SPFBO Finalist Review: A Light From the Nether by Molly Dowd Sullivan
Julia Kitvaria Sarene
Liam O’Connor is special. When a Fissure opens in someone’s mind, he’s the one who sews it up again. When a parasite creeps through that Fissure, Liam is the exterminator…
horror
Monstrous Humans and Humane Monsters
Colleen McMillan
Every spooky season, I watch as much scary stuff as possible. It can be “cute” scary like Over the Garden Wall or “you will not sleep for a week” scary…
Two Necromancers, a Bureaucrat, and an Elf by L. G. Estrella – Review
If you want a book that asks nothing of you except to enjoy the ride, grab this one. Chaos, banter, and zombies, what's not to love.
The Summer Hikaru Died – Anime Review
With the recent release of Leviticus, the Boys’ Love (BL) genre is gaining new fans, perhaps searching for more difficult titles than Heartstopper, Netflix’s hit BL show. In the film…
Hemlock & Silver by T. Kingfisher – Review
Aly Noel
Ultimately, I think Hemlock & Silver is the best jumping off point for a reader who has not read a Kingfisher book yet. It combines elements from the fairy tale…
The Bystander by Rob M. Lastrel – Review
Christopher Keene
The book’s scenarios, or stories, work for the same reason horror-themed mechanic board games like Betrayal of House on the Hill and Trouble Brewing work, where you are given different…
Widow’s Bay – TV Series Review
Widow’s Bay, airing on Apple TV, is like Jaws with more supernatural teeth. It’s as if Stephen King guest-wrote for Northern Exposure. Even the town’s name screams King, who loves…
The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black by E. B. Hudspeth – Review
If you love fictional non-fiction, scholarly characters going gloriously off the rails, or just something that feels genuinely unlike anything else on your shelf, this one is worth your time.
The Daughters’ War by Christopher Buehlman – Review
Stuart Cripps-Schnoor
Set before Christopher Buehlman’s first novel, The Blacktongue Thief, The Daughters’ War is a harrowing prequel following Galva. Born into the powerful Dom Braga family, she forgoes her birthright to…
Gnosia: A Deadly Paranoia Game in Space – Anime Review
Adapted from a 2019 visual novel role-playing game of the same name, Gnosia immerses the viewer in an intense game of whodunnit. Or, more aptly, a game of “who’s gonna…
Julia’s 2025 Reading Wrap Up/Favourite Books of the Year
Expect dragons, witches, robots, rogues, and worlds so magical I wanted to move in permanently. There’s everything here from cosy and charming to grim and gory, from light-hearted popcorn reads…
Julia’s Updated List of Christmas SFF
A festive deep dive into my favourite Christmas-themed SFF reads, from cozy and whimsical to dark, bloody, and chaotic. Fantasy, science fiction, ghosts, gods, zombies, and tinsel included.