Legends & Lattes: A Review

Viv knows how life as a mercenary always ends and it’s never with a peaceful retirement. So when the orc finds a chance to make a clean break and set aside her sword in the city of Thune she takes it even though it means turning her back on everyone and everything she’s ever known.

With battle-sharpened wits and an espresso machine, Viv is ready to open Thune’s first ever coffee shop. And explain to everyone in Thune what, exactly, coffee is.

Building a shop takes time and building a clinetele can take even longer. As Viv meets neighbors, hires employees, and possibly even makes friends she’ll realize that starting on a new path doesn’t always mean walking alone in Legends & Lattes: A Novel of High Fantasy and Low Stakes (2022) by Travis Baldree.

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Legends & Lattes can be read as a standalone but fans who want more can also check out Bookshops & Bone Dust–a prequel novel about Viv’s early career as a mercenary. with most characters belonging to non-human species, there is a lot of variety among the characters–many of whom also fall across the LGBTQ+ spectrum. When not writing books Baldree is an audiobook narrator and brings appropriately gentle tones to the audio production of this novel.

I’ve been describing Legends & Lattes as a literal coffee shop AU and, as the subtitle suggests, the related low stakes. While there is action and suspense while Viv deals with obstacles to opening (and keeping) her shop, Viv’s story is ultimately a quiet one about building community and meeting people where they are. Themes of friendship and a very light romance between Viv and her employee-turned-business-partner Tandri inform the bulk of this story making it a gentle story perfect for fantasy readers who find themselves wondering what NPCs (nonplayer characters) might be getting up to while larger plots play out.

Legends & Lattes is a cozy diversion and a great introduction to fantasy for readers more comfortable with realistic fiction.

Possible Pairings: The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, The City Baker’s Guide to Country Living by Louise Miller, The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by CM Waggoner

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

The Lost Dreamer: A Review

“Stories don’t end, they just change shape.”

Indir is a Dreamer. Growing up in Alcanzeh surrounded by her sisters in the Temple of Night, Indir has always been protected. Her gift to Dream truth earns her respect both within the temple and the city beyond.

But change is coming and this cycle will end in chaos before another can begin.

With the king’s death Indir’s gift is a threat to Alcan–the king’s heir intent on dismantling the kingdom’s traditions and rituals–especially those surrounding the Dreamers.

Saya is a seer. She walks the Dreaming but she is not one of the revered Dreamers. Instead she travels from village to village with her calculating mother only staying long enough for Saya’s mother to explore her gift and get everything they can before moving on. Saya knows her mother is hiding things from her, but this unmoored life is also the only one she has ever known.

As Indir and Saya search for answers, both young women creep ever closer to the chaos and danger that threatens from all sides. When everything they know is threatened, both Indir and Saya will have to choose between staying to fight and running to survive in The Lost Dreamer (2022) by Lizz Huerta.

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The Lost Dreamer is Huerta’s debut novel and the start of a duology inspired by ancient Mesoamerican mythology. The story alternates between Indir and Saya’s first person narrations offering different perspectives on both the kingdom and Dreaming.

With readers dropped into the middle of the action, The Lost Dreamer is a fast-paced fantasy filled with surprising twists and high stakes. The less you know about how the pieces fit together, the more satisfying all of Huerta’s reveals will be. Themes of female solidarity and friendship play well against the matrilineal history underpinning this richly developed world. Recommended.

Possible Pairings: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, A Song of Wraiths and Ruin by Roseanne A. Brown, A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee, The Never Tilting World by Rin Chupeco, Ever Cursed by Corey Ann Haydu, The Bone Charmer by Breeana Shields

The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie: A Review

This piece originally appeared in the Washington Independent Review of Books:

Marya Salomea Sklodowska is better known to the world as Marie Curie–a double Nobel winning scientist whose discoveries influenced the scientific field forever. “Although much has been written about Marya, this younger period of her life is vaguely known” leaving the contributors to this anthology to take “liberties for the sake of entertainment” in stories and poems that blend fact and speculative fiction.

Editors Schmidt and Herz gather an impressive assortment of contributors including award winners, bestselling authors, and newer voices in The Hitherto Secret Experiments of Marie Curie (2023)–a collection of stories and poems imagining Marya’s youth and adolescence. An introduction and historical overview help to contextualize the stories alongside significant life events that will come up in multiple stories notably including the death of Marya’s mother and her older sister Zosia.

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With stories ranging from horror (like Jonathan Maberry’s “The Night Flyers” where Russian double-headed eagles guarding the obelisk in Saxon Square terrorize those who might act against Russia’s occupation of Poland) to lighter-hearted fantasy like Alethea Kontis’ “Marya’s Monster” where a monster helps Marya acknowledge the grief she still carries after her mother’s death.

It’s no surprise in stories centering one of the greatest scientific minds of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries also include a lot of real science as seen in stories including Seanan McGuire’s “Uncrowned Kings” where a sinister illness gripping Warsaw is grounded in real science with the actual phenomenon of a Rat King and Marya’s own scientific investigation of the outbreak. As Marya tells her sister: “When a thing makes no sense, look to the data people have left behind. If it still makes no sense, the fault is either yours, or the world’s.” Many other stories in the collection are followed by Science Notes that help clarify real science versus speculative elements as in Stacia Deutsch’s “The Beast” where radium is used for time travel.

The stories presented are at their best where Marya is able to use her burgeoning knowledge of science and the scientific method to investigate and face obstacles as seen especially in “The Magic of Science” by Bryan Thomas Schmidt and G. P. Charles where Marya has to prove that there is a logical explanation when a classmate at the current site for the Polish Flying University turns blue and in “Experiments with Fire” by Sarah Beth Durst where Marya faces the mythical and extremely dangerous Wawel dragon with help from scientific experimentation.

With most stories focusing on or narrated by Marya herself, Steve Pantazis’ “The Prize” notably centers one of Marya’s classmates Adela instead with the two girls vying for “The Arcanum Prize, the most coveted prize in metallurgic arts” at their Warsaw high school.

With a shared protagonist and common themes, the element that comes through most in this anthology is the thirst for understanding and an abiding respect of knowledge. As Durst’s Marya says at the close of “Experiments with Fire:” “Some things are unknowable. But all the rest … I will know.”

Note: Readers should be aware that slurs are used when referring to Romani people in “The Cold White Ones” by Susanne L. Lamdin

Magic Lessons: A Review

England, 1664. Hannah Owens finds a baby in the woods, wrapped in a blue blanket her name, Maria, embroidered along the side. She brings the girl home and raises her as her own, teaching her the Nameless Arts–the herbs to help ease pain, the best way to use blue thread for protection.

When Hannah is accused of witchcraft and burned to death inside her small cottage, Maria knows there is nothing left for her in England. Traveling to Curaçao as an indentured servant, Maria discovers the world is much bigger and beautiful than she first thought. At fifteen she thinks she’s fallen in love with an American businessman. But she forgets Hannah’s first lesson: love someone who will love you back.

Following Hathorne to Salem, Massachusetts irrecvocably changes Maria’s path forever when heartbreak and fear lead her to invoke a curse that will haunt the Owens family for centuries to come.

Every witch knows that you can make the best of fate or let it make the best of you. But Maria also knows it isn’t always so easy to do as you like without doing harm. When everything you give is returned to you threefold, Maria will have to relearn how to love freely if she wants to protect her family and her heart in Magic Lessons (2020) by Alice Hoffman.

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Magic Lessons is a prequel to Hoffman’s now classic novel Practical Magic. This novel focuses on the first Owens witch, Maria, and the advent of the family’s infamous curse. It can be read on its own without familiarity with Hoffman’s other books in this series. The story is told by an omniscient third person narrator with a close focus on Maria and an audio version that is wonderfully narrated by Sutton Foster.

The Owens family are white. Ending in Salem, Massachusetts, Maria spends a brief part of the novel in Curaçao and also in New York City (a significant location for the latter part of this novel as well as parts of The Rules of Magic.) Along the way Maria also encounters sailor Samuel Dias who is a Sephardic Jew.

Hoffman blends atmospheric settings, historical detail, and her own distinct characters to create a story filled with magic. Readers familiar with this world (or the 1998 film adaptation) might think they know how this story goes, but Magic Lessons still manages to pack in satisfying surprises.

Steeped in the practical knowledge of the Nameless Art and the enduring strength of love–both for good and for ill–Magic Lessons is a thoughtful and evocative story; a wonderful installment and a perfect introduction for new readers.

Possible Pairings: Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert, Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen, The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin, The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow, The Careful Undressing of Love by Corey Ann Haydu, The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane by Katherine Howe, Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna, Don’t Date Rosa Santos by Nina Moreno, In the Shadow Garden by Liz Parker, Just Kids by Patti Smith, Among Others by Jo Walton

Lost in the Moment and Found: A Review

“It’s easy to go along with a system. It’s harder to create one.”

The first thing Antoinette “Antsy” Ricci ever lost was her father although she was so young it took a while to understand everything she lost along with him.

She lost her mother’s attention after her mother started dating a man named Tyler. She lost the safe, comfortable feeling of being at home when Tyler moved in. When her mom married Tyler she lost her last name. Then came her mother’s trust. And, worse, her own trust in her mother.

Antsy knows she doesn’t like Tyler and she knows–in a way she can’t explain–that something bad is going to happen if she stays in the same house as him.

So she runs.

She finds a door to a shop that looks cozy and safe and out of the rain with a sign that tells her to be sure. Well, Antsy is sure she doesn’t want to stay outside and that’s enough, isn’t it?

But, of course, it’s not an ordinary door and soon Antsy understands that her life isn’t ordinary anymore either.

The Shop of Lost Things is a wondrous place filled with rows upon rows of lost items. Socks and shoes, beloved toys, even pets. Everything that is lost makes its way to the shop. But not everything gets to go back home again. Not even girls like Antsy.

Working in the shop opens any number of magical doors to Antsy leading her to fantastical worlds and a sense that even if this isn’t the life she was meant to have, it could be a life she’ll make the most of.

But nothing comes free in any world–even if no one ever tells you the cost. As Antsy learns more about the price of the magical doors, she realizes that as hard as it is to leave, it might be impossible to stay in Lost in the Moment and Found (2023) by Seanan McGuire.

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Lost in the Moment and Found is the eighth installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series. Like most of the novellas in this series, Lost in the Moment and Found does function as standalone. Antsy first appears in Where the Drowned Girls Go (read my review) but this story is more about her backstory. As the content warning at the front of this book notes, Lost in the Moment and Found deals with grooming and adult gaslighting in the first part of the story but Antsy runs before anything happens to her.

The Shop of Lost Things offers a different take on the portal fantasy worlds featured in other volumes while also expanding the magic system behind the Doors themselves. Fans of the series will recognize several Easter Eggs throughout Antsy’s exploration of the shop as she discovers items belonging to other worlds like bone flutes and candy swords.

McGuire continues to expand the Wayward Children universe in fascinating ways as this series builds to what promises to be its next exciting adventure.

Lost in the Moment and Found is another excellent installment in a long-running series that asks readers to explore the world with wonder–so long as they’re sure.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

*An advance copy of this title was provided by the publisher for review consideration*

Cruel Illusions: A Review

Ava knows that vampires are real because her mother was murdered by one. Ava has been training to kill a vampire in revenge ever since.

Fueled by anger and an equally strong drive to protect her younger brother Parker, Ava dwells on her revenge and the scant memories she has of her parents; the fragments of wonder she can still remember from their magic act.

Ava’s mother always told her that their tricks were only illusions but if vampires exist, can’t magic also be real?

The answer is yes.

As Ava learns more about magicians who wield actual magic as easily as she conjures coin illusions, Ava discovers that there’s little difference between a vampire and a magician. Especially when the two groups have been locked in a bloody feud for millennia.

Recruited by a troupe of dangerous magicians, brings Ava closer to everything she wants: real magic, true power, and a chance to finally avenge her mother’s murder.

But first she has to win a deadly competition to prove her mettle. The closer Ava gets to victory and vengeance, the more she wonders if she’s been chasing the wrong things in Cruel Illusions (2022) by Margie Fuston.

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Cruel Illusions is Fuston’s debut novel. Main characters are white with some diversity among the supporting cast including a queer couple in Ava’s new troupe.

Ava’s hurt is palpable in her first person narration as she struggle to reconcile the potential stability of their latest foster home with the possibility that Parker is ready to move on while Ava isn’t sure she’ll ever get past finding her mother’s bloody body in the woods. This conflict makes Ava an angry, sometimes reckless narrator who is quick to run into danger and slow to realize the potential harm. Lacking the confidencet to be truly self-aware, she’s unwilling to admit her own self-destructive tendencies that drive her to seek out magicians and vampires instead of the promise of a new family. Slow pacing and evocative descriptions keep the focus on Ava and her mysterious past. As she learns more about the magicians and her own unlikely role with them, she also begins to question if making herself hard has worked to make her tough or if it has just left her brittle and prone to hurt.

The meditative pace of the story as Ava tries to decide what kind of magician–and person–she wants to be contrasts sharply with the intense action of the magical competitions and the strong sense of unease that permeates the magicians’ headquarters.

Gothic imagery, suspense, and a brooding love interest with secrets of his own in Cruel Illusions underscore the suspense and drama of this story; a perfect choice for paranormal readers looking for a story where the stakes are high (and sharp).

Possible Pairings: Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black, The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Luminaries by Susan Dennard, Legendborn by Tracy Deonn, Race the Sands by Sarah Beth Durst, Caraval by Stephanie Garber, The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski, Hotel Magnifique by Emily J. Taylor

Spice Road: A Review

Imani always dreamed of becoming a Shield like her older brother Atheer. Shields are elite warriors who, after drinking misra tea, can wield magic to protect the kingdom of Qalia from all outside threats including manipulative djinni, horrific ghouls, and other monsters. Known for her metal affinity and skill with a dagger, Imani is one of the youngest Shields from the long-revered Beya clan. A clan that is shadowed by disgrace and grief in the wake of Atheer’s disappearance.

Caught stealing the coveted and carefully guarded misra spice, most people are ready to believe Atheer developed a magical obsession and, addicted to the misra, died shamefully in the Forbidden Wastes that surround Qalia. Imani has no reason to believe otherwise. Until a djinni named Qayn reveals that Atheer may be alive. And sharing the carefully guarded secret of the misra with outsiders–an offense that is punishable by death.

Desperate to find her brother before worse can befall him, Imani binds herself to Qayn in exchange for his promise to lead her across the Forbidden Wastes to Atheer. Traveling with Qayn and an expedition of other Shields including Taha–a beastseer and her longtime rival–will lead Imani to a world filled with secrets and betrayals that were previously beyond her comprehension in Spice Road (2023) by Maiya Ibrahim.

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Spice Road is the first book in a trilogy and Ibrahim’s debut novel. With a world inspired by Arab cultures, all characters are cued as Arab with a variety of names, skin tones, and body types. At nearly five hundred pages, Spice Road is a sprawling series starter that takes its time to introduce readers to narrator Imani and her world.

Vivid descriptions and intense action sequences add drama to the story although the novel’s slow pace belies the urgency Imani feels to reach her brother. Slowly, as she sees beyond Qalia’s borders, Imani’s insular understanding of Qalia and its place in the world begins to expand leaving her to the often unpleasant work of unpacking her privilege both in Qalia and beyond. While this plot thread doesn’t always show Imani in the best light with her starting the novel ignorant of her privilege and unwilling to help outsiders, her development is well-drawn and her growth (mostly) earned as she learns more about the larger world and the way she wants to move through it.

With so much focus on Imani’s introspection, other characters are underutilized throughout the novel–especially Qayn who is a dynamic foil to Imani and Amira who pushes Imani to question her assumptions about Qalia even as she supports her older sister. As a rival with a vastly different ideaology, Taha plays opposite Imani in a will-they-or-won’t-they push and pull that is ultimately unsatisfying and further underscores Imani’s numerous bad choices. Imani is unwilling to trust Qayn because he is a djinni despite his staying true to his word at every turn. Instead, Imani assumes best intentions for Taha during almost the entirety of the novel despite his never reciprocating that trust or doing anything to meaningfully support Imani. It’s unclear if these three characters are meant to be positioned in a love triangle, but if they are Imani chose poorly in this volume.

Spice Road is the exciting start to a trilogy that tackles privilege and colonialism alongside sweeping adventure.

Possible Pairings: The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad, Hunted by the Sky by Tanaz Bhathena, Mirage by Somaiya Daud, Truthwitch by Susan Dennard, We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal, Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, Year of the Reaper by Makiia Lucier, The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae, Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas, Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Violet Made of Thorns: A Review

Shrewd and calculating witch Violet Lune doesn’t see the harm in using her magic for opportunistic gain. Especially if she’s the one gaining. Even now, positioned as King Emelius’s trusted Seer, Violet knows her position in the palace is unstable. Especially when Emelius’s son Prince Cyrus has no use for Violet or her carefully crafted (but not always entirely true) predictions. And he’s poised to take the throne come summer.

But Violet isn’t the only witch who has peddled prophecy throughout the kingdom and one is dangerously close to coming true–a dangerous curse that might save the kingdom. Or destroy it. Everything depends on the prince’s future bride.

When Violet’s attempt to influence Cyrus’s choice with one more carefully worded prediction goes horribly wrong, Violet has a choice to make: She can seize this moment to take control of her life, finally gaining the stability she has sorely lacked even if it damns the rest of the kingdom. Or she can try to save Cyrus from his cursed fate–and admit that the prince might actually be as charming (or at least attractive) as everyone at court always says.

In a world where magic can be bought and sold, sometimes telling the truth is the most powerful spell of all in Violet Made of Thorns (2022) by Gina Chen.

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Violet Made of Thorns is Chen’s debut novel and the start of a series. Violet is cued as a fantasy version of Chinese hailing from Auveny’s neighboring kingdom Yuenen. Cyrus reads as white (like most of the kingdom of Auveny). Other characters (and kingdoms) add diversity of the world and contextualize this fairytale remix beyond the common white/European setting with character with a variety of skintones, cultural identities, and across the LGBTQ+ spectrum including Cyrus’s twin sister Camilla who is lesbian.

Chen’s novel is filled with an abiding understanding and fondness for tropes and themes common to fairytales–many of which are artfully turned on their head by the end of the story. While beautiful, Cyrus is far from charming to Violet–constantly doubting her actions and her motives throughout the story even as the two form a very uneasy alliance to stop the curse from spiraling out of control. Confident and often brash to hide her own insecurity, Violet is keenly aware of her vulnerabilities within Auveny’s court as both a young woman and a person of color. Whether these fears drive her to become the villain of the story or its hero might be something readers will have to decide for themselves.

Violet Made of Thorns is an exciting story that builds familiar fairytale elements into something new; a story set in a world where happily ever after doesn’t come with rose colored glasses. Highly recommended.

Possible Pairings: The Cruel Prince by Holly Black, The Demon King by Cinda Williams Chima, Forest of a Thousand Lanterns by Julie C. Dao, The Impostor Queen by Sarah Fine, Once Upon a Broken Heart by Stephanie Garber, Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko, Furyborn by Claire Legrand, The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller, This Woven Kingdom by Tahereh Mafi, Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin, Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes, Realm of Ruins by Hannah West

This Vicious Grace: A Review

As the latest in a long line of Finestras, Alessa Paladino’s gift from the gods should magnify her Fonte partner’s magical abilities making it possible for the pair to combat the demons that threaten the island of Saverio. Every Finestra and her suitor face the Divorando and its hoard of attacking demons during their time–usually working together to end the cycle before retiring and waiting to train the next Finestra.

Instead, Alessa has had three ceremonial weddings and three funerals for each Fonte–all killed by her touch. Reviled by the city, under threat from her own soldiers, Alessa’s situation is dire even without the looming threat of the next Divorando.

Desperate to stay alive, Alessa hires Dante–an outsider marked as a killer–who is willing to keep Alessa alive for enough coin.

Working with Dante, Alessa begins to understand more about her powers and how she might be able to use them without killing her suitor. But with Divorando approaching and demons at the gates, it is Dante’s secrets that might tear Saverio apart in This Vicious Grace (2022) by Emily Thiede.

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This Vicious Grace is the first book in a duology set in a world reminiscent of Renaissance Italy imbued with magic. Alessa is cued as white although there are varied skintones among the citizens of Saverio. In a society where marriages serve to enhance magic, the relationships Alessa forms are more reminiscent of political alliances than traditional marriages although it is worth noting that same sex marriages are welcome and seen as commonplace both for magic and romantic reasons.

Thin world building and ab abrupt start do little to situate the reader in the story although Alessa’s peril and her desperation are immediately palpable as she struggles to control her powers. This character-driven story focuses heavily on Alessa and Dante with banter, flirting and what could be seen as a slow-burn romance if only the main characters had more convincing chemistry. In other words, This Vicious Grace has a lot of pieces that make an entertaining fantasy for patient readers.

Unfortunately, Thiede also makes some strange creative choices including the use of antisemitic stereotypes that continue to give me pause.

Spoilers to follow:

Where the Drowned Girls Go: A Review

“Under enough pressure, the only good that counted was saving yourself.”

You might have heard of Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children. But there’s another school for children who fall through doors into magical worlds and back out into a world that no longer feels like home.

The Whitethorn Institute isn’t as friendly as the Home for Wayward Children. It isn’t as safe.

But when you’ve already tried Eleanor’s way, where else is there to go?

After traveling through the Moors to help a classmate, Cora thought she could go back to the way things were while she waited for her door and her chance to go home. But the dark waters haven’t stopped whispering her name and Cora knows she needs to try something else if she wants to live long enough to get home.

Whitethorn isn’t a home. It might not even be enough to save her. Cora knows she is a hero. She knows the monsters chasing her are real. And she knows all too well that there are casualties when monsters and heroes meet in Where the Drowned Girls Go (2022) by Seanan McGuire.

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Where the Drowned Girls Go is the seventh installment in McGuire’s Wayward Children series of novellas which begins with Every Heart a Doorway.

This series truly gets better with every installment. Although many of the books in this series can be read alone, Where the Drowned Girls Go builds on everything that came before. This installment in particular will make the most sense if the events from Come Tumbling Down and Across the Green Grass Fields are fresh in your mind.

Cora has always felt most at home in the water–even before she went through her door and became a mermaid–making her new fear of water all the more poignant as she tries to exorcise the nightmares and monsters biting at her heels after traveling through the Moors. McGuire paints a grim picture as Cora comes to the Whitethorn Institute in the hopes that it can save her. Despite leaning into the regimented schedule and strict rules, Cora–like many heroes before her–soon realizes she’ll have to save herself (with some help from familiar faces along the way).

Where the Drowned Girls Go continues to expand the dizzying and dazzling array of worlds in the Wayward Children series with an ending that promises more adventure to come for all of the characters who call Eleanor West’s school home–even if only for a little while.

Possible Pairings: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert, All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders, The Language of Thorns by Leigh Bardugo, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, Labyrinth Lost by Zoraida Córdova, The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow, The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis, The Perilous Gard by Mary Elizabeth Pope, Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs, An Enchantment of Ravens by Margaret Rogerson, Chosen Ones by Veronica Roth, The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Scwhab, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth