A darkly loving tribute to and viscerally affecting example of the “mommy horror” genre, Cleary’s intimate and unsettling debut tackles bloody themes of bodies gone rogue, obsessive care, and desires that will be fulfilled at any cost. Brooke Noone, still hurting from a breakup with the horror movie–loving girlfriend she met during her time in Japan, travels to Vancouver to support her sister, Izzy, through the removal of an abdominal growth that ends in a surprise hysterectomy. As the sisters navigate their complicated relationship, and Brooke discovers how deep Izzy’s grief around not being able to have children goes, she perceives a sinister air in Izzy’s apartment building, and is especially disturbed by the creepy old woman skulking around the halls whom residents have nicknamed Medusa. Cleary does a beautiful job blurring the narrative lines between Brooke’s memories, dark dreams, and surreal experiences in the present, pulling the reader into her increasingly unmoored perceptions and her feelings of losing control. Repeated elements, such as a dark nursery song Brooke first heard in Japan being sung by the neighbor’s daughter, weave through the story and form a scaffolding for the reader to move through the character’s internal world. The result is a gory, feminist, and stirring take on the gendered terror of pregnancy as parasite. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Jauregui Eccles riffs on the Phantom of the Opera in her uneven fantasy debut. In a world where music is magic, Selene is the daughter of a notorious mage more famous now for how he went mad in the service of magic than his incredible discoveries. She has spent her life training with L’Opéra du Magician to sing the strongest and most creative magics, hoping one day to be named King’s Mage, as her father was, and redeem his name. But the competition for the position is vicious, and when one of her classmates steals her aria and ruins her performance, she must come up with something better. While hiding in a storeroom, Selene discovers a man trapped in a mirror, perhaps the legendary ghost said to haunt the opera house. The magic he shows her is unlike any of the songs she knows, drawn from pain, blood, and grief, and its power demands a dreadful price. But with everything she’s ever wanted on the line, there’s nothing Selene isn’t willing to give up. Jauregui Eccles’s magic system is fascinating and clearly underpinned by her own musical training, but the worldbuilding goes frustratingly underexplored, save for the odd chunk of clunky exposition. Meanwhile, overt nods to the source material and easter eggs for Phantom fans occasionally distract. This is best suited to diehard devotees of the original. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

At the start of Jacobs’s fun debut novella, Benjiro Ibn Benjiro Ayad Nakamura, or Ben, as he is known to most, is poised to take over leadership of the Nakamura cybersinecure, a far-future aristocratic line, when the ceremonial katana that plays an integral role in the ascension ceremony is stolen. Ben assembles a diverse group of talented commoners from the “outerboroughs” that he would otherwise never come into contact with to help retrieve the katana before the ceremony takes place. What ensues is an Ocean’s 11–style heist plot as Ben and the group, all of whom have distinct skills that will help them find and take back the katana, scheme and train together in preparation. This premise is undeniably entertaining, but Jacobs leaves some big questions about his central conceit unanswered: why, for example, is this government so dependent upon these ceremonial objects? And why, then, does Ben choose to keep his predicament secret from all except this group he found on the dark web? A final twist clarifies some, but not all, of these mysteries. Still, cyberpunk fans will find this a fast-paced, action-packed romp with plenty to hold their attention. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

King (Spit Back the Bones) delivers an atmospheric gothic fantasy steeped in religious dread, grief, and ghostly unrest, anchored by a striking premise and an intensely lyrical voice. In the village of Rixton, Adelaide Thorn is blamed for a string of mysterious deaths and confined in a tower by her father, the local vicar, who believes her illness-driven blackouts mark her as a servant of the Devil. When Addie sneaks out and discovers a strange bell hidden in a riverbed, she learns that her visions are not curses but the voices of the dead, trapped in a purgatorial forest known as the rowan wood. Joining forces with the ghost of her childhood friend and an enigmatic young lord who has a perilous plan to rescue his late mother, Addie ventures into the wood, where buried truths and competing desires strain fragile alliances and threaten to upend everything she believes about her past. King’s greatest strength lies in scene-setting, with lush, poetic prose and unsettling imagery combining to create a vividly oppressive world, particularly within the hellish landscape of the rowan wood. That same density of language, however, often blurs narrative clarity, while uneven pacing and underdeveloped romantic threads weaken the emotional payoff. Still, readers who don’t mind stories that prioritize vibes over plotting will be drawn in by this dark, moody tale. Agent: Amy Giuffrida, Belcastro Agency. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Returning to the spaceship HMS Fairweather, the sharply plotted second installment of Waite’s Dorothy Gentleman series (after Murder by Memory) finds the eponymous detective, responsible for handling memory crimes, investigating a case of accidental baby acquisition. It’s supposed to be impossible to conceive aboard the generation ship, but Dorothy’s nephew Ruthie Talmadge and his husband, John, discover a baby boy, whom Ruthie names Peregrine, on their doorstep. Dorothy must hurry to uncover the boy’s parentage and determine whether the ship is in for a population increase it’s not at all prepared to handle. She first tracks down Peregrine’s mother, Flora Tilburn, who works in flickers, a movie-like technology that directly beams a projectionist’s memories onto a screen to entertain viewers. Flora, unfortunately, has no memory of becoming a mother, leaving Dorothy with an even trickier knot to untangle. Her investigation also stirs up complicated legal and ethical questions about Peregrine’s rights as an unexpected passenger, as well as Dorothy’s crush on Violet St. Owen, who was a person of interest in the murder case central to the prior installment. Waite is just as successful balancing sci-fi worldbuilding and twisty mystery here as in the first installment, all while probing complex themes of memory and personhood. Fans will not be disappointed. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

This glimmering grimdark fantasy, the first in the Academy of Kindness series from bestseller Lawrence (The Book That Held Her Heart), follows Rue, a retired deliverer of vengeance, who is called back into action when mercenaries wipe out her quiet village. Tracking them down leads Rue into a confrontation with a god and forces her to look back on her life. From there, flashbacks illuminate her grooming as a death dealer, first trapped in a “family” of children taught through terror to obey a pair of unearthly parents, then as an escapee who joins a training school dedicated to the three Kindly Ones, goddesses of vengeance. The plot takes Rue on a twisty quest into the afterlife itself as she uncovers forgotten parts of her past. Lawrence draws from several different mythological pantheons to build this surprising new world and keeps readers guessing how the dangers detailed in the flashbacks will play out, sparing none of his characters from gruesome fates, deserved or not. Rue’s struggle to integrate her emerging feelings of love and loyalty will enable readers to root for her even on the rougher stretches of her road to redemption. Lawrence’s fans will be eager for more. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Agoawike debuts with a confident introduction to a vast epic fantasy world. Asaru’s brother has gone missing and with him the powerful magical object his people need to find the Chronicler, the only person who may know how to stop the mysterious Black Diamond curse that threatens to kill them all. When Asaru sets out to find him, he’s possessed by a mysterious force that compels him to kill the king of Estyria. Elsewhere, Wren, a failed healer, casts what he thinks is a simple luck spell and accidentally summons Asaru from the midst of the battle that is about to end his life, binding them irrevocably together. Wracked with guilt, Wren offers to take the gravely wounded Asaru to his former guild to heal him, kingslayer or no. When Asaru realizes he has been infected by the Black Diamond curse, he and Wren must outrun not only the law and whatever corrupting force aims to control Asaru, but also Asaru’s own body. Agoawike’s worldbuilding is miles deep, complete with two competing magic systems. Readers will have to put in work to keep up, but those who do will be rewarded with tantalizing bits of lore on every page and a dynamic and devoted central duo. It’s an impressive start overflowing with color, queerness, and magic. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

In Peña-Govea’s arresting debut, a high school senior determines to make space for herself as she grapples with racism, injustice, and financial precarity. As one of the few Latinx students at her exclusive San Francisco school, 17-year-old Estela feels pressure to excel academically. But her Spanish class—taught by a prejudiced white instructor—could jeopardize all her hard work. Simmering racial tensions escalate when Estela’s non-Latinx classmate enters and wins the “Latiné Heritage Poetry Contest,” inspiring student protests citing the school’s long-standing atmosphere of impeding Black and brown teens’ ability to make safe spaces for themselves. Estela’s stress compounds when her family’s landlord threatens eviction. Simultaneously, she explores a romantic relationship with a fellow student, a bright spot that folds humor into tense plotting. As Estela contends with complex questions regarding love and sexuality, identity, and how to use her voice to enact change, she comes to understand the value of imperfection and growth, realizations perceptively conveyed via empathetic and personable narration as well as nuanced interactions among the intersectionally diverse cast. Estela’s sharp poetry, interspersed throughout, offers intimate glimpses into her shifting thoughts, feelings, and doubts. It’s both a poignant reflection on young adulthood and a joyful celebration of adolescence that challenges stereotypes and engenders hope. Ages 14–up. Agent: Sandra Proudman, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/09/2026 | Details & Permalink

Monsters stalk the 19 tales of this harrowing collection from bestseller Armstrong (the Women of the Otherworld series). “Absynthe & Angels” gets things off to a strong start as a quiet Christmas night takes a nightmarish turn thanks to some unexpected visitors. Another holiday-themed piece, “The Way Lost,” brings readers to a small town plagued by the disappearance of a child each year on Halloween. Both “Nos Galan Gaeaf” and “The Screams of Dragons” take place in Cainsville, where the supernatural is commonplace; meanwhile, viral outbreaks create monsters both human and inhuman in “Last Stand,” “New Chicago,” and the title story. Past misdeeds haunt the characters of “The Ghost in the Glade” and “The Price You Pay” both literally and figuratively, while “The Girl in the Carnival Gown” asks readers who the real monsters are. In the standout “Suffer the Children,” one of the longest tales in the bunch, townsfolk are promised the resurrection of their dead children and ignore the local preacher’s protests against the bargain. The twists occasionally feel predictable, especially when the stories are read in quick succession. Taken in bite-size pieces, however, this unsettling anthology is sure to leave readers with goose bumps. (Mar.)

Reviewed on 01/23/2026 | Details & Permalink

Day revisits characters from her 2017 novel The Party in this scorching drama of class, family, and politics. At the center are boyhood friends Martin Gilmour and Ben Fitzmaurice, who share a fateful secret. As students at Cambridge University, Martin took the blame for Ben’s drunk driving incident that claimed a classmate’s life. Motivated partly by his romantic obsession with Ben, Martin also accepted hush money from Ben’s aristocratic family. Now in his late 40s, Martin remains tormented by guilt, while Ben, Britain’s energy secretary, considers a run for prime minister, prompting his haughty family to scrub any mention of Martin from their history. Their explosive reunion occurs when Ben’s jilted wife, Serena, invites Martin to the funeral for Ben’s sister, whose potentially scandalous death by suicide he barely manages to cover up. Day effectively plays on the suspicion and long-buried resentment between Ben and the people in his life, including Serena, his angry teen daughter, and Martin, all of whom would enjoy seeing him taken down a peg. The result is a satisfying tale of revenge and redemption and the messy means to achieve them.Agent: Meredith Miller, UTA. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 01/02/2026 | Details & Permalink