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Starred Review: WICKHILLS by Premee Mohamed

Jul 222026
 

Library Journal: Vycol Ferec believes he’s working for the city of Wickhills, doing good and smoothing down the rough edges. However, he’s really the secret police, and this mission is going to get a whole lot of people killed, including his own team—unless they betray him first. He’s protecting a scientist who has discovered a way to destroy all the city walls, and everyone is out to capture that secret so they can do unto others first. Vycol Ferec is never certain whether he should keep running or stop fighting because he’s burning through his friends and his enemies, and it looks like no one is going to come out of this alive, possibly not even the city he loves. This gas-lamp urban fantasy combines an exciting adventure, a walk through dangerous, secret places, and one man’s crisis. The pace is relentless, the characters are unreliable at every turn, and the stakes are high with every step. VERDICT Recommend Mohamed’s (The First Thousand Trees) latest to lovers of gas-lamp fantasy, epic political machinations, or hidden motives and anyone who has wondered what a fantasy version of Green City Wars by Adrian Tchaikovsky would look like.

 July 22, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: THE UNHAUNTING by Micaiah Johnson

Jul 202026
 

Publishers Weekly: Johnson (Those Beyond the Wall) breathes new life into an old horror trope in this clever inversion of the classic haunted house story. The building at its center is a Civil War–era family home in rural Mississippi, recently inherited by Avery Abernathy. Determined to turn it into a peaceful sanctuary from hectic city life, Avery sets about renovating the place with help from his moody older brother, Tobias, and his close friend Shantell. They quickly sense that something about the dwelling is, if not wrong, then too right: local history suggests the house and its residents have escaped every misfortune that has plagued the surrounding town for over a century. Meanwhile, the central trio’s maladies, including anxiety and nicotine addiction, fade away within the house’s walls. Still, weirdness abounds: the exterior indicates an attic that’s not accessible from the inside, and mysterious figures appear in the windows. And if the house is indeed manipulating their perceptions, memories, and emotions, it must have its reasons. Johnson largely sidesteps ghostly phenomena to keep the focus on her well-developed Black protagonists, each of whom is haunted by past traumas the house exploits for its own macabre purposes. She also allows the house to speak directly to the reader, revealing designs that transcend those typically ascribed to horror’s well-known malignant dwellings. This chiller will be a hit with anyone seeking a fresh take on genre conventions. (Sept.)

 July 20, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: CHILDREN OF OWL by Darcie Little Badger

Jul 162026
 

Publishers Weekly: In a stunning contemporary fantasy from Lipan Apache Newbery Honoree Little Badger and featuring artwork from Rajunov (Looking at the Sky), three teens determine to save their home from forces both supernatural and benign. Sixteen-year-old Maisie’s peaceful life in Sunny Parks, a mobile home community populated by her extended family, is upended following a meeting with the son of the legendary Big Owl, a prominent figure in Lipan Apache stories, who warns Maisie that “a terrible fate looms.” With few details to work with (“It’s imminent, this tragedy. That’s all I know”), Maisie is pulled into a tangle of overlapping mysteries while trying to prevent impending disaster: a vengeful ghost haunts her cousin, new information in a long-unsolved murder case incriminates another relative, her late best friend’s time capsule disappears, and a recently arrived foster cat has been behaving strangely. Competing clues and rising tensions within Sunny Parks repeatedly stymie Maisie’s attempts to sidestep catastrophe. Omniscient narration is peppered with letters and diary entries from two of Maisie’s cousins as well as ethereal, earth-toned comics, layering contextual and visual excitement atop a lush, multifaceted tale. Mystery and speculative elements converge in this fluid, intricately constructed story that balances suspenseful plotting with emotional resonance and cultural depth.

 July 16, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: HELP! I’M BEING EATEN BY A BEAR! by Neil Sharpson

Jul 152026
 

Kirkus: Fancy pants prove no match for madcap ursine rage. On the heels of Don’t Trust Fish (2025), Sharpson and Santat re-create the magic of their previous collaboration. This time our hero is a tan-skinned, dark-haired man with some seriously choice orange cargo pants. After flying from Ireland to Alaska, the man almost immediately comes face-to-face with a bear. The encounter doesn’t go well, culminating (after some seriously Looney Tunes–esque capers) with our hero in the hospital after briefly being devoured (he makes it out alive, but the “FANCY TRAVELING PANTS” are tragically shredded). Fortunately, all turns out well when human and bear are reunited for a surprising literary collaboration. Sharpson packs all manner of verbal jokes into this telling, each one deftly picked up and illustrated with additional flourishes by Santat. (When the protagonist confesses that the bear has been following him everywhere, even virtually, the bear’s online comment reads, “I see you bro.”) At times, the narration drags a bit due to the sheer plethora of wordplay. Still, it’s a small criticism given the enjoyment that this tale will provide; Santat’s silliness more than keeps the energy afloat. A worthy entry in the pantheon of consumed picture-book protagonists, with jokes that come as fast as a furious bear. (Picture book. 4-8)

 July 15, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: WICKHILLS by Premee Mohamed

Jul 132026
 

Booklist: Mohamed’s latest (after The First Thousand Trees, 2025) starts with Ferec, a secret agent, and his partner, Tanczel, searching for a rare object that could be very dangerous if misused. This leads to a grave outcome, with Ferec left to pick up the pieces. His suspicions that he and his partner were set up increase as the story plays out, and he is determined to find out who may have done this. Unfortunately, this makes his employer regard him as a dissident and untrustworthy. Mohamed’s rich, atmospheric descriptions of the setting of Wickhills call to mind a modern-day steampunk version of London. The theme of surviving a rough city with precarious rules runs steadily throughout the book in tandem with the fantastical elements. Ferec’s struggle to survive the increasing forces against him intensifies as each new discovery puts him in more danger. Fans of China Miéville’s novels, particularly King Rat (1999) and Perdido Street Station (2001), as well as Jeff Vandermeer’s Southern Reach series will enjoy.

 July 13, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: DON’T CROSS MO ELLERY by Birdie Horne

Jul 092026
 

Publishers Weekly: Eden Robins (Remember You Will Die) and MW Garguilo (The Stupendous Switcheroo) join forces under a new pseudonym for this witty and wacky millennial sleuthing story. After 29-year-old Mo Ellery loses her Chicago office job, her boyfriend, and her apartment all at once, she becomes a school crossing guard. When her daily nemesis, whom she’s nicknamed “Poodle Dude” for the dogs he drives around recklessly in his Kia Sportage, ends up dead in a sinkhole near Mo’s crosswalk, Claudia, an energetic old woman who has been refusing her assistance crossing the street, claims there’s foul play involved. She insists Mo take the dogs home and help her investigate. Though Mo is reluctant, Claudia’s bullying and the help of clever pink-haired tween Marlowe rope her into an investigation that intensifies when another character ends up dead. Mo is an appealingly reluctant investigator, and her disappointments and romantic troubles will resonate with readers trying to make their lives work in their 20s and 30s. The authors maintain a bright tone throughout, leaning more into social hijinks than thriller beats, but for mystery fans in Mo’s demographic, this is a winningly relatable diversion.

 July 9, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: CHILDREN OF OWL by Darcie Little Badger

Jul 062026
 

Kirkus: The Lipan Apache Moreno cousins, who are growing up in the Sunny Park mobile home community, feel powerless after Maisie’s best friend, Mara, dies and they lose their cousin Connor to a wrongful conviction for voluntary manslaughter. When Owl, a winged boy who’s the son of Big Owl, the legendary “father of birds,” cryptically warns Maisie about a tragedy that will befall people close to her, she vows to prevent it. Podcasters are nosing around Sunny Park, trying to find out more about Connor. But Maisie and Verona are sharing a house-sitting job at an apparently haunted horse ranch, while Joel’s days are full looking after foster kittens at their Grandma and Great-Aunt Fran’s house—and complicated by a shapeshifting feline. This coming-of-age tale follows the cousins on a quest that will both challenge and define them. It unfolds in a creative mixed-media format: Little Badger (Lipan Apache) seamlessly interweaves third-person narration with the leads’ first-person chapters, which are printed on ruled notebook pages, and Rajunov’s artful full-color comics panels. The gorgeous, multicolored palette of the book’s pages evokes the Southwest Texas setting. Genre-defying, fantastical, and imbued with deeply human realism, this narrative is grounded in the vulnerability, resiliency, and bravery of young people as they overcome hardship and right historical, generational, and systemic wrongs. A magical story that both haunts and enchants.

 July 6, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Review: THE FELICITY COMPLEX by august clarke

Jul 022026
 

Publishers Weekly: Clarke (Metal from Heaven) delivers a biting dystopian satire that blends queer speculative fiction, body horror, and Cold War paranoia. Deep beneath the earth, the Felicity Complex, a luxury bunker designed for the wealthy, prepares for the apocalypse, staffed by six lab-grown women (called “specimens”) engineered to embody idealized femininity and service. Among them is Hallelujah, an earnest concierge specimen whose unwavering belief in her purpose begins to fracture when the bunker’s first guests arrive and long-buried secrets surface. Hallelujah’s innocent perspective provides both humor and a sense of unease, and the other specimens, all with their own distinct roles to play, are just as well drawn. Together, they carry the novel’s sharp-toothed commentary about autonomy, gender, power, and ownership. Some revelations feel telegraphed too early, and the relationships among the specimens could use more room to breathe, but the fast pace keeps the tension high, while Clarke’s prose cultivates dread with architectural precision. Fans of Fallout-esque retro-futurism, sapphic speculative fiction, and satirical examinations of privilege and gender will find this both deeply unsettling and darkly entertaining.

 July 2, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: A TRADE OF BLOOD by Robert Jackson Bennett

Jul 012026
 

Publishers Weekly: Bennett continues to make genre-blending appear effortless in his stellar third Ana and Din novel (after 2025’s A Drop of Corruption), a suspenseful whodunit set in an immersive and imaginative alternate world. The endearing duo of Ana Dolabra, an eccentric genius, and her assistant, Imperial Investigator Din Kol, whose augmented abilities allow him to perfectly recall crime scenes, are tasked with probing a murder. The solution initially appears obvious: Castus Armenta, a member of a powerful family, was seen fleeing an inn covered in blood; the butchered corpse of his secret lover from a rival family, Zansay Burav, was then discovered within. But as the Burav clan cries for Castus’s head, Ana and Din’s examination of the murder site reveals anomalies, most notably that the victim herself seems to have deliberately staged some aspects of the scene after being attacked. For his part, Castus has no discernible motive and no memory of what happened. The investigative scope widens as each of Castus’s three siblings also perish under odd circumstances. Meanwhile, an unexpected reunion unsettles Din, one of several complications in his personal life that could impact the inquiry. The case is as clever and fairly clued as ever, and it’s a pleasure to revisit these sharply drawn characters. This series shows no signs of slowing down.

 July 1, 2026  Tagged with: ,

Starred Review: THE CURVE OF THE WORLD by Vonda McIntyre

Jun 252026
 

Kirkus: On the Fair Island, the Idaean people live and thrive. A matriarchal society, the Idaeans value close community bonds and peaceful relations with others, including the People, with whom they trade. They engage in the practice of temporarily fostering children from other societies and sending their own off to strengthen alliances. Former bull dancer turner ambassador Iakinthu’s “given” (foster) child, Rhenthizu, goes through an initiation rite and is officially considered an adult man. Rhenthizu’s given-child status wasn’t acquired through diplomacy—he was kidnapped by pirates from his homeland and then later rescued and taken in by Iakinthu. No one, including Rhenthizu, knows where he was born or who his family of origin is—he was so young when he was stolen that he only has vague memories. Iakinthu, who bears the epithet of “Gephyra” (bridge-between-people), prepares to set sail on her ship, Flying Fish, with the now-adult given child Kilinkizu to reunite her with her mother; Iakinthu brings Rhenthizu along on the journey, hoping to find his family. Along the way, the voyagers encounter a plethora of different societies, from the People, who habitually give away male children to keep their society all-female, to the Egyptians, who are led by a woman pharaoh, to the violent, male-dominated Northerner pirates who have been raising the stolen son of Kilinkizu. McIntyre’s final novel, published posthumously, is a sprawling exploration of gender, community, and family in a historical fantasy setting. The pacing is leisurely and steady, and the characters are all deeply compelling. A few mythical beasts, like the kraken and a gryphon, are even included to add interest. Readers will be enthralled by the author’s worldbuilding, and even more captivated by the lush prose: “Iakinthu stood at the prow; striped porpoises played in the bow wave, riding it as birds ride the wind, hardly moving but for a flick of fin or fluke.”

 June 25, 2026  Tagged with: ,
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