Tag: 9 Rating

Kate’s Review: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”

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Book: “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” by Rachel Smythe

Publishing Info: Inklore, June 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: “The Mortal Realm—it’s dying.”

After years of yearning, the big day has finally arrived: Hades and Persephone are getting married! It’s the ceremony of the century, and practically all the gods are invited to celebrate the happy couple. The wedding, full of love and joy, provides a much-needed respite for the pantheon . . . but the newlyweds have no time for a honeymoon.

The king and queen of the Underworld begin unprecedented dives into the dream world to find the god that Kronos took hostage—and, hopefully, to get answers on defeating the furious titan once and for all. During their explorations, they begin to suspect that Persephone’s powers over spring may have been altered. Their theory is proven correct with deadly consequences: When Persephone returns to the Mortal Realm, she ushers in not the regular change of seasons, but a never-ending winter.

And while the gods worry about the total annihilation of the Mortal Realm, Apollo uses the chaos as cover for an attempt to kill Zeus. He claims his dying father’s throne and decrees that the only way to save the Mortal Realm is if Persephone—and her power—belong to him. The others reject his outrageous demand, proposing instead that whoever can fix the failing seasons will be named interim ruler of Olympus. Hope now rests with the struggling goddess to find a way to stop the treacherous Apollo and save humankind—or else be separated from Hades forever.

Review: It’s been a couple of years since I started my “Lore Olympus” journey, and I can’t believe that we are nearing the end of the series, ten volumes in. It’s been a wild and fulfilling ride and has given me all of the feelings as I’ve read it, and we are now at “Lore Olympus: Volume Ten”, with only one more to go after it. I feel like we have so much to address, but I’m still soaking it all in. And “Volume Ten” continues the streak of magnificence.

First and foremost, for the Persephone/Hades fangirl who has lived within me since I was a kid, THEY ARE FINALLY GETTING MARRIED!!! This volume kicks off with their decision and their wedding, and it’s everything I had hoped it would be. Smythe made it romantic, gentle, and captured the excitement as well as the haste given that they are marrying because they love each other AND to combine their partnership to help run the Underworld, which is still dealing with a vengeful Kronos who has kidnapped a mystery deity and is holding them hostage deep in the depths, so much so that they have to use Morpheus to help try and dream dive to track them down. We also have some new crazy developments regarding Zeus’s philandering ways, and how Persephone gets roped into helping him with the consequences of some of them (and we also get to meet Dionysus; if you know, you know). There are some bumps in the road here and there, but it’s never drawn out for melodrama’s sake and it feels real and reasonable. It’s also interesting to see them work as a team in trying to parse out where to find Kronos and this mysterious entity.

I will admit that it took a bit longer than I expected for us to get to the second half of the original myth, with Persephone’s absence setting off an eternal winter and therein explaining the turning of the seasons, and I was curious to see how, exactly, Smythe planned to do it. But I enjoyed the way that it all starts to unfold in this volume (still, really close to the end? There’s just one volume left, right?) and how it relates to Persephone’s new role and the active choices she has made for herself up until this point. One of the biggest gripes I’ve seen about “Lore Olympus” (or any kind of Persephone/Hades retelling that isn’t steeped in trauma) is the romance and relationship between Persephone and Hades being romanticized while demonizing Demeter when she is merely a ‘grieving mother’ whose daughter was kidnapped to be a bride against her will in the original story, and that centering the romance element is wrong or damaging and removes agency. Which I’ve never agreed with (I actually helped write a literary analysis with my friend David critiquing a thesis about this very thing), and in “Lore Olympus” specifically I have felt that Smythe has done a really good job of making Persephone’s agency a priority. The way that the original myth gets reimagined here with Persephone realizing her Spring bringing powers have been taken from her due to her own (positive, mind you!) actions as opposed to it merely being a grieving Demeter continues to bolster that, and it sets up higher stakes and a last gambit by Apollo, whose coup is now fully underway with an assassination attempt on Zeus, and who still wants to possess Persephone because he feels entitled to her. As we are setting up the final arc to take down Apollo (and Ouranos, who is encouraging all of this). Does it seem a little crammed in? Yeah, maybe a little, especially since there was such a long arc previously in regards to Kronos, but at the same time I’d argue that Apollo has to be the final big bad in this, even if Ouranos has been shoehorned in a bit. Everything has been put in place, the players are all there, and this penultimate volume has set it up properly.

Now it’s time for the Hera report, as Hera is my favorite in this series and I can tell you that she, too, is going through it. She is still hearing Kronos in her head, and she finally has to come to terms with her lingering trauma in regards to the part she had to play with him and how she has a trauma bond with him to a degree because of it. I really love what this comic has done with Hera, and now we are finally, FINALLY, seeing her open up a little bit and start to try and unpack all of that baggage when Kronos keeps nipping at her heels and when Zeus is down for the count and other people she loves are in danger. Hera’s journey has been just as gratifying as those of Persephone and Hades, and I’m just as invested in her outcome as I am in theirs.

We are nearing the end of “Lore Olympus” and Volume Ten has gone into the last storylines strong. Can’t wait to see how it all plays out.

Rating 9: We are nearing the end of the series and we get a great mix of romance, emotional unpacking, and a set up for a final showdown for power, with Persephone and Hades in the middle of it all.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Lore Olympus: Volume Ten” is included on the Goodreads list “Best Comics and Graphic Novels of 2026”.

Kate’s Review: “It Came from Neverland”

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Book: “It Came from Neverland” by Cynthia Pelayo

Publishing Info: Crooked Lane Books, June 2026

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

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

Book Description: Peter Pan meets Stephen King’s It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairytale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy believes that Peter Pan, the entity that she believed killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all.

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

I’ve never been SUPER connected to the “Peter Pan” story. I definitely had the Disney version on VHS as a child, as well as the Mary Martin version (which I actually preferred), and I definitely liked “Hook” (and own it to this day). But the story itself isn’t really precious to me. But I AM someone who loves a dark retelling of a classic story, especially if there is a horror twist, and I have LOVED basically everything I’ve read by Cynthia Pelayo. So “It Came from Neverland”, her newest horror novel, made perfect sense as a highly anticipated novel this year for me. Especially since this one promised to center Wendy. Even if it sounded like Wendy was going to be put through hell.

Even if the story never really resonated, I always loved Wendy. (source)

One of the things that I love most about Cynthia Pelayo’s horror stories is that while they are always genuinely creepy, there is also almost always a dreamlike quality to them, and that translates very well to her take on Peter Pan and Neverland. Taking place in WW1 London, Wendy Darling is all grown up, living as a school teacher while also spending time volunteering at a hospital to read to wounded soldiers. As a child she and her brothers were taken to a strange place called Neverland by a strange boy named Peter who couldn’t grow up and promised a fun life with other children, but was in actuality manipulating all of them and killing them to keep his power. Wendy and her brothers escaped, but she has been living with the trauma years later even as the world has learned the story as a fantasy tale of joy and imagination. Pelayo does a fantastic job of incorporating the original story that is filled with magic and whimsy and twisting it into something more sinister, while also taking inspiration from faerie stories and mythology. There has certainly been a more recent take on Peter Pan tales that paint him as less mischievous and more monstrous, but Pelayo’s feels unique in that it’s a bit more sinister fairy and Pennywise-esque. Because of this reimagining it completely reframes the entirety of Neverland, but Pelayo is really skilled at reframing it while still making it feel like it COULD be a place that J.M. Barrie could water down to make more family friendly. Peter in this is terrifying and creepy, but still feels like it could be connected to Barrie’s creation just through how Pelayo brings in references and tweaks them just a little. We still have lost boys, who are kidnapped children that Wendy wants to protect while Peter harms them to manipulate her. We still have the idea of Peter’s shadow, making it more of thing that can be used to connect to others to create a bond that makes an abuser hold onto a victim. But my favorite was the reimagining of Captain Hook, as instead of a foppish pirate who is constantly undermined by the mischievous Peter, we have a man who has had so much taken from him because of this nasty entity that harms everything it comes in contact with.

But my favorite element, which is unsurpising, is Wendy herself, as Pelayo has perfectly expanded upon her to explore her as a trauma survivor who was so connected to Peter, only to realize he only meant harm to her and everyone else. I really enjoyed the flashbacks to see how it affected her mental state, and how that in turn affected her relationships with Michael and John, who also experienced it but were more able to convince themselves it never happened. Wendy is still the caring girl who wants to care for and help others, and by making it a strength instead of the obligation we kind of get in the source material (Wendy is really only there because as a girl she HAS to be a mother figure) it shows how much more powerful she is, even if she is still quite damaged. I also loved that she is not only helping literal children as she teaches them, but that she is also helping wounded soldiers back from the Western Front, as so many soldiers were teenagers and children in their own right (the WWI setting was such a great idea in and of itself and it really resonated with this part of the plot). I also appreciated that so much of the horror of Peter and his monstrous ways were entangled with Wendy’s trauma, as he was SO scary and seeing her gather the strength and courage to stop him once and for all made for a very satisfying horror plot.

“It Came from Neverland” was everything I was hoping it would be! Pelayo is so talented as creating dreamy and spooky horror stories, and I recommend it to both those who love “Peter Pan” and those who just love a horror tale littered with well crafted symbolism and metaphors.

Rating 9: A haunting and eerie re-imagining of “Peter Pan”, which focuses on trauma, grief, loss, and overcoming a childhood stolen and an alternate truth to a beloved classic.

Reader’s Advisory:

“It Came from Neverland” is included on the Goodreads lists “Peter Pan Re-Tellings”, and “Horror to Look Forward To in 2026”.

Fire’s Catching: “Sunrise on the Reaping”

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

It’s been eighteen years since Suzanne Collins wrote “The Hunger Games”, the smash hit literary sensation that continues to feel relevant and capture the attention of readers. This ongoing series will be a review series of both the Suzanne Collins books, as well as the film adaptations of the novels. I will post my review on the last Thursday of the month as we revisit the totalitarian world of Panem and the hope of the Mockingjay.

Book: “Sunrise on the Reaping” by Suzanne Collins

Publishing Info: Scholastic Press, March 2025

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: When you’ve been set up to lose everything you love, what is there left to fight for?

As the day dawns on the fiftieth annual Hunger Games, fear grips the districts of Panem. This year, in honor of the Quarter Quell, twice as many tributes will be taken from their homes.

Back in District 12, Haymitch Abernathy is trying not to think too hard about his chances. All he cares about is making it through the day and being with the girl he loves.

When Haymitch’s name is called, he can feel all his dreams break. He’s torn from his family and his love, shuttled to the Capitol with the three other District 12 tributes: a young friend who’s nearly a sister to him, a compulsive oddsmaker, and the most stuck-up girl in town. As the Games begin, Haymitch understands he’s been set up to fail. But there’s something in him that wants to fight . . . and have that fight reverberate far beyond the deadly arena.

Review: We are now at the last book in the “Hunger Games” universe, and I remember being wholly stoked when “Sunrise on the Reaping” was announced. We were finally going to get Haymitch’s Games! I have loved Haymitch since I first read the books, and on this read through I only appreciated his character more. When we meet Haymitch he is the lone surviving victor of District 12 (and only the second victor overall), and he is a drunken PTSD ridden mess who has to mentor Katniss and Peeta, and he turns into a emotional support for them as well as an important part of the rebellion. We all know that he was going to have a rough backstory, but the idea of meeting him when he was young and a tribute was so exciting! I know that some people thought that it was going to be fan service. Well, I can tell you that Suzanne Collins basically said ‘yeah, fuck you and your fan service, you are going to only get FAN DEVASTATION’ (outside of a cameo by THE Effie Trinket), because “Sunrise on the Reaping” is quite possibly the most depressing “Hunger Games” story yet.

I should have known it was going to make me sob. (source)

I am sure that that was in part due to the fact that Collins didn’t want the fandom to get comfortable and to lose sight of the overall message of these stories. But it is also because Haymitch Abernathy, while a side character seen through the eyes of Katniss in the original trilogy, has an incredibly sad backstory that has to shape who he is by the time we get to Katniss and Peeta’s games. And shape “Sunrise on the Reaping” does.

So we go to the 50th Hunger Games, which is also the Second Quarter Quell, where the ‘special twist’ is that each district sends four tributes. We had some info about this thanks to snippets in the original trilogy, like we knew that Haymitch had a fellow tribute named Maysilee Donner (whose twin Merilee was the mother of Katniss’s friend Madge). But Collins gives us a far larger picture about how Haymitch got to where he was, as well as a look at propaganda in Panem and how entrenched it is.

The propaganda is REALLY apparent this time around, as we see more blatant examples of it in this book that the regular viewers of The Games would completely miss. Whether it’s sudden replacements of tributes after horrific tragedy that is scrubbed from view (like Haymitch not being the original tribute, or the whole Louella/Lou Lou thing, my GOD), or the way that we see Plutarch Heavensbee’s original role as a cinematographer of sorts (more on him in a bit) to promote the games, we see how Snow has taken his lessons from “Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” and really started to implement them to make the Games full on garish entertainment and a tool of control through fear. And not just the general population, but also the former victors, as we see some fan favorites in this book making appearances like Beetee and Mags and Wiress, but whose circumstances of being involved range from depressing (Mags and Wiress being mentors and seeing them BEFORE they are where they are in the original series, mental health wise), to outright devastating (Beetee’s own child has been reaped, and it’s implied that it is in retaliation).

But the other huge theme in this book which REALLY worked for me and feels SUPER RELEVANT (not that government propaganda doesn’t) is the way that Collins approaches and expands upon the idea of a revolution. When we read the initial trilogy, it seems like Katniss as the Mockingjay is the spark that lit the flame to revolution in Panem, as so many things came together to make her a symbol and people like Plutarch, Haymitch, and Alma Coin took advantage of her popularity to pull off the uprising. But we find out in “Sunrise on the Reaping” that Plutarch has been working on a revolution alllll the way back to Haymitch’s games, and Haymitch was his first tribute recruit. Obviously, it doesn’t go well, and while Haymitch does win and while Plutarch goes undetected, Haymitch loses basically everything after he goes outside of Snow’s approval of how he handles the Games. The revolution this time is a failure, and it takes YEARS to actually achieve, and it needs a lot of lucky timing and non-controllable circumstances to actually come to fruition. This is what hit me the hardest as I read this book, because I think that for a lot of people the idea of a ‘revolution’ is something that just happens, it works, and everything is better. But in reality, it can take a lot of time, it usually involves a lot of deaths, and it also tends to have to have people behind the scenes, like Plutarch Heavensbee, bless is incredibly morally gray character, who are willing to do REALLY dodgy things to achieve their goals, with others, usually more vulnerable groups, bearing the brunt of it like poor Haymitch who lives in the poorest area of one of the poorest districts.

And finally, I also want to touch on the portrayal of District 12 in this book, as we’re kind of in the middle of the timeline between “Songbirds” and the original trilogy. The Covey are still around at this point, with Haymitch being in love with a Covey girl named Lenore Dove. It’s an interesting point in the timeline because the Covey are becoming more sparse, though there is still a clear divide between the Covey, the more merchant class, and the working class in the Seam. We also know that by the time we go twenty five years into the future, the Covey are basically gone, at least culture wise (as Katniss’s father is Covey on his mother’s side), and we see a cultural extermination in process over the series’s timeline. It’s sad and deeply interesting, and with the way Lenore Dove’s fate settles out and how Lucy Gray disappeared in the previous novel, it stings all the more knowing their community will be gone in the coming years.

“Sunrise on the Reaping” is another impactful and powerful “Hunger Games” story that avoids the pitfalls that could have come with it. If Collins is done with these stories and this world, it has ended on a strong note. Up next we start our movie reviews, and we start with “The Hunger Games”! Back to the beginning folks!

Rating 9: There is no fan service to be found here. Instead we get a despairing look at how Haymitch Abernathy became who he was in the original trilogy, as well as an examination of the power of propaganda as manipulation to get a population to believe whatever those in power want them to, and how sometimes revolutions take decades to achieve.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Sunrise on the Reaping” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Dystopian and Post-Apocalyptic Fiction”, and “[ATY 2026] Character in More Than One Book”.

Serena’s Review: “The Tapestry of Fate”

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

Book: “The Tapestry of Fate” by Shannon Chakraborty

Publishing Info: Harper Voyager, May 2026

Where Did I Get this Book: from the publisher!

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

Book Description: Amina al-Sirafi thinks she’s struck gold. Tasked with hunting down arcane artifacts for the council of immortal peris, she can savor the occasional rollicking adventure on the high seas with her cherished criminal companions while still returning home to raise her beloved daughter, Marjana. But when Raksh, the spirit of discord with whom she is reluctantly wed, provokes the council’s wrath, Amina is charged with a seemingly impossible quest: steal a spindle capable of rewriting fate from a mysterious sorceress on an island no one can escape.

Forced to leave Marjana—who is increasingly frustrated at being peddled what are clearly lies about her mother’s life and her own past—Amina finds her mission almost immediately thrown into peril. But deadly storms, an erratic poison mistress, and old enemies are the least of her worries. For the peris’ story is unraveling, hinting at a far deadlier game whose rules Amina must swiftly puzzle out. A game that sets her against an adversary more cunning and powerful than she has ever faced.

A game that not everyone on her crew wants her to win.

Review: Insert “old lady Titanic gif” here, or something of that effect! But seriously, it’s felt like forever and a day since the first book in this series came out. I know the author has had a lot going on, so I’m sympathetic. But my greedy, book-loving heart kept obsessively checking the Goodreads page for the last few years, hoping for an update. And at last, here we are. And it was well worth the wait!

The story picks up a few months after the first book, and I’ll say right at the top, this was the most challenging part of this book for me. On one hand, I appreciate that the author just jumped right into the action; and for future readers who pick this one up immediately after the first book, this will work even better. But for the rest of us who are reading this now, after it’s been a few years since the first book, some of this transition was rough. Not only was I trying to piece together my memory of the plot of the first book (some of which is crucial to understanding the main character’s current predicament), but I was also struggling with more simple things, like remembering just who everyone was and what their stories were. Perhaps some sort of prologue or even “cast of characters” supporting materials somewhere in the book would have helped. As it stands, the book does very little to reintroduce you to these characters or the current stakes, so for me at least, it took a bit to feel like I was really caught up with exactly what was going on.

That said, even in the midst of my confusion, this was simply an excellently written book and a fun time to read. Amina is a great narrator with a unique voice who immediately drew me back into the story. And beyond that, the plot doesn’t skimp on the action, starting out with an exciting action scene and then delving quickly into the main plot of the story and the various mini-quests that make up that storyline. It was easy enough to simply let myself get caught up in what was going on on the page and trust that it would all come back to me. If possible, I recommend other readers take the same approach: it will all come to you eventually, just enjoy the ride in the meantime!

I also really liked the central plot of this story and the secondary story that was woven throughout the book in chapters that follow another character. I can’t go into much here without getting into spoilers, but there were some really great themes of motherhood, rage, and the gray line when victimhood can turn into villainy. There were some really touching scenes here that were darker than I expected. But this darkness was always balanced nicely by Amina’s narrative that was so strongly rooted in her core characteristics: her determination, bravery, and loyalty to those she loves.

I also really like the storyline we got between Amina and her friend, a woman who is as distrusting as they come. While I was equal parts frustrated as I was intrigued, this storyline took a close look at the complex nature of friendship, as well as the dark underside of self-sacrifice and atonement.

The core mystery and focus of the adventure of the story was also excellent. The magical components were all so unique and interwoven (ha!) in interesting ways, often taking turns that I hadn’t expected. Again, some of these twists and turns were fairly dark, but some of these heavier moments were as beautiful as they were heart-wrenching.

I will say that the middle portion of the book is where I lost the single point in my rating, dropping it from a 10 to a 9. There was a brief period in the middle of the book where it felt like the plot was spinning its wheels. Most of the major players had been well established, the mystery set up, and then it felt like the story took a few too many turns through Amina’s confusion and frustration before getting moving again. But I’ll also say that this slowdown in the pacing at this point in the story also worked very well, narratively, for Amina’s own experience of her situation.

The book does end on a bit of a cliffhanger, I will say. The main plotline is fully wrapped up, but on the very last page, the author drops a major bombshell into the current situation. That being the case, I can only hope that the next book comes quickly! If you were a fan of the first book, I highly recommend you check this one out! I’m sure it will be a massive hit with all fantasy fans!

Rating 9: Full of swashbuckling adventure and sweeping vistas, “The Tapestry of Fate” will catch you up in its rollicking good time before punching you with an emotional hammer of a mother’s rage. Simply fantastic!

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Tapestry of Fate” can be found on these Goodreads lists: All Books with “Tapestry” in the Title and Arabian, Egyptian, and Indian Fantasy.

Book Club Review: “When the Tides Held the Moon”

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

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

Book: “When the Tides Held the Moon” by Venessa Vida Kelley

Publishing Info: Erewhon Books, April 2025

Where Did We Get This Book: We own it

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

Prompt Word: Moon

Book Description: In Coney Island, true love rises to the surface. With lush illustrations and buoyant prose, Venessa Vida Kelley forges an unforgettable New York fairytale.

Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. He invites Benny to join the show’s eclectic cast and share in their shocking secret: the tank will cage their newest exhibit, a live merman stolen from the salty banks of the East River.

More than a mythic marvel, Benny soon comes to know the merman Río as a kindred spirit, wise and more compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.

Releasing Río could mean losing his found family, his new home, and his soulmate forever. Yet Benny’s courageous choice may just reveal a love strong enough to free them both.

Kate’s Thoughts

I’ve been to Coney Island a few times in my life, having strolled on the beach and walked through Luna Park. There’s something special about Coney, and there is something that just feels so profoundly ‘New York City’ about it. When our book club chose “When the Tides Held the Moon” by Venessa Vida Kelley I was already on board because of a queer romance between a blacksmith and a merman, but the 1910s Coney Island setting made it all the more tantalizing. It just feels like a New York story.

I loved so much about this book. The setting is the first thing, as there is such a romantic and fairy tale aspect to 1910s Coney Island, and a circus that is teeming with found family potential. The idea of a ‘freak show’ having people living on the edges of society and finding connection and companionship with one another is always a story that’s going to hit me in the feels, and Kelley adds in the fantasy element of merman Rió and has even more of a punch. I loved the way that Benny finds love and companionship not just with Rió, but also with a group of people who feel Othered in ways that, while not being fully the same, resonate for Benny, who is a fish out of water in his own way thanks to coming to New York from Puerto Rico and dealing with racism and xenophobia. The way that he connects with people who also feel on the outside for various reasons, be it race, sexuality, gender expression, and other things, was a genuinely heartwarming aspect of this book.

I also really loved the romance between Rió and Benny, with the slow build up of their love story really capturing the tenderness and beauty of their connection. It really reminded me of “The Shape of Water” (and I know that isn’t a unique comparison, but that’s because it’s APT). We see it through both of their eyes to some degree, as while Benny has most of the POV we do get some interspersed chapters of Rió’s thoughts and feelings as well. I liked how they challenged each other and lifted each other up, also connecting because of feeling so alone in the world. It’s the kind of aching romance that will just capture a reader and sweep them away, and it was one of the most effective romances I’ve connected to in recent memory (hilariously enough, another one like this was in “Trad Wife” and it also involved a human and an otherworldly being). Both Benny and Rió bring such passion and joy to the relationship as it unfolds and the circumstances become all the more heightened due to Rió’s captivity and issues that Benny is having with his own role in that. I was fully invested.

I loved “When the Tides Held the Moon”. It’s dreamy and romantic and touching and buoyant. I can’t recommend it enough.

Serena’s Thoughts

While I don’t have as many connections to New York City as Kate (I’ve been once for about 24 hours, much of which was spent bar hopping with my sister because it was pouring rain, the ferry to the Statue of Liberty was closed due to hurricane damage, and we were constantly waiting to meet up with an overly busy friend who was delayed), it’s still a city that has a clear “presence,” for lack of a better word. And this book followed one of my favorite storylines for fantasy fiction, where the author manages to merge the fantastical right alongside the very real, very human world that we know. So on one hand, yes, you have a love story featuring a merman. But you also have a love letter to a very specific time and place, New York City in 1910s. This was especially appealing to me as I also enjoy historical fiction, and this is a time period and location (somehow I don’t read many historical fiction pieces that take place in the U.S.) that I was less familiar with.

The writing was also lovely. I’m a sucker for lyrical, whimsical storytelling and this one had it in spades. The style of writing only accentuated the primary themes of the story, those of love, found family, and what makes up a home. There were many lovely passages that had me stopping to re-read and truly appreciate the author’s skill.

The story is definitely on the slower side, which I think worked well, especially with the emphasis on the atmospheric nature of the storytelling and the slow burn romance that developed between our main characters. But for readers who are looking for a faster pace, this probably isn’t that. I’d also want to note that while “monster romance” is a big subgenre in romantasy currently, this doesn’t really fall into the same category. The love story here was much more intimate in the emotional sense and all the more beautiful for it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this one! I had had it on my TBR for a while now, but hadn’t gotten around to prioritizing it. So yet another win for bookclub!

Kate’s Rating 9: A lovely and deeply romantic story about love, belonging, found family, and connection with a dreamy backdrop of 1910s Coney Island. I loved this book.

Serena’s Rating 9: Atmospheric and lyrical, this is a perfect blending of fantasy, historical fiction, and romance! Sure to be a hit with a variety of readers!

Book Club Questions

  1. What did you think of the time and place setting of this novel? Did you learn anything new about Puerto Rico or New York during this time period?
  2. Benny and Rió come from two different worlds but are drawn to each other. Why do you think that they had such a connection?
  3. Were you invested in the love story between Benny and Rió as the story went on? What other relationships in the book were interesting to you?
  4. Throughout the book we have mostly the POV of Benny, but we sometimes get more dreamy narrations of Rió’s perspectives. Did you like these snippets?
  5. What were your thoughts on the other side characters? Did any stand out to you?
  6. What circus stories from literature or pop culture could be compared to this book? Do you have any favorite circus stories?

Reader’s Advisory

“When the Tides Held the Moon” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Queer Romantasy Books”, and “Gay Pirates and Sea Creatures”.

Next Book Club Pick: “The Wizard of Earthsea” by Ursula K. Le Guin

Kate’s Review: “Welcome to Hell”

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Book: “Welcome to Hell: From the West Bank to Gaza” by Mohammad Sabaaneh

Publishing Info: Street Noise Books, June 2026

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

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

Book Description: A new graphic novel memoir chronicling the recent horrific days in Palestine, from Mohammad Sabaaneh, the winner of the Palestine Book Award.

This powerful graphic novel sheds light on the reality of life in both the West Bank and Gaza during this terrifying time. Told from the perspective of the author’s brother’s experience in prison and that of those in Gaza struggling to survive displacement, starvation, and attack.

In October of 2023, Sabaaneh went on a tour in Europe to promote his book about life under occupation in Palestine. Whether a Palestinian is inside a detention center or in any city or village, they are all in a big prison. The book ends with one message: ‘we will not leave.’ Upon his return to Palestine, he was trapped within the walls of his home—unable to see his aging parents, or his brother, who was locked away in an Israeli detention center.

So begins this vital story of struggle and survival.

Review: Thank you to Street Noise Books for sending me an eARC of this graphic memoir!

Memoirs are always a bit harder for me to evaluate because I never feel super comfortable critiquing a person’s lived experience, but what I do like to look for his how candid a memoir is and how it makes me feel. And because of this it’s probably not super surprising that many of the books that I’ve read about the Israel/Palestine conflict over the years that have resonated with me have been in graphic memoir or journalism form. Whether it was Joe Saccos’s book “Palestine”, or, interestingly enough, two books by “American Splendor’s Harvey Pekar, “Our Cancer Year” (written with his wife Joyce Brabner) and “Not the Israel My Parents Promised Me” (which was published after his death), I’ve found comics to be the things that have resonated most with this topic. So I was eager to check out “Welcome to Hell” by Mohammad Sabaaneh, expecting it to have a similar impact as the previous ones, and I was mostly right. Perhaps even more as this was written by a man who has been living the current genocide first hand, and speaks the truth that he, his family, and many others are facing at the moment.

“Welcome to Hell” is a short book, but within it’s fewer pages are a lot of gut punches and a lot of truths that are difficult to digest but also important to acknowledge. Sabaaneh is telling two different stories here; the first is that of his brother Thamer, who is a prisoner in an Israeli prison, and the second is that of numerous Palestinian families living in Gaza during the bombings done by Israel after October 7th, 2023. Sabaaneh draws comparisons between the way that his brother has to live in the literal prison, with violence, starvation, torture, and abuse being heaped upon him and his fellow prisoners, and the constant movement, starvation, fear, and violence that civilians living their lives in Gaza have to face, showing that the two realities aren’t terribly different and both are horrific. It’s not a very long graphic memoir, but Sabaaneh doesn’t waste a page and has a lot of important and devastating things to say, and does so effectively. Sabaaneh centers his brother as well as other people, though he does address his own experiences after October 7th and how getting home was perilous and then how restricted he was as well, unable to visit his family for months. It’s a harrowing and incredibly personal story, and it was a difficult read even though it’s absolutely a necessary one, especially as things just keep escalating in the Middle East at the moment and the death toll going up.

The art in this book is so incredibly unique it immediately stood out. It’s very much a cubist style, which makes the Israeli IDF/guards at the prison all the more surrealistic and monstrous, but also finds a way to find the vulnerability of Thamer and others who are being abused and displaced. At first I didn’t really know what I thought of the style (I am not a person who has a lot of knowledge of or connection to the cubist style and its history), but as the story went on and through my various revisits before reviewing it really grew on me. It made some of the violence less graphic, but didn’t take away the emotional impact.

(source: Street Noise Books)

“Welcome to Hell” is a timely and powerful graphic memoir. It’s a difficult read, but one that feels incredibly necessary to understand and reckon with.

Rating 9: A powerful and deeply personal read about the people of Palestine who experience trauma, violence, and displacement at the hands of an oppressive regime and their fight to survive.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Welcome to Hell” isn’t on any Goodreads lists as of yet, but it would fit in on “Palestine Reading List”.

Kate’s Review: “Molka”

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Book: “Molka” by Monika Kim

Publishing Info: Erewhon Books, April 2026

Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC at PLA 2026 from the publisher!

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

Book Description: molka (n): the Korean term for spy cameras secretly and illegally installed, often to capture voyeuristic images and videos

Dahye can’t believe her luck when she finds herself in a whirlwind romance with handsome, charismatic Hyukjoon, the heir to a multi-million dollar fortune.

But then a shocking revelation threatens: the couple has been caught on a spycam amid Korea’s growing molka epidemic, and the video is all over the internet. When Hyukjoon flees the country to avoid the intense public scrutiny, Dahye is left to grapple with the ramifications on her own; and the demons from her childhood, long dormant, begin to surface.

Amid the chaos, she catches the attention of Junyoung, a nerdy, introverted IT tech at work. Junyoung harbours a dark secret: he has been spying on the women at work with his own hidden cameras. As Dahye’s life begins to unravel, she unknowingly becomes the sole target of Junyoung’s perverse obsession.

When the facts surrounding the invasion of her privacy come to light, Dahye is faced with the humiliating truth. Her pain and hurt turn to rage as she faces her past. Her desire for vengeance is insatiable, and she will not rest until the men who have wronged her have paid in blood…

Review: Thank you to Erewhon Books for giving me an ARC at PLA 2026!

Okay, before I even go into my introduction to my review, I want to let people know that this review is going to be covering some triggering topics like rape/sexual assault, and sexual exploitation. So just be aware that it’s going to get heavy.

As I was reading “Molka” by Monika Kim the disgusting revelations of a so called online ‘Rape Academy’ broke in the news cycle, where men would drug their partners, rape them, film it, and then upload it for other users to see. It was horrifying but not all that surprising, and it just made me shake my head because the book I was reading was unfolding in real life in a lot of ways. “Molka” is a horror story to be sure, with a good majority of the horrors being completely man made, and Kim doesn’t hold back in her storytelling even if it makes for an incredibly triggering read. But a necessary one, as evidenced by the fact this shit is happening off page and in reality.

Our story takes place in Seoul and has two main POVs. The first is of Dahye, a young woman who has been swept off her feet by Hyukjoon, the son of a millionaire who showers her with gifts and incredible experiences… until footage of them having sex pops up online, seemingly filmed without their knowledge. While Hyukjoon has the wealth and privilege to ride the storm (being a man also helps… more on that in a bit), Dahye does not, and finds herself spiraling as the footage is everywhere, bringing up memories of her sister Euhnye, who killed herself years ago at seventeen after being impregnated by an older man and being terrified of the fallout. Our second POV is that of Junyoung, one of the IT guys at her work who has installed his own hidden cameras, or molkas, in the women’s restrooms so he can spy on unsuspecting women and see their privates, with Dahye catching his eye. Both POVs are so upsetting, whether it’s getting into the head of a predator like Junyoung, or seeing how absolutely wrecked Dahye is because of the violation and because of how women in molka cases are blamed, ignored, and shamed. And seeing them both escalate in their own ways, whether it’s Junyoung’s obsession becoming more dangerous, or Dahye’s mental health spiraling and her rage building, makes for such suspense and tension. Especially when it seems like Eunyhe’s ghost may be manifesting more and more as Dahye becomes more and more frenzied. I loved the bits with Eunyhe, with little hints of water and fleeting glances turning into a full on vengeful ghost egging Dahye on.

But potential supernatural themes aside, the really scary aspect of “Molka” were the real life themes of violent misogyny, sexual exploitation, and gender double standards within societies when it comes to sexuality. For characters like Dahye and Eunhye, as women who experience violence because of their sexuality (whether it’s the assault and exploitation in Dahye’s case or Eunhye killing herself after her out of wedlock teen pregnancy is revealed) are shamed and shunned and driven to the brink. But for people like Hyukjoon and Junyoung, who are men, they can either be wholly unaffected by scandal, or even be abusers either out in the open or hidden in the shadows, and even if their nastiness becomes known they are excused because boys will be boys. There were so many infuriating moments in this book that had to do with the disgusting ways Dahye was sexualized and violated, and Kim makes sure to tread a very fine line that makes sure the reader knows exactly what’s going on without making it feel all the more exploitative of, even worse, titillating. It is a VERY difficult read at times, especially when we see how objectified and dehumanized women are in the eyes of their abusers, but it’s also a searing and unflinching portrayal of feminist rage that has moments of catharsis to balance out the incredibly triggering moments.

“Molka” is a dark and upsetting horror novel, but it also feels like a very timely read, unfortunately. I definitely recommend it to any reader who likes a ‘good for her’ story.

Rating 9: A dark and difficult but unfortunately timely horror story about misogyny, violence against women, and the double standards between the treatment of genders in sexual situations. “Molka” is filled with content warnings, but the message is cathartic and the feminist rage burns bright.

Reader’s Advisory:

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

Kate’s Review: “The Caretaker”

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Book: “The Caretaker” by Marcus Kliewer

Publishing Info: Atria/Emily Bestler Books, April 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: Follow the Rites…

Nothing less than the survival of humanity is at stake.

From Marcus Kliewer, a new “titan of the macabre and unsettling” (Erin A. Craig, #1 New York Times bestselling author), comes a supernatural horror about a young woman who accepts a caretaking job from Craigslist, only to discover the position has consequences far greater—and more dangerous—than she ever could have imagined.

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY:
Caretaker urgently needed. Three days of work. Competitive pay. Serious applicants ONLY.

Macy Mullins can’t say why the job posting grabbed her attention—it had the pull of a fisherman’s lure, barbed hook and all—vaguely ominous. But after an endless string of failed job interviews, she’s not exactly in the position to be picky. She has rent to pay, groceries to buy, and a younger sister to provide for.

Besides, it’s only three days’ work…

Three days, cooped up in a stranger’s house, surrounded by Oregon Coast wilderness.

What starts as a peculiar side gig soon becomes a waking nightmare. An incomprehensible evil may dwell on this property—and Macy Mullins might just be the only thing standing between it, and the rest of humanity.

Follow the Rites… Follow the Rites… Follow the Rites… ..— / ….. / —..

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

I somehow missed the book “We Have Always Lived Here” by Marcus Kliewer when it came out, and I still haven’t worked it into my reading schedule in spite of the fact basically all of the praise it has received. Like not just from reviewers or influencers, but also people in my life who like horror. It entered my mind that I hadn’t read it yet as I started Kliewer’s newest book “The Caretaker”, as I had a fleeting thought of ‘oh I wonder if I should get to that eventually’. And as I was reading “The Caretaker”, I realized why everyone was praising “We Have Always Lived Here”. Because “The Caretaker” is TERRIFYING.

I did not read this book at night for a reason. (source)

I will reiterate: this was a scary read for me. It read really fast even though it’s a pretty average length of a book, and Kliewer has the pacing and vibe down pat. It starts with a terrifying bang and then cycles back down to a level that has time to build the dread and tension, and BOY does it build. We are following Macy, a woman who finds herself down on her luck and desperate for employment as she has to try and care for herself and her sister in the wake of their father’s tragic death. So a strange ad for a caretaker needed sounds like a good deal, and she applies and gets the job for a LOT of money…. but the instructions seem odd. I loved how strange and out there the rules were, which sound crazy and innocuous, but as Macy fails to follow them (oh my GOD, MACY, GET IT TOGETHER!) things go from weird to horrifying. There were so many moments of just absolute DREAD for me as the tension builds and builds, and I found myself putting the book down a couple of times because I was so stressed out. I don’t want to spoil any of it for people who want to check it out, but let me tell you, the rules may sound innocuous (to a point), but they are anything but. Especially as they all start to fall apart. I also enjoyed how ambiguous things are in this book. I know that sometimes ambiguity or a lack of explanation of supernatural or magical systems are frustrating in books (I find myself irritated from time to time with this kind of thing), Kliewer’s ambiguity adds to the story because it means that the reader can see themselves in Macy’s shoes when the really strange things start happening. And the really strange and weird things REALLY messed with my head.

And Macy herself is an interesting heroine because she is such a mess, but a mess whose messiness makes sense as we find out about her thanks to flashbacks to her childhood, and the loss of her dad. She is clearly struggling with depression and grief, and has to try and pull herself together because of her desperation to keep herself and her sister Jemma (who is a mess in hew own way) afloat. It makes for a lot of her choices and decisions as the story progresses to be believable for the most part. I definitely had a lot of anxiety as she continued to mess up the instructions, though I will fully admit that once we got into some of the late stage ones they do seem a bit impossible or COMPLETELY insane, and a lot of that was because of how much I empathized with her. Kliewer did a great job fleshing her out and making it both easy to root for her and easy to get so frustrated (while fully recognizing I’d probably also mess up like she did).

“The Caretaker” is so incredibly scary and engrossing. I really enjoyed it and if you want something weird and terrifying definitely check it out.

Rating 9: High intensity, a slow building dread, and an overall unsettling and WEIRD vibe that turns into abject horror. “The Caretaker” is scary as hell.

Reader’s Advisory:

“The Caretaker” is included on the Goodreads list “Horror to Look Forward to in 2026”.

Fire’s Catching: “Mockingjay”

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It’s been eighteen years since Suzanne Collins wrote “The Hunger Games”, the smash hit literary sensation that continues to feel relevant and capture the attention of readers. This ongoing series will be a review series of both the Suzanne Collins books, as well as the film adaptations of the novels. I will post my review on the last Thursday of the month as we revisit the totalitarian world of Panem and the hope of the Mockingjay.

Book: “Mockingjay” by Suzanne Collins

Publishing Info: Scholastic Press, August 2010

Where Did I Get This Book: I own it

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

Book Description: My name is Katniss Everdeen. Why am I not dead? I should be dead.

Katniss Everdeen, girl on fire, has survived, even though her home has been destroyed. Gale has escaped. Katniss’s family is safe. Peeta has been captured by the Capitol. District 13 really does exist. There are rebels. There are new leaders. A revolution is unfolding.

It is by design that Katniss was rescued from the arena in the cruel and haunting Quarter Quell, and it is by design that she has long been part of the revolution without knowing it. District 13 has come out of the shadows and is plotting to overthrow the Capitol. Everyone, it seems, has had a hand in the carefully laid plans—except Katniss.

The success of the rebellion hinges on Katniss’s willingness to be a pawn, to accept responsibility for countless lives, and to change the course of the future of Panem. To do this, she must put aside her feelings of anger and distrust. She must become the rebels’ Mockingjay—no matter what the personal cost.

Review: We are now coming to the end of the initial “Hunger Games” Trilogy, and I finally took on the final book in the series “Mockingjay”. Much like “Catching Fire”, I skipped this book in my initial read because I was told that it wasn’t very good. Nay, I was told that it was boring. BORING. After finishing “Catching Fire” and really liking it, I knew that I would probably have a similar experience with this one. Little did I know that I would actually end up ranking it almost as high as the first book. Yeah, I loved “Mockingjay”. It destroyed me (probably thanks in part to listening to Tatiana Maslaney read it, God she was good). As we follow Katniss into her final arc of this saga, I was moved and on edge, even though I knew what was coming thanks to the movies. Suzanne Collins always has something to say. And this time, as we rejoin Katniss, newly whisked away from the wreckage and chaos of the destroyed arena, she is already so damaged and alone, with Peeta captured and Haymitch revealed as hiding the rebellion he helped force her into. Collins’s message this time: War is Hell, and no one comes out unchanged.

We get some new insight to some previous characters, and also meet new characters who become power players for the last book in the series. The biggest stand out for previous characters for me is Plutarch Heavensbee, the game maker for the Quarter Quell who was actually part of the rebellion the entire time. I love Plutarch, not because he’s a good guy (he’s not, really), but because I appreciate his goal of trying to overthrow Snow and the Capitol and think he’s very interesting because he is ruthless and willing to do a lot of bad to achieve his goals. We are also introduced to Alma Coin, the President of District 13, a long forgotten District that has been biding its time underground waiting for a spark of revolution so she can swoop in and help overthrow the Capitol. As Katniss worries about Peeta, who has been captured by the Capitol and is now being used in propaganda as the uprising turns into all out war, she is thrown into the role of being the Mockingjay leading a rebellion when she doesn’t know how to be a leader. It’s just a new situation where a teenage girl is being used by ambitious and power hungry adults for their own ends, and her mental health and PTSD is tossed aside as she is constantly pushed to the brink. Is she a bit more of a passive player in this one? Sure. But while that was used as a criticism by those around me, I actually think it makes complete sense. Katniss never wanted this and is still a child. Her struggles may seem repetitive but she is riddled with trauma. To portray it as anything other than messy and complicated would be unrealistic and, frankly, irresponsible.

I was also struck by how Collins makes it pretty clear from the jump that the Rebellion’s alliance with District 13 is a complicated, possibly even dangerous, one. Katniss is thrown into the depths of District 13’s underground bunker with its highly authoritarian society, finding out that it has been there the entire time living off the grid after striking a deal with the Capitol to be able to walk away in exchange for not using nuclear weapons against Snow’s regime (the absolute gall). We will talk more about the portrayal of 13 in the movies when we get to the film reviews, but in the book? I was immediately put off by President Coin and her government and its brutal ways, both towards its supporters and towards the people who have been pulled in from the rebellion as allies. Hell, EVERYTHING about 13 feels like its own nightmare, with no dissent allowed, dehumanization of anyone seen as collaborators (one instance with Katniss’s Prep Team, who feel like fish a barrel being shot for funsies, really disturbed me), and a very officious and scary power structure that Katniss is suspicious of while her closest friend Gale becomes more and more indoctrinated and into the totalitarian ethos that Coin is feeding him.

And I love that Collins was more than willing to portray that way that a war being fought can have horrific tactics from both sides, even the side that is ultimately more ‘in the right’, and this book really hits it home in the most devastating ways as Katniss has to be the face of a rebellion and to try and keep herself safe from Coin, who clearly wants her gone so she can take over and become the person with the power going forward. She is used as a tool by Coin and Heavensbee (I love the guy and his moral grey character, but man he’s a dick), only a means to an end because they know that Coin won’t cut it, and she is repeatedly victimized in hopes that she can just keep Peeta and Prim safe…and we all know what happens to Prim. Prim and the children of the Capitol, who all become targets of the ‘righteous’ side and are slaughtered to finally put down Snow’s regime in one final bombing… and it is sickening. Collins isn’t going to let the ‘correct’ side off, not only having Katniss’s side commit war crimes that are similar to her enemies, but also murder the person that she sacrificed everything for, almost making all of her suffering and purpose moot. GOD it’s so, so sad. It’s such a harsh truth that people forget all the time, that war, as a whole, is BAD, and ANYONE participating can do MONSTROUS things (even if they are on the side that is OBJECTIVELY more moral) because that is war at its heart. “Mockingjay” tells this truth by spilling more child blood, done by the side that the reader wants to succeed. Fuck Coin. But fuck Gale more. And Katniss is left to pick up the pieces. Again, war. Is. Hell.

The way I sobbed as this book was coming to a close. (source)

But then there is the rebirth. Because Katniss has to keep going. And Peeta has to keep going. The book ends with Panem starting a new path, and it feels hopeful, but tenuous. But for Katniss and Peeta, they have to keep moving forward, and rebuild, and the gentle aftermath of them slowly starting to do so is bittersweet to say the least. But it felt correct and satisfying. Collins doesn’t pretty it up. They are forever changed. They are forever haunted. Katniss and Peeta don’t get better just because they are free and their goals are achieved. But they keep going and find hope and happiness with each other. I know that there are people who hate that Katniss has kids in the future, thinking that it betrays her character because of her refusal to have kids in the first book. But to that I say, her and Peeta having kids is actually the best way to end it, because it shows that Katniss finally, FINALLY, can feel safe enough to live her life because the oppressive society she grew up in and helped overthrow is truly gone. It’s lovely.

I loved “Mockingjay”. It wasn’t flashy and it wasn’t cheerful. But it feels realistic to me in how it portrays trauma, war, and trying to start over after having experienced so much grief, and finding love and peace in spite of it. Next up I will review the first prequel, “The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes”, where we go back to one of the first Hunger Games, and see the origins of President Coriolanus Snow.

Rating 9: A heavy and bittersweet conclusion to a series that still feels resonant, “Mockingjay” focuses on the hell that is war, the lingering affects of trauma, and picking up the pieces even in the wake of victory that may not feel wholly victorious.

Reader’s Advisory:

“Mockingjay” is included on the Goodreads lists “Best Survival Stories”, and “YA Dystopia Novels”.

Serena’s Review: “This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me”

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Book: “This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me” by Ilona Andrews

Publishing Info: Tor, March 2026

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

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

Book Description: When Maggie wakes up cold, filthy and naked in a gutter, it doesn’t take her long to recognize Kair Toren. It’s a city she knows intimately from the pages of a famously unfinished dark fantasy series – one she’s been obsessively reading and re-reading, while waiting years for the final novel.

Her only tools for navigating this gritty world of rival warlords, magic and mayhem? Her encyclopaedic knowledge of the plot, the setting and the characters’ ambitions and fates. But while she quickly discovers she cannot be killed (though many will try!), the same cannot be said for the living, breathing characters she’s coming to love – a motley band that includes a former lady’s maid, a deadly assassin, various outrageous magical creatures and a dangerously appealing soldier. Soon, instead of trying to return home, she finds herself enmeshed in the schemes – and attentions – of duelling princes, dukes and villains. This all while trying to save them and the kingdom of Rellas from the ending she’s seen on the a cataclysmic war.

Review: To this day, Andrews’ Kate Daniels series is my favorite urban fantasy series. For one thing, she knew when to end the darn thing (side-eyeing the Mercy Thompson series right now). But it was also a solid run of books with very few missteps along the way. What’s more, not only was Kate herself an excellent heroine, but the romantic interest was excellent, and the love story managed to retain drama and tension without resorting to contrived angst. All of this to say, I was thrilled when I saw that Andrews was starting up a new series, and this time in one of my favorite subgenres of fantasy: portal/epic fantasy!

There’s so much to love about this book that I barely know where to start! But let’s just start with the world-building. This book makes one of the best uses of the “portal fantasy” concept that I’ve seen in a while. Andrews doesn’t get too bogged down in the “how” of it all, simply starting up the story several days after the fact, with our heroine doing quite poorly living on the streets. The realization that she can’t die is a welcome, if terrifying and painful, game-changer. But what’s so fun about this set-up is subtle nods and jabs to epic fantasy and G.R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones that are scattered throughout this story.

Much of the world-building is explained and built out through our heroine’s encyclopedic knowledge of the original books, the first two in a trilogy that now seems destined to never be finished, as its author seemingly abandoned it (you see what we’re doing there). Maggie’s wealth of information comes from the plethora of POV characters who were given chapters in the original books (sometimes only a single chapter), insights which she uses to gain the upper hand when meeting these people in this world. Again, sound familiar? For those familiar with some of the criticisms of Game of Thrones, so much of this was laugh-out-loud funny while also perfectly working within the scope of this book. It’s not just lip service; Andrews nimbly weaves together these references and inside jokes alongside equally important plot points.

What’s more, even some of the greater scope of this world sounded familiar, with numerous families all vying for power and control, even down to an aloof, brutal, and, crucially, necessary lord from the north who is on touchy ground with the throne. But before you worry that it’s all just copying other fantasy novels, while it’s apparent that the author is making some key references with the “book within a book” that Maggie has read, this story itself is completely new and fresh. She herself begins to realize the limits of the knowledge she gathered from the books, necessitating re-evaluating characters/people she thought she understood.

The pacing is excellent. This is a long book, but I read it in only a few days. It starts off in the middle of the action and really never lets up, in the best of ways. What’s more, I’m impressed with Andrews’ ability to balance a lighter overall tone (something in the manner and styling of the writing, perhaps) while also dealing with some incredibly dark themes and scenes. Maggie’s whole “can’t die” thing is explored in all of the worst ways. Readers should definitely not go into this expecting a cozy fantasy, regardless of what that cover art is selling.

And, of course, the characters were all excellent. Maggie is similar to Kate in all of the best ways: smart, independent, and understanding of her limits and the necessity of building up a crew around herself. This group is made up of a wide cast of fantastic side characters, of which it would be hard for me to pick favorites. And, of course, a rock-solid love interest.

I have to say, while reading this book, I almost had a “romantasy PTSD” moment. From the beginning, Maggie meets a number of good-looking male characters. There was one that felt like he was set up as the main love interest, but as I was reading, I kept getting shivers of worry that the rug was going to be pulled out from under me and one of the “dark, bad boys” who made an appearance a time or two would pull the old “bait and switch” that I hate so much. I can’t get into too many details, as there are some surprising twists and turns, but I’m hopeful that Andrews has set up a primary romance here, and I’m excited to see it play out going forward. Please, PLEASE, do not give me another fake-out, for the love of everything. As it stands, I really enjoy the romance we had here and want to see how things play out going forward.

The only thing that holds this back from being a “10 rating” is the fact that there were a handful of times where we had the narrative writing out terms like “oof” and “yikes,” which I always hate. It wasn’t too often, thankfully, but I do think the book would have been stronger to have avoided it altogether. In some ways, it felt like a carryover from urban fantasy, where this sort of narration is more prevalent. You see it less in epic fantasy, and this one would have been better without it.

That said, this is by no means a deal-breaker, and I highly recommend this one to pretty much any fantasy fan! Readers familiar with epic fantasy and Game of Thrones will perhaps enjoy the meta commentary the most, but this is a romp of a good time that shouldn’t be missed!

Rating 9: A banger of a good time! Andrews brings the fun to epic fantasy, while also delivering solid characters and fantastic world-building.

Reader’s Advisory:

“This Book Will Not Kill Me” can be found on these Goodreads lists: Epic High Fantasy/Romance/Mythology in 2026 and 2026 Most Anticipated Romantasy & Fantasy Romance Releases.