strange and random happenstance

Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Published by: Del Rey Books
Publication Date: February 11th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
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Stories are the architecture of Faerie, more powerful than magic, more powerful than kings, and Cambridge professor, Emily Wilde, PhD, MPhil, BSc, Dde, tenured, is now in the middle of one. She and her fiance, Wendell Bambleby, are about to retake his kingdom. They've both taken a sabbatical from Cambridge to accomplish this goal. Wendell has been in exile from the Silva Lupi since his stepmother killed his entire family and assumed the throne. Thanks to Emily he not only has a way back, but his stepmother might have already perished by poisoning and he has a rather intimidating entourage. One wouldn't want to show up in one of the most dangerous Faerie realms without a plan. So they swan in with the guardians lead by Razkarden, the trolls, the tree fauns, and the fuchszwerge, the fox-faeries, lead by Snowbell. And they are met with no opposition. Which might be the most unnerving thing about entering the Silva Lupi. Eventually Queen Arna's half-brother, Lord Taran, saunters up and tells them the lay of the land. Arna isn't dead but if Wendell wants the throne he has to best Lord Taran. It's nothing personal, violence comes as naturally as drawing breath to the monarchs of the Silva Lupi, and he promised Wendell's father that he would protect the kingdom from a weak ruler. Lord Taran is the greatest swordsman in the land, and, for a while, Wendell holds his own, but it's not in swordplay that he bests his father, it's by his needle and thread. The path cleared they ascend their thrones and it seems that their only problem will be Emily adjusting the the great many monsters in Wendell's court. But Queen Arna has a neatly constructed vengeance in store. As Emily poisoned her she has in turn poisoned the land. Emily and Wendell worked so hard to find a way back to his world, that all their efforts should have been brought to this; only Wendell's death will lift the curse. Nothing more, nothing less. The Folk do appreciate a story that comes full circle. So in the logical extension of the illogic of Faerie, Emily will save the day due to her living a life lead by scholarly tomes. Stories are the foundations of this world, they may be used as a compass, a guiding star. They just need the right story, they need their guiding star, and this problem will just go away. Once she finds "King Macan's Bees" she thinks she has the answer, the story echoes the present problems, but it's uncanny how accurate it echoes them. Which worries Emily. Queen Arna is cunning and while Emily will never tire of untangling a faerie mystery, could this one be Wendell's last?

Heather Fawcett's Lady Emily series has been a magical, if at times menacing, romp through Faerie and it's academic accouterments. And while I've loved all the volumes in this series I find myself singling this one out as the most magical. While I could say it's because I've grown accustomed to the horrors, much like Emily is attempting to with the monsters in Wendell's court, I think it's really because of a few scenes of such magic that my breath was taken away. The most magical of these is when Emily and Wendell officially marry. In Faerie you don't have to have a big ceremony, you just have to declare your intentions and the deed is done. Which, let's be honest, Emily enjoyed far more than being the center of attention. But when they make their intentions known on a boat as they go to confront his stepmother when they pull apart from sealing their bond with a kiss the world around them is celebrating their love. Faeries are gathering along the shore with lights, like a forest full of fireflies, they illuminate the dark in a way that is pure magic. This is what I've always pictured when I think of the realms of faeries. Little me laying in bed being told fairy tales thrills at this moment. And my love of fairy tales is brought to a whole new level in this volume. Because Heather Fawcett tackles the intersectionality of ghost stories and fairy tales. That's right, Heather Fawcett is bringing in spiritualism into a story I already love and upping the game to a whole new level. So, ghost stories and fairy tales. They could both be under the umbrella of folklore, but personally I like to put them under the umbrella of horror. Because true ghost stories and fairy tales are terrifying. And that fear, that aspect of horror is what draws me in every time. It's the dark shadow of bedtime tales, those that keep you up at night because they have the ring of truth. For me, these types of tales are interchangeable. They are both about something otherworldly. And that this was acknowledged in this series makes me giddy. What's more, it's one of the reasons dryadology even exists as a discipline, because of people studying ghosts. Though, to take this even further, Archibald Robbins of the University of Amsterdam was an iconoclast who theorized there were interactions between the Folk and the spirit world. Then Helen Worthington-West took this further and presented a paper about a brownie who had spoken with the recently deceased using a door. Doors, like the door Emily needed to find to return Wendell to his realm. But this door goes to a spiritual limbo. A place half in the world, half elsewhere, where the ghosts of the Folk linger. Oh my, it's the commingling of two things that in my mind have always been linked that I just can't get enough of. I want more. And I totally agree with Emily, she should have been studying ghost stories instead of the histories of great faerie monarchs.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Cambridge, Emily Wilde, Emily Wilde's Compendium of Lost Tales, Faeries, Fairy Tales, Ghost Stories, Heather Fawcett, King Macan's Bees, Poison, Queen Arna, Silva Lupi, Spiritualism, Stories, Summer School, Wendell Bambleby

The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 5th, 2014
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
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Quentin Coldwater saved magic. Quentin Coldwater saved Fillory. So what was his reward? Banishment. Back to Earth. He found his place, his home, his reason for being in a fantastical world and now he's been cut adrift. He goes back to the only other place he's ever thought of as home, Brakebills. Thankfully he's able to get a teaching job there while he studies his only connection to Fillory, a spell he found in the Neitherlands which he can't even begin to understand. He finds a kind of contentment there. But his life is going to face much more upheaval. First his father dies and he leaves Brakebills for the funeral. At "home" he realizes, now, more than ever, how he never fit into the "real" world. Brakebills though won't be his safe haven for much longer. There's a group of students called "The League" founded by Plum Purchas. They mete out justice on those they feel have done wrong. Like Wharton who purposefully withholds libations during dinner. There prank against Wharton goes horrifically wrong. The magical wards protecting Brakebills are endangered. The incursion is someone Quentin knows. It's Alice. But she's a niffin. Plum is expelled and Quentin is fired. Of their own accord they both show up at a meetup looking to hire magicians for a heist. It was inevitable they'd meet on the outside, they're both magicians and they're both in need of money. The heist fails. Spectacularly. Though they end up in possession of a book written by Martin Chatwin. Fillory is calling to Quentin again. Or so he thinks. But maybe this time it's calling to Plum. Because she has a secret. She's Martin Chatwin's great-granddaughter. On her mother's side. The two of them hide out in New York City in a bolthole that Plum has had for awhile in case they're on anyone's radar after the heist. There they discover a spell in Martin's book to create a new magical land. Having nothing better to do they attempt it and instead of getting a mini Fillory they get an eerie mirror version of the house they're staying in which happens to be inhabited by Alice, the niffin. Who Quentin is able to restore to her human body thanks to the spell from the Neitherlands. Something she is very furious about. She saw everything, she knew everything, from the dawn of time until it's demise and now she's stuck in a meat sack which craves bacon. But everything has a purpose and Alice's return coincides with Eliot's. He has come to inform them that Fillory is ending. The apocalypse has begun. There are no keys to save it this time. Though there's Alice. She saw the beginning of Fillory on her "travels" and her knowledge could save Fillory. Can they save Fillory? Rebuild that world? Or do they want to build their own?

For those of us who grew up on The Chronicles of Narnia, The Dark is Rising Sequence, The Chronicles of Prydain, and The Neverending Story, this series was written for us, though with far less nightmare fuel. We might have been jaded by life but after three books, like Quentin, we are able to find the wonder and joy once again in the world. Or find it at least temporarily with an ending reminiscent of the epic cataclysmic nothingness of The Neverending Story that brought back to life a whole world at the hands of one broken little book nerd. A world ended and a new one began. Because of book nerds. Never forget our power. We are legion. Though there's one thing that every book nerd who has read this series has fantasized about and that's actually being able to read the five Fillory and Further books by Christopher Plover. Yes, there's the small matter that they don't exist, nor does Christopher Plover, but Lev Grossman could conceivably write them. In fact if you go on a deep dive into Reddit there are rumors that at one time he considered doing just that. Obviously this never came to be because otherwise I would be reading them right now. Though if they did exist the question arises, would they prove worthy of their supposed compatriots? Could they rise to the level of C.S. Lewis or Michael Ende? Because we have learned a fair bit about The World in the Walls, The Girl Who Told Time, The Flying Forest, The Secret Sea, and The Wandering Dune over the course of Lev Grossman's three books. We've even learned there are secretly two more books; The Magicians written by Jane Chatwin, and The Door in the Page: My Life in Two Worlds by Rupert Chatwin and could they really meet expectations and known storylines? Well, it's this second book by Rupert that we finally get to read in The Magician's Land. And after reading Rupert's account I can safely say that I think Lev Grossman is well capable of this Ploverian feat. Fillory and Further could be real if Lev Grossman would just make it so. While the whole series has callbacks to other famous children's tales, this one felt more real, more like Narnia, if just because of structure, the story within the story. I also really started to think about the Chatwins being real people, not just characters in a book. And how being nobodies in the real world and being kings and queens in Fillory must really fuck with your head. I mean, no wonder Martin became a psycho, the stuff with Plover notwithstanding. I'd never really thought about this disconnect. You go to the magical world and everything is fixed, unless you know C.S. Lewis kills you all. But this series has been all about how magic doesn't fix you, a magical world doesn't make everything right. And while we've seen this again and again, this somehow was the first time it really struck home for me. That disconnect. Not just the coming back to reality and growing up, but the whole, this is really fucked up. And who created this "purity" rule? And how did that get broken, was it because of Martin breaking the rules? Selling his humanity to Umber? And is that how the Brakebills crowd got in? I have questions. I will always have questions. But I also have certainty. Certainty in my love of this series, in the fact that Lev Grossman could write Fillory and Further if he so wanted, and in the fact that magic can be found anywhere because this world is just as fucked up as any imaginary one.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brakebills, Christopher Plover, Fillory, Fillory and Further, Lev Grossman, Martin Chatwin, Neitherlands, Niffin, Plum Purchas, Quentin Coldwater, Summer School, The Magician's Land, The Neverending Story

This Vicious Hunger by Francesca May
Published by: Redhook
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 432 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"This Vicious Hunger is a dark, gothic fantasy of intoxication, obsession, and two women's desperate hunger for knowledge, whatever the cost.

Thora Grieve finds herself destitute and an outcast after the sudden death of her husband, but a glimmer of hope arrives when a family friend offers her the chance to study botany under the tutelage of a famed professor. Once at the university, Thora becomes entranced by a mysterious young woman, Olea, who emerges each night to tend to the plants in the private garden below Thora's window.

Hungry for connection, Thora befriends Olea through the garden gate and their relationship quickly and intensely blossoms. Thora throws herself into finding a cure for the ailment confining Olea to the garden and sinks deeper into a world of beauty, poison, and obsession. Thora has finally found the freedom to pursue her darkest desires, but will it be worth the price?"

In Gothic literature it's never worth the price. That's why I love it!

If You're Seeing This, It's Meant for You by Leigh Stein
Published by: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Fates collide after a tarot influencer disappears from a decaying Hollywood mansion in this unnerving gothic mystery and "incisive social satire" (Town and Country) from the acclaimed author of Self Care.

After her boyfriend dumps her in a Reddit post, unemployed thirty-nine-year-old Dayna accepts an unusual opportunity from a man she stopped speaking to twenty years ago: If Dayna can help Craig transform his crumbling mansion into a successful hype house of influencers, he can restore his birthright to its former glory, and she can bring her career back from the dead.

But missing from the mansion is Becca, an enigmatic tarot card reader who built a rabid fandom with her cryptic, soul-touching videos...and then vanished. With nineteen-year-old Olivia, the newest member of the hype house (and one of Becca's biggest fans), Dayna begins to build a social media campaign around Becca's disappearance that will catapult the creators to new heights of success. Too bad Craig forbids Dayna from pursuing the mystery at its heart.

As Olivia searches for traces of Becca in a labyrinthine house that seems intent on hiding its secrets, and Dayna becomes entangled with both Craig and Jake, the resident heartthrob and the last person to see Becca, the two women make a shocking discovery that will upend everything.

The internet: You may think you're inhabiting it, but is it really inhabiting you?"

Three things I love, tarot, crumbling mansions, and old Hollywood!

The Executioners Three by Susan Dennard
Published by: Tor Teen
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling author Susan Dennard comes The Executioners Three, a mystery filled with rivalry, romance, best friends, and a gruesome curse that dates back centuries.

Freddie Gellar didn't mean to get half the rival high school arrested. She'd simply heard shrieks coming from the woods, so she'd called the cops like any good human would do. How was she supposed to know it was just kids partying?

Except the next day, a body is found. And while the local sheriff might call it suicide, Freddie's instincts tell her otherwise. So, like the aspiring sleuth (and true X-Files aficionado) she is, Freddie sets out to prove there's a murderer at large.

But her investigation is quickly disrupted by the rivalry between her school and the school of the partying teens she got arrested. For over twenty years, the two student bodies have had an ongoing prank war, and Freddie's failed attempt at Good Samaritanism has upped the ante. Worse, the clever - and gorgeous - leader of the rival prank squad has set his sights on Freddie.

As more pranks unfurl, more bodies also start piling up in the forest. But it's the supernatural warning signs around town, each plucked straight from an old forgotten poem called "The Executioners Three," that worry Freddie the most. She knows the poem and its blood curse can't be real, but she's quickly running out of time to prove it.

Because the murderer - or executioners? - knows she's onto them now, and their next target just might be Freddie."

Sounds like everyone is out to get Freddie. 

Damned by Genevieve Cogman
Published by: Tor UK
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"For a former English maid, the stakes have never been higher...

Damned is the final book in the Scarlet Revolution series, a spellbinding adventure of magic, vampires and mayhem from the bestselling author of the Invisible Library series.

1794. Eleanor, former English maid, is a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel - and now a promising mage. With a vampire plot thwarted in Paris, the League's next daring rescue is that of the Pimpernel's beloved wife, Lady Marguerite, imprisoned in her London townhouse on unjust charges of treason and espionage.

But Lady Marguerite's captivity is only the first threat from the League's vampiric enemy. With the King known to be ill, possibly mad, England is not as it should be. Vampires conspire to take control over the whole country whilst challenging Eleanor and the League at every turn.

But then, using her growing magical powers, Eleanor uncovers a devastating, centuries-old secret. It is one so steeped in blood, that it will change not only England, but the entire vampire world, forever...

Discover where Eleanor's journey first began in the Sunday Times bestseller, Scarlet."

Oh my, Regency Magic is so my jam.

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
Published by: Harper Voyager
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 560 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dante's Inferno meets Susanna Clarke's Piranesi in this all-new dark academia fantasy from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel and Yellowface, in which two graduate students must put aside their rivalry and journey to Hell to save their professor's soul - perhaps at the cost of their own.

Katabasis, noun, Ancient Greek:

The story of a hero's descent to the underworld.

Alice Law has only ever had one goal: to become one of the brightest minds in the field of Magick. She has sacrificed everything to make that a reality: her pride, her health, her love life, and most definitely her sanity. All to work with Professor Jacob Grimes at Cambridge, the greatest magician in the world.

That is, until he dies in a magical accident that could possibly be her fault.

Grimes is now in Hell, and she's going in after him. Because his recommendation could hold her very future in his now incorporeal hands and even death is not going to stop the pursuit of her dreams....

Nor will the fact that her rival, Peter Murdoch, has come to the very same conclusion.

With nothing but the tales of Orpheus and Dante to guide them, enough chalk to draw the Pentagrams necessary for their spells, and the burning desire to make all the academic trauma mean anything, they set off across Hell to save a man they don't even like.

But Hell is not like the storybooks say, Magick isn't always the answer, and there's something in Alice and Peter's past that could forge them into the perfect allies...or lead to their doom."

Um, maybe they shouldn't be going to hell if they don't like the professor. Just forge the recommendation. After all, he's dead, he won't know!

Roar of the Lambs by Jamison Shea
Published by: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"If you knew the world was ending, who would you save? And would they let you?

Sixteen-year-old Winnie Bray is a liar. As the resident psychic at an oddities shop, Winnie truly can see the future. But her customers only want reassurance, and Winnie only wants their money. Favorable fortunes are a fast track to funding her way out of Buffalo, New York for good, after all.

But all of that changes when a vision sends her stalking in the remains of her family home that burned down in a fire 10 years ago. Among the ash and rubble, Winnie finds a box made of bone, untouched by flames and…whispering. At the touch of her finger, the box shows her a vision of death, chaos, and apocalypse, with her and rich kids Apollo and Cyrus Rathbun at the center.

Apollo knows their cousin is up to no good, and with the Rathbun family scattered to the wind, they know Cyrus is aiming to present himself as the new patriarch. Despite an initial attraction, Apollo is reluctant to believe Winnie. But soon it becomes clear that their family histories are intertwined, with the whispering, hungry box at the very center, and more than their lives are on the line. Together, they must discover the origins of the box and stop unforeseen forces from fulfilling the apocalyptic prophecy, or die trying.

From the author of I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me comes a speculative thriller about the ties that bind us to places and people, perfect for fans of Andrew Joseph White and Tochi Onyebuchi."

Stay away from anything that whispers to you my precious. 

The Sea Witch by Eva Leigh
Published by: Canary Street Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From a world where women are forbidden to use magic and the only freedom is found on the Caribbean high seas comes a swashbuckling romantasy from USA TODAY bestselling author Eva Leigh.

Condemned as a witch, sentenced to die, Alys Tanner uses her innate magical power to flee Puritanical New England. Stealing a ship, Alys becomes captain of The Sea Witch, leading its all-female, sorcery-wielding pirate crew. But the colonial British navy is in hot pursuit. The navy fights for a choke hold on the Caribbean and will destroy anything they cannot control, especially witches.

When Ben Priestley, a headstrong naval navigator, is inadvertently captured by the lady pirates, dangerous truths are revealed. A quest that could turn the tides against the navy's might ignites a reluctant partnership between the by-the-books prisoner and the fierce witch pirate captain. While they brave backstabbing pirates, perilous tropical islands and monster-filled seas, Alys and Ben's mistrust grows into unexpected desire as they battle an enemy that will stop at nothing to rule the waves."

This book is all that child me could have wished for her life to be.

The Book of Heartbreak by Ova Ceren
Published by: Alcove Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From BookTok and Bookstagram sensation Ova Ceren: A Middle Eastern legend gets a magically romantic modern makeover perfect for fans of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue.

A young woman must find a way to end the curse on her heart before it claims her forever in this delightfully witty fantasy romance.

Sare Silverbirch has already had her heart broken three times. A fifth heartbreak will stop her heart forever. Such is the nature of the curse she was born under, which forces her to live a life without letting anyone get too close.

When her mother dies unexpectedly and her heart breaks for the fourth time, Sare begins to urgently question the curse. Where did it come from? Why her? And rather than accept it, could there be a way to break it?

Her questions lead her to Istanbul, where she meets Leon, a seer who helps her track down the mysteries of her mother's past. But Sare's heart is a fragile thing, and their blossoming romance poses a great risk to her survival. Especially when she discovers that her fate is in the hands of celestials beyond this earthly realm.

Now the heavens are stirring, for they have a stake in Sare's destiny - and they don't like their plans being overturned.

The Book of Heartbreak is a dazzling, haunting romantasy sure to break - and mend again - the hearts of readers everywhere."

But if the book breaks our hearts five times are we also doomed?

The Little Ghost Quilt's Winter Surprise by Riel Nason and Byron Eggenschwiler
Published by: Tundra Books
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 48 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When you're a quilt instead of a sheet, being a ghost is hard! But it does mean you can float around in cold weather...an adorable picture book about a ghost who wants to share the magic of the season with his chilly sheet friends.

The little ghost quilt loves being out in the cold. For once, he doesn't overheat, and he likes how the snowflakes make his patches look polka-dotted. His friends, who are sheets, get too cold in the winter weather and have to stay inside, but the little ghost quilt doesn't mind. He enjoys slowly drifting along on his own.

On one of his frosty flights, he sees something happening in the town. People are putting up warm, twinkling lights, and there's a fun festive feeling everywhere - like Halloween, his favorite season, but with snowmen and wreaths and candles in windows instead of pumpkins. He is filled with excitement and happiness looking at all the beautiful decorations and joyous people, yet he can't help but feel sad that his friends can't be there.

But then, after almost getting caught in a blizzard, the little ghost quilt is struck by inspiration..."

I just love the little ghost quilt. His way of sharing the holiday spirit with his friends who are more suited to summer was a sheer delight to read.

Mrs. Christie at the Mystery Guild Library by Amanda Chapman
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 3568 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Book conservator Tory Van Dyne and a woman claiming to be Agatha Christie on holiday from the Great Beyond join forces to catch a killer in this spirited mystery from Amanda Chapman.

Tory Van Dyne is the most down-to-earth member of a decidedly eccentric old-money New York family. For one thing, as book conservator at Manhattan's Mystery Guild Library, she actually has a job. Plus, she's left up-town society behind for a quiet life downtown. So she's not thrilled when she discovers a woman in the library's Christie Room who calmly introduces herself as Agatha Christie, politely requests a cocktail, and announces she's there to help solve a murder - that has not yet happened.

But as soon as Tory determines that this is just a fairly nutty Christie fangirl, her socialite/actress cousin Nicola gets caught up in the suspicious death of her less-than-lovable talent agent. Nic, as always, looks to Tory for help. Tory, in turn, looks to Mrs. Christie. The woman, whoever or whatever she is, clearly knows her stuff when it comes to crime.

Aided by an unlikely band of fellow sleuths - including a snarky librarian, an eleven-year-old computer whiz, and an NYPD detective with terrible taste in suits - Tory and the woman claiming to be her very much deceased literary idol begin to unravel the twists and turns of a murderer's devious mind. Because, in the immortal words of Miss Jane Marple, "murder is never simple.""

I think Mrs. Christie would warn Tory off a detective with terrible taste in suits.

A Spell to Wake the Dead by Nichole Lesperance
Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Two teen girls must uncover the dark, occult secrets lurking in their Cape Cod town to solve a series of murders - and save themselves from the same fate - in this twisty, witchy thriller.

When Mazzy and her best friend Nora sneak down to the beach one moonlit night to cast a spell, they don't expect to find a dead body. But as the tide rolls in, it carries the remains of a woman who is missing her hands and teeth.

The girls know they should leave the investigation to the police, but they can't shake the weird, supernatural connection they feel with the dead woman. Using spellwork and divination, they set out to find answers of their own. But after they uncover a rash of local disappearances stretching back years - and both girls start having occult visions and hearing ghostly, whispering voices - Mazzy worries that she and Nora are in danger.

Then, Nora finds a second body. And the whispering voice is telling her where to find more. With everything spiraling, Mazzy needs to figure out who to trust and how to sever this supernatural connection - or she and Nora might be the next bodies to wash up on the beach."

See, step one, if you find a dead body missing it's hands and teeth perhaps don't try to reach out to it beyond the veil... It's a very bad idea.

The Red Knot by Monique Asher
Published by: Rising Action
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 416 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Gripping, atmospheric, and off-putting, The Red Knot is the perfect blend of occult mystery and small-town horror.

On a tiny, isolated island off the southern Alaskan coast, three girls have vanished without a trace, and Audra's close friend - the island's therapist - has been found murdered. A recent storm has severed all communication with the outside world, leaving Audra, the town's lead detective, trapped and at the head of a very personal case.

Her lead suspect, Valorie, the daughter of a notorious cult leader and the town's outcast, was discovered blood-covered and dazed at the crime scene. Valorie's memory is a gaping void, a dark well hiding traumatic secrets, including the truth about the teenage kidnappings that haunt the island.

As Audra digs deeper into the town's twisted history, it becomes clear other murders on the island, dating back decades, might be connected. The clock is ticking for the missing girls, and every clue leads Audra to question even those she's known her whole life.

Valorie must confront the horrors of her past while Audra's investigation becomes a descent into madness. On this cursed island, the line between neighbor and nightmare blurs, revealing that true horror often wears a familiar face."

I mean, it can't be that big an island can it? 

Son by Johana Gustawsson and Thomas Enger
Published by: Orenda Books
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 3537 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Everyone here is lying...

Expert on body language and memory, and consultant to the Oslo Police, psychologist Kari Voss sleepwalks through her days, and, by night, continues the devastating search for her young son, who disappeared on his birthday, seven years earlier.

Still grieving for her dead husband, and trying to pull together the pieces of her life, she is thrust into a shocking local investigation, when two teenage girls are violently murdered in a family summer home in the nearby village of Son.

When a friend of the victims is charged with the barbaric killings, it seems the case is closed, but Kari is not convinced. Using her skills and working on instinct, she conducts her own enquiries, leading her to multiple suspects, including people who knew the dead girls well...

With the help of Chief Constable Ramona Norum, she discovers that no one - including the victims - are what they seem. And that there is a dark secret at the heart of Son village that could have implications not just for her own son's disappearance, but Kari's own life, too...

For fans of Harlan Coben, Lars Kepler, Jo Nesbo and Jorn Lier Horst...and The Mentalist."

All the different sons!

The Poison Grove by Jill Johnson
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of The Woman in the Garden, Jill Johnson is back with another gripping Professor Eustacia Rose Mystery...

Betrayal is a bitter poison...

After getting caught in the middle of a murder investigation involving her very own poisonous plants, Professor Eustacia Rose was sure she'd never see the inside of a classroom again. With the case now closed, she finds herself back teaching toxicology to a group of grad students, spending time with her plant collection, and even forming a blossoming relationship.

But when your work is with poisons, peace is sometimes hard to find. When a man is found dead with a needle in his neck, and a disturbing painting of Eustacia links her and the body, she suddenly finds herself thrust back into a world of crime.

And at work, there's yet another threat for Eustacia to deal with. A PhD student is desperate to get access to her poisonous plant collection, and when she refuses to help him, he starts buying illegal plant toxins from an unknown source - and soon turns up dead as well. Are the two deaths connected? And could she be the link? With no leads and the body count rising, Eustacia is left with no choice but to investigate herself, however dangerous it may become.

With a quirky protagonist, dark academia aesthetic and an array of exotic poisonous plants, this unique spin on the classic murder mystery novel will hook fans Gail Honeyman's Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine and Richard Osman's The Thursday Murder Club."

If someone wants to buy illegal plant toxins, it's on them when they turn up dead.

A Moment's Shadow by Anna Lee Huber
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Violence, reprisal, and intrigue abound in post-World War I Ireland as the bloody conflict between the Irish Republican Army and the British authorities continues to escalate. But former Secret Service agent Verity Kent must deal with a more immediate concern - the possession of poisonous gas by a ruthless adversary...

August 1920, Dublin, Ireland: A fraught task keeps Verity and her husband Sidney in the country after their initial clandestine mission has been completed: the traitor Lord Ardmore is scheming to employ the deadly phosgene gas he's stolen for some terrifying purpose, and the couple will need both the Crown forces and the rebels' help to thwart him.

As they pursue their quarry, they are drawn into a case involving a series of cunning and brazen jewel thefts. Many believe it is the work of the Irish rebels, seeking to fund their revolution, but when Verity and Sidney are also approached by Michael Collins and the IRA to unmask the thief, they suspect he may instead be an opportunist using the political unrest as a cover for his crimes.

As the thief continues to pull ever more risky jobs - including targeting Verity and their friends - the couple receive new intelligence that the gas they seek may be intended for a crowded event, one that the entire world will be attuned to. They must stop Lord Ardmore at all costs - or the consequences will be devastating..."

I mean, civil unrest is ripe for a thief... and a JEWEL thief at that! 

A Lethal Cocktail by Ciar Byrne
Published by: Headline Accent
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Three ex-husbands. Two ex-wives.
One shocking murder.
A wedding that's the talk of the town...

Tudor Close Hotel, Rottingdean, is the most glamorous venue of the season. And not somewhere Virginia or her sister Vanessa would usually choose to frequent. They're far happier at home with their writing or painting, than brushing shoulders with debutantes or starlets.

But Lady Ottoline has had a difficult year, so - despite her rather outlandish tastes - they let her choose the meeting spot. And when the group bumps into fashion designer Mimi Mason in the hotel bar, they begrudgingly accept an invite to her wedding breakfast the next morning.

No one imagined that, a few cocktails later, Mimi would be dead.

As the sisters are drawn into a new case, it becomes clear that someone meticulously planned this murder. Beneath the glittering exterior, there was a dark side to this beautiful bride - and every wedding guest had a reason to sabotage this happy union.

But which one of them decided it was time to give Mimi a taste of her own poison?"

Poisoned cocktails are so last season Mimi.

Murder at Arleigh by Alyssa Maxwell
Published by: Kensington
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 304 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A dazzling wedding at the Bellevue Mansion, Arleigh, loses its shine when reporter, sleuth, and new mother Emma Cross Andrews is called to investigate the groom, an infamous Gilded Age prankster.

April 1903: Emma and Derrick Andrews have been invited to the wedding of her cousin Reggie Vanderbilt and heiress Cathleen Neilson at the Bellevue Mansion, Arleigh. Their hosts are a popular young couple who are leasing the home for the summer - Harry and Elizabeth "Bessie" Lehr. Known for his practical jokes, Harry is the toast of parties, earning a reputation as the court jester of the Gilded Age. However, as Emma soon learns, behind closed doors he is dead serious.

Following the wedding, Bessie comes to Emma for help, insisting that her husband is cruel to her in private, telling her outright he married her only for her money and finds her repulsive. Divorce is unthinkable. Now she believes he is plotting to murder her and make it look like an accident: a broken balcony railing she might have leaned on, a loose stair runner that could have sent her tumbling down a staircase, faulty brakes in the car she uses...

Some would say being trapped in a loveless marriage is a fate worse than death. Not Bessie - she wants to live! Unsure if these situations are mere coincidences or add up to premeditated sabotage, Emma agrees to investigate and determine if Newport's merry prankster is engaged in a cold-blooded game of life or death..."

Because we're all suffering from withdrawal with The Gilded Age's season being over. Thankfully this is the cure.

The Secret Book Society by Madeline Martin
Published by: Hanover Square Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 336 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A captivating new historical novel from Madeline Martin, set in Victorian London about a forbidden book club, dangerous secrets and the women who dare to break free.

You are cordially invited to the Secret Book Society...

London, 1885: Trapped by oppressive marriages and societal expectations, three women receive a mysterious invitation to an afternoon tea at the home of the reclusive Lady Duxbury. Beneath the genteel facade of the gathering lies a secret book club - a sanctuary where they can discover freedom, sisterhood and the courage to rewrite their stories.

Eleanor Clarke, a devoted mother suffocating under the tyranny of her husband. Rose Wharton, a transplanted American dollar princess struggling to fit the mold of an aristocratic wife. Lavinia Cavendish, an artistic young woman haunted by a dangerous family secret. All are drawn to the enigmatic Lady Duxbury, a thrice-widowed countess whose husbands' untimely deaths have sparked whispers of murder.

As the women form deep, heartwarming friendships, they uncover secrets about their marriages, their pasts and the risks they face. Their courage is their only weapon in the oppressive world that has kept them silent, but when secrets are deadly, one misstep could cost them everything."

Here's to Lady Duxbury, the kind of woman I'd love to know.

Backstage by Donna Leon
Published by: Atlantic Monthly Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A memorable collection of stories and essays on writing, reading, teaching, and Venice by the celebrated author of the bestselling Guido Brunetti series.

Donna Leon's memoir, Wandering Through Life, gave her legions of fans a colorful tour through her life, from childhood in New Jersey to adventures in China and Iran, to her love of Venice and opera. Nowhere, however, did she discuss her writing life.

In Backstage, Donna reveals her admiration for, and inspiration from, the great crime novelists Ruth Rendell and Ross Macdonald, examining their approach to storytelling as she dissects her favorite books of theirs. She expresses her love for Charles Dickens's Great Expectations and her appreciation for Sir Walter Scott's generosity of spirit. And she chronicles the amount of research she undertakes to be able to present authentically, through Guido Brunetti and his colleagues, places and characters far from her own experience - from interviewing a diamond dealer in Venice to open up the world of blood diamonds, to meeting, through back channels, a courageous sex worker and women's rights activist to depict accurately the trafficking of women in Italy. By contrast, the idea and opening scene of one of her novels came to her as she was walking through Venice.

Venice is central in her memory, whether recounting the semi-comic irritation of a noisy elderly neighbor or the origins of the city's Carnevale. Her teaching career yields memorable tales: helping a young Black boy in a Newark, New Jersey, elementary school; instructing young Iranian pilots in English just before the 1979 Iranian Revolution; and taking her students at a Swiss private high school to the famous Frank Zappa concert in Montreux interrupted by fire.

Throughout, she is as good a storyteller about herself as she is a chronicler of Guido Brunetti's crime adventures. Readers will be as caught up in her world as she is in his."

Because every great book has a story behind it, and Donna Leon has written a lot of books...

Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild by Samuel Garza Bernstein
Published by: University Press of Kentucky
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dynamic and debonair, Cesar Romero was best known for creating the role of the Joker in the 1960s Batman television series. As the first actor to play Batman and Robin's villainous nemesis, Romero established the character's giddy, manic tone and the distinctive laugh that subsequent actors like Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and Joaquin Phoenix would use as the starting points in their own Oscar-nominated (Nicholson) and Oscar-winning (Ledger and Phoenix) performances. As a closeted gay man of Latin American descent, Romero gracefully faced many personal challenges while maintaining his suave public image and starring opposite legends ranging from Shirley Temple to Marlene Dietrich, Carmen Miranda to Frank Sinatra, and Kurt Russell to Jane Wyman.

The first biography of the consummate entertainer, Cesar Romero: The Joker Is Wild, captures the critical moments of Romero's childhood, adolescence, and accomplishments in Hollywood. Author Samuel Garza Bernstein shares anecdotes regarding Romero's public and personal life, as well as Romero's private disdain for his reputation as the "Latin lover," a discriminatory stereotype he found constrictive both in terms of his range as an actor and as a man who kept his sexuality private.

Cesar Romero is an in-depth study of a significant Hollywood star and his impact on the entertainment industry. Batman made him immortal, but with more than four hundred film and television credits, his six-decade career as an actor, dancer, and singer made him a true Hollywood icon."

I love the story that he wouldn't shave his mustache to play the Joker because it would rule him out for the "Latin lover" roles. Something this cover catches perfectly.   

Summer's Hum by Angela Harding
Published by: Sphere
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 80 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"'The wildflower bank outside my window hums and buzzes. At midday, the summer sun spreads the perfume of roses and honeysuckle to every corner.'

Summer's Hum is the second book in a stunning seasonal quartet from beloved printmaker and illustrator Angela Harding.

This series will take readers on a journey through the seasons, reflecting Angela's view as the nature around her transforms and evolves over the months. Taking in landscapes across the UK, from views from her home studio in Rutland to the Scottish wilderness, via the low-lying marshlands of Suffolk and the windswept hills of Yorkshire, the beautiful illustrations and evocative imagery of the prose make this the perfect book for nature lovers and art lovers everywhere.

Featuring many of Angela's most beloved prints, alongside Angela's observations and inspirations, Spring Unfurled, Summer's Hum, Falling into Autumn and Winter's Song are a joyful celebration of nature and wildlife across the UK at all times of year."

I just adore Angela Harding's work.

Two Gentlemen and a Lady by Alexander Woollcott
Published by: Pushkin Press
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 112 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Dorohty Parker meets Lady and the Tramp: 3 charming dog stories set in 1920s Jazz Age New York - back in print for the first time in decades.

Featuring illustrations by America's 1st female editorial cartoonist, whose comics career began before she even had the right to vote!

Dogs may be man's best friend, but every friendship is different. Prepare to revisit the glamorous 1920s Jazz Age of The Great Gatsby and meet Nicholas, a gregarious Airedale Terrier whose arrival in a moneyed Long Island home unleashes complete and total chaos throughout the neighbourhood.

Verdun Belle, the lady of the title, is a silky-eared spaniel whose loyalty - and litter of puppies - rallies an entire American regiment fighting on the Western Front during World War I. Then there's Egon, a very large German Shepherd, accustomed to summering on the Côte d’Azur, and to managing the diaries and daily activities of his human charges, whether they want him to or not. Ranging in tone from urbane irony to poignant sweetness, these are stories to make you smile at the antics of dogs, and guffaw at the even sillier antics of the people who love them.

This delightful collection of 3 stories (The Passing of Nicholas, The Story of Verdun Belle, My Friend Egon) by an Algonquin Round Table wit, rediscovered after decades out of print, shows our canine companions in all their guises: comic, heroic, companionable.

Don't miss this delightful Jazz Age celebration of the eternal affection that exists between man and dog - even the naughtiest dog!"

Oh, I can see more than a little of Alexander Woollcott in Egon.

Gabriela and His Grace by Liana De la Rosa
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 3584 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A scandalous arrangement between a hellion heiress and destitute duke reveals truths that neither can outrun....

As the youngest and most rebellious daughter of the overly protective Luna family, Gabriela Luna Valdés claws after her freedom in any way she can. This time, her hunger for adventure has led her aboard a windswept ship bearing for her homeland, away from a mob of fumbling British suitors. But Gabby can't escape her father's expectation that she settle down to find a proper husband - a compromise she's unwilling to make.

For Sebastian Brooks, Duke of Whitfield, the trip to Mexico is his last chance. His last chance to rectify his family's estate and refill their dwindling coffers. And his last chance to match wits with the sharp-tongued but deliciously tempting Gabriela.

When Gabby finds herself in need of a hasty escape, Sebastian agrees to assist her...but their close proximity sparks a red-hot passion that could ruin all their plans. With scandal looming, can Sebastian convince Gabby his regard is sincere or will she sail away with his heart?"

It's nice when expectations and love collide. HEA for all!

The Gilded Heiress by Joanna Shupe
Published by: Avon
Publication Date: August 26th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From USA Today bestselling author Joanna Shupe comes a spicy Anastasia story full of secrets and betrayal, set among the glittering streets of New York City's Gilded Age.

In 1880 a baby was stolen from the wealthiest family in America. Though no ransom was ever demanded, the Pendelton family never gave up hope...and their reward became the stuff of legend.

After being raised in a children's asylum, Josie Smith ends up on the streets and quickly learns how to take care of herself. Her singing voice draws crowds on every corner, and she'll stop at nothing to become famous and travel the world, loved and adored by all. Maybe then she won't think about the family who gave her away as an infant.

Leo Hardy isn't afraid to use his charm and wits to make a fast buck, especially with a mother and five siblings to support. When he stumbles upon a beautiful young woman singing on the street, Leo notices her striking resemblance to the infamous missing baby's mother, Mrs. Thomas Pendelton. The Hardys lost everything thanks to the Pendeltons, and once Leo sees Josie, he seizes the opportunity to settle the score. All he needs to do is pull off the biggest swindle of his career.

As the two are catapulted into Knickerbocker High Society, they grow closer to their goal, as well as to each other. But secrets can only stay hidden for so long. Soon the truth unfolds, and both Josie and Leo must separate what's real from what's just gilding."

I love a Cinderella swindle, even if this is before Anastasia who wasn't born until 1901... 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexander Woollcott, Alyssa Maxwell, Amanda Chapman, Angela Harding, Anna Lee Huber, Donna Leon, Eva Leigh, Francesca May, Genevieve Cogman, Jamison Shea, Jill Johnson, Leigh Stein, Ova Ceren, R.F. Kuang, Susan Dennard

The Atlas Complex by Olivie Blake
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: January 9th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 496 Pages
Rating: ★
To Buy

If someone offered you all the power would you say yes? That doesn't make you a villain. It doesn't make you a hero. It makes you human. But power has to be taken from someone. And both Atlas and Ezra took that power with both hands and created a foundation of futility built on despair that was destined to rot. Atlas watched as his cohort suffered. As his cohort died. Somewhere, out there, he and Ezra chose a different path. But Altas needed the six to bring about this change. He needed them to destroy the world. He had to have Libby and Nico, Reina, Parisa and Tristan. He even needed Dalton. But not Callum. Callum was the sacrifice that should have been. They should have never trusted Atlas. Now that Libby is back they have an additional problem. Their agreement with the library is unfulfilled. Just like when Atlas and Ezra tried to trick the library, tried to deny it it's pound of flesh, the six now owe the library a death. The promise unfulfilled has led the library to be draining them. They aren't living up to their potential because they didn't read the terms of service carefully enough. If only they had realized that they were making a deal with three separate entities, the Society, the archives, and Atlas. Therefore they have some choices before them, keep working for the library, or beat Atlas at his own game, win the multiverse arms race, and perhaps acknowledge that they have a god complex. That last one is specifically for Reina. The plan wasn't to destroy the world, but to make a new one. The idea isn't necessarily a good one, but it is one nonetheless. Gideon is the one to confront Nico that Nico's world is falling apart. Altas is missing, Dalton is lying, and their obsession is compromising them. They don't realize that they are trapped in their very own multiverse trolley problem. They can't see the forest for the trees. They want to prove that they can do it so they will, damn the consequences. And that's why Atlas chose them. Their lack of morals. Nico though always thought that in the darkest of times he could rely on Libby's moral compass. But she has been corrupted. He doesn't know what happened when she return from the past. What went down in Atlas's office. Something happened there that changed everything. Perhaps she is now like the archives, soulless. But how many times can you burn the world down and still walk away unscathed? And what if their goal isn't to succeed but just survive? Their burden is the burden of survival.

I was being generous when I said this series should have been a duology. There wasn't enough material for two books let alone three. This should have been one book. Nothing more. Possibly less. The Atlas Complex was one of the most excruciating reads of my life because it adds nothing, it does nothing, it is nothing. Hundreds of pages of nothing can break you. And what's worse, I think it's trying to be clever. It's trying to hide the reveal that Atlas and Ezra were murdered by Libby when she returned to the present and therefore the six just keep up this pretense that everything is normal when nothing is. That means it's just more of the same. More of them doing nothing. More of them accomplishing nothing. Because you know that big, destroy the world experiment that Atlas had hand-selected them for? Well, they decide to do it and then they just stop. At the cost of Nico. So THE THING this whole series was building to, well, it doesn't happen so we never find out what would have happened. But that's not the only loose end. For a story that could have been one and done we have a trilogy of the unanswered and the unexplained. We aren't even privy to who lives and who dies. We've been following these six characters for so long and we aren't given the common courtesy of some kind of ending. I mean, could I at least have found out about the archives and it's sentience? Nope. That wasn't in the cards. Olivie Blake obviously wanted this to be about the six characters and their excruciating relationships which meant what minimal plot there was didn't matter in the end. Either you loved these deplorables or you deplored the book. I deplored the book. And speaking of deplorables... Trump. So, at the end of The Atlas Complex Olivie Blake explains that this entire series was written as a way for her to process the trauma of Trump's presidency. I'm not sure if her process involved passing that trauma onto me, but she sure did. The "themes" in this book are how people want ignorance, people want hate. They will knowingly turn away from the truth if it's not what they want to hear. Which is exactly how we've ended up in this situation for a second term. Oh dear god, I hope that doesn't mean we're going to get more books in this series for her continued therapy. I'm a completest but I just can't. I seriously can't. I don't want to be her therapy! Because now I need more therapy. First to deal with my anxieties and second to deal with my PTSD from this series. And I don't want to be facetious, but I think just being able to finish this series gives me hope that we can get through anything. Even this second term.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Alexandrian Society, Atlas Blakely, Callum Nova, Donald Trump, Ezra Fowler, God Complex, Libby Rhodes, Nico de Varona, Olivie Blake, Parisa Kamali, PTSD, Reina Mori, The Atlas Complex, The Atlas Six, Therapy, Trilogy, Tristan Caine

The Magician King by Lev Grossman
Published by: Penguin Books
Publication Date: August 9th, 2011
Format: Paperback, 432 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

Being a beloved ruler is all well and good, but sometimes it can get a little staid what with the daily balcony appearances for the common folk and the governing. Which is why the High Kings and Queens of Fillory, Eliot, Janet, Quentin, and Julia are hunting for one of Fillory's prophetic Unique Beasts, the Seeing Hare. Things don't exactly go to plan, the Master of the Hunt, Jollyby, catches the Hare and it predicts horrors and then Jollyby drops dead. Poor Jollyby. He had some memorable assets. But it's Fillory, it's a magical world, weird shit is bound to happen. Plus, how exactly do you follow through with investigating an omen? When trying to figure this out the rulers discover that the Outer Islands haven't paid their taxes in years and Quentin decides that sailing the Eastern Ocean and collecting some back taxes could be an interesting quest. Quentin resurrects and refurbishes the Muntjac and he and Julia and a few fellow compatriots head east. Which is how they meet Elaine and learn about the magic key that winds the world. Or, as Quentin realizes, the quest he should be on. They journey further east, to After Island, where he and Julia find a key and are sent straight home. Not to Castle Whitespire. To Earth. Which means they have to find a way back to Fillory. Logic dictates that they could return via the method that got them there in the first place, but Josh was the last one seen with the button and who knows what quest he's currently on. The first place to look therefore is Brakebills. But they are unable to get through the school's defenses and therefore Quentin is about to have a steep learning curve into what Julia has been up to the past few years. Because Brakebills rejected her and she had to learn her magic in other ways, through magic safe houses. Rough and crude magic that Quentin is baffled even works. Hedge Witches know the real cost of power and Julia gets a lead on someone who can help them. That someone turns out to be Josh. Who has sold the button. Because palazzos in Venice aren't cheap. But thankfully Venice has its own dragon who breaks it all down for Quentin. The magic that Julia summoned before ascending the throne in Fillory has gotten the attention of the Gods. All of them. And they don't like humans using their magic. So, not only do Quentin and Julia have to get back to Fillory, they have to save it and magic. Or else be beyond deity screwed.

Because of the tonal shift it's kind of hard to believe that The Magician King was written by the same author as The Magicians. Especially in regard to Quentin Coldwater. It's kind of like he's had a personality transplant. Whereas The Magicians was riddled with his angst and how he kept trying to find something to magically "fix" his life, which ironically couldn't be fixed with magic, here he's hopeful. He's full of the spirit of adventure and his love of Fillory. The angst is out the window and he's somehow grown into accepting what life throws at him and rolling with the punches instead of bemoaning his fate. And while this is fascinating, and something that should be dwelled on as part of the "hero's journey" he embarks on over the course of this book, it's Julia and the "heroine's journey" that is important here. Because this is Julia's book. The Magician King is like a mirror of The Magicians. Whereas Quentin viewed his life was ruined by Brakebills, Julia's actually was ruined by Brakebills, but because they didn't let her in. So she finds magic the only way she can, on the mean streets. OK, technically in magical safe houses, but still, it's not the hallowed halls of Brakebills. Which I find ironic because everyone who disliked the staid poncey pedagogy of The Magicians would embrace Julia's journey but they probably wouldn't give this series a second chance. Which is a shame. And also makes me glad that I was willing to stick with this series. Because I love this weird mirrorworld that Lev Grossman has created. And there are parts of me that are geeking out over things that are just little Easter Eggs for uber book dorks like me. For example, The Magicians pays homage to Brideshead Revisited. But it pays homage to the main characters of the novel, Charles Ryder and Sebastian Flyte, Quentin Coldwater and Eliot Waugh by another name. In Brideshead Revisited Sebastian Flyte's father, Lord Marchmain, is the outcast of his family, abandoning his wife and his home for Venice where he is in residence with his mistress. He is the black sheep, the other side of the coin, he is the opposite of Quentin, he is Julia. So what do they do in The Magician King that makes me so giddy? Quentin and Julia go to Venice. The sanctuary of the outcasts. Heck, that's where Josh has been hanging out all this time. They could have literally gone anywhere and yet Lev Grossman writes that they went to Venice to find Josh and talk to a dragon. Perfection. Now if I could just get past my squick at Julia's "rebel nerve endings [that] attempted to send pleasure signals to her brain, whereupon her brain burned them out... never to feel again" when she's being raped this would be a perfect book.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Brideshead Revisited, Charles Ryder, Eliot Waugh, Fillory, Hedge Witch, Julia Wicker, Lev Grossman, Lord Marchmain, Quentin Coldwater, Sebastian Flyte, Summer School, The Magician King, The Magicians, Venice

The Possession of Alba Díazby Isabel Cañas
Published by: Berkley
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a demonic presence awakens deep in a Mexican silver mine, the young woman it seizes must turn to the one man she shouldn't trust…from bestselling author Isabel Cañas.

In 1765, plague sweeps through Zacatecas. Alba flees with her wealthy merchant parents and fiancé, Carlos, to his family's isolated mine for refuge. But safety proves fleeting as other dangers soon bare their teeth: Alba begins suffering from strange hallucinations, sleepwalking, and violent convulsions. She senses something cold lurking beneath her skin. Something angry. Something wrong.

Elías, haunted by a troubled past, came to the New World to make his fortune and escape his family's legacy of greed. Alba, as his cousin's betrothed, is none of his business. Which is of course why he can't help but notice the growing tension between them every time she enters the room…and why he notices her deteriorate when the demon's thirst for blood gets stronger.

In the fight for her life, Alba and Elías become entangled with the occult, the Church, long-kept secrets, and each other… not knowing that one of these things will spell their doom."

Oh, this sounds like peak Isabel Cañas Gothic goodness!

The Secrets of Blackthorn House by Marie McWilliams
Published by: Quill and Crow Publishing House
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"After a whirlwind romance, Evelyn is excited to start her new life with her husband, Peter. But when the sudden passing of Peter's uncle gives him the title Lord Black, along with the family's remote manor, Blackthorn House, she finds herself in the middle of the wild Yorkshire Moors, separated from the only life she has ever known. She quickly realizes something is wrong with Blackthorn House: children's laughter can be heard throughout the halls, the constant fog is full of wailing specters, and her dreams are haunted by an entity wearing her mother's corpse like a suit. Furthermore, her new husband has become a stranger to her, treating her with barely veiled disdain. Under the constant surveillance of the staff of Blackthorn House, Evelyn struggles to find answers. Unable to gain any insight from the frightened locals in the nearby village, Evelyn and her trusted servant, Lilly, must seek answers from the dead. They learn that the Black family has long kept a dark and terrible secret. A secret that threatens both of their lives and, now, the life of Evelyn's unborn baby. A secret involving a bargain paid in blood."

Like, well, everything here, everything is what I love about this book.

Daughter of the Tarot by Claire Marchant
Published by: Boldwood Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: eBook, 311 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Brand new from the bestselling author of The House of the Witch. Perfect for fans of The Midnight House and The Square of Sevens.

Two women, linked by the cards, unravel a secret spanning the decades...

1644: Portia is living in London, having escaped an abusive man in Italy, with just baby Vittoria and the clothes on their backs. Making her living reading tarot cards, she starts to realise there are other women like her - who need help. As she delivers the Devil card to their door, each has the chance to escape... But to what future? Because Portia is a woman with secrets. And they are about to come back to haunt her.

Now: After her mother's death and father's hasty plans to remarry, Beatrice has left home to open a tarot shop in London. But when she's unpacking, she finds a set of cards she's never seen before, one that's evidently been handed down through generations of her family. It's a set that is missing a card though… the Devil's Card. She begins to search for the lost card, but she also starts to hear rumours of that very card being linked to a series of murders of women in 17th century London...

Will she find the truth… or will she only see the illusions the cards are suggesting?"

Murders or rescues? I'm a sucker for anything with the tarot. 

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders's own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic.

A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic - with very unexpected results - in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love.

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training - she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she's also a powerful witch.

Serena, Jamie's mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories.

Jamie's busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn't know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path.

Now it's up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives."

When did hunky type over some sort of color ground become synonymous with books about witches?

The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland by Rachael Herron
Published by: Grand Central Publishing
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A "warm, witchy, and wonderful" family story that is the queer love-child of Practical Magic and The Parent Trap as one woman is about to discover that she's a witch (Sarah Beth Durst).

Beatrice Barnard doesn't believe in magic. She definitely doesn't believe the predictions of the celebrity psychic who claims that she will experience seven miracles and that she will die. And as it turns out, her husband is cheating on her. Bea, now in desperate need of solitude, flees to Skerry Island, off the Pacific Northwest coast. Immediately upon arrival, she finds her life on the line as a rogue woodchopper blade almost kills her. Her survival is almost like a miracle.

And then things get more miraculous when she discovers her twin sister, Cordelia, and her mother, Astrid, who supposedly died when Beatrice was two years old. Astrid and Cordelia reveal that Beatrice (given name Beatrix) is an immensely powerful witch who can commune with the dead. When Cordelia and Beatrice's twin magic is joined, it shines like a beacon on the malevolent spirits who are locked in an age-old struggle for magical dominance over the Hollands.

Beatrice doesn't know what to believe, but she begins to fear that the seven predicted miracles may occur and that her death is near. But when her niece, Minna, goes missing, Bea's own life suddenly seems much less important. Beatrice must join her mother and her sister to save Minna even if she dies in the process."

Twin magic? Really!?!

The Late-Night Witches by Auralee Wallace
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An enchantingly warm and funny novel about family, love lost and found, discovering who you are, and how difficult it is to slay a vampire from the beloved national bestselling author of the TikTok sensation In the Company of Witches.

Cassie Beckett's life is anything but magical. With a wild younger sister, three unruly kids, and an absent husband, she's really not looking forward to the witching month of October. At least the gorgeous, foggy Prince Edward Island is always quiet.

That is, until the vampires arrive.

As the creatures sink their teeth into Cassie's tenuous grip on normalcy, she's forced to come face-to-face with long - disregarded family secrets. The legacy gifts her with power, but also a lofty responsibility: rid the island of vampires, or let them win. (Both options suck, in more ways than one.)

Armed with her family, newfound friends, and a baby in a spectacularly garlicky onesie, Cassie must learn what it is to be a witch and how to fight for what she loves before time runs out. Because on Halloween night, the stakes will be higher than ever before... and it's up to Cassie to finish what the witches that came generations before her started."

Witches and PEI!?! Sold!

Feral and Hysterical by Sadie Hartmann
Published by: Page Street Publishing
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 208 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Discover the Scream Queens of Must-Read Horror.

Bram Stoker Awards® winning author Sadie "Mother Horror" Hartmann has curated the ultimate collection of recommendations from the leading ladies of horror! From classic authors such as Mary Shelley, Shirley Jackson, and Daphne du Maurier to the modern wave of indie names and all the underrated voices waiting to be discovered, there's enough deadly damsels in here to leave you feeling distressed long after you've run out of shelf space.

Each recommendation includes a spoiler-free synopsis and has been carefully catalogued and organized into thematic reading lists making it easier than ever to sate your darkest desires. Are you in your Gothic Era? Love watching a marriage gruesomely fall apart? Just finished Mexican Gothic and need more Sporror in your life? Whatever you're vibing with, there's a list for that.

Featuring a foreword by prolific horror author Ania Ahlborn and five essays from Alma Katsu, Alexis Henderson, Christina Henry, Rae Wilde, and Laura Purcell, this fully illustrated reader's guide is a must-have for any horror fanatic looking to get out of a reading slump or diversify their TBR pile."

I mean, I don't have more shelf space, but I'll make room for this book if just for Laura Purcell's essay.

The End of the World As We Know It edited by Christopher Golden and Brian Keene
Published by: Gallery Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 800 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"An original short story anthology based on master storyteller Stephen King's #1 New York Times bestselling classic The Stand!

Since its initial publication in 1978, The Stand has been considered Stephen King's seminal masterpiece of apocalyptic fiction, with millions of copies sold and adapted twice for television. Although there are other extraordinary works exploring the unraveling of human society, none have been as influential as this iconic novel - generations of writers have been impacted by its dark yet ultimately hopeful vision of the end and new beginning of civilization, and its stunning array of characters.

Now for the first time, Stephen King has fully authorized a return to the harrowing world of The Stand through this original short story anthology as presented by award-winning authors and editors Christopher Golden and Brian Keene. Bringing together some of today's greatest and most visionary writers, The End of the World As We Know It features unforgettable, all-new stories set during and after (and some perhaps long after) the events of The Stand - brilliant, terrifying, and painfully human tales that will resonate with readers everywhere as an essential companion to the classic, bestselling novel.

Featuring an introduction by Stephen King, a foreword by Christopher Golden, and an afterword by Brian Keene. Contributors include Wayne Brady and Maurice Broaddus, Poppy Z. Brite, Somer Canon, C. Robert Cargill, Nat Cassidy, V. Castro, Richard Chizmar, S.A. Cosby, Tananarive Due and Steven Barnes, Meg Gardiner, Gabino Iglesias, Jonathan Janz, Alma Katsu, Caroline Kepnes, Michael Koryta, Sarah Langan, Joe R. Lansdale, Tim Lebbon, Josh Malerman, Ronald Malfi, Usman T. Malik, Premee Mohamed, Cynthia Pelayo, Hailey Piper, David J. Schow, Alex Segura, Bryan Smith, Paul Tremblay, Catherynne M. Valente, Bev Vincent, Catriona Ward, Chuck Wendig, Wrath James White, and Rio Youers."

I mean, I was in this just because Christopher Golden edited it, and then I saw the author list, and damn. Must buy.

Hatchet Girls by Joe R. Lansdale
Published by: Mulholland Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 288 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Your next dose of pitch-black comedy, mystery, and mayhem has arrived as Hap and Leonard find themselves in a vicious and ridiculous situation - just as the best friends may finally be calling it quits.

When Hap and Leonard are called in on a strange request (subduing a meth-hopped hog) by a desperate young lady, they quickly learn this woman is part of a fringe group: The Hatchet Girls, who have pledged their allegiance to a crazed and grudge-bearing leader bent on bloody societal revenge. The timing couldn't be worse to be caught in such a vile, sticky wicket of a case: both boys are wrapped up in their domestic lives: Leonard is in the midst of wedding planning with fiancee, Pookie. And meanwhile, Hap and Brett are hard at work on their new home. Homemaking bliss will have to wait as Hap and Leonard are driven to stop the danger in its tracks and better understand the group's mission and the plans they have already set in place for helter-skelter esque mayhem.

Life changes, midnight sneaks, and dark encounters with misguided dames who yell "Chop, Chop," lead Hap and Leonard into one of their darkest adventures yet."

Damn, I can never get enough Hap and Leonard. I still wish we had gotten a longer run of the show as well. Thankfully we have the books. And this one looks murderously fun.

One Dark Night by Hannah Richell
Published by: Atria Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When a body is found the day after Halloween, a small British community must reckon with its past and the dangers lurking in its present in this spine-tingling novel from "not to be missed" (Hayley Scrivener, author of Dirt Creek) author Hannah Richell.

On Halloween, a group of teenage students meet in the woods near Sally in the Wood, a road steeped in local lore and rumored to be haunted by the ghost of a murdered girl. By the end of the night, one student will be dead.

Rachel, the school guidance counselor, is trying to keep a handle on her increasingly distant teenaged daughter, Ellie, while students and parents panic and mourn. Her ex-husband and detective Ben, dealing with a personal crisis of his own, has concerns about his daughter's safety as he investigates the death. Meanwhile, Ellie is keeping secrets from both her parents, including one about where she was that night.

Told from multiple perspectives and with Hannah Richell's distinct "atmospheric and ever-twisting" (Emylia Hall, author of the Shell House Detective Mysteries) prose, One Dark Night is a white-knuckled and suspenseful thriller about urban legends, privilege, and how the past continues to haunt us."

Halloween and urban legends always are the sweet spot for me.

The Story That Wouldn't Die by Christina Estes
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Emmy Award-winning reporter Christina Estes uses her twenty-year career for inspiration for her mysteries. In The Story That Wouldn't Die, Jolene Garcia refuses to stop investigating, but someone is determined to kill the story - and maybe her.

Phoenix, Arizona TV reporter Jolene Garcia is fresh off winning her first Emmy and committed to covering stories that matter to her community. But Jolene's managers want stories that grab immediate attention and generate clicks, not ones that take time to develop.

When a beloved small business owner dies in a car crash, Jolene isn't convinced it was an accident. He'd been raising questions about who keeps getting lucrative deals at city hall - questions that powerful people don't want answered. The deeper Jolene digs, the more suspicious things she uncovers.

Exposing greed, ambition, and deception could become the biggest story of Jolene's career. Her bosses tell her to drop it. But there's a story here, and Jolene's going to find it."

Could her bosses be in on it? Claiming "clicks" when it's really them that's up to no good?

The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective by Jo Nichols
Published by: Minotaur Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The perfect summer read, full of charm and heart, written in the vein of The Thursday Murder Club or Only Murders in the Building but with a southern California twist.

Mrs. B, the landlady of The Marigold Cottages is a stubborn idealist who only rents to people she cares about: Sophie, an anxious young playwright with a dark past; Hamilton, an agoraphobe who likes to overshare; Ocean, a queer sculptor raising two kids alone; the perfectionist Lily-Ann; and Nicholas, a finance bro who's hiding secrets.

The tenants live contentedly in their doll-house bungalows in Santa Barbara, just minutes from the beach, until their peace is shattered when Anthony, a quiet, hulking, but potentially violent ex-con moves in. Three weeks later, a dead body is discovered on the streets of the peaceful neighborhood. Anthony is arrested, and the tenants heave sighs of relief. Until Mrs. B, convinced that he's innocent, marches down to the police station and confesses to the crime herself. The tenants band together and form "The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective" to save their beloved landlady. As clues are unearthed and secrets are revealed, the community of misfits only grows more tight-knit... until a second body is found. Full of eccentricity, humor, community, The Marigold Cottages Murder Collective will keep you hooked until the last page."

Though I will point out that Only Murders in the Building was in California this past season...

Joy Moody Is Out of Time by Kerryn Mayne
Published by: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From the author of the beloved novel Lenny Marks Gets Away With Murder comes another quirky and irresistible crime novel.

Strange things are happening behind the bright pink facade of Bayside's premier laundromat, Joyful Suds, home to Joy Moody and her twin daughters.

For much of their lives, Joy has been lying to Cassie and Andie. What started as a colorful tale to explain how the twins came to live with her grew over the years and was always something she meant to set straight. Joy really did think she had more time. Worse still, Joy is struggling to define the truth from the lies.

The girls have long believed they are vital to the future and must stay hidden to stay safe. Joy has told them that their impending twenty-first birthday is significant; they will step into their roles as leaders of a revolution and life as they know it will change. Joy was right - everything will change, just not in the way they expected. On Andie and Cassie's birthday, Joy Moody is found dead and her girls face a world they are not prepared for without their mother. Joy Moody is out of time... in more ways than one."

Unless she helps her children from beyond the grave...

Beattie Cavendish and the White Pearl Club by Mary-Jane Riley
Published by: Allison and Busby
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 384 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"1948. The shadow of war still lingers over Britain and Beattie Cavendish, former Secret Operations Executive agent, refuses to settle into civilian life. When offered an undercover role at the newly formed GCHQ, the nerve centre of Britain's intelligence network, she doesn't hesitate. Her first mission is to infiltrate the powerful Bowen family and find out what she can about politician Ralph Bowen, who is suspected of being a communist sympathiser.

Her mission takes a deadly turn when the Bowen's housekeeper, Sofia, has her throat cut. As the investigation spirals, Beattie teams up with war-weary detective Patrick Corrigan to expose a dangerous web of spies and secrets all leading back to The White Pearl Club, a Soho establishment that caters to gentlemen with dangerous appetites.

As powerful forces attempt to bury the truth, Beattie must survive a ruthless game of deception and the dark underbelly of 1940s Soho at the dawn of the Cold War."

You know, Britain after the war had a lot of sketchy and dangerous gentlemen's clubs... Definitely more than dukes in romance novels. 

Lessons in Crime edited by Martin Edwards
Published by: Poisoned Pen Press
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Delving into the stacks and tomes of the British Library collections, Martin Edwards invites you to a course on the darker side of scholarly ambition with an essential reading list of fifteen masterful short stories.

With a cohort of writers including Dorothy L. Sayers, Ethel Lina White, Jacqueline Wilson, Michael Innes, and Edmund Crispin, this new anthology offers a selection of classics and rarities to provide a rewarding education in the beguiling art of mystery writing.

"The Master? Dr. Greeby? You don't say so! Murdered? Dear me! Poor Greeby! This will upset my whole day's work."

An Oxford Master is slain on campus during Pentecost. A headmaster faces off in a deadly battle of wits with a disgruntled parent. A sixth-form public school prank courts a murderous consequence.

Theft, blackmail, murder, and mystery run amok through the hush of the university library, the cacophonies of school corridors, and the simmering tensions of the staff room."

I mean, for me, this summer has been all about the darker side of academia... 

A Kennedy Affair by Emily Hourican
Published by: Mobius
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Paperback, 400 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"When Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy left London four years ago, Europe was facing war and Billy Cavendish, the man she loved, had told her he could never marry her. Now, as London stands a shell of its former self, Kick returns to volunteer with the Red Cross, determined to do what she can for the city that holds a part of her heart, and to reconnect with Billy - despite what London society thinks of her. For Lady Brigid Guinness, life is unrecognisable. She has swapped dinner parties, social engagements and high fashion for long shifts as a nurse helping wounded soldiers. And the only person she can really talk to is a man shunned by her inner circle.

When Sissy, a young Irish girl, arrives from Wicklow under the care of the Guinness family, she brings her own secrets and all three women begin to realise that in a time of war, friendship might be the only thing they can rely on.

A Kennedy Affair is a story of forbidden love, family discord, and how in the worst of times, we can discover the best of ourselves, and each other."

If anyone doubts that the Kennedys are cursed, read up about Kick Kennedy's life sometime.

Murder in Hollywood by Millicent Binks
Published by: Bookouture
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Kindle, 269 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"Lights, camera, action and... murder?

1934. Opal Laplume's star is on the rise when she gets a job making costumes for Hollywood's biggest talkie star, Jane Margeaux. But when Jane is fatally shot on set by a prop gun, and security guard Augusto finds a bullet missing from his pistol, it falls to Opal to save her favourite new friend from a wrongful murder accusation.

Opal soon discovers that Jane had a list of enemies as long as the train on her designer gown. Jane's co-star Betty envied her rise to fame, but did her jealousy take a deadly turn? Jane's loyal assistant Virginia was overworked and underpaid. Did she get Jane out of the way to get ahead at the studio? Or did Jane's fortune-hunting husband Carey see an opportunity to inherit his wife's jaw-dropping Sunset Boulevard mansion?

Just when Opal thinks she's found her prime suspect, a crew member is found dead in the California desert with a briefcase stuffed full of movie scripts. And a close look at the director's cut of Jane's latest picture reveals a secret message hidden in plain sight. Soon, Opal will find that Jane was hiding the biggest secret in Hollywood - one truly worth killing for.

Can Opal keep her English cool among the Tinseltown drama and crack the case before it's a wrap for the entire crew?

Grab a first-row seat to this fabulous and utterly charming Golden Age whodunnit full of glamour, intrigue and murder set in 1930s Hollywood. Fans of Agatha Christie, T.E. Kinsey and Verity Bright won’t be able to put this down!"

Even in the past prop guns are dangerous.

Guardians of Dawn: Yuli by S. Jae-Jones
Published by: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"The third book in the sweeping, richly imagined Guardians of Dawn fantasy series from S. Jae-Jones, the New York Times bestselling author of Wintersong.

Princess Yulana has a few problems. Her late grandfather has died without naming an heir, civil war threatens to tear the Morning Realms apart, a strange waking dreamer sickness is sweeping through the land, and a plague of hungry ghosts roam the steppes. On top of all of that, Kho, her former best friend turned rival, is getting under her skin. A struggle for power divides the north, and the outcome rests on the winner of the Grand Game - a competition that will determine not just the future of her people, but the course of the entire empire.

When the world is out of balance, the Guardians of Dawn are reborn.

As the Guardian of Wind, it is Yuli's responsibility to bring order to chaos, along with the Guardian of Fire and the Guardian of Wood. But can she restore balance to the Morning Realms when she can't even win the political games being played at home? The fate of the Morning Realms depends on the Guardians of Dawn, and whether Yuli can manage both the demonic and political chaos at once.

Guardian of Wind, there you are."

Hungry ghosts are the scariest thing to me.

The Dragon Wakes with Thunder by K.X. Song
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 448 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"A young woman who wields the unimaginable power of a dragon spirit must decide where her loyalties lie - and where her heart belongs - in this enthralling fantasy that reimagines the legend of Mulan.

The explosive sequel to The Night Ends with Fire!

The war may be over, but Hai Meilin is still paying a heavy toll. In spite of securing victory for the kingdom of Anlai, she is imprisoned upon her return. Her crime? Wielding a sword as a woman.

In the palace, Meilin is an outcast and a social pariah. But beyond the imperial walls, the legend of the woman warrior has taken on a life of its own. To the east, a new rebel leader needs Meilin to helm his people's revolution. In the south, a former enemy prince, now a prisoner of war, seeks Meilin's aid in restoring balance to the Three Kingdoms. And back home in Anlai, Liu Sky, Meilin's commander and first love, requires Meilin by his side in his bid for the throne.

Pulled in all directions by those who seek to use her for their own ends, Meilin vows that this time, she will not be so quick to trust. Yet there is one she cannot help but listen to - for he dwells within her.

Beyond any human machinations, the sea dragon Qinglong has his own plans for the spirit realm. During the last war, Meilin wielded his power to cheat death and attain victory for Anlai; now the dragon has come to collect his dues. Meilin's mother warned her long ago: The spirits demand blood. And Qinglong is ravenous."

Specifically for my friend Huyen who is addicted to anything Mulan.

Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: August 19th, 2025
Format: Hardcover, 368 Pages
To Buy

The official patter:
"From New York Times bestselling and Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Hemlock and Silver, a dark reimagining of "Snow White" steeped in poison, intrigue, and treason of the most magical kind.

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save - seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja's unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all."

I mean, I'll read anything T. Kingfisher writes, but a narcissistic cat? I'm SO there.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Auralee Wallace, Christina Estes, Emily Hourican, Hannah Richell, Jo Nichols, Joe R. Lansdale, Kerryn Mayne, Martin Edwards, Mary-Jane Riley, Millicent Binks, S. Jae-Jones, Sadie Hartmann, Stephen King, T. Kingfisher