An unfairly incredible debut! Freya Marske's fantasy is perfect for lovers of romance, with the steamy scenes and Happily Ever After you need and want. Incredible magic systems and my favorite magical House shine alongside my very favorite grumpy work-colleague-to-lovers trope I've ever read.
Payback's a Witch is the fun, sexy, magical romp through autumn feels that I needed. When Emmy Harlow reluctantly returns to her magic-filled hometown to play her inherited part in the founding families' spellcasting tournament, she's met not only with an unexpected deluge of nostalgia for her home, but also with a no-holds-barred opportunity for petty revenge against the boy who broke her heart. This book had me laughing and missing autumn just as often as it had me swooning over the queer-as-heck romance.
I expected Iron Widow to be fierce, dark, and feminist as heck but did not expect to be absolutely glued to this story because of a gloriously communicative love triangle. If giant mecha suits fighting massive alien creatures a la Pacific Rim isn't enough to pique your interest, know that the murderous revenge plot, infuriating sacrifice of women, and squishy best friend first love all weave a web around the BEST MMF romance I've ever seen in YA. Queerness is coded in from the start, and with hardly any hand-wringing, Zetian leads her boys into the acceptance of the fact that love is infinite and not limited to two people. In a YA BOOK. We love to see it. I want more of this, please.
A Touch of Ruckus is perfect for your 8-12 year old reader who loves mysteries and spooky stories. It's got just the right touch of creepy factor mixed in with some very real and relatable family and friend worries, and even a wholesome first crush. Otterloo has done it again and written a PERFECT middle grade for your old soul of a tween.
An epic of Chinese history, touched by fantastical elements and grounded in morally grey characters. She Who Became the Sun is a reimagining of the rise of the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor, and it is packed with fierce characters and moments of connection that will tear your heart out with no remorse. 10/10 would experience pain anew.
Reading A Psalm for the Wild-Built is akin to sharing a perfect drink with that friend who can look at you and say simply, "I understand," without voicing anything at all. It's suspiciously easy to sink into the idyllic descriptions of a world that's moved past apocalypse and into calm order, but don't worry - this story has arrived just in time to hold your heart tenderly. Siblings Dex and Mosscap welcome you into their unwitting adventure gently, and their exploration of what it means to feel untethered in an overwhelmingly peaceful society is charming and reassuring. Read this book, let yourself take a break, and breathe in deeply the message that it's okay to not be okay, and that it's okay to not have a purpose.
Long Distance is a charming middle-grade graphic novel about friendship and moving, summer camp and plots, and - somehow - aliens! It's a perfect adventure for the graphic novel lover in your life.
This fantasy is like no other I have read, and has giant battle cats, a floating city, queer relationships, and bloody magic, all tied together with horrifying and Handmaid's Tale-esque commentary on the false choices women are presented with instead of actual power.
I’ve been sitting on this book for three days now because I just wasn’t sure how I could possibly do it justice in a review. One Last Stop is going into my personal literary canon for “Books I am pretty sure I have wholly absorbed into the essence of who I am by osmosis, no, sorry, you can’t have it back, you’ll have to request another copy.” One Last Stop is for every person out there that is just a little too jaded to throw caution to the wind, but deep down - you want to. One Last Stop is here to give you permission. Like Red, White, & Royal Blue, One Last Stop will have you suddenly cackling with laughter sharp enough to trip up passersby. Like RWRB, One Last Stop will have you pondering what lines you will tattoo on your body, just to keep the sheer hopeful queer power of them with you forever. One Last Stop also has some of the same chaotically beautiful found family as RWB; I want to live with Myla and Niko and Wes and Isaiah. I teared up just from pure pandemic “I miss my FRIENDS” feels because of how lovely they all are. One Last Stop though, is for the girls. One Last Stop is for the pure Gay Panic when a gorgeous girl walks up to your counter; for noticing pretty hands; for moving effortlessly between handsome and pretty; and, dearest to my heart, for saying “I’m bisexual, actually,” back over your shoulder to dumb strangers. This book broke my poor bi little heart in so many ways and honest-to-god put it back together better, and queerer, and more of a disaster than ever. This story is powerful and beautiful, able to somehow channel the power of “We’ve been here” queer history, and the exact perfect terrifying moment you give up on calling it just ‘a crush.’ This book will slap you across the face with the most devastating romance AND pitch-perfect party scenes just to remind you to let yourself belong, even if that means taking risks. Finally, this book also contains a heist. Read this gdamn book.
Glittering and magical, The Chosen and the Beautiful serves up fiendishly queer luxury on a slotted spoon, using the canon we all wanted to love better as the exacting filter through which to make readers question the meanings of excess, desire, ambition, and betrayal. This retelling is like a cool bath to sink into in a summer fugue, giving us everything we knew Gatsby could be but were denied for decades.
(This book cannot be returned)
Hades and Persephone as you've never read it before. This is a fun, fast, and spicy-as-heck romp through a contemporary reimagined Olympus. Katee Roberts knows how to give the reader what they want and then some, and readers of this book will be delighted to know Katee has many more in the series planned!
Honey Girl plays delightfully with the "accidental marriage" trope in Romance, but at its heart, this novel is about the loneliness inherent in the human experience. Come for the gorgeous and relatable sapphic romance, stay for the lines about being human and lost that will tug at your core.
In Locus and British Fantasy Award nominee Cassandra Khaw’s first novel, a crew of diminished former criminals get back together to solve the mystery of their last, disastrous mission. But the universe’s highly-evolved AI has its own opposing agenda... and will do whatever it takes to keep humans from ever controlling them again.
In space, everything hungers.
A clever and steamy queer romantic comedy about taking chances and accepting love—with all its complications—from the author of Astrid Parker Doesn't Fail.
"I devoured this."—V. E. Schwab, New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue
An International Bestseller
An NPR Best Sci Fi, Fantasy, & Speculative Fiction Book of 2022
A Book Riot Best Book of 2022
A Vulture Best Fantasy Novel of 2022
Washington Post • 10 Best Graphic Novels of 2022
A vibrant and informative debut with “great documentary power” (Alison Bechdel), Fine is an elegantly illustrated celebration of the transgender community.
Currently Unavailable
A literary descendent of Ursula K. Le Guin, Ruthanna Emrys crafts a novel of extra-terrestrial diplomacy and urgent climate repair bursting with quiet, tenuous hope and an underlying warmth. A Half-Built Garden depicts a world worth building towards, a humanity worth saving from itself, and an alien community worth entering with open arms.
"Gorgeous."--The New York Times - Best Books of 2022 lists: NYPL, School Library Journal, The Globe and Mail, Indigo - JLG Gold Standard Selection - Moonbeam Children's Book Award Winner - Kids Indie Next Pick
Former SNL writer and comedic rising star Julio Torres takes readers on a journey through the lives and intimate dramas of some of the unsung shapes of our time in this picture book inspired by his HBO special My Favorite Shapes.
Shapes. You’ve heard of them. You might have even interacted with a few. But do you really know them?
Welcome to The Sunbearer Trials, where teen semidioses compete in a series of challenges with the highest of stakes, in this electric new Mexican-inspired fantasy from Aiden Thomas, the New York Times bestselling author of Cemetery Boys.
“Only the most powerful and honorable semidioses get chosen. I’m just a Jade. I’m not a real hero.”
A heartwarming picture book about a young girl on her first trip to visit family in Mexico, who learns there is no language barrier when it comes to love—from debut author Mónica Mancillas and rising star illustrator Erika Meza. Perfect for fans of Where Are You From? and Mango, Abuela, and Me.
"This blazing-hot forbidden romance manages to sensibly, and compassionately, capture the complexities of starting adult life after college and finding love and your identity in middle age. Cassie and Erin’s romance is by turns delightfully raunchy and deeply emotional. This reader hopes Wilsner keeps these scorchers coming." - The Washington Post
“An absolute gem of a story... I loved it.” —S. A. Chakraborty
In Kate Elliott's Servant Mage, a lowly fire mage finds herself entangled in an empire-spanning conspiracy on her way to discovering her true power.
They choose their laws to secure their power.
***INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER***
Disrupt and push back against capitalism and white supremacy. In this book, Tricia Hersey, aka The Nap Bishop, encourages us to connect to the liberating power of rest, daydreaming, and naps as a foundation for healing and justice.
What would it be like to live in a well-rested world?
A USA Today Bestseller!
“Tender and healing... I’m prescribing a preorder to anyone who has ever felt lost. Stunning, kind, necessary.” —Sarah Gailey on book 1: A Psalm for the Wild-Built
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy is a story of kindness and love from one of the foremost practitioners of hopeful SF.