Siavahda's Blog, page 10

Sunday Soupçons #38

soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavor

Sunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!

Two books that, while not being the kind of diverse SFF I started this blog for, are both five-star examples of what they want to be!

Pagans by James Alistair Henry
Genres: Adult, Speculative Fiction
Representation: Minor MLM Black character, queernorm setting
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; dual PoVs
ISBN: 1916678076
Goodreads

21st Century London.
The Norman conquest never happened.
The ancient tribes of Britain remain undefeated.
But murders still have to be solved.

The small, mostly unimportant, island of Britain is inhabited by an uneasy alliance of tribes – the dominant Saxon East, the beleaguered Celtic West, and an independent Nordic Scotland – and tensions are increasing by the second. Supermarket warpaint sales are at an all- time high, mead abuse shortens the lives of thousands, and social media is abuzz with conspiracy theories suggesting the High Table’s putting GPS trackers in the honeycakes.

Amid this febrile atmosphere, the capital is set to play host to the Unification Summit, which aims to join together the various tribes into one ‘united kingdom’. But when a Celtic diplomat is found brutally murdered, his body nailed to an ancient oak, the fragile peace is threatened. Captain Aedith Mercia, daughter of a powerful Saxon leader, must join forces with Celtic Tribal Detective Inspector Drustan to solve the murder – and stop political unrest spilling onto the streets.

But is this an isolated incident? Or are Aedith and Drustan facing a serial killer with a decades-old grudge? To find out, they must delve into their own murky pasts and tackle forces that go deeper than they ever could have imagined.

Set in a world that’s far from our own and yet captivatingly familiar, Pagans is “The Bridge” meets “Vikings”, exploring contemporary themes of religious conflict, nationalism, prejudice... and the delicate internal politics of the office coffee round. Gripping and darkly funny, Pagans keeps you guessing until the very end.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-13T09:05:05+00:00", "description": "A Britain where the Norman Conquest never happened, and an extremely sweet fantasy romance with reversed gender roles!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/sunday-soupcons-38\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Pagans", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Alistair Henry", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "1916678076" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }}

In a whole bunch of ways this is not the kind of book I usually read, but I was so fascinated by the premise of the worldbuilding that I had to give it a go – especially with several amazing authors, like KJ Charles and lona Sherman, giving it a big thumb’s up.

AND FOLX, IT WAS SO FREAKING GREAT!

Like, it is very much a crime-thriller thing. The police are even more violent and abusive than the ones we’re used to, and while it isn’t glorified, it is sort of…taken for granted? There’s a grittiness, an almost-bleakness to the whole book that isn’t noir but definitely contains echos of it. The almost is critical, though.

And I was mostly here for the worldbuilding, which, my gods, DELIVERED! Africa is the global superpower in this timeline, the Muslim empire has a hold of most of Europe, and the Indigenous folks over on the American continents have been Left The Fuck Alone because the big players are locked in a stalemate over it. Whereas Britain…gah, it was so cool! Henry has paid so much attention to every detail – jewellery, fashion, naming conventions, religion, food, slang! Ambulances are marked with apples, not crosses; it’s illegal to cover up a tattoo (but not to alter one); and the one that made me laugh the hardest, milk in tea is gross blasphemy.

male, female, and friends of the aelves

The investigation room was full of reeves now, most of whom were giving Drustan the shield-eye

Mughal students spending their gap year building playgrounds for disadvantaged Saxon youths

They even use the term ‘spree killer’ instead of ‘serial killer’ – because ‘serial killer’ was coined by the FBI, which doesn’t exist in this universe. HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT?

And while I don’t think it can be justifiably called a diverse read, Pagans is deliberately inclusive in a way that made me really happy – I don’t think crime fiction usually makes a point of reminding readers that nonbinary and trans people exist, but that was exactly what happened here! Such as when it’s being explained that tattoos can’t be removed/covered up (because they’re sacred records of a person’s history) but can be altered–

Trans people did it all the time – it was no longer considered rewriting history but revealing the story that had been there, hidden, all along.

Also important for me: while the Saxon cops are awful and in need of defunding, we do have Drustan, a Celtic sort-of-cop, who is one of the main characters and serves as a great contrast to the Saxon way of doing things. His presence helps a lot – not just in the sense that he’s extremely plot-relevant (he’s a main character, so you’d hope he would be!) but in preventing the Saxon stuff from being normalised to the reader, even if it’s normalised by the narrative/setting.

(Which is not to say he’s all preachy and is constantly calling the Saxons out: he isn’t, and he almost never does. But being in his head is a nice dose of perspective and reality when we’re surrounded by Saxons for most of the book.)

The writing is quick and super readable without being simplistic, and there’s enough sensory description to keep me happy without impacting the pace of the book. None of the worldbuilding felt info-dumpy to me; it always felt quite brisk, and the explanations of things were succinct even when I would have been happy with a lot more detail. But we got exactly as much detail as we needed; the balance of worldbuilding to plot was just *chef’s kiss*

And I remain weirdly pleased about who/what the villain turned out to be. CALLED IT.

I feel so sorry for Henry’s agent, trying to shop Pagans around – it must have been such a hard sell; hardcore alt-history, but also a crime novel? Not a huge amount of demand for that overlap, I’d imagine! But I am very, VERY happy it did get published, because it’s awesome, I had a fantastic time with it, and I really hope it’s the start of a series!

His Secret Illuminations (The Warrior's Guild, #1) by Scarlett Gale
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Hispanic-coded MC, bisexual love interest with dyslexia, secondary sapphic character, queernorm world
PoV: Third-person, present-tense
ISBN: 1393846742
Goodreads

A Sheltered Monk

By day, Lucían brews potions and illuminates manuscripts in service to the monastery that took him in as a child, wielding magic based in his faith and his purity. By night, he dreams of the world outside the cloister--a world he knows only in books and scrolls...

A Mysterious Warrior

A mercenary known as the She-Wolf hunts for a shipment of stolen manuscripts. When she needs a mage to track them down, she chooses Lucían for both his adorable blushes and his magic. She purchases his contract, hurling him headfirst into an adventure that will test both his skills and his self-control...

A Sacred Vow

Inexorably drawn to the She-Wolf's strength, surprising kindness, and heated touches, Lucían fights temptation at every turn. His holy magic is both vital to their mission and dependent upon his purity. How can he serve both her and the Lord if he gives in to his desire? As intrigue and danger forces them closer, how can he possibly resist?

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-13T09:05:05+00:00", "description": "A Britain where the Norman Conquest never happened, and an extremely sweet fantasy romance with reversed gender roles!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/sunday-soupcons-38\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "His Secret Illuminations (The Warrior's Guild, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Scarlett Gale", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "1393846742" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }}

I don’t read straight romance often, and I get invested in it even less often – but subby male sweetheart going heart-eyes for a built woman warrior??? Come on, I HAD to give it a try!

And I thoroughly enjoyed myself. The worldbuilding is simple, but it fits together well and I didn’t require more than I was given for this particular story; the prose is lovely, with a quick, bright elegance to the word choices and sentence structures that made it a delight to read. When I say it reminded me of the best kind of fanfic, I mean that entirely as a massive compliment: addictive and indulgent in the best way!

It burns to look at her and it hurts to stop and Lucían doesn’t know how he’s going to survive.

I adore frank, open characters, characters who feel like mature and confident grown-ups, and Glory (the She-Wolf) was everything I could have asked for. I loved both how patient she was with answering all of Lucían’s questions about the world (having grown up in a monastery he is every bit as sheltered as you’d expect, but crucially not stupid) and how Lucían’s discovery of things went so neatly with the reader’s. It’s a great way to introduce readers to a fantasy setting for a reason, and Gale rocks at it.

Honestly, the take on masculinity and femininity here just…delighted me endlessly. Glory is allowed to enjoy make-up and cuddles and delicate, pretty things as well as being an extreme badass; Lucían gets to want freedom without being in charge, to be passionate about healing and calligraphy and deeply shy about all things sexual. They were both fully rounded, deeply believable characters, and I really, really, really loved their love story. (Might be the first time I was this invested in a straight romance since Long Live Evil!)(Actually I’m not 100% Rae in LLE is straight in which case THIS MIGHT BE THE FIRST STRAIGHT ROMANCE I CARED ABOUT IN LITERAL YEARS.

Kudos, Gale!)

Smaller detail but almost as refreshing as the gender stuff: religion isn’t demonised here!!! I reflexively hate and distrust Christianity and its fictional look-alikes, but I’m so bored of Evil Christianity Knockoffs in fantasy, and it was a pleasant surprise that His Secret Illuminations didn’t go there. Extremely minor spoiler: [View post to see spoiler]

This is not a book for anyone looking for a lot of plot – there really isn’t much; it’s a slow, sweet, very wholesome-feeling (despite Lucían’s rape fantasies) little romance, and the plot is a thinly-veiled excuse to push the characters together. I take no issue with this at all. Especially because Gale gave me unicorns! (Why are unicorns so rare in Adult SFF?! GIVE ME UNICORNS, PEOPLE!)

Much love, hugely looking forward to diving into the sequel!

What have you been reading this week?

The post Sunday Soupçons #38 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Costumes For Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Costumes For Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta!

Costumes for Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta
Genres: Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi, YA
Representation: Nonbinary MC, NB/M
Published on: 27th May 2025
Goodreads

Calisto and Fawkes are drawn to each other for the first time, again, as they travel from when to when to take on a threat to all they hold dear in this lyrical and playful fantasy from award-winning author A. R. Capetta.

Anyone who has hiked through time knows the town of Pocket. It’s the place travelers first reach after they stumble away from their hometime, passing through on their way to any other when. To Calisto, Pocket is home. They love their grandmother’s shop, which is filled with clothes from every era that are used to make costumes for time travelers. Calisto has no intention of traveling—it’s too dangerous. For Fawkes, traveling is life. He put on time boots when he was young and has been stumbling through eras ever since. When he floats into Pocket, Calisto meets him for the first time, though Fawkes has seen Calisto—in glimpses of what hasn’t happened yet. He’s also seen the villains chasing them both. Now Calisto and Fawkes must rush—from Shakespeare’s London to ancient Crete to California on the eve of a millennium—to save Pocket, and travelers, from being erased.

From the Lambda Literary Award–winning author of The Heartbreak Bakery comes a fairy-tale romance that weaves in and out of time, from kiss to kiss and costume to costume.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-09T17:04:28+00:00", "description": "It's a whole WORLD that specialises in DRESSING TIME TRAVELLERS!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-costumes-for-time-travelers-by-a-r-capetta\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Costumes for Time Travelers", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "A.R. Capetta", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve been a fan of Capetta’s since The Brilliant Death – gorgeous gendeerqueer fantasy in a setting inspired by ancient Italy! – and it has been SO AWESOME to see them become a bigger and bigger name!

Their latest book seems tailor-made (pun absolutely intended) for me in particular – a whole setting devoted to clothing time-travellers!!! And it’s called POCKET!!! And we have a nonbinary MC working in their grandmother’s shop!!!

HI, I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS.

(Including that incredible Julie Dillon cover! *swoons*)

You can read an excerpt at the publisher page – I know it sealed the deal for ME!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Costumes For Time Travelers by A.R. Capetta appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #231

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

EIGHT books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Don't Sleep with the Dead by Nghi Vo
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

From award-winning author Nghi Vo comes Don't Sleep with the Dead, a standalone companion novella to The Chosen and the Beautiful, her acclaimed reimagining of The Great Gatsby.

Nick Carraway―paper soldier and novelist―has found a life and a living watching the mad magical spectacle of New York high society in the late thirties. He's good at watching, and he's even better at pretending: pretending to be straight, pretending to be human, pretending he's forgotten the events of that summer in 1922.

On the eve of the second World War, however, Nick learns that someone's been watching him pretend and that memory goes both ways. When he sees a familiar face at a club one night, it quickly becomes clear that dead or not, damned or not, Jay Gatsby isn't done with him.

In all paper there is memory, and Nick's ghost has come home.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Don't Sleep with the Dead", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nghi Vo", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

NEW NGHI VO NEW NGHI VO!!! Two Nghi Vo books in one year, we are SPOILED! Don’t Sleep With the Dead is a companion to The Chosen and the Beautiful, Vo’s Great Gatsby retelling from back in 2021. I am SO EAGER to dive into Vo’s incredible prose again!

No Such Thing As Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

"A page-turning thrill ride."

-Publishers Weekly (starred review)

In the waning days of World War One, William Somerset Maugham-novelist, playwright, and spy-is sent to Romania to serve allied interests in the fight against Austro-Hungary while dying of tuberculosis. His handler sets him to recruit mysterious Carpathian nobleman Walter Roşu to the cause. But Roşu is more interested in William than the war, and William struggles to fulfill his duty in the face of death and desire.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "No Such Thing As Duty", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lara Elena Donnelly", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Donnelly is one of my favourite authors and it is a THRILL to be getting a new book from her!!! Besides, queer spies+vampires? I’d be interested even if it wasn’t Donnelly!

Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1) by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

Whilst foraging for startleflower, perfumer Grace finds herself pursued by ruffians and rescued by a handsome paladin in shining armour. Only, to outwit her hunters they must pretend to be doing something very unrespectable in an alleyway.

Stephen, a broken paladin, spends his time knitting socks and working as a bodyguard, living only for the chance to be useful. But that all changes when he saves Grace and witnesses an assassination attempt gone wrong. Now, Stephen and Grace must navigate a web of treachery and poisoners, while a cryptic killer stalks one step behind.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. Kingfisher", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

T Kingfisher’s Saint of Steel books are getting gorgeous trad-pubbed editions in the UK! I approve IMMENSELY, not least because this is one of my all-time favourite series!!! If you haven’t read these yet then why haven’t you this is a most excellent time to start!

My review!

Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2) by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

From two-time Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes Paladin's Strength, the perfect blend of cosy fantasy romance and classic fantasy adventure featuring an order of secretive nuns, a swashbuckling paladin and a strange hive of rabbits.

He’s a paladin of a dead god, tracking a supernatural killer across a continent. She’s a nun from a secretive order, on the trail of the raiders who burned her convent and kidnapped her sisters.

When their paths cross at the point of a sword, Istvhan and Clara will be pitched headlong into each other’s quests, facing off against enemies both living and dead. But Clara has a secret that could jeopardize the growing trust between them, a secret that will lead them to the gladiatorial pits of a corrupt city, and beyond...

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Paladin's Strength (The Saint of Steel, #2)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. Kingfisher", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }} Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3) by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

From two-time Hugo Award-winning author T. Kingfisher comes a darkly cosy queer fantasy romance with a thrilling murder mystery, set in the same world as Paladin's Grace and Swordheart.

Piper is a lich-doctor, a physician who works among the dead, determining causes of death for the city guard's investigations. It's a peaceful, if solitary profession…until the day when he's called to the river to examine the latest in a series of mysterious bodies, mangled by some unknown force.

Galen is a paladin of a dead god, lost to holiness and no longer entirely sane. He has long since given up on any hope of love. But when the two men and a brave gnole constable are drawn into the web of the mysterious killer, it's Galen's job to protect Piper from the traps that await them.

He's just not sure if he can protect Piper from the most dangerous threat of all…

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Paladin's Hope (The Saint of Steel, #3)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. Kingfisher", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }} Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel, #4) by T. Kingfisher
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Secondary World Fantasy
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

Marguerite Florian is a spy with two problems. A former employer wants her dead, and one of her new bodyguards is a far too good-looking paladin with a martyr complex.

Shane is a paladin with three problems. His god is dead, his client is much too attractive for his peace of mind, and a powerful organization is trying to have them both killed.

Add in a brilliant artificer with a device that may change the world, a glittering and dangerous court, and a demon-led cult, and Shane and Marguerite will be lucky to escape with their souls intact, never mind their hearts…

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Paladin's Faith (The Saint of Steel, #4)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "T. Kingfisher", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }} The Only Song Worth Singing (Stories from The Green Place, #1) by Randee Dawn
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

PREORDER SPECIAL REGULAR PRICE ON PUBLICATION $9.99

"Dawn’s experience as a music writer comes through in her vibrant, authentic portrayal of the band’s sound and interpersonal dynamic. This fresh spin on favorite urban fantasy tropes will delight fans of Charles de Lint. "—Publishers Weekly

Childhood friends Patrick, Ciaran, and Malachi would've been happy to play music for coins on the streets of Dublin, but when their sound – a blend of traditional tunes and rock styling – lands them a record deal, they also get their first tour of America. As they gather fans, however, they also get the attention of three sídhe, fairies straight out of Irish tradition who play by their own rules.

Mal finds himself beleaguered by a prankster whose malicious tricks make him think he's losing his mind, while Ciaran falls hard for a hanger-on whose primal sexuality saps the life from him. Patrick can save them – if he's willing to trust the superstitions he learned during a painful childhood he thought he'd left behind long ago.

But the only thing that matters more than music to Patrick? His friends.

The Only Song Worth Singing is an upmarket mythic novel about blood, craic, and rock and roll. Set in the 90s at the height of the Celtic rock boom, it should appeal to fans of Alex Bledsoe and Alice Hoffman alike.

"The heart of Daisy Jones and the Six with the soul of A Court of Thorns and Roses…. A scintillating plot and an emotional wallop."—Aidan Prewett, author of Woodstock at 50: Anatomy of a Revolution

"Blends myth with the power of music and a brotherly bond to tell a story that's suspenseful and extremely romantic in all possible directions. I loved it!"—Delia Sherman, award-winning author of The Porcelain Dove

"Randee Dawn’s rich Hiberno-English narrative—interspersed with Irish Gaelic—brings The Only Song Worth Singing a vibrant dimension without affectation. Music is a living thing that makes magic feel real – and Dawn knocks this elusive aspect out of the park. Her story of a touring band provides an authentic illustration of the hardships and joys of the road, including the interpersonal tension between band members. Her story proves that whether in speech, song – or a work of fiction – words have tremendous power." —Beth W. Patterson, award-winning recording artist, road warrior, film music infiltrator

"A dark, parasitical fairy tale, The Only Song Worth Singing is sex, myth, and rock and roll all the way down to its bass-beating heart. It’s a story of faith, friendship, and brotherhood — of learning your roots, and finding your place, even if that means standing between one world and the next." — C. S. E. Cooney, World Fantasy Award-winning author of Saint Death’s Daughter

"With The Only Song Worth Singing, Dawn has crafted a sweeping epic that takes you from a thatched cottage in the countryside, to the bustle and glam of New York, to the green and magical place where it all began, against the backdrop of Irish folklore. Truly a magical, musical, must-read."—Jennifer Allis Provost, author of The Poison Garden

"When you hear a song you love so much that you wish you could live inside it for weeks, feeling it rush through you and touch you in ways only art can, this book can scratch that itch with long nails."—Meg Elison, award-winning author of Number One Fan

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Only Song Worth Singing (Stories from The Green Place, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Randee Dawn", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Irish mythology AND Irish music! As someone who misses both, I have high hopes for this one!

The Prayer Rug by Maleeha Jaffery
Genres: Magical Realism
Published on: 9th April 2025
Goodreads

A talismanic prayer rug subtly weaves together the lives of a unique cast of characters in this magic realist novel, which traverses space and time, culture and era, where nothing is quite as it seems.

In twenty-first century London Howra is on a quest to weave together the dark and broken strands of her past. Giles, a university professor, is – unknowingly – her closest ally, but his professional research becomes intertwined with a past he refuses to confront. An unnamed prisoner in solitary confinement contemplates both his past and present, while in Mughal India a reluctant princess considers her future. From the fleeting and the transient, to the unavoidable and life changing, their encounters with the prayer rug unravel their stories and selves, bringing light where there was once darkness.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-07T08:28:58+00:00", "description": "Irish myth, paladins, and a paper soldier!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-231\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Prayer Rug", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Maleeha Jaffery", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’m not usually a fan of magical realism, but this does sound potentially lovely!

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #231 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…Bind Me Tighter Still by Lara Ehrlich

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is Bind Me Tighter Still by Lara Ehrlich!

Bind Me Tighter Still by Lara Ehrlich
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 9th September 2025
Goodreads

“A gorgeous, playful, thoughtful novel for feminists, for mothers and daughters, for those of us who grew up on the *other* version of mermaids, and who’ve thought from time to time that we might prefer to join the sirens rather than tie ourselves to the mast."
—Amber Sparks, author of And I Do Not Forgive You

The youngest of three siren sisters, Ceto is weary of an existence driven by hunger, no better than a fish. She trades her tail for life on land, marries the first man she meets, and bears a daughter, only to discover that domesticity is just as mundane as sirenhood.

In search of something more, she flees with her daughter Naia to the ocean, where she establishes a mermaid burlesque and recreates herself, performing as a siren in a tank built into the limestone cliffs overlooking the sea. She trains more sirens, expanding Sirenland from a roadside attraction to a national sensation she rules without opposition—until Naia, at 15, begins to push back against the world Ceto has created and the role she performs in her mother’s shows. A death at Sirenland threatens Ceto's authority and leads Naia to question whether this women-ruled kingdom is truly as empowering as her mother would have her believe. Bind Me Tighter Still explores power and hunger, sacrifice and motherhood, and celebrates the fierceness of female strength in a male-dominated world.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-04-02T17:12:34+00:00", "description": "Sirens running a mermaid burlesque!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-bind-me-tighter-still-by-lara-ehrlich\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Bind Me Tighter Still", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lara Ehrlich", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Honestly, ‘mermaid burlesque run by actual mermaids’ is really all I need to hear with this one!

I’m not familiar with Ehrlich’s short fiction (I don’t read a lot of short fiction and really, I should work on that) but this sounds – like something I couldn’t have come up with in a thousand years! Something about it strikes me as surreal and kind of bonkers and ridiculously cool, yes please and thank you!

(Maybe it’s the blithe tone of the blurb as it talks about sirens? The idea of sirenhood being mundane?? A siren who takes her own – ex? – identity and builds a career out of performing it as burlesque??? I can’t quite put my finger on it but I am already delighted.)

Got to wait until September, but I’m pining!

The post I Can’t Wait For…Bind Me Tighter Still by Lara Ehrlich appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

In Short: March

This month had an incredible birthday (hubby surprised me with red velvet cake!); some illness and a bad fibro flare; a visit to the pet-dentist (the Chihuahua was DEEPLY unimpressed); a really wonderful date-day where the hubby and I saw much amazing street art; and the discovery that our local pizza place does an AMAZING pan pizza (super hard to find here!) Plus, of course, so many great books!!!

ARCs Received

This month my arc requests were almost all new-to-me authors (not including Son of the Morning, and I DID scream out loud when the approval for that came in!!!) New-to-mes are always a bit nerve-wracking, but you can’t say they’re not exciting too.

Read

20 books read in March (not counting three Tremontaine Season One episodes, because it’s just too fiddly to add them). More than February! I’m pleasantly surprised, because I felt so brain-dead this month I was sure I wasn’t getting much reading done!

The River Has Roots was, if anything, even more spectacular than I was expecting; The Raven Scholar surprised me by rocketing onto my Best of 2025 list, EASILY; Soulstar had me sobbing, in the very best way; and Pagans delighted endlessly with its incredibly thoughtful worldbuilding. (The History and Culture of Japanese Food, by the way, is very much worth tracking down if you have an interest in the topic; a little repetitive, but wonderfully thorough!)

Rereads included the Cemeteries of Amalo books; Point of Hearts, which was maybe even better the second time around; and Gaywyck, which is so over-the-top I can’t help but love it.

Reviewed

Pretty happy with my reviews this month! Especially given how brain-fried I was for the last few weeks.

DNF-ed

Dungeon Crawler Carl wasn’t on my DNF post yesterday, because I was reading it last night and the post was already up by then. It’s incredibly readable, I get why it’s so popular, but as I suspected the subject matter is just not for me. I’ll edit my DNF post to include it later.

ARCs Outstanding

All right, this might be getting out of hand. Just a tad.

Unmissable SFF Updates

We have the first Unmissable that I didn’t know to anticipate, but added to the list after I got to read it – The Raven Scholar! Plus, many awesome cover reveals!

How did my predictions/anticipated reads for March go? I declared six books Unmissable for this month, and–

two were five-star reads (The River Has Roots and Point of Hearts)two were four-star reads (Tomb of Dragons and Murder by Memory)one was a three-and-a-half star read (Homegrown Magic)one was a DNF (Aunt Tigress)

Not bad at all!

Misc

If you’re in the UK, a friend of mine has organised an event at the Oxford Literary Festival; The Frozen Frontier: Facing the Unseen! It’s about supernatural horror set in the arctic circle. It is ticketed, but there are still spots available! It’s going to be on the 4th of April, and if you go I will be extremely jealous of you!

Looking Forward

New releases from some long-term favourite authors, like Saint Death’s Herald(!!!!!); a collection from Aurora Martia; the close of the Godkiller trilogy; and new Akwaeke Emezi and Nghi Vo all show up next month! To say nothing of releases from new-to-me authors: Eat the Ones You Love is one I’m very hopeful for, and I’m incredibly excited for the illustrated story of Afia and the Land of Wonders! And while I’ve gotten to read Raven Scholar already, I’m hoping to reread it after release day. Eee!

Wishing all of us an awesome April!

The post In Short: March appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Visible In SFF: Trans Day of Visibility Recs!

Happy International Transgender Day of Visibility! To celebrate, I want to share five of my best-beloved SFF reads which feature trans and nonbinary main characters! And I have links to a bunch more at the end of the post, just in case you’ve already read all of these!

Domesticated Magic by Wendy Palmer
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Trans MC, M/M
Goodreads

Mateo Taurasi and his family fled their island home when their people turned to sorcery. Mateo’s own magic is tame but it’s still banned in the Vaeringan Empire...and his family still use it every day in their cosy teahouse. The last thing they need is an Imperial barging in to catch them at it.

Luckily, Jonas just wants to offer them a trade deal too good to resist. As hard as he tries, Mateo begins to find the cheerfully charming Jonas too good to resist, too.

But an unfairly attractive Imperial is not Mateo’s only problem. Rumours of sorcery loose in the city mean trouble for the Taurasi. With Jonas caught up in the mess, Mateo must investigate.

His family already lost their world once. Mateo can’t let them lose again. Not even if it costs him the man he really wishes he didn't have feelings for.

c/ explicit transm/m sex scenes

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-31T10:19:00+00:00", "description": "Looking for AMAZING SFF with trans leads? I got you.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/visible-in-sff-trans-day-of-visibility-recs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Domesticated Magic", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Wendy Palmer", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Domesticated Magic flat-out blew me away – not only is the writing bright and clear; not only are the characters multi-faceted delights; but the worldbuilding!!! Palmer takes the approach of ‘superficially simple, exquisitely elegant’ – the magic system, in particular, is genius in its simplicity! Like a Ming vase, the skill on display with the ‘clean lines’ of what Palmer has created is just–!!!

I’ve rarely become so invested so fast, and WOW did I feel All The Things: I was flapping my arms at the tense parts, making ridiculous noises when the happy things happened, even swooning at the romance (and I NEVER care about the romance!) and CRYING when Palmer clearly wanted me to (and I NEVER cry!) Mateo had me wrapped around his little finger, and I continue to ship him and Jonas so hard.

TLDR: Everything about this book is FLAWLESS!!!

Space Opera (Space Opera, #1) by Catherynne M. Valente
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary brown pansexual MC
Goodreads

A century ago, the Sentience Wars tore the galaxy apart and nearly ended the entire concept of intelligent space-faring life. In the aftermath, a curious tradition was invented—something to cheer up everyone who was left and bring the shattered worlds together in the spirit of peace, unity, and understanding.

Once every cycle, the civilizations gather for the Metagalactic Grand Prix—part gladiatorial contest, part beauty pageant, part concert extravaganza, and part continuation of the wars of the past. Instead of competing in orbital combat, the powerful species that survived face off in a competition of song, dance, or whatever can be physically performed in an intergalactic talent show. The stakes are high for this new game, and everyone is forced to compete.

This year, though, humankind has discovered the enormous universe. And while they expected to discover a grand drama of diplomacy, gunships, wormholes, and stoic councils of aliens, they have instead found glitter, lipstick, and electric guitars. Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny—they must sing.

A band of human musicians, dancers, and roadies have been chosen to represent Earth on the greatest stage in the galaxy. And the fate of their species lies in their ability to rock.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-31T10:19:00+00:00", "description": "Looking for AMAZING SFF with trans leads? I got you.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/visible-in-sff-trans-day-of-visibility-recs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Space Opera (Space Opera, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Catherynne M. Valente", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Probably the most accessible of Valente’s books, Space Opera is a JOYFULLY RIDICULOUS (and yet not ridiculous at all: brace for galaxy-brain moments and All The Feels) book that is packed full of clever, important thoughts on art and humanity and war…and will have you in absolute stitches, because gods damn, it is SO FUNNY. It’s such a perfect antidote to despair or cynicism: I recommend a dose whenever your brain is feeling grey.

My review!

Stealing Thunder by Alina Boyden
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, High Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Hijra (trans) MC
Goodreads

Protecting her identity means life or death in this immersive epic fantasy inspired by the Mughal Empire.

In a different life, under a different name, Razia Khan was raised to be the Crown Prince of Nizam, the most powerful kingdom in Daryastan. Born with the soul of a woman, she ran away at a young age to escape her father's hatred and live life true to herself.

Amongst the hijras of Bikampur, Razia finds sisterhood and discovers a new purpose in life. By day she's one of her dera's finest dancers, and by night its most profitable thief. But when her latest target leads her to cross paths with Arjun Agnivansha, Prince of Bikampur, it is she who has something stolen.

An immediate connection with the prince changes Razia's life forever, and she finds herself embroiled in a dangerous political war. The stakes are greater than any heist she's ever performed. When the battle brings her face to face with her father, Razia has the chance to reclaim everything she lost...and save her prince.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-31T10:19:00+00:00", "description": "Looking for AMAZING SFF with trans leads? I got you.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/visible-in-sff-trans-day-of-visibility-recs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Stealing Thunder", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alina Boyden", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I do NOT understand how this duology isn’t INFINITELY more well-known, but that is why it’s my job to tell you about it! These books follow a hijra (trans woman) in a setting inspired by ancient India; she was a prince in her previous life, and that experience serves her very well when she gets caught up (read: involves herself) in the intrigue of empires. Boyden pulls a lot from the real-life experience of modern hijra, which can be rough reading in parts, but the series is ultimately one of empowerment and triumph. Razia is such an incredible character, not just brave but fiercely intelligent and an excellent politicker (the power of friendship is strong with this one).

Also: see that dragon-ish creature on the second cover??? THAT’S A ZAHAK AND THEY SPIT LIGHTNING.

OR FIRE.

OR POISON.

AND THEY ARE EXTREMELY PLOT-RELEVANT.

Yeah, exactly. GO READ THESE IMMEDIATELY!

My review of book two! (Beware spoilers!)

The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: Vol. 1: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island by Kent Monkman, Gisele Gordon
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Nonbinary Native American MC
Goodreads

From global art superstar Kent Monkman and his long-time collaborator Gisèle Gordon, a transformational work of true stories and imagined history that will remake readers’ understanding of the land called North America.

For decades, the singular and provocative paintings by Cree artist Kent Monkman have featured a recurring character—an alter ego of sorts, a shape-shifting, time-travelling elemental being named Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. Though we have glimpsed her across the years in films and on countless canvases, it is finally time to hear her story, in her own words. And, in doing so, to hear the whole history of Turtle Island anew. The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island is a genre-demolishing work of genius, the imagined history of a legendary figure through which profound truths emerge—a deeply Cree and gloriously queer understanding of our shared world, its past, its present, and its possibilities.

Volume One, which covers the period from the creation of the universe to the confederation of Canada, follows Miss Chief as she moves through time, from a complex lived experience of Cree cosmology to the arrival of European settlers, many of whom will be familiar to students of history. An open-hearted being, she tries to live among those settlers, and guide them to a deeper understanding of the interconnectedness of all beings and the world itself. As their numbers grow, though, so does conflict, and Miss Chief begins to understand that the challenges posed by the hordes of newly arrived Europeans will mean ever greater danger for her, her people, and, by extension, all of the world she cherishes.

Blending history, fiction, and memoir in bold new ways, The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle are unlike anything published before. And in their power to reshape our shared understanding, they promise to change the way we see everything that lies ahead.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-31T10:19:00+00:00", "description": "Looking for AMAZING SFF with trans leads? I got you.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/visible-in-sff-trans-day-of-visibility-recs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Memoirs of Miss Chief Eagle Testickle: Vol. 1: A True and Exact Accounting of the History of Turtle Island", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Kent Monkman, Gisele Gordon", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I don’t know anything about the artworks that – inspired might be the wrong word? – this novel, but I can confirm that the book itself is excellent. It’s a history of Turtle Island, aka North America, as told by a Native American…spirit-goddess-person. Who is brilliant and funny and full of love in a way that is not Hallmark at all.

Being a history of the Native American peoples, it does get dark and depressing at times. It can’t really cover historical events and not be. But it’s also gorgeous, and I think really important reading for white people especially, not (just) because a lot of this is history that’s never covered in school, but because it’s imbued with an outlook and sense of humour that is uniquely Cree – and thus, very eye-opening. (It helped shatter a lot of unconscious ideas and beliefs I didn’t realise I had, which clearly needed to go!)

Plus, it’s worth reading for Miss Chief alone – a more fabulous personage I have rarely seen!

The Sapling Cage: A Novel (Daughters of the Empty Throne Book 1) by Margaret Killjoy
Genres: Fantasy, High Fantasy, New Adult, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Trans MC, F/F
Goodreads

In the gripping first novel in the Daughters of the Empty Throne trilogy, author Margaret Killjoy spins a tale of earth magic, power struggle, and self-invention in an own-voices story of trans witchcraft.

Lorel has always dreamed of becoming a learning magic, fighting monsters, and exploring the world beyond the small town where she and her mother run the stables. Even though a strange plague is killing the trees in the Kingdom of Cekon and witches are being blamed for it, Lorel wants nothing more than to join them. There’s only one all witches are women, and she was born a boy.

When the coven comes to claim her best friend, Lorel disguises herself in a dress and joins in her friend’s place, leaving home and her old self behind. She soon discovers the dark powers threatening the a magical blight scars the land, and the power-mad Duchess Helte is crushing everything between her and the crown. In spite of these dangers, Lorel makes friends and begins learning magic from the powerful witches in her coven. However, she fears that her new friends and mentors will find out her secret and kick her out of the coven, or worse.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-31T10:19:00+00:00", "description": "Looking for AMAZING SFF with trans leads? I got you.", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/visible-in-sff-trans-day-of-visibility-recs\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Sapling Cage: A Novel (Daughters of the Empty Throne Book 1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Margaret Killjoy", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Killjoy is an anarchist, and it comes through BEAUTIFULLY in Sapling Cage – give me ALL the anti-capitalist, anarchist-philosophy fantasy, please! I haven’t talked about the trans rep in the books I’m reccing today, but I was especially happy with how Sapling Cage handled it, because Lorel gets to be uncertain and messy about her gender, and especially with the idea of medical (magical) transition, which most cis people assume is the goal for every trans person – and Sapling Cage pushes back against that idea. Honestly, I’d recommend this to anyone who’s just learning about trans people; and entirely aside from that, it’s a great story, full of queerness, environmental themes, knights both terrible and epic, and a duchess who DEFINITELY needs deposing!

(Although don’t expect any magic school vibes; Lorel and the other baby witches have lots of other training to do before they start learning magic!)

You can find some of my other trans and non-binary SFF recs at the links below!

Fantasy Featuring Fabulous Trans Leads
Your Gender Binary Is Imaginary: Non-Binary Characters in Fantasy (+bonus scifi)
Your Gender Binary Is Still Imaginary: SFF For International Non-Binary People’s Day!
Celebrating Transgender Day of Visibility With SFF!
SFF Faves From Trans and Nonbinary Authors!
Your Gender Binary Remains Imaginary: SFF For Non-Binary People’s Day!
SFF For Trans Day of Visibility!

And if YOU have any recs, I’d love to hear them!

The post Visible In SFF: Trans Day of Visibility Recs! appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

A Most Epic Magnificence: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson

The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path, #1) by Antonia Hodgson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Black bisexual MC, bisexual love interest, queernorm setting
PoV: 'Third'-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 15th April 2025
ISBN: 0316577235
Goodreads

From an electrifying new voice in epic fantasy comes The Raven Scholar, a masterfully woven and playfully inventive tale of imperial intrigue, cutthroat competition, and one scholar’s quest to uncover the truth.

Let us fly now to the empire of Orrun, where after twenty-four years of peace, Bersun the Brusque must end his reign. In the dizzying heat of mid-summer, seven contenders compete to replace him. They are exceptional warriors, thinkers, strategists—the best of the best.

Then one of them is murdered. We know who did it. We saw it happen. No one else did.

It falls to Neema Kraa, the emperor’s brilliant, idiosyncratic High Scholar, to find the killer before the trials end. To do so, she must untangle a web of deadly secrets that stretches back generations, all while competing against six warriors with their own dark histories and fierce ambitions. Neema believes she is alone. But we are here to help; all she has to do is let us in.

If she succeeds, she will win the throne. If she fails, death awaits her. But we won’t let that happen.

We are the Raven, and we are magnificent.

I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-28T09:11:00+00:00", "description": "Epic fantasy that is nothing it claims to be, and EVERYTHING it wants to be!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/a-most-epic-magnificence-the-raven-scholar-by-antonia-hodgson\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Raven Scholar (Eternal Path, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Antonia Hodgson", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "0316577235" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": 5, "bestRating": "5" }} Highlights

~a surprisingly pertinent chameleon
~badass war-fans
~hallucinogens ftw
~never eat a dragon’s lunch
~life-saving chickens

This book hit so hard it left me reeling. I was physically dizzy for hours after I finished it!

(The fact that I read almost the whole 800 pages in one go – with no breaks for eating or drinking – may have contributed, I admit. BUT ONLY PARTLY!)

The Raven Scholar is an incredibly impressive tapestry of subverted expectations. The moment when it becomes clear that this ISN’T written in third-person (even if it reads like it is)? GENIUS. And really, that moment should have given me a head’s up that I shouldn’t take anything about this book at face value; it should have warned me that so many things and people and events were going to prove not-what-they-seemed. Perhaps smarter readers will learn that lesson! But I did not, with the result that I was surprised over and over – even when I was sure I knew what was happening, I was wrong every single time. Hodgson kept me on my toes for all 800 pages, and I loved every second of it.

Even though I went in quite wary. I’m not a fan of tournament stories, and I’ve never cared about compete-for-the-throne plotlines (at least, not when the competing takes the form of a literal competition). I picked up Raven Scholar not because the pitch appealed to me, but because it was garnering so much praise in other corners that I figured, why not? So let me address some of the concerns other readers might have about the tournament and its set-up: first off, the competition? Is genuinely interesting. Besides duels between all the participants, competitors have to complete challenges set by each temple. These challenges are not the same from one tournament to the next, so no one knows what to expect each time – and none of the challenges are what I’d call conventional. One involves house-cleaning; another is subterranean; one involves dramatic performance on a stage. And for the most part, you can actually see how each challenge tests a necessary skill an Emperor ought to have. I can’t think of another tournament story where that’s the case.

The other aspect some readers might feel hesitant about is who is setting these challenges. Because the temples stand for – and attempt to embody the traits of – the Guardians, the eight animal gods (one of which is, of course, the Raven). The temples themselves are less of an issue than the fact that, in this society, everyone declares for a Guardian when they reach adulthood, making their choice based on their dominant personality traits. So someone who’s very scholarly might declare for Raven, while someone very proud might choose Tiger. Described like this, it might give you horror flashbacks to Divergent, but fear not!!! It really isn’t like that at all – for one thing, unless you gain a place in a temple, everyone lives mixed up together, not in separate districts or cities divided by which Guardian they follow. And in fact, by the end of the book, I felt that I understood what the purpose of this system – having each person declare for a Guardian – was, and more than that, I could see how it was meant to work, and the good it’s meant to do. We only see a tiny bit of the Empire in this book, so we don’t yet know the effect this system has on wider society, but what we did see impressed me. It. Looks like it might really work, actually???

(Even in the case of the villains, I would argue that it’s not that the system has encouraged their awfulness – it’s that these individuals have deliberately abandoned or ignored part of their Guardian’s precepts, in order to twist part of them. It’s fascinating!)

Divergent was about dividing people. Hodgson’s take is about knitting people together, even though it might not look it at first.

Which brings us back to: Raven Scholar delights in not being what it looks like. The first chapter reads like the opening of a coming-of-age adventure; it isn’t. (And prepare to be gutted by how much it isn’t.) From there, we timeskip to the tournament – except this really isn’t a tournament story, for all that the book uses that as a framework. Almost immediately, we have a murder – only when push comes to shove, this isn’t a murder mystery, either. Raven Scholar initially takes a very high-brow approach to its storytelling, but that’s almost certainly just to make sure you’re taken aback when Hodgson reveals her sly, glittering sense of humour (do not read after midnight, you will wake the household laughing your head off at least once). A story that starts with a fairly narrow view expands wider and wider as the book goes on. Truths that are established right away turn out to not be true at all, just as a number of lies and fantasies reveal themselves to be all-too-true,-actually. Every time you think you have a handle on what it is – on where the story is going – the tables are flipped as the ground drops out from under you.

(In the best way.)

So what is it, if it’s not a tournament or a murder mystery or any of those things?

A FREAKING DELIGHT, is what!

The baby began to cry, great heartbreaking sobs.

“Emotional manipulation,” said the Fox. “I respect that.”

As are the cast: I’m not sure if Neema is intentionally coded autistic, but she read that way to me, and I adored her for it. She is the bookish, socially inept grump of my dreams, and Neema, if Cain won’t marry you, I very much will! That she’s compelled to correct inaccuracies whenever she hears them, not in a sneering way but just because those facts are wrong…oh, be still my heart! Cain took a little longer to grow on me – our sort-of love interest, and the Fox contender for the throne – but grow on me he certainly did; he’s too ridiculously funny not to.

Cain had to admit, she looked hot. They both did. Rivenna was like an evil butterfly and Ruko was like a big, sexy wardrobe that might kill you, and these were both very much Cain’s type. Cain had a lot of types.

Every one of the secondary and tertiary characters wowed me; Hodgson is just so great at making everyone with a name feel so distinct and fleshed-out (even including several characters that didn’t have names, actually!) so that even I, who am infamously terrible at keeping track of who’s who, never got anyone mixed up! DO YOU KNOW HOW RARE THAT IS? With a cast this big, too?! That never happens!

Benna clutched her cheeks in joy. “You have a pet chameleon? Oh my short, sweet life–I LOVE chameleons!”

Neema suspected that Benna LOVED lots of things. “I think someone may have stolen him.”

“No!”

“But he may have wandered off somewhere.”

“Yes!” Benna much preferred this theory.

And our VILLAINS, argh! You love to hate them. They are fantastic. They are the best kind of villains, because they are smart, and that makes the stakes so much higher – many fantasy stories, it feels inevitable that the ‘good’ side will triumph, which makes it impossible to create and sustain tension…but Hodgson has made me genuinely worried that ‘Good’ won’t win here. The bad guys have thought of everything, and our ‘heroes’ have no advantages over them at all; they’re not stronger, richer, more magical, possessing more allies… How the hells are they supposed to save the day? I have absolutely no idea.

It’s so refreshing!

If I have to critique something, it’s that very occasionally we didn’t see A Thing happen, but only had it summarised for us after the fact. I think that happened…maybe twice? Which, in 800 pages, is EMINENTLY forgivable. And that’s…it. Everything else was simply perfect!

And this is Hodgson’s DEBUT??? Clearly, I’m going to need to keep a defibrillator handy while reading her books in the future: if this is how good she is NOW, she’s going to knock me dead as she gets more practice!

I can see how a lesser author could have made a mess of Raven Scholar; it could have been too busy, overcrowded, unable to delve properly into every aspect and thereby making itself shallow. This book is enormously ambitious; I can’t think of another that attempted so much so fast, that tried to be so many different things – at least, not without turning into a trainwreck. But Raven Scholar is no trainwreck; it is, in fact, that rarest of things, a book that outshines even its own potential. Hodgson accomplishes everything she tries to do here, and she does it brilliantly, grandiosely, with fireworks. This is a multi-faceted, pulse-pounding, breath-catching epic, one that grows more intensely impressive with every page turned.

It is, in a word, magnificent.

Under no circumstances can you miss it!

The post A Most Epic Magnificence: The Raven Scholar by Antonia Hodgson appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…No Such Thing as Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is No Such Thing as Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly!

No Such Thing As Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: M/M
Published on: 8th April 2025
Goodreads

In the waning days of World War One, William Somerset Maugham—novelist, playwright, and spy—is sent to Romania to serve allied interests in the fight against Austro-Hungary while dying of tuberculosis. His handler sets him to recruit mysterious Carpathian nobleman Walter Roşu to the cause. But Roşu is more interested in William than the war, and William struggles to fulfill his duty in the face of death and desire.

PRAISE

“Gritty and decadent and brittle with gallows humor, No Such Thing as Duty has everything I want in a story: clever writing, characters sharp enough to cut yourself, and an ending that makes me double-take, then pick up the book and start reading from the beginning. Set aside an afternoon to devour this in one sitting, and thank me later.”
—Allison Epstein, author of Fagin the Thief

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-26T11:47:17+00:00", "description": "WW1 spies and vampires!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-no-such-thing-as-duty-by-lara-elena-donnelly\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "No Such Thing As Duty", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lara Elena Donnelly", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve adored Donnelly since the genre-defying Amberlough trilogy – which is a masterpiece, although I do acknowledge that it’s not a very mass-appeal one. Trying to pitch Donnelly to other readers has always been hard: I’m either saying read this super queer no-magic political fantasy where the fascists win! (Amberlough) or check out this narcissistic nonbinary perfumer/serial killer making perfumes from people and no it’s not historical! (Base Notes.)

They’re both really grim yeah but they’re so GOOD!!!

It’s a hard sell. Can’t think why.

But that’s why I’m not just excited for No Such Thing as Duty because one of my favourite authors has written a DEEPLY COOL NEW THING (with vampires??? maybe???) and I get to read it soon!!! I’m also excited because perhaps this will appeal to more readers than Donnelly’s other books? And those new readers will fall in love with her writing too?? And she’ll FINALLY start getting the recognition she deserves???

GODS DAMN I HOPE SO.

You can preorder the paperback at the publisher website, and it’ll be available elsewhere and in ebook form on or around release day!!

The post I Can’t Wait For…No Such Thing as Duty by Lara Elena Donnelly appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

Must-Have Monday #229

Must-Have Monday is a feature highlighting which of the coming week’s new releases I’m excited for. It is not meant to be a comprehensive list of all books being published that week; only those I’m interested in out of those I’m aware of! The focus is diverse SFF, but other genres sneak in occasionally too.

TEN books this week!

(Books are listed in order of pub date, then Adult SFF, Adult Other, YA SFF, YA Other, MG SFF.)

Every Dark Cloud by Marisca Pichette
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary MCs
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

Living in a post-climate disaster world protected by a layer of artificial cloud, Mallory knows every shade of darkness, their world lit sparingly by bioluminescence. But when Rein stumbles across their path—radioactive light bleeding from their teeth, their skin twisted and burned—Mallory’s worldview implodes, and the true cost of their survival becomes all too clear.

A haunting cli-fi novella ideal for fans of Tiffany Morris and Stephanie Feldman, EVERY DARK CLOUD combines a dystopian setting and class-conscious narrative with a glimmer of hope for our shared humanity.

Praise for Every Dark Cloud:

"Part enchanting dreamworld, part blistering nightmare, Every Dark Cloud warns us of humanity's worst impulses, and reminds us of its best."

-- Stephanie Feldman, author of Saturnalia

"Marisca Pichette's Every Dark Cloud is a spare, unflinching, yet wonderfully compassionate window into a future that feels all too possible — but even in the darkness of late-stage capitalism taken to its (un)natural extreme, Pichette never loses sight of human connection, both to each other and to the natural world. It's a quick, fully realized read with its fingers planted firmly in the soil, delightfully queer sensibilities, and characters I would gladly follow far beyond these pages."

— Jaq Evans, author of What Grows in the Dark

"Part dystopia, part horror, Pichette has created an inventive and emotionally evocative world where profound and unsettling truths are held in light and darkness. Every Dark Cloud is a gripping, genre-defying novella shot-through with beauty and sporror."

—Tiffany Morris, author of Green Fuse Burning

"Lyrical, graceful, and dark -- Marisca Pichette’s Every Dark Cloud is a marvel of climate fiction. Pichette pulls off an absolute coup by creating an immersive world that delights even as it terrifies, down to the sentence-level. But don’t be fooled. This eerie world is not some far-off, hypothetical dream land of elsewhere. Pichette’s novella dares us to stare directly at our future, in the tradition of the very best speculative by interrogating a possible future, we can most clearly see our present."

— Caren Sumption, author of Three Songs for Roxy and So Quick Bright Things Come to Confusion

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Every Dark Cloud", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marisca Pichette", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I’ve been looking forward to this one since I first heard about it! Bioluminescence, queerness, and a hopeful look at the end of the world? Yes please!

The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Queer MC, M/M
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

In this mesmerizing, wonderfully moving queer cozy fantasy, an immortal ghost hunter must confront his tragic past in order to embrace his found family.

Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name.

After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to wander eternally far from home, with the ability to see ghosts and talk to plants.

Immortality means Peter has lost everyone he’s ever loved. And so he centers his life on the dead—until his wandering brings him to Harrington, Ohio. As he searches for a vengeful spirit, Peter’s drawn into the townsfolk’s lives, homes and troubles. For the first time in over a century, he wants something other than death.

But the people of Harrington will die someday. And he won’t.

As Harrington buckles under the weight of the supernatural, the ghost hunt pits Peter’s well-being against that of his new friends and the man he’s falling for. If he stays, he risks heartbreak. If he leaves, he risks their lives.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Keeper of Lonely Spirits", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "E.M. Anderson", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I didn’t adore this author’s debut, but I did think it was clear they were going to be genuinely great with a little more experience/practice (or a better editor). So I’m really hopeful that this is going to rock!

You can read an excerpt here!

The Serpent Called Mercy by Roanne Lau
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Malaysian Chinese-inspired cast and setting
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

The Witcher meets Squid Game in this Malaysian Chinese-inspired epic fantasy novel where a debt-ridden slumdog joins an illegal monster-fighting arena for some fast coin, but quickly learns the most dangerous beasts are outside the ring, by debut author Roanne Lau

Lythlet and her only friend Desil are shackled to a life of debt and poverty that she fears they will never escape. Desperate for money, they sign up as arena combatants who fight sun-cursed beasts in the seedy underworld of the city.

Match-master Dothilos is initially enamored of Desil’s brawling reputation, but after seeing Lythlet lead the pair to triumph with her quick cunning, he takes her under his wing, scorning Desil. Ambition takes root in Lythlet’s heart as a life of fame and wealth unfolds in her imagination.

But Lythlet isn’t the only one out for coin and glory, and she soon finds herself playing an entirely different game—a game of politics and deception. As the cost of her ambition grows, she will have to decide if sacrificing her honor, and only friendship, is worth the chance to shape her own fortune.

A whirlwind of blood-pounding battles as characters grapple with their choices in the face of wealth and financial security, The Serpent Called Mercy's heart is the underlying, steadfast friendship between its protagonists.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Serpent Called Mercy", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Roanne Lau", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Apparently the worldbuilding in this is pretty limited – to just the city it’s set in – but that might be all right if everything else is great, and the reviews I’ve seen seem to suggest that’s the case!

Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food by J.J. Dupuis, A.G. Pasquella
Genres: Adult, Sci Fi
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

An anthology of speculative short fiction imagining the possibilities of our food-insecure future.

Our lives, our culture, our community all start with and revolve around food and eating. Sharing meals with family and friends has been a hallmark of human society from our earliest beginnings. But we are entering an era of unprecedented change. Climate, technology, the global spread of crop diseases, droughts, and the loss of pollinators threaten to change not only how much food we eat, but what we eat and how we eat it.

Devouring Tomorrow explores this strange new menu through the eyes and palates of some of Canada’s most exciting authors. See a world with no bees left to pollinate our crops. Encounter lab-grown meat so advanced that it becomes sentient. Visit a land where diseases wipe out a common fruit and the society of a nation changes around its loss. This is not the world of the distant future ― this is tomorrow.

Featuring stories from:
Sifton Tracey Anipare • Carleigh Baker • Gary Barwin • Chris Benjamin • Eddy Boudel Tan • Catherine Bush • Jowita Bydlowska • Lisa de Nikolits • Dina Del Bucchia • Terri Favro • Elan Mastai • Mark Sampson • Ji Hong Sayo • Jacqueline Valencia • Anuja Varghese • A.G.A. Wilmot

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Devouring Tomorrow: Fiction from the Future of Food", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J.J. Dupuis, A.G. Pasquella", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I love foodie fiction, and the future of food? Yes! I absolutely want to see sci fi takes on food! So curious to see what all the authors came up with!

The Night Stair: A Sourdough Tale by Angela Slatter
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

Angela Slatter's The Night Stair is a gothic fantasy tale of vampires, vengeance, and treachery set in the award-winning author's Sourdough universe.

Two of Adlisa's sisters have been selected to serve, adopting the role of dutiful daughter to the dark Lady who rules the manor. Two of Adlisa's sisters were eaten, devoured when the Lady's fixations soured and they were deemed expendable.

Now it's Adlisa's turn to serve, selected from seven candidates to step into the opulent luxury of her new life. Her survival depends on maintaining a fragile illusion, standing in for the child Her Ladyship lost centuries before.

Yet Adlisa is no helpless daughter, here to serve and earn coin for her family until her untimely death. She plays her own games with the Lord and Lady of the house, and she is not as helpless as she seems.

This chapbook presents a stand-alone story set in the world of A.G. Slatter's The Crimson Road, alongside an author's note and an updated chronology of the Sourdough universe.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "The Night Stair: A Sourdough Tale", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Angela Slatter", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

New Angela Slatter!!! This is a chapbook (so I think a short story/novella?) that I believe provides some backstory/context for her most recent novel, The Crimson Road (which I haven’t finished yet, but: vampires!!!) The Sourdough universe is one that continuously delights me and wrings my heart out, so I’ll be pouncing on this!

Exquisite Ruin (The Labyrinth, #1) by AdriAnne May
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Representation: Bisexual love interest
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

In this darkly romantic reimagining of the Minotaur myth, a sorceress and a demon are entwined in sensual battle to escape a deadly maze and reclaim their freedom.

Sadaré wakes in a labyrinth, remembering nothing except that she is a powerful sorceress. Her only ally (or is he an enemy?) is an immortal being named Daesra—beautiful, dangerous, and demonic—who bound his soul for power and revenge.

Though they mistrust one another, they have no choice but to work together if they are to reach the center and defeat the monster who prevents their escape. But the longer they wander, the more dangerous and strangely alive the maze becomes.

As sorceress and demon develop a tenuous truce and the labyrinth gives Sadaré glimpses of their shared history, she finds herself drawn to Daesra in ways that make her question everything. Uncovering the secrets of her past may be the only way to survive and heal their entwined fates—but as the two learn more about the betrayals that brought them to the labyrinth, Sadaré begins to fear that the monster at the center of the maze could be Daesra...or herself,

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Exquisite Ruin (The Labyrinth, #1)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "AdriAnne May", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

I think this is the author’s Adult debut? I’ve read some of their YA and enjoyed it – I very much recommend Beyond the Black Door (written under the name AM Strickland)! I suspect this’ll be very different – BtBD had an ace MC, whereas the protagonist of Exquisite Ruin is a sexual masochist! – but hopefully still great!

You can read an except here!

Children of Useyi (Sisters of the Mud, #2) by Moses Ose Utomi
Genres: Fantasy, YA
Representation: West African-coded cast and setting
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

An elite female fighter and her found family of sisters battle gods and monsters for their existence in this captivating West African–inspired young adult fantasy sequel to Daughters of Oduma, perfect for fans of The Gilded Ones and Legendborn.

Eat. Dance. Fight for your life.

The girls in the Mud Fam are used to fighting hard—it’s the only way to win in their elite, all-female sport of Bowing. Thanks to her legendary performance at the last tournament, Dirt has helped their ranks swell with a bevy of new recruits. She has finally achieved her lifelong dream of restoring glory to the Mud Fam, and she’s more than ready to win the upcoming tournament. But everything changes when a man washes up on shore.

There are no adults on the Isle, not since the long-ago days when the gods walked the earth. Yet here is a mysterious man who calls himself Mister Odo and claims to come from the land of the gods. He declares a tournament to find the best Bower. Though wary of the secretive Mister Odo, Dirt is prepared to battle as a proud, fat Bower should—that is, until the competitors are attacked by monsters. The only thing that can save the girls is the gods-given magic that Dirt can channel…and even that might not be enough.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Children of Useyi (Sisters of the Mud, #2)", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Moses Ose Utomi", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Never ever EVER going to get over seeing a plus-sized brown girl ON A TRAD-PUBBED BOOK COVER. Heart-eyes forever!

Lovely Dark and Deep by Elisa A. Bonnin
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: Bisexual Filipino-American MC
Published on: 25th March 2025
Goodreads

From author Elisa A. Bonnin comes Lovely Dark and Deep, a YA dark academia novel exploring magic, loneliness, and the power of found family.

Hidden off the coast of Washington, veiled in mist, there is an island that does not appear on any map. And on that island is Ellery West.

Ellery West has always been home for Faith. After an international move and a childhood spent adjusting to a new culture and a new language, the acclaimed school for magic feels like the only place she can be herself. That is, until Faith and another student walk into the forest, and only Faith walks out.

Marked with the red stripe across her uniform that designates all students deemed too dangerous to attend regular classes, Faith becomes a social pariah, an exile of Ellery West. But all she has to do is keep her head down for one more year to graduate, and she gets to keep her magic. Because when students fail out of Ellery West, they have their magic taken away. Forever. And Faith can't let that happen.

Except terrifying things are still happening to students, and the dark magic that was unleashed in the forest still seems to be at work. To stop it, Faith and the other Red Stripes will have to work together, risking expulsion from the magical world altogether.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Lovely Dark and Deep", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elisa A. Bonnin", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

So excited to finally dive into this! I really like how Bonnin’s set up the ‘branches’ of magic, and the more I think about it, the more sinister and terrible separating the students (as described in the blurb) sounds. (Got my fingers crossed we’re FINALLY going to see someone critique the fuck out of the really ick British-style magic school set-up that’s so popular…)

You can read an excerpt at the publisher page! (Where it says ‘read an excerpt’ below the book cover!)

Goldnight of Starfall by Beau Van Dalen
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Published on: 26th March 2025
Goodreads

“Helge, my angel, my downfall….

You’ve promised me the world I so dearly wish for…

You claim I am your past lover incarnate—I can only hope you speak true.”

In a countryside still ravaged by magical war, Eris—a closeted trans man—names himself in secret after a fairytale Prince, only to summon the Prince’s fallen angel lover in return.

The angel, Helge, is convinced he has just found his star-crossed lover in Eris, reincarnated.

Regardless of the truth, Eris takes Helge as his lover, to get away from the repression of his mundane life. The two soon find themselves in a kindred symbiotic relationship. As their deepest desires merge then blend, they turn into a single wish of escaping from this world that would never accept them—to carve a place for themselves, to find meaning in the meaningless, and love at the end of a rising dawn.

From award nominated and best-selling author Beau Van Dalen, Goldnight of Starfall is a dark fantastical erotic tale, featuring a trans man protagonist, weaved with dark fabulism, themes of existentialism and hope hidden within despair.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Goldnight of Starfall", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Beau Van Dalen", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Angels and queerness??? REINCARNATION (maybe)??? (Honestly, I think the ‘maybe’ makes the story IMMENSELY MORE INTERESTING!) I am sold so hard!

Blood Tethered by I.S. Belle
Genres: Fantasy, Contemporary or Urban Fantasy, Queer Protagonists, YA
Representation: M/M
Published on: 30th March 2025
Goodreads

“Just get your teeth in me already, blood boy. I have places to be.”

Theo Fairgood is the golden boy. Popular, athletic, and determined to uphold his family’s good name.

Kade Renfield is trouble. Black clothes, fast fists and a bad attitude. He’s waiting for his grand story to start, but until then he’s stuck chasing highs, crashing parties and snarling at anyone who stares.

They should only cross paths when Theo trips Kade in the halls.

But when Theo gets attacked by a horrifying creature at his own party, Kade is the only one who can drag him to safety. It turns out he shouldn’t have. Theo is fine. Bloodthirsty and, you know, dead - but otherwise fine.

Kade tries to stay away. But vampire venom is addictive, and Theo doesn’t have anyone else who knows his thirsty secret. They grudgingly strike a Theo feeds on Kade. Kade gets the best high he’s ever had and no withdrawal sweats. And since they’re trapped together, they might as well team up and find out who turned Theo, who murdered an old man the night of the party, and why Theo’s touch burns Kade but no one else.

As they unravel the mysteries of their strange hometown, the most startling discovery is that Kade is soft under all his spikes, and Theo can be gentle when he isn’t around his jock friends. They might actually enjoy each other’s company when Theo doesn’t have his fangs in Kade’s neck.

The golden boy and the town freak can’t be together. They can’t even be friends. But they’re the only ones who can protect each other as their enemy’s plans are revealed and the boys discover they’re linked in ways they could never have imagined.

Blood Tethered is the first book in a LGBT vampire romance YA trilogy full of forced proximity, banter and blood-drinking.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-24T11:11:00+00:00", "description": "Magic schools, labyrinths, and addictive vampire venom!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/must-have-monday-229\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "Blood Tethered", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "I.S. Belle", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Addictive vampire venom??? A wrecked bad boy ‘waiting for his story to start’? Be still my beating heart! PLUS, if I have my info correct, we should be getting all three books of this trilogy this year! (Book 2 in April, book 3 in May!) THAT doesn’t happen too often!

Will you be reading any of these? Did I miss any releases you think I should know about? Let me know!

The post Must-Have Monday #229 appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.

I Can’t Wait For…House of Dusk by Deva Fagan

Can’t-Wait Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted over at Wishful Endings to spotlight and discuss the books we’re excited about but haven’t yet read. Most of the time they’re books that have yet to be released, but not always. It’s based on the Waiting on Wednesday meme, which was originally hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine. 

This week my Can’t-Wait-For Book is House of Dusk by Deva Fagan!

House of Dusk by Deva Fagan
Genres: Adult, Fantasy, Epic Fantasy, Queer Protagonists
Representation: Sapphic MC
Published on: 26th August 2025
Goodreads

A romantic epic fantasy featuring a fire-wielding nun grappling with her dark past and a young spy caught between her mission and a growing attraction to an enemy princess

With complex relationships, a rich and mythic world, and brisk pacing, this standalone novel is perfect for fans of Tasha Suri, Samantha Shannon, and Shannon Chakraborty

Ten years ago, Sephre left behind her life as a war hero and took holy vows to seek redemption for her crimes, wielding the flames of the Phoenix to purify the dead. But as corpses rise, a long-dead god stirs, and shadowy serpents creep from the underworld, she has no choice but to draw on the very past she's been trying so hard to forget.

Orphaned by the same war Sephre helped win, Yeneris has trained half her life to be the perfect spy, a blade slipped deep into the palace of her enemies. Undercover as bodyguard to Sinoe, a princess whose tears unleash prophecy, Yeneris is searching for the stolen bones of a saint. Her growing attraction to the princess, however, is proving dangerous, and Yeneris struggles to balance her feelings for Sinoe with her duty to her people.

As gods are reborn and spirits destroyed, the world trembles on the edge of a second cataclysm. Sephre must decide whether to be bound by her past or to forge a better future, even if it means renouncing her vows and accepting a new and terrible power. Meanwhile, when the true enemy makes their bid for power, Yeneris must find a way to remain true to her full self and save both her mission and her heart. 

As dead gods rise and corruption creeps across the world, this sweeping standalone fantasy tale of forbidden sapphic love and dark betrayal will set your heart ablaze.

{ "@context":"https://schema.org", "@type":"Review", "datePublished": "2025-03-19T10:05:24+00:00", "description": "A fire-wielding nun, and a spy out to steal (back?) a saint's relics!", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Every Book a Doorway" }, "url": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/i-cant-wait-for-house-of-dusk-by-deva-fagan\/", "itemReviewed": { "@type": "Book", "name": "House of Dusk", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Deva Fagan", "sameAs": "" }, "isbn": "" }, "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sia", "sameAs": "https:\/\/everybookadoorway.com\/" }, "reviewRating": { "@type": "Rating", "ratingValue": false, "bestRating": "5" }}

Listen, this was on my radar before the cover reveal – but gods DAMN, that is one HELL of a cover!!! Look at those mosaics!!!

Fire-magic feels very familiar, but when I stop and think, I can’t actually think of many examples, especially not recent ones. And if it’s a classic, it’s a classic for a reason: fire-magic is extremely cool! I would absolutely like to see more of it, especially from phoenix-nuns!

And who doesn’t love a sapphic spy??? Falling for a PRINCESS, no less??? While working on stealing the bones of a saint??? That could be a novel all by itself and I would eat it up.

Dead gods are something I always find really fascinating, because what does it do to a faith to know gods objectively exist and can die? And come back to life, from the sound of it (I’m guessing this isn’t going to be a particularly nice god??? PROBABLY NOT.) How many other gods are there, and do they have opinions on this dead god’s death? Or rebirth? That sounds very much under the remit of something called the Phoenix…

Also, hi: SECOND cataclysm??? What was the first one? (When the now-dead god died, perhaps?) How long has it been since the first cataclysm, and how has the world adapted to the aftermath? What WAS the aftermath? I’m very much hoping for really interesting worldbuilding now!

(Plus, did you see those four beings in the corners of the cover? Scarab/bird/snake/sphinx? I love that their placement reminds me of the World card in tarot, but even if the bird is meant to be the Phoenix, who are the other three???)

Extremely intrigued!

The post I Can’t Wait For…House of Dusk by Deva Fagan appeared first on Every Book a Doorway.