Kate Elliott's Shadow Gate
OK, this RULED. I was totally hooked from page one and was honestly mad I had to put it down to go to sleep. A lot of times second books in a trilogy are busy putting pieces into place, but this introduces some new characters, answers some questions, and raises the stakes. A/A-.
Kate Elliott's Spirit Gate
This was a slow start for me—I almost put it down a few times, but the characters I was interested in (primarily Mai) kept me going, and I ended up liking it. I’m not going to try and explain the plot, except there’s a shadow on the land, and dark things are happening, and the characters need to come together to try and stop it. I liked the look at different cultures/traditions/religions especially. I do think this could have been shorter and the sections in the first half (especially with Joss) could have been cut down a lot, but the back half moves more quickly and I enjoyed it much more. B+.
Alison Espach's The Wedding People
On the face of it, I should be rolling my eyes reading a novel about a depressed, recently divorced, adjunct professor who encounters a hotel full of people celebrating a “wedding week,” but the narrative voice was so immediately engaging AND Christina recommended this to me, so I was actually super into it! I don’t want to say more about the plot, because I enjoyed seeing things unfold without knowing anything about it. Lots of good discussions of books too (the protagonist works on 19th century lit, particularly Jane Eyre). Very satisfying read. A/A-.
Eva Ibbotson's A Song for Summer
After reading several dark books in a row, I needed a palate cleanser, so I reread this pleasant and funny book about a sensible English woman taking a job at a boarding school for the arts in Austria. In 1937. It's not a traditional romance, but there is a love story at the heart of it (and the love interest is busy rescuing people from the Nazis, so high five there). I actually had forgotten that the last third is set later, during and after the war, but it’s still somehow a lighter read. Very satisfying.
Maggie Thrash's Rainbow Black
There is a lot going on here, and most of it is very dark! It’s basically a thriller involving a woman looking back on her life, starting with when her parents were arrested during the Satanic Panic and accused of being child molesters—and things get grimmer from there. But it’s very readable, and there's actually an interesting queer love story at the center. Compelling stuff. A-.
John Bowen's The Girls
What a weird little book! (Complimentary.) I think I thought this would be dark and funny, and parts of it were, but I would describe the narrative voice more as “wry.” Anyway, this is the story of a lesbian couple living in a small town in England in the 1970s, and what happens when one goes on vacation to find herself, and the other sleeps with a young dude and ends up pregnant. Spoiler: what happens is murder. I loved this depiction of village life and Mrs Marshall especially was *chef's kiss*. It was also kind of sad though. :( A-.
Kristen Lepionka’s Once You Go This Far
Still love these characters, but I wasn’t really into the mystery here, which involves a woman who dies in a fall, but was it really an accident, and also there’s a creepy evangelical church. It was all very over the top. B.
Kristen Lepionka's The Stories You Tell
Another entertaining outing in the Roxane Weary series. This one involves Roxane trying to track down an acquaintance of her brother who seems to be in trouble, but things of course are more complicated than that. I did think the conclusion to the mystery was kind of eh, but enjoyed the ride, and loved the characters as always. A-.
Kristen Lepionka's What You Want to See
This was way less grim than the first book (though there are several murders and more than one shootout) and was another interesting and satisfying mystery. Anyway, things kick off with Roxane on the tail of a woman whose fiancé thinks she’s cheating, but when the woman ends up dead, Roxane is sucked into something way more complicated (perhaps too complicated but I enjoyed it nonetheless). I also can’t decide if I’m rooting for her to get with her on-again/off-again girlfriend or her late father's cop partner which adds another level of interest. Fun series. A-.
Kristen Leipionka's The Last Place You Look
THE Malka Older recommended this series to me, with the note that it probably was grimmer than I was looking for—and it was, but still a solid mystery with great characters. Our heroine is a queer PI whose hard-drinking cop father has recently died, and she’s not really coping well, when she gets a job looking into a long-missing woman and a death row case. Like I said, the mystery here is totally solid and I really enjoyed this characters and her family/friends/associates. I was super frustrated with how reckless she gets toward the end, but I will still be checking out book 2. A-.
Julie E. Czerneda’s A Play of Shadows
This is the second book in the Night's Edge series—I read the first a couple months ago, and this did a pretty good job of catching me back up. A lot happens, the plot is all over the place, but also this book is SO SLOW. I definitely need to take a break before the third book. B.
John Wyndham's The Midwich Cuckoos
Rainbow Rowell has been raving about Wyndham lately, and I trust her recommendations, and also enjoy classic sci-fi/horror, so here we are! I started with this one because it has an intro by Kelly Link, another one whose recommendations I trust. And it was great! Really great writing/narrative voice, telling the story of a small town in England where there is a weird event and all the women of child-bearing age (including at least one who seems to be in a lesbian relationship) become pregnant. Compelling and unsettling. A-.
Betsy Lerner's Shred Sisters
This has been getting so much buzz! It was fine. I mean, I liked it enough to read in one sitting, but didn’t think it was doing anything especially interesting? I’m surprised this hasn’t been picked up by one of the big book clubs because it had that kind of vibe to me—fiction for book clubs that actually want to discuss the book. Anyway, it’s the story of a family, told through the POV of the younger sister, whose older sister is wild (and maybe mentally ill). And the younger sister, though academically gifted, also struggles to figure her life out. But like, I felt like the story skimmed over all the /details/ of her life—maybe if it was longer it would feel more fleshed out? But also it is kind of about a depressed woman in unhappy hetero relationships, which just isn’t super compelling. B+.
Melissa Caruso's The Last Hour Between Worlds
The worldbuilding here is kind of complicated and I’m not going to try and explain it! Basically this is about a woman who’s on maternity leave in a fantasy world, and she takes a break and goes to a party, only a bunch of weird magic stuff is going down, and the party keeps sinking into layers of reality, and people keep getting murdered, and she has to stop it to save the city. And the only person who can help her is her nemesis-slash-sort of ex girlfriend. (And a mysterious little girl.) A fun read, looks like the start of a series, I will probably check out the next one. A-/B+.
__
A review copy was provided by the publisher. This book will be released in November.
Louise Erdrich's The Beet Queen
Reading this for book club—I’m not sure I’ve actually read it before! It's Erdrich's second novel, and shares some characters with Love Medicine (it’s also set in the same town as her new one, The Mighty Red, which is an interesting companion/bookend, but not a direct sequel). It’s also surprisingly queer for a book that came out in 1986! I enjoyed the characters here (some better developed than others), though the writing is a bit more disjointed compared to some of Erdrich's later books. Still, obviously great. A-.
Sarah Gailey's Have You Eaten?
Is there such a genre category as “cozy dystopia”? Because this book features a queer found family group who is on the run but also every chapter revolves around a meal they’re cooking. I mean there are definitely non-cozy elements—one of their group is missing, perhaps detained. But it has a cozy hopeful feel anyway. Plus there are recipes! I was hoping for one more chapter to really tie things up, but I liked this a lot. A-.
Lev AC Rosen's Rough Pages
Hooray for a new book in the Evander Mills series, which involves a gay ex-cop solving crimes for queer people in 1950s San Francisco (so content warning for a fair amount of homophobia directed toward the characters). In this one, Andy is investigating a missing bookseller, who has a queer book subscription service--and the list of subscribers could cause problems for a lot of people. I really love this series—great characters and solid mysteries, and such a cool atmosphere. And the discussion of forbidden books is very timely. A.
