightly assumed it was a stand-alone. And then many years later, here comes this book and it’s unclear whether it’s just a sequel or carrying over to a third book? Me, now reading the trilogy with the knowledge that it will be a completed trilogy here soon, I’m having perhaps a different reading experience than others. That said, while I think I would have been more frustrated by this book had I read it back when it came out and without the knowledge that there would be a third, I still found this book to be suffering from a rather stifling case of “second book syndrome.”

To start with what continues to work: the general vibe of this world and the new powers/abilities that were introduced. Like the first book, I still am very much enjoying the “dark superheroes” vibe that is going on. In many ways, this is just more of the same: more cool powers and more darkness. I did have a few questions about how certain characters’ abilities worked, but this was definitely one of those books where the general atmosphere was more important than the detailed ins and outs of how the magic system works. That being the case, I was fine treating the fantasy elements as a more “soft magic” system.

That said, when I say this book is more of the same as the first book, I mean that in every way, because in this book we all got even more characters and even more time jumps. Some of these worked ok, but I also think that the story, both in pacing and in overall theme, began to become muddled by the inclusion of all of this “more.” While a few of the new characters were interesting, I felt like it came at the expense of some of our existing characters. People who had been represented as complex and multifaceted began to resemble cardboard cutouts more and more.

One of the strengths of the first book was the interesting exploration of what it means to be a “villain” and the complicated layer of greyness that can be found therein. Here we were given a new character who I think was meant to further expand on this point, but instead, simply fell flat and almost reinforced the more black-and-white nature of the question. I feel like Marcella was supposed to represent some sort of deep thought exercise on misogyny, women, and power. But I don’t think this was successful at all. Marcella was just a villain, pretty much full stop. So any waxing poetic she did on this subject was always seen through the lens of a character who was a pretty clear villain, regardless of her gender, thus watering down any greater commentary on powerful women that was trying to be made.

I also think the overall pacing was harmed by all the constant time jumps and the increased number of cast members whom I was expected to keep track of. I simply began to not care about some of them and feel frustrated by the limited time I got to spend with those I did still have interest in. Beyond this, this book felt a bit directionless with regards to its overall theme. There were some good lines sprinkled throughout, but by the time I got to the end of the book, it failed to come together into a greater point overall. Given the strength of the message in the first book, this was all the more disappointing.

Now knowing that this is a middle book in a trilogy, it’s very easy to see “middle book syndrome” all over this one. Schwab is still a talented author, so I didn’t have a bad time with this book by any means. But had I read this one when it came out, I may have found myself wishing that “Vicious” had remained a stand-alone. We’ll just have to wait and see how the third book ties everything up to see which side I end up falling on for the trilogy as a whole.

Rating 7: A bit of a letdown from the strength of the first book. I still enjoy Schwab’s writing, but this book seemed to muddy the waters of this world and story more than it edified them.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Vengeful” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Can’t Wait Books of 2018 and Villain Protagonist.

Serena’s Review: “Scion”

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

Book: “Scion” by James Islington

Publishing Info: S&S/Saga Press, September 2026

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

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

Book Description: My job, when you think about it, isn’t so different from a lot of people’s. I have to deal with a ton of boring planning. Inconvenient hours. Some pretty awkward face-to-face interactions. And like most of us, I’m really only clocking in to try and crawl out from beneath my debts.

The more old-fashioned crowd do still get hung up on the ‘killing people’ part, I guess, but that’s a them problem: it’s been perfectly legal to take out lifers for ages. Besides, once ultrawealthy morons realised they had a way to live forever—limited resources be damned—there was only ever going to be one genuinely practical deterrent. So someone’s got to do it.

And luckily, my genetic compatibilities make me really, really good at it.

Still. This next job… I don’t know. It’s something I haven’t had to deal with in years. Kind of the opposite of my regular duties. Strange, that it got thrown my way.

I’m sure it’ll all go totally fine though.

Review: I was excited to jump into this book when I was offered a review copy by the publisher. I’d heard a lot of great things about this author, but hadn’t gotten around to reading his original series. So, instead, this seemed like a great entry point: a short and sweet sci-fi story in a new world. And, for what it’s trying to be, I had a lot of fun with this book.

A comparison that comes to mind when thinking about this book is Martha Wells’ “Murderbot” series. This is both a positive and speaks to a few of the negatives I felt reading this book. For the positives, the main character here has a unique, snarky voice that very much allowed the book to read at a snappy, quick pace, similar to “Murderbot.” The concept itself is fairly similar, too. While the premise talks about our main character being an assassin, they instead spent much more of their time as a bodyguard for a specific character throughout the story. I had fun with this idea, though I did wish we had gotten a bit more from the assassin angle that had been hinted at in the summary.

For the negative, while I think the voice of this main character was fun, by the end of the book, I still didn’t feel like I really knew much about Azure as a character. Instead, I felt like I knew a lot more about the character that Azure was tasked with guarding. Similarly, while the world was interesting, with hints of dystopian politics and cyberpunk stylization, there were a lot of little tidbits about how this world works that were simply dropped on the reader without much explanation. But, again, the comparison to “Murderbot” works well. There, too, the world and character are only briefly introduced in a short novella, but then the entire concept expands greatly as the series continues. I’m hoping that there will be a similar expansion here.

Like I said, this is a short read, and I did enjoy what we had here. But it did feel like a bit of an incomplete concept. There were hints of greatness in the character, hints of interest in the world, and hints of larger conflicts to come. However, as a self-contained work, it didn’t ever quite reach the highs that I was hoping for. That said, I think there is a lot of potential, and the story definitely ends on a high note with a wide-open door to future books that may expand on some of the weaker areas we had here. If you enjoyed this author’s previous work, I’m sure this will be a hit! And if you’re looking for something that could go the way of the “Murderbot” series, this also might be for you!

Rating 8: Fun, fast, and introducing a whole lot of potential, even if I was left wanting in a few areas for this specific book.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Scion” can be found on this Goodreads list: Best of Cyberpunk