In this brilliant reimagining of the tumultuous summer during which Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein, Siddiqui (House of Glass Hearts) shifts the focus onto the Shelleys’ housemaid, Mehrunissa “Mehr” Begum, who arrived to England from India in 1815. Mehr, whose father is British and mother Indian, was raised in relative luxury in India. However, in England, she’s neglected by her father and brother, who preceded her there, and forced to work for a living for the first time in her life. She is placed with the Shelleys and taken along on their summer expedition to Geneva where, together with Mary’s stepsister, Claire, they will stay with Lord Byron and his physician, Polidori, and work on their writing. Siddiqui masterfully evokes the time period and creates an atmosphere dripping with unease as Mary and Mehr begin to have converging nightmares in their eerie vacation villa. Though the life of Mary Shelley has often been mined for material, Siddiqui brings a fresh perspective through the eyes of the witty and sullen Mehr, whose backstory and fraught relationships with the increasingly entangled Geneva party add to the intrigue. This is a real treat for fans of gothic fiction. Agent: Lane Clarke, Ultra Literary. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Castro (Immortal Pleasures) crafts a seductive but disjointed vampire tale about a woman seeking passion and purpose in a lonely world. Maria has a quiet but meaningful life: she’s happily married, pregnant with her first child, and working factory shifts to earn enough money to cross the Mexican border into America. When a mysterious trio of men attack the factory, she is the only one spared and turned into a vampire. Her subsequent miscarriage and loss of the life she knew sets her on a journey across Mexico, seeking her creator, a new purpose, and vengeance on those who do evil. Throughout the novel’s slow-burning first half, Maria grows ever closer to finding a new supernatural community. Indeed, when she finally reunites with her creator, Maria discovers that vampirekind is only a fraction of the magic that exists in the world and is thrown into a scheme that could mean the end of humanity itself. This narrative shift feels startlingly abrupt, and the novel’s second half adopts a breakneck pace that leaves little room for explanation or further character development. Still, Maria herself is a force to be reckoned with, and readers will gladly cheer her on her bloody way. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

Bestseller Ward (The Last House on Needless Street) showcases her talent for twisty plotting, genuine scares, and unreliable narrators in this brilliant and brutal riff on Peter Pan. The dark things lurking in the Rocky Mountain town of Ault are many, and young protagonist Riley and her little brother, Oliver, who recently lost their mother and were sent to live with a cruel cousin, are on the radar of more than one of them. When a strange, scrawny young woman named Noon shows up at Riley’s window and offers her directions to Nowhere, a ruined mansion compound that has become a refuge for runaways, Riley seizes the opportunity to escape. Shrouded in urban legend, Nowhere belonged to movie star Leaf Winham before burning down years ago. Upon arrival, the siblings are welcomed by the borderline-feral children squatting there, but Riley fears her many secrets may ruin everything if they get out. Meanwhile, the children of Nowhere are playing with dark powers, and two investigative journalists are on their way to the compound to shoot a documentary on Winham’s death, threatening to pull the gory, terrible history of Nowhere into the light. Ward ably captures the slipperiness of reality through the eyes of a child and masterfully pulls off a devastating final reveal. This is sure to haunt readers long after the last page is turned. Agent: Jenny Savill, Andrew Nurnberg Assoc. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 12/05/2025 | Details & Permalink

In this thought-provoking if disorganized sci-fi outing, brothers Mahyar (The Hubris of an Empty Hand) and Mahbod Amouzegar offer jumbled glimpses of humanity’s future after the devastating Wars of Settlement, a conflict brought on by human error and a corrupt judicial system. The narrative toggles between timelines: the present follows Dolores and her android companion, KR, inhabitants of the second Elysium, a libido-less utopian city where, to preserve the peace, all human sexuality has been eradicated. The duo’s mourning of their friend, Darius, who has been exiled to the Walled City, a prison for aberrant humans who still experience desire, leads them to revelations about the nature of their world. In the distant past, Alexandra, the first sentient android, is primed to build the first Elysium, a project that ultimately fails. The time skips occasionally confuse, and the plot is overloaded with grandstanding speeches denouncing human failures, including population issues, hierarchies of power, sexual violence, and climate destruction. Still, the big ideas on offer here will give readers much to chew on. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

At the start of this entertaining but uneven series-launching fantasy from Kenyon (Prince of Storms), 21-year-old Yevliesza is whisked from the mundane world to magical Numinasi, her ancestral homeland, by a dragon-like creature known as a dactyl. Once in this unfamiliar land, one of many alternate realities evolved from human myths, Yevliesza is taken under the wing of dashing ne’er-do-well Lord Valenty. While feeling like an outsider and struggling to adjust to matriarchal Numinasi’s political and magical workings (and lack of modern conveniences), Yevliesza discovers unexpected abilities and becomes infatuated with handsome elven prince Tirhan. Danger arises in the form of enemy forces known in this world as the Volkish, but which Yevliesza recognizes as Nazi troops from Earth. When the Volkish threaten to invade, Yevliesza must master her powers in time to stop them. Kenyon’s worldbuilding is vivid, ambitious, and expansive, but it often raises more questions than it answers. Frequent shifts in point of view, meanwhile, result in some characters being less developed than others and a slightly overcomplicated plot. Still, the romantic tension is well drawn, the heroine is easy to root for, and Kenyon lays solid groundwork for future installments. Readers will be excited for more. (Self-published)

Reviewed on 11/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

Schaefer (Serial Killer Support Group) offers a gleefully gruesome take on the life of an influencer in this fun if predictable horror outing. Camille Deming is an aspiring social media star working to join the ranks of other hugely popular names in the trad wife sphere. Her repeated attempts to get pregnant, which would surely boost her following, have been met with disappointment—until she makes a wish into a mysterious well at the edge of her property. Soon thereafter, she has a dream visitation from a biblically accurate angel and finds herself finally pregnant. When the baby is born, however, there are some undeniable signs that she is not quite human. With Camille’s husband largely absent and disengaged, she struggles to balance the life she performs online with her child’s needs, especially after the infant’s appetite proves bizarre and carnivorous. It’s satisfying to watch as Camille’s visceral love for her demonic daughter guides her to asserting herself and rejecting the oppressive traps she didn’t realize she was snared in. The “be careful what you wish for” conceit feels familiar, and Schaefer doesn’t go as deep as she could into unpacking the trad wife phenomenon. Still, this strikes a good balance of gore and tenderness, and is helmed by a heroine who’s easy to root for. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

This scintillating romantasy series launch from Odette (Curse of the Wolf King) transports readers to the violent theocracy of the Holy Continent, where all arts and passions are viewed as deadly sins and strictly forbidden. Society is ruled by the immortal, emotionless Sinless, those who have been completely purged of sin. Order is enforced by Shadowbanes, those who are halfway purged, enabling them to wield the power to kill Shades, roaming evil creatures made of shadow who are drawn to artwork and terrorize humans. Against this dystopian backdrop, Inana Westwood is a storytelling outlaw struggling to survive. She and two of her fellow performers, Bard and Harlot, attract the attention of Shadowbane Dominic Graves, who wants to use their art to attract Shades for him to kill. Odette keeps the twists coming as this scheme plays out, leading to several jaw-dropping reveals about both the world and the characters. The forbidden romance that ignites between Inana and Dominic adds both angst and spice on the way to an exhilarating cliff-hanger ending. Fans of dark fantasy romance will be all in. Agent: Kimberly Whalen, Whalen Agency. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

Stothers’s raucous debut brings together a handsome but vacuous knight and a curmudgeonly sorcerer in an unlikely romance. Mad Sorcerer Merulo has been striving to destroy God and eliminate the world’s magic for almost half a century when he meets the gorgeous, golden-haired Sir Cameron Vaillancourt, a hapless, cowardly knight. Cameron, whose intense fear of death is made worse by a recent prophecy declaring that the only way to stop Merulo is for Cameron, too, to die, begins scheming for Merulo’s protection after his life is threatened by a murderous blue elf. Though Merulo finds Cameron annoying and disruptive, and Cameron sees the sorcerer as gaunt, greasy, and reticent, the men are drawn to each other. Unfortunately, as Merulo’s plan to kill God accelerates and danger mounts, their budding romance is largely overwhelmed by the magical chaos and ever-expanding cast. Strothers’s humor veers from winking (including the charmingly Victorian-esque chapter titles) to crude, with an abundance of bathroom jokes and some BDSM scenes played for laughs. Readers looking for a satisfying love story will be somewhat disappointed, but those seeking a humorous romp will enjoy this. (Feb.)

Reviewed on 11/28/2025 | Details & Permalink

Ross’s elegant and empathetic debut introduces single mother Emerson, 39, just after the funeral of her domineering father, famous sci-fi author Jefferson Clarke. Emerson, a ghostwriter, always felt overshadowed by Jefferson’s success and impulsively takes his 1935 Underwood manual typewriter home as a memento. She uses it to write about their volatile relationship as well as her desires to lose weight and revive her neglected garden. The next day she contracts a stomach bug that makes her lose five pounds and her tulips are miraculously blooming. When her alcoholic mother, Dorothy, finally free of Jefferson’s oppression, announces she’s putting the family mansion in Connecticut up for sale, Emerson types out her wish to delay the sale—and the next day a previously unknown trust halts proceedings. She realizes that Jefferson must have used the typewriter’s powers to become rich and famous and follows clues he left behind to learn how to use it for herself. But there are consequences to its magic and Emerson must decide if it’s worth the risk to boost her career and her love life, get Dorothy into rehab, and help her troubled teenage daughter, Sadie. Ross has a light touch with the magical elements, primarily using them to explore the intricacies of familial relationships and drive home a message about facing life’s challenges with purpose. Crisp prose, mature characters, and well-wrought emotional trials propel this introspective journey of self-discovery. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/14/2025 | Details & Permalink

Stephen King meets Sesame Street in this delightfully unhinged, mind-bending horror novel from Brockway (The Vicious Circuit). Maksim “Ivan” Ivanov has the unique ability to see other people’s imaginary friends. Desperate for cash, he decides to put this skill to use and offer his services as a hyper-specific kind of medium. Enter Mack Washington, whose eight-year-old daughter, Kay, has a deranged imaginary friend based on an internet animation named Eddie Video. When Eddie’s increasingly volatile antics result in Kay being seriously injured, a desperate Mack hires Ivan to dispatch him. But Ivan soon realizes that he’s up against much more than his usual foe, and a battle for Kay’s psyche begins in earnest. The result is an unfiltered scramble through the power of children’s imaginations, a fun and frantic carnival ride that leaves the reader a little dizzy. Brockway uses the outre stuffed animal–based gore and outright evil villain to craft a smart and surprisingly touching metaphor for growing up. This thoroughly original tale has heart, menace, and just the right blend of fluff and guts. (Jan.)

Reviewed on 11/14/2025 | Details & Permalink