Review: Love Shots by Travis M. Riddle

Love Shots by Travis M. Riddle
Independently Published

Publication Date: May 29th, 2026
Ebook. 487 pages.

About Love Shots:

"They're dying for a chance at love.

America’s #1 dating show, Love Shots, gathers young, sexy singles in a tropical villa to compete in cheeky challenges, find love, and win a huge cash prize—with no small amount of drama. 

Things go off-script when a recently ejected competitor reappears in the villa. But she isn't the girl the cast remembers... Something is deeply, horribly wrong with her, and she’s not the only danger lurking in paradise. 

These 20-year-old influencers must fight to survive against a security team they believed was there to protect them, an onslaught of terror they can barely comprehend, and producers who have a decidedly sinister finale in mind, all while desperately trying to escape an isolated island. 

But what chance do they have when hundreds of cameras are aimed at them, watching their every move?

Love Island meets Jurassic Park in this twisted, thrilling satire from the author of Carapace and The Narrows."

If you love dating show and horror/thrillers, then this is going to be your new perfect match made in heaven... or maybe hell? It's a satire that Riddle pitched to me as "Love Island meets Jurassic Park" and honestly, that's a very apt description. Last year, I read Riddle's previous release while traveling, and this year I had another trip coming up so I figured, why not make it a tradition and read a Travis M. Riddle book while traveling again? And what a good idea that was, because this book kept me absolutely hooked.

Love Shots is inspired by the popular TV show with a very similar name, and if you are familiar with that show then you'll find yourself very familiar the general format and workings of the show portrayed in this book. We've got beautiful people in a beautiful setting... and yet, somehow, it ends up being a bit of a nightmare. 

The story sets out fairly normally in the middle of a current season of the show, Love Shots, and we quickly get to know the many characters that are a part of it this time around. Riddle always puts a lot of time and development into his characters, so despite there being quite a large cast, I felt like I had a pretty good grasp of the main players due to the detailed introductions for each of them. Admittedly, I did mix up a few here and there, but no more than I usually would with a larger cast size. The relevant characters were are portrayed with layers and depth (though some may have had personalities that were, perhaps, slightly less naturally "deep" than others, but, you know...) and I liked getting to know all of them. Their backgrounds were all unique enough that I was engaged in learning about their personalities and how it affected their behavior on the show, and especially in seeing how they ended up reacting to different scenarios as the more intense events of the story unfolded. 

The narrative is split among many different POVs from the contestants, as well as glimpses behind the scenes from the producer, editors, and a few others working on the show. These behind the scenes POVs are where we really first start getting hints that things might not be quite what they seem. From the beginning, we don't know exactly what is going to be happening to these contestants, and I think Riddle's slow trickle of clues worked extremely well for building that tension and anticipation as we slowly learned more and more about the more sinister aspects of this production.

I was actually a little surprised by how much time the book spent letting us readers settle into the "normal" life of the villa before things really kick off, but I didn't mind it at all because it gave me more time to get to know the character and better understand the dynamics among them and their within their current relationships. I also shouldn't have been surprised because one of my favorite things about Riddle's writing is how it never feels rushed and he really takes his time to describe thing and set a scene, and this is exactly what it felt like was happening here--something that I still really appreciate about his writing.

Love Shots does a fantastic job with its exploration of reality dating shows themselves and just how manufactured they can be. How much editing is done to tell narratives that are perhaps the exact opposite of what's actually happening? How do producers make sure fans are shocked by something that wouldn't really be shocking if they knew the reality? How is the outcome ensured to be exactly what the producer wants? There's much manipulation behind the scenes of these shows in real life, and I loved how Riddle explored all of that in this book. It really highlights the predatory nature of the show in some very intense and literal ways that I found excellently and cleverly done.

I also appreciated the commentary on and highlighting of some larger societal issues that are found within these types of shows. For example, he touches on things like the heteronormativity of dating shows (I mean, when you think about it, isn't it actually quite wild how aggressively straight these shows are in how they act like nothing else exists?) as well as the unique pressures and expectations placed on men and women alike, especially in the influencer era of these shows.

Without going into too many details to avoid spoilers, once sh*t hits the fan, there's truly no going back. This book absolutely basks in its violence and body horror, and I think that will make it a huge hit for fans of the genre. Once the story crossed a certain point, it was incredibly action-heavy for the remainder of the novel. It basically felt like a constant spiral into chaos that left me feeling almost as overwhelmed as the contestants themselves. At first, it's almost so weird or unbelievable that skepticism feels warranted, but then suddenly you can't look away as pure havoc is unleashed. The shifting POVs worked especially well because each character experienced some different aspect of what happened, and this really allowed for more variety in the storytelling itself. This also, of course, only added to the feeling of confusion and panic. It's brutal, relentless, and showed very little (if any?) mercy to anyone.

The book also doesn't take itself too seriously, and the satire is evident throughout. While it stands on its own, there are plenty of absurd and darkly funny moments woven into the narrative that keep things lighter and entertaining--after all, it is a reality dating show. People are expected to be at least a little vain, shallow, dramatic, and entertaining, and some of the decisions made throughout the story are exactly the kind of behavior that reality TV thrives on.

One last note I wanted to make was that I don't usually read too many reviews for books before writing my own because I don't want to be accidentally influenced, and I very rarely see reviews for Riddle's before writing my own reviews (since in the past I read them too early for there to be many reviews yet), but this time I noticed a couple comments mentioning some oversexualization of the women in this book. I completely understand where those readers are come from, and if that's how the book made them feel then that's absolutely valid and I'd never argue that or tell them they're wrong to feel that way. That being said, for me, having read many of Riddle's works, I personally felt like this oversexualization was actually very intentional and done to reflect how much these shows (and society itself) oversexualizes women in these absurd, uncomfortable ways as well. It felt more self-aware than accidental, and I think my own interpretation of this to me highlighted how much these shows do stuff that is just as egregious as some of what is written, if not more. That doesn't mean everyone will enjoy it or feel comfortable even knowing that, but I felt it could be worthwhile to note why it didn't bother me as much, since it felt like the book knew what it was doing and was commenting on those attitudes rather than embracing them and enforcing them. 

While this wasn't my favorite of Riddle's work (and given how much I love so many of his books, that'd be a hard feat to accomplish!), it was still an absolute blast. I'd recommend this to fans of satire, thrillers, a little bit absurdity, and a hearty appreciation for some bloody moments.

Buy the book: Amazon

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh, What Came West by Josh Weil, & The Children by Melissa Albert

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh

Publication: June 16th, 2026

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Hardcover. 336 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Magical realism meets 1960s India in a novel about a girl with mysterious powers—who might be able to access memories of a past life.

The Gupta household is in a state of three-year-old Varsha, beloved daughter of strictly vegetarian Hindu parents, has just demanded to be served fish. Moreover, she possesses an inexplicable knowledge of different species and preparations— knowledge that almost seems to have come from a past life.

Perplexed, the Guptas turn to Dr. Shoma Bose, a psychiatrist who lives with her husband, Monty, and nephew Dinu in Calcutta. Little do they know that Shoma has been investigating what she calls “cases of the reincarnation type” for years—and in Varsha, she may have found her next patient. Such cases, she believes, are much more common than people realize, and she sets out to prove that Varsha led a past life that her wealthy family can barely fathom—and that she might possess special powers, too.

Meanwhile, Dinu grows up oblivious to the research Shoma has been conducting in secret. Years later, while sorting through his late aunt’s possessions, he uncovers Varsha’s case file—and so begins a quest to track her down. If Varsha really is a “ghost-eye,” then her unique abilities could be what’s needed to thwart plans for a new coal plant that will destroy one of India’s last pristine wildernesses. Moving from 1970s Calcutta to our ecologically threatened present, Amitav Ghosh’s Ghost-Eye is a captivating work of magical realism for our time."

I first read an Amitav Ghosh novel as an assigned reading back in college, and I always meant to read more of his work. This sounds like it could be a great one to dive back in with!

What Came West by Josh Weil

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Doubleday

Hardcover. 512 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Author of the New York Times Notable The Great Glass Sea (“The most unexpected second book by a writer of note to appear in years.” –John Freeman, Boston Globe) returns with a gripping adventure story that probes the expansive, shifting wilds of the Sierra Nevada during the Gold Rush.

Since childhood, Silas Hall has never been at ease with people. Only alone in nature, can he find peace. He is relentlessly bullied by classmates and even proximity to his own family fills him with dread. Still, despite his increasing isolation from others, he manages to forge a connection with Delia, a non-verbal housekeeper, and is surprised by the strength of the bond he feels with the child they come to share. But as his son, Elisha, grows up, even that closeness becomes more than Silas can bear. So, he leaves his family to travel west, journeying ever farther in search of a life in which he might belong.

Under the cover of the wilderness, Silas burrows deeper into seclusion. By late 1840, he is one of few white people to have crossed the Sierra Nevada, where he coexists with the native Nisenan villagers at a mutually wary distance. But this fragile peace is disrupted when the promises of the Gold Rush bring a sudden flood of other whites west, leading Silas to commit an act of violence that will drive the last chapter of his life and incur upon the world he loves the full wrath of the world he fled.

In interweaving parts, one a third-person account of Silas’s flight from the manhunt that pursues him and the other an epistolary narrative from Silas to his abandoned, What Came West confronts different forms of American the yearning for freedom and the grandeur of the wild, the corrupting nature of greed, the unforgiving ideals of Manifest Destiny, and the environmental destruction and genocide wrought upon native peoples living on the land that would become known as “Gold Country.”

What Came West is the story of a soul split after a defining moment and the ways in which one man tries to save himself and the world he loves as it vanishes beneath his feet."

Something about this one just really pulls me in, so I'm hoping I have a chance to pick it up next month!

The Children by Melissa Albert

Publication: June 2, 2026

William Morrow

Hardcover. 416 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"An intoxicating, haunting new novel from New York Times bestselling author Melissa Albert, in which the estranged adult children of a legendary author, written into their dead mother’s beloved fantasy series, contend with the vine-like creep of legacy, memory, and magic.

Guinevere Sharpe has two childhoods.

In one, she lives in the wooded shadow of her family's isolated Vermont farmhouse; in the other, the pages of her mother’s world-famous Ninth City books, where her magical adventures have made her a household name. In reality, Guinevere's childhood isn't the enchanted idyll her mother’s readers imagine: she and her older brother are growing up near-feral, unwashed and underfed, escaping each day to the lichen-clotted woods they’ve made their playland. As Edith Sharpe’s books explode into epic popularity, the threats of a rural childhood give way to the escalating perils of fame—until the night it all goes up in flames, leaving Edith’s series unfinished and her children the sole survivors.

Now an adult coasting on her mother's name, Guinevere is mid-promotion for a ghostwritten memoir when her estranged brother, an artist who has until now spurned his family's legacy, announces an upcoming installation titled Mother. As rumors swirl around a death connected to his last show, unsettling recollections from Guinevere’s childhood begin to surface. Her public facade starts to crack, forcing her to confront the questions she's spent the last twenty years running from: What really happened the night of the fire? And what dark history lies behind their mother’s creative genius?

Wise to the mythic weight childhood memories gather over time, The Children whispers to you from the hallway outside your bedroom, lights flickering as you turn the pages of a book that didn't seem so scary a moment ago. It's a story for anyone who's ever revisited an old favorite and found it cast in a darker light, the line separating magic and memory blurring as the gap widens between the authors we imagined and the people they turn out to be."

I haven't read anything from Melissa Albert in years and I'm so intrigued by this premise. 

Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Animal Room by Lauren Acampora, The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden, & It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

The Animal Room by Lauren Acampora

Publication: June 9th, 2026

Grove Press

Hardcover. 384 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"From the award-winning author of The Wonder Garden comes a set of linked stories spotlighting human-animal relations—and revealing the tensions that threaten to fracture a suburban New England community

Tensions simmer in small-town Connecticut. A city transplant is haunted by the deer carcass hanging in her neighbor’s garage. A psychiatric patient believes she’s becoming a bird. A disgraced oil executive invites his granddaughter’s kindergarten class to tour his home menagerie—what could go wrong? Rumors spread and fires burn in this second short story collection from award-winning author Lauren Acampora.

As in Acampora’s debut The Wonder Garden, The Animal Room delves deep into the town of Old Cranbury and its eclectic mix of residents. Incisive and moving, these stories chart the interconnected lives of neighbors, relatives, coworkers, enemies, lovers, and the animals around them, turning an unflinching eye to the natural world to shed light on human nature. Through its riveting ensemble, The Animal Room paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of contemporary American life that is strikingly unique."

The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Del Rey

Hardcover. 368 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"In a desperate gamble to save her throne, a young monarch conceals a secret marriage in the shadows of an enchanted forest—and unknowingly alters the fate of her world—in this dazzling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bear and the Nightingale.


“I loved every moment I spent in this magical, dangerous, and haunted realm in the company of its clever and captivating duchess.”—Naomi Novik, author of A Deadly Education

Anne of Brittany was a child when France invaded and drove her royal father to his death. Now she is a young woman, sovereign duchess of an occupied realm, and France means to crown their conquest by marrying her to their king. Such an alliance would put her title, her lands, and her body forever in the hands of her enemies.

But Anne refuses to be the last duchess of Brittany.

Her only hope of resisting conquest is another alliance sealed with marriage, so Anne arranges a daring last gambit: a secret betrothal to Charles of France’s greatest rival. But secrets are hard to keep in a world where rival courts spy on each other with diviners.

The forest of Brocéliande was once the haunt of Merlin the Enchanter and the long-lost faerie queen. But magic is long gone from Broceliande, except for the occasional sight of a unicorn and one critical quirk: This ancient forest is completely hostile to divination.

While pretending compliance with France, Anne plans a unicorn hunt in Brocéliande. A bit of pointless pageantry. A diversion so she can wed in secret.

Or so she thinks.

In this rich and epic novel, the author of the acclaimed Winternight trilogy turns the real history of a remarkable woman into an unforgettable tale of mystery, enchantment, and the price of power."

It Came from Neverland by Cynthia Pelayo

Publication: June 9th, 2026

Crooked Lane Books

Paperback. 288 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Peter Pan meets Stephen King's It in this twisted horror retelling of a classic childhood fairy tale set during WWI.

1914, Wendy Darling works by day as a school teacher, and by night, she assists soldiers who have returned home from the Western Front. There is one mysterious patient who, despite all the care they’ve given him, is in a deep sleep, unable to wake up. One night, when he murmurs the words “Peter Pan,” Wendy is thrown back to a darker time, one that she wishes she could forget.

When one of her students goes missing, it brings back memories of when children went missing and were later found murdered in London many years ago. Wendy is convinced that Peter Pan, the entity that she believes killed those children, is back. She and her brothers had a close encounter with Peter Pan, after all. But her brothers only remember Peter Pan and Neverland as a fantasy of childhood games.

When another child goes missing and signs start to point to Wendy, Scotland Yard digs into old reports, finding that Wendy knew the names of all the children who had been killed. As Wendy tries to prove her innocence, she also has to find a way to stop Peter Pan once and for all."

5/17-5/26 Blogging Break!

 I will be taking a quick break from May 17th-May 26th! I still have a scheduled Can't-Wait Wednesday post coming up for 5/20, but otherwise there won't be any posts during that time. But don't worry, I have some great reviews scheduled and coming up, so stay tuned! :) 

Review: The Abyss by Nicholas Binge

  

Abyss by Nicholas Binge
Tor Nightfire

Publication Date: March 12th, 2026
Hardcover. 160 pages.

About Abyss:

"Severance meets Lovecraft in this surreal tale of corporate horror and existential dread.

Joe always had potential, but he doesn't expect much, and he hopes that his new job as an admin assistant won't expect much of him. But when he enters the offices of Ponos—a company he's never heard of and knows nothing about—he discovers that potential is exactly what they want from him.

A feverish dive into the inhumanity of both late-stage capitalism and the crippling anxieties of modern life, Abyss adds a new level of meaning to 'wage slave'."

I've opted for a mini review format for Abyss in order to keep things as vague as possible because I don't want to give anything at all away.

What I liked: Abyss hooked me almost immediately. I was completely sold on the mysterious atmosphere and felt that need to know what was going to happy from page one. There was something about the protagonist that was weirdly relatable in the beginning of the book, his thought process really reminded me of myself in certain ways that added an unexpected layer of intrigue to this one. Abyss is very much a "concept horror" type of story--especially in the latter half--but it works well because the atmosphere is so intense. I really loved exploring this strange and eerie office building  as our protagonist did, and honestly, I feel like I could've spent much longer just going through some of the areas of this building before getting into... other things. There's something about a mix of the mundane and the eerie that is just perfect together and creates the perfect unsettling feeling. Abyss really hits that note when something seems boring and innocuous on the surface, but very clearly is not.

What I didn't like: I do think there's a version of this story that could have been expanded further. While I liked the novella format overall, part of me wanted either a little more development in certain areas or for a few elements to be trimmed back slightly. At the same time, though, I think this story works best when you know as little as possible, so the shorter format ultimately is the right choice. The pacing also jumped around a bit near the ending for me and left feeling slightly less satisfied than the beginning, but I still really enjoyed the experience overall.

*I received a copy of Abyss courtesy of the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This has no effect on my rating or enjoyment.*

Buy the book: Bookshop.org | Amazon

Can't-Wait Wednesday: Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim, Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky, & The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin

 

Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released!

Sublimation by Isabel J. Kim

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Tor Books

Hardcover. 368 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Doppelgängers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for fans of Severance that asks what you'd sacrifice for a different life from award-winning author Isabel J. Kim.

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn’t know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make?"

Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Publication: June 23rd, 2026

Tor Books

Hardcover. 368 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"Philip Marlowe meets Redwall in this superior adult noir tale, where all the characters are animals, fighting for survival in the city underneath the humans.

In the solar cities of the future, the humans relax in the sun and the animals work in the shadows. Genetically engineered Little Helpers, serving humanity—unseen, unheard. 

Meet Skotch. Racoon, P.I.—Yours for a few buttons as long as the job isn't too illegal, whatever that means. 

A mouse has gone missing. Normally this wouldn't raise any hackles, nor any alarms, but this mouse has something that everyone seems to want, though nobody appears particularly eager to say what that something is. 

The fee is good—perhaps too good. Certainly not something Skotch can easily turn down. 

If only Skotch can work out where the mouse is hiding, what he's hiding, and why his secrets are upsetting a lot of animals caught up in the Green City wars."

The Wreck of the Mentor by Eric Jay Dolin

Publication: June 2nd, 2026

Liveright

Hardcover. 272 pages.

Pre-order: Bookshop.org | Amazon

From Goodreads:

"'An astonishing true story―one of the most gripping maritime sagas of the nineteenth century―told by our era’s “expert literary steersman' (Washington Post).

From the best–selling author of Black Flags, Blue Waters comes the story of the American whaleship Mentor, wrecked in 1832 on a remote reef in the western Pacific. With supplies dwindling, the eleven surviving crewmen face not only the miseries of shipwreck in unfamiliar territory but also the profound uncertainty of contact with the Indigenous people of the Micronesian archipelago of Palau, who within days approach the deserted men brandishing axes, clubs, and spears. In this gripping saga of cultural collision, tribal wars, and dashed hopes, award–winning historian Eric Jay Dolin vividly reconstructs the Mentor’s doomed voyage, the years of perilous captivity, and the delicate negotiations and fraught naval rescue mission that followed.

Illustrated by more than 100 images and maps, The Wreck of the Mentor is at once a powerful story of survival and a revealing window into the great Age of Sail a time when maritime ambition collided with local sovereignty, and when the outcome of one voyage rippled across oceans and empires."

Month in Review: April 2026

Wow, April was a blur! May is starting to blur as well (especially considering I meant to have this post up on May 2nd and somehow it's now going up on May 11th...), but I still want to make sure to have time reflect on April's reading, so here we are! 

In personal news... I've just been super busy so I don't really have that much to share, haha. Between the classes I'm taking and the new job, I just haven't had a lot of time to do much of anything, but I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm just holding out for June, now. Maybe I'll have something more fun to share then!

In reading news, I managed to read much more than I anticipated, which I'm really happy about. This included a couple books that I loved, such as The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances and The Caretaker, and I'm hoping that May brings some more great books with it. I'm very pleased that I was actually able to keep up with reviews in April and actually posted more than a small handful, so hooray for that! And as usual, I'm woefully behind on catching up with everyone else's blogs, but I'm planning to set aside some time this week to catch up, so I'm looking forward to that as well. :)

How was your April and what books have you been reading? How's the new year been? Any reading-related goals?  Let me know how your month was below and what you've been reading!

   

# books read: 13

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: I had such high hopes and so much excitement for this book... and it didn't disappoint at all! This is the best psychological horror and I can't wait for whatever Kliewer does next.

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Thoughts: I really liked Bat Eater by Kylie Lee Baker so I was pretty excited for this release, but sadly it didn't quite work for me. The writing is still beautiful and it's not at all a bad book, it just wasn't really for me. 

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was so lovely and made the Brave Little Toaster fan in me so happy. 

The Last Contract of Isako by Fonda Lee

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was a really strong new sci-fi release from Lee. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as I liked the Green Bone Saga series, but I think it's a solid new story nonetheless.

Steel Gods (The Great Silence #2) by Richard Swan

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: Maybe it was something about me or the timing of when I read this book, but I just really struggled with it. I might try to re-read it sometime, but for right now I found this to be a bit of a disappointment compared to how much I enjoyed the first book. But I'm really hoping it was just me and a re-read sometime will do it justice!

The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff

Source: Library  | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: This was such a fascinating experience. I listened to the audiobook and was really impressed with all the narrative voices used to relay the different oral histories and quotes from different people, and I'd absolutely recommend this one!

We Had a Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: I learned so much from this book and think it's a very unexpectedly fascinating topic. If you don't know, this book is about the history of Native America comedy/comedians/Native Americans in comedy, and it's well worth the read. 

Siúil, a Rún: The Girl From the Other Side, Vol. 1 (The Girl from the Other Side #1) by Nagabe

Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: I'd had my eye on this ever since I saw the cover in passing at a bookstore and I finally had a chance to check out a copy from my library. The illustrations are lovely and the story seems intriguing--I'm not sure exactly what to expect still, but I'm planning to continue the series to find out. 

The Magician King (The Magicians #2) by Lev Grossman

Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: I continued with my re-read of this trilogy and I'm still so mixed. There are things that don't totally work, yet somehow it feels so strangely addictive. 

The Magician's Land (The Magicians #3) by Lev Grossman

Source: Library | Format: Ebook
Thoughts: And now I've finished my re-read of the trilogy! I still have so many mixed thoughts, but I'm really glad I decided to re-read these ones. 

Through Gates of Garnet and Gold (Wayward Children #11) by Seanan McGuire

Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Thoughts: And with this one, I believe I am finally caught up with the Wayward Children series! I'll admit that this series just really isn't hitting for me the way it used, but I'm still curious enough to keep reading them, I guess, haha.

The Baker's Boy (Book of Words #1) by J.V. Jones

Source: Owned | Format: Paperback
Thoughts: It took me way too long to finish this, but I'm glad I did. I'm a huge fan of J.V. Jones' Sword of Shadows series and I wanted to give her other work a read. I didn't like this one anywhere close to as much as I love the Sword of Shadows series, but it was fun to see some of her earlier and to see how much her writing has evolved. 

West of Wicked by Nikki St. Crowe

Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Thoughts: This was a fun and unexpected read! I enjoyed what the author did with the Wizard of Oz inspiration and I am pretty curious to see where she takes this story next.

To-Be-Finished:

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego

Honestly, this might be a full DNF, but I'm still in the process of deciding. There were a few lines I read that just completely took me out of the book, and although I'm not normally someone who's overly bothered by things like that, for some reason it just really didn't work for me. The writing in general just wasn't working for me, so I may end up fully passing on this one.

 

No Man's Land by Richard K. Morgan

The Tricky Business of Faerie Bargains by Reena McCarty

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon

West of Wicked by Nikki St. Crowe

The Caretaker by Marcus Kliewer

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

An Arcane Study of Stars by Sydney J. Shields

 Posts:

 Month in Review: March 2026

Anticipated May 2026 Releases

Blog Memes:

Can't-Wait Wednesday:
4/1: The Franchise by Thomas Elrod, Treat Them as Buffalo by Blair Palmer Yoxall, & One Leg On Earth by 'Pemi Aguda

4/8: Accumulation by Aimee Pokwatka, Homebound by Portia Elan, That Which Feeds Us by Keala Kendall

4/15: The Dorians by Nick Cutter, Under a Carnivore Sky by Brianna Jett, & The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego

4/22: Abyss by Nicholas Binge, The Pillagers' Guide to Arctic Pianos, Make Me Better by Sarah Gailey

4/29: The Girl with a Thousand Faces by Sunyi Dean & Seek Immediate Shelter by Vincent Yu