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Book Review: LADY TREMAINE by Rachel Hochhauser

| Jessica Crawford

Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser is a 352 page standalone novel with a publish date of March 3rd, 2026.

Genre:

Fairytale Retelling, Historical Fiction

Blurb:

A breathtaking reimagining of Cinderella, as told through the eyes of its iconic “evil” stepmother, revealing a propulsive love story about the lengths a mother will go to for her children

A widow twice-over, Etheldreda is now saddled with the care of her two children, a priggish stepdaughter, and a razor-taloned peregrine falcon. Her entire life has become a ruse, just like the manor hall they live grand and ornate on the exterior, but crumbling, brick by brick, inside. Fierce in the face of her misfortune, Ethel clings to her family’s respectability, the lifeboat that will float her daughters straight into the secure banks of marriage.

When a royal ball offers the chance to secure the future she desperately desires, Etheldreda must risk her secrets, pride, and limited resources in pursuit of an invitation for her daughters—only to see her hopes fulfilled by the wrong one. As an engagement to the heir of the kingdom unfolds with unnerving speed, she discovers a sordid secret hidden in the depths of the royal family, forcing her to choose between the security she’s sought for years and the wellbeing of the feckless stepdaughter who has rebuffed her at every turn.

As if Bridgerton met Circe, and exhilarating to its core, Lady Tremaine reimagines the myth of the evil stepmother at the heart of the world’s most famous fairytale. It is a battle cry for a mother’s love for her daughters, and a celebration of women everywhere who make their own fortunes.

Opening Line:

I’ve been warned to be wary of strangers in the woods since I was a little girl.

My Thoughts:

Well, I had no idea I needed the story of Cinderella’s stepmother in my life, but it turns out I very much did!

This book does not contain any wand-waving magic, just a mother fighting to secure stable futures for her daughters. It gifts readers with the stories of Ethel’s girlhood and two marriages, setting the scene for the circumstances in which she finds herself when her two daughters and one stepdaughter all come of marriageable age. The flames of hope are fanned anew within the family when the palace issues invitations to a ball being held for the purpose of finding the prince a wife. Amidst the stresses of preparing the young women for the big event is Ethel’s worry that her own personal history with the prince’s mother, the queen herself, might stand in the way of the family’s happily-ever-after.

The author skillfully makes each of the characters from the story of Cinderella (well, most of them, at least!) sympathetic while also making the reader want to grab ahold of each of them at times and shake. Additionally, the manner in which the details from the Disney tale were woven into this version were often delightful. I was invested in these characters and the course their lives would take, and I have to say, the resolution was both rather shocking and epic!

Lady Tremaine is not perfect, but she is a wonderful heroine to spend your reading time with, and her inspiring story is not likely to leave my thoughts any time soon.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Book Review: STRANGE ANIMALS by Jarod K. Anderson

| Jessica Crawford

Strange Animals by Jarod K. Anderson is a 320 page novel with a publish date of February 10, 2026 from Ballantine Books.

Genre:

Fantasy, Urban/Contemporary Fantasy, Magical Realism

Synopsis:

An ordinary man discovers a hidden world of wondrous supernatural creatures—and an unexpected home—in this enchanting contemporary fantasy debut.

one who studies cryptids; an expert in or student of supernatural history.

After a series of inexplicable encounters upends his life, Green finds himself alone and terrified in the Appalachian mountains, full of questions about the transformation he’s undergoing and the impossible creatures he’s starting to see.

When he meets a hermit named Valentina, he realizes that something more than chance has brought him to her door. For she has devoted centuries to researching the hidden world of cryptids that Green is only now beginning to perceive.  

As Green begins his studies beneath her watchful eye, he comes face to face with time-stopping giant moths, cyclops squirrels, and doorways to elsewhere. Along the way come clues about his own nature and the powerful beings who led him here—and, most wondrous of all, a sense of fulfillment like nothing he’s felt before.

But Green’s new happiness promises to be short-lived, because alongside these marvels lurks a deadly threat to this place he’s already come to love.

Featuring incredible creatures and an unforgettable cast of characters, Strange Animals is a charming, addictive fantasy about the magic all around us.

Opening Line:

Green died and then he didn’t.

My Thoughts:

It is not always in our power to decide what a thing is…But what a thing means? That power may often be claimed.

What a surprising little gem of a novel!

The main character, Green, has a very strange (near?) death experience, after which he feels called to reconnect with nature, to rediscover his true self and the things in life that actually matter. He finds himself staying at a campsite in the Catskills, an area populated with some colorful characters.

“I got blood on your coat.” “It’ll wipe off. Or add character. Whichever.”

On his first night there, Green encounters a glowing deer and a horned wolf with mutable shadowy flesh. One of these creatures is a monster, one is prey – but each may not be the one you expect. Not everyone can see these beasts, and this is how Green learns he is a born cryptonaturalist. Thankfully, one of his new neighbors can teach him just what that means. Together, they work to try to protect the mountains and their inhabitants from preternatural dangers.

The characters in this book are interesting, and the dynamic between teacher and pupil is amusing at times. The details of the plot are rather original, and I enjoyed the fanciful elements of “cryptonature”. There is a sort of found family piece of the story that I very much appreciated as well. The author’s love for nature is on clear display in this tale.

How humbling is nature? How many lives could you spend studying a single tree and still feel yourself a neophyte in the school of its character? What a gift it is to know that the ship of our curiosity will never run aground in the seas of Earth’s mysteries.

This book seems to be a standalone, but I would gladly read any sequels further detailing Green’s adventures. If you find yourself drawn to the idea of an urban fantasy (but that takes place in the wilderness!) with engaging characters and a lot of heart, I definitely recommend picking this one up.

Many thanks to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

Book Review: PLASMA PULP: LOST WORLDS

| Jessica Crawford

Plasma Pulp: Lost Worlds is an anthology published by Raconteur Press in 2026 edited by Lawdog, featuring stories written by CE Hugues, Spearman Burke, Lee Allred, Dean Stone, Malory, Ted Begley, Craig A. Reed, Jr, Alan Wolfe, MD & Bam Boncher, and Ken Lizzi

Genre/Subgenre

Science Fiction, Raypunk, Plasma Pulp, Anthology

What This Is

This is the second collection of Plasma Pulp short stories put out by this publisher. So what exactly is this subgenre (also known as Raypunk)? It combines futuristic science fiction elements with an “Old School spirit of adventure” (think of the aesthetic of the Fallout franchise) told in the style of pulp fiction—which is to say, action-packed sensational stories with larger-than-life heroes and villains. Many of these stories feature the muscle-bound pilots of smuggler spacecraft wielding rayguns and plasma swords while on daring missions against mad scientists, fighting side by side with the voluptuous princesses of alien worlds (here the damsels are more likely to kick butt and take names than they are to await rescue). Our heroes sport names like Johnny, Duke, Rex, and Buck.

My Thoughts

So the thing is that any fiction that falls into the Pulp category is probably not my jam. I prefer literary depth to thrills and chills, and much more drawn to character-driven stories to plot-driven. That being said, there were definitely some stories within the collection that I found enjoyable (favorites include Spire of Doom, A Princess of the Stars, and Princess of Starways) (I wasn’t kidding about princesses being a staple of the subgenre!) The sentence level writing is not a problem, and the illustrations scattered throughout were good fun.

So while this collection may not have been exactly my cup of tea (I’m more of a coffee drinker, myself), your mileage may vary (one metaphor too many?) If this type of storytelling sounds appealing to you, give this anthology a try. Reading one or two entries at a time might provide you with the perfect bite-sized brain candy you crave in between heavier reads.

Thank you to Raconteur Press for the eARC in exchange for my unbiased review!

Book Review: THE EVERLASTING by Alix E. Harrow

| Jessica Crawford
Image made using Canva’s generative AI

The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is a 320 page standalone novel published by Tor Books in 2025 and based off of her short story, The Six Deaths of the Saint

Genre:

Fantasy

The Blurb:

From Alix E. Harrow, the New York Times bestselling author of Starling House, comes a moving and genre-defying quest about the lady-knight whose legend built a nation, and the cowardly historian sent back through time to make sure she plays her part–even if it breaks his heart.

Sir Una Everlasting was Dominion’s greatest hero: the orphaned girl who became a knight, who died for queen and country. Her legend lives on in songs and stories, in children’s books and recruiting posters―but her life as it truly happened has been forgotten.

Centuries later, Owen Mallory―failed soldier, struggling scholar―falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. Her story takes him to war, to the archives―and then into the past itself. Una and Owen are tangled together in time, bound to retell the same story over and over again, no matter what it costs.

But that story always ends the same way. If they want to rewrite Una’s legend―if they want to tell a different story–they’ll have to rewrite history itself.

Opening Line:

It begins where it ends: beneath the yew tree.

My Thoughts:

You had to die, and I had to watch you die, and then I had to wipe the blood from my hands and make sure it had been worth it.

Bestill, my heart!

The other two novels I’ve read by this author were fine, but not standouts for this reader. Her short stories, however, are absolutely fantastic – and The Six Deaths of the Saint remains one of the most impressive things I’ve ever read. So when I learned this novel was based off of (inspired by?) that, I was equal parts excited and nervous – the latter because it was already so perfect as it was!

I will say that I still love the short story version best, because the shorter format means the incredible storytelling packs more of a punch. But this book is also amazing! In fact, I’m already fairly certain it will be one of my top ten reads of the year.

“There are only two kinds of story worth telling: the ones that send children to sleep, and the ones that send men to war.”

I struggle knowing what to say about this book without being too spoilery, so I feel it’s safest to share what the author herself has written about it: told in alternating second person POV, Alix E. Harrow describes it as the tale of a big sad lady-knight stuck in a time loop and the anxious historian trying to save her, and says it’s about the endless cycle of authoritarian abuse which fabricates the past in order to justify the present, but made more fun by the inclusion of a romantic arc and some sword fights.

“You know that history is mostly happenstance…It is not a lesson, until we learn it. It is not a story, until we tell it. And every story serves someone.”

I LOVE LOVE LOVED this smart, emotional time loop story about the power of narratives and an epic romance. That being said, it’s obviously probably not the best book for readers who get frustrated with time loop stories. But if that doesn’t bother you, and you love getting your heart ripped out before being placed back inside your chest (possibly with the addition of a little something extra???), you should definitely give this book (and The Six Deaths of the Saint!) a read.

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Book Review: SNAKE-EATER by T. Kingfisher

| Jessica Crawford

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher is a 271 page standalone novel published in 2025 by 47North.

Genre:

Horror(-adjacent), Urban Fantasy (but in a small desert town)

The Blurb:

In an isolated desert town, a young woman seeking a fresh start is confronted by ancient gods, malevolent supernatural forces, and eccentric neighbours. A witty horror-tinged fantasy, perfect for fans of Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Chuck Tingle, and Rachel Harrison.

When Selena travels to the remote desert town of Quartz Creek in search of her estranged Aunt Amelia, she is desperate and short of options. Fleeing an unhappy marriage, she has exactly twenty-seven dollars to her name, and her only friend in the world is her dog, Copper.

On arrival, Selena learns Amelia is dead. But the inhabitants of Quartz Creek are only too happy to have a new resident. Out of money and ideas, Selena sees no harm staying in her aunt’s lovely house for a few weeks, tending to her garden and enjoying the strange, desolate beauty of the desert. The people are odd, but friendly, and eager to help Selena settle into her new home.

But Quartz Creek’s inhabitants share their town with others, old gods and spirits whose claim to the land long predates their human neighbours. Selena finds herself pursued by disturbing apparitions, visitations that come in the night and seem to want something from her.

Aunt Amelia owed a debt. Now her god has come to collect.

The Opening Line:

Selena picked her new home for no better reason than the dog laid down on the porch.

My Thoughts:

“Meep meep, motherfucker.”

Oh, how I love Kingfisher’s writing! Especially in her horror stories (although this one I would argue is only “horror-adjacent”.) Of the many books of hers that I’ve read (she is an autobuy/preorder author for me), I have awarded all but one 4 or 5 stars (usually 4 stars to her fairytale retellings and 5 to her horror novels). Snake-Eater continues that streak!

The main character in this one is Selena, a thirty-year old neurodivergent woman. When she realizes her relationship long ago reached the point where her partner was tearing her down instead of bolstering her up, she makes the decision to leave behind her life as she knows it with only $27 to her name and her loyal pooch by her side. She makes for the desert town of Quartz Creek, where her aunt lives. Unfortunately, it turns out Aunt Amelia passed away the year before. Selena finds herself at loose ends, but Amelia’s house in the historic zone is sitting empty, and the welcoming townspeople assure Selena she can stay as long as she needs to while she figures out her next move.

Over time, her lovely new neighbors begin to convince Selena that she is not as terrible at peopling as her ex always told her she was. She and her dog Copper could really get used to life in Quartz Creek, growing squash and selling corn smut, helping to craft authentic folk art for sale, sharing biweekly potluck meals at the church with her new friends.

That is, if it weren’t for the vengeful personified spirit deity of roadrunners who seems to be holding a grudge…

Kingfisher’s afterwords often make me laugh out loud just as much as her stories do. In this one she explains that when she told people she was writing a story with a roadrunner villain, they pictured the comedic cartoon bird instead of what she describes as a cross between a velociraptor and a chicken with a shiv. Seriously, these guys kill and eat rattlesnakes for breakfast!

The magical realism in this book, manifested via the mythology and folklore of the American Southwest, successfully sets a tone both whimsical and spooky as Selena works to understand the startling things going on and why she seems to be their target. As usual for a Kingfisher novel, this story features an inclusive cast of absolutely delightful characters. There is healing, growth, and a message that forging connections with people is its own act of courage.

And when Snake-Eater comes to collect, it might just be these bonds that save the day.

Disclaimer: The woman in the image looks nothing like how I pictured Selena, but this is what I wound up with while trying out Canva’s generative image feature (AI) when asking for an American Southwest desert background template.

Book Review: WRECK by Catherine Newman

| Jessica Crawford

Wreck by Catherine Newman is a 224 page novel published by Harper in 2025. It is the sequel to Sandwich, in which the characters are first introduced, but could potentially be read as a standalone.

Genre:

Literary Fiction, Popular Fiction, Contemporary Fiction

Blurb:

The acclaimed bestselling author of Sandwich is back with a wonderful novel, full of laughter and heart, about marriage, family, and what happens when life doesn’t go as planned.

If you loved Rocky and her family on vacation on Cape Cod, wait until you join them at home two years later. (And if this is your first meeting with this crew, get ready to laugh and cry—and relate.)   

Rocky, still anxious, nostalgic, and funny, is living in Western Massachusetts with her husband Nick and their daughter Willa, who’s back home after college. Their son, Jamie, has taken a new job in New York, and Mort, Rocky’s widowed father, has moved in.

It all couldn’t be more ridiculously normal . . . until Rocky finds herself obsessed with a local accident that only tangentially affects them—and with a medical condition that, she hopes, won’t affect them at all.

With her signature wit and wisdom, Catherine Newman explores the hidden rules of family, the heavy weight of uncertainty, and the gnarly fact that people—no matter how much you love them—are not always exactly who you want them to be.

Opening Line:

In one single day, in two different directions, my life swerves from its path.

My Thoughts:

“The first biopsy I ever did was under my girlfriend’s jaw and it scarred terribly.” “…I’m not sure that’s a story for sharing with your patients, just FYI. I mean disfiguring your girlfriend and all.” “My ex-girlfriend,” he says. “Did I already say that?” “You didn’t,” I say. “But maybe it was implied.”

Another hilarious and heartstring-tugging story about Rocky and her family, who we first met in Newman’s book, Sandwich.

I will say I enjoyed this one just a smidge less because it seemed a bit aimless plotwise, but I still adored every moment spent with these characters. Beyond being fun to spend page time with, their family and life circumstances are just so relatable.

“I hear that it doesn’t sound so bad,” he admits, and I say, because I know how it feels to hurt your own feelings, “Sometimes things just feel bad anyways.”

This time, Rocky’s widowed nonagenarian father has moved in with them; she finds herself fixated on a local tragedy–how it reminds her the wellbeing of one’s adult children is never assured, and a family moral quandary that ensues; and she is experiencing a rare medical condition with no certain answers. But even with the heavy and emotional subject matter, her narration is as amusing as ever.

“It is what it is,” [her father] says. “But my temperature is 80 degrees, which seems low.” “Indeed,” I say. I make a mental note to replace his thermometer, which is doubtless from the 1960s and the mercury all leaked out into somebody’s butthole decades ago. Probably my own! That might explain a lot, actually.

These books strike a really sweet spot at the juncture of joyful and stirringly sentimental, and I am here for anything else this author writes.

Book Review: WE FELL APART by E. Lockhart

| Jessica Crawford

We Fell Apart by E. Lockhart is a 320 page novel published in 2025 by Delacorte Press. It may be read as a standalone, but it takes place in the same world as We Were Liars and Family of Liars, and references events from those books.

Genre:

Young Adult, Contemporary Fiction

Synopsis:

The invitation arrives out of the blue.

In it, Matilda discovers a father she’s never met. Kingsley Cello is a visionary, a reclusive artist. And when he asks her to spend the summer at his seaside home, Hidden Beach, Matilda expects to find a part of herself she’s never fully understood.

Instead, she finds Meer, her long-lost, openhearted brother; Brock, a former child star battling demons; and brooding, wild Tatum, who just wants her to leave their crumbling sanctuary.

With Kingsley nowhere to be seen, Matilda must delve into the twisted heart of Hidden Beach to uncover the answers she’s desperately craving. But secrets run thicker than blood, and blood runs like seawater.

And everyone here is lying.

Opening Line:

It was a bad place to fall in love.

My Thoughts:

We Were Liars is one of my all-time favorite books! It’s a powerful, heart-wrenching story told in a unique manner, and it left me in a total book hangover after finishing it. It tells the story of a family with great privilege, but also the responsibility to never admit that anything is less than perfect, even if that means lying.

I will prove myself strong when they think I am sick. I will prove myself brave when they think I am weak.

Family of Liars is a prequel that wasn’t as much of a homerun for me, because although it offered a lot of the same of what we got from its predecessor, it therefore felt sort of unneeded. It was once again well written, but just didn’t really offer anything new. I rated that one 3 stars, as opposed to the 5 glittering stars I showered onto the first book.

They hadn’t come to see how I was feeling. They had come to tell me to stop feeling that way.

Now, We Fell Apart comes in at a solid 4 stars for me–not as mind-blowing to me as We Were Liars, but neither did it come across as gratuitous. I enjoyed accompanying Matilda on her journey to Hidden Beach looking for connection. The themes of Kingsley Cello’s artwork and the inclusion of The Chronicles of Narnia references were hits with me (my own dearly departed sister once named a pet after Puddleglum!) And though some dark family secrets are always bound to be unearthed from the sandy beaches in these stories, I find them so eminently readable. These particular characters won’t leave much of an impression on me, but it was just a pleasure being along for the ride as Matilda learned about this strange pocket world while trying to puzzle out the mystery of her father, all while learning what it means to decide if someone is worth committing yourself to, whether that’s in a familial, platonic, or romantic sense.

And for the record, the print book itself is quite pretty!

A to reiterate: you can easily jump into this book without reading the others, but just know there will be huge spoilers.

Book Review: THE WORKS OF VERMIN by Hiron Ennes

| Jessica Crawford

The Works of Vermin by Hiron Ennes is a 432 page standalone novel published by Tor Books in 2025.

Genre:

Fantasy

Blurb

He was sent to kill a pest. Instead, he found a monster.

Enter the decadent, deadly city of Tiliard, a metropolis carved into the stump of an ancient tree. In its canopy, the pampered elite warp minds with toxic perfume; in its roots, gangs of exterminators hunt a colossal worm with an appetite for beauty.

In this complex, chaotic city, Guy Moulène has a simple goal: keep his sister out of debt. For her sake, he’ll take on any job, no matter how vile.

As an exterminator, Guy hunts the uncanny creatures that crawl up from the river. These vermin are all strange, and often dangerous. His latest quarry is different: a centipede the size of a dragon with a deadly venom and a ravenous taste for artwork. As it digests Tiliard from the sewers to the opera houses, its toxin reshapes the future of the city. No sane person would hunt it, if they had the choice.

Guy doesn’t have a choice.

Opening Line

Tiliard, known as the Deathbed of Tulips, straddles the river gorge like a half-submerged stump.

My Thoughts

The past is only ever populated by strangers, Guy had told her once, referencing some pompous corpse or another.

Holy moly, this book! A great story that was a taxing process to tunnel my way through.

This author’s previous novel, Leech, is an absolute favorite of mine. There are things I really like about this one here, but boy were there challenges, too. Mostly I just had a very difficult time picturing the things the author describes (e.g. do they live in the roots or on the roots, and if the stump is half-submerged then aren’t the roots underwater?) Primarily it was the setting itself that I struggled to get a handle on, but the details of the toxins and perfumes and everything were just a lot. Many times I found myself rereading lines to make sure I was actually understanding what they were trying to say.

Somewhere around two-thirds into the book I had a major “Aha!” moment, but I hesitate to call this a twist or a big reveal because I honestly can’t say for sure if it was something that was already supposed to have been clear and I just failed to pick up on it.

BUT, all that being said, it’s a fantastic (if extremely complex) world the author has built here, and the story was very good. The characters were pretty wonderful (the undercity exterminator willing to do anything to keep his little sister from a life of working off debt, the perfumer who makes the perception-altering and subtly mind-controlling scents worn by the Grand Marshal Revenant, all those contaminated by the toxin used to literally reshape the city and its people during the last coup–all splendid!) I would call this grimdark fantasy and not horror, although there are most definitely body horror elements. There’s LGBTQIA+ representation, and some truly great lines amidst the pulchritudinous prose.

He is the best Grand Marshal the city has ever seen. He is exactly as a Grand Marshal should be: dashing, competent, tough, ruthless or bloodless depending on necessity. He expresses the tenets of Revivalism in the sculpture of his own body, in his elegant and irresistible strategies. Bullets seem to pass right by him. Poison seems not to sicken him. He is so successful, so well-suited for life, that when in his fifth year of office he writes a solemn note and ingests enough tranquilizer to kill a team of horses, he only wakes up the next morning slightly better rested than usual.

My overall experience with this book was definitely a good one, but my troubles wrapping my head around the particulars drops it to 4.25 stars for me.

Book Review: WE LIVE HERE NOW by Sarah Pinborough

| Jessica Crawford

We Live Here Now by Sarah Pinboroguh is 291 page standalone novel published by Flatiron Books: Pine & Cedar in 2025.

Genre:

Horror

Blurb:

After an accident that nearly kills her, Emily and her husband, Freddie, move from London to a beautiful Dartmoor country house called Larkin Lodge. The house is gorgeous, striking—and to Emily, something about it feels deeply wrong. Old boards creak at night; fires extinguish; and books fall from the shelves—all of it stemming from the terrible presence she feels in the third-floor room.

But these things happen only when Emily is alone, so are they happening at all? She is still medically fragile. Her post-sepsis condition can cause hallucinatory side effects, which means she cannot fully trust her senses. Freddie does not notice anything odd and is happy with their chance at a fresh start. She, however, starts to believe the house is haunted by someone who had been murdered in it even though she can find no evidence of a wrongful death. As bizarre events pile up and her marriage starts to crumble, Emily becomes obsessed with discovering the truth about Larkin Lodge. But just as the house has secrets so do Emily and her husband.

Opening Line:

The raven watches the stone house on the crossroads through the long year.

My Thoughts:

This horror novel skews more thriller than the spooky kind I usually prefer, but once I got into it I tore through it in one day!

It’s got short chapters from two POVs–most from the wife but some from the husband, both in first person present tense. Is it a tad silly at times? Sure (oh, these four specific books fell off the shelf in the study inside the house? Must have been the “breeze”!) Was the “post-sepsis syndrome” question overused? Kinda. By the end, does it offer full explanations as to why things are the way they are with the house? No. But it was definitely interesting and I was hooked while I followed along on Emily and Freddie’s journey. And the ending was just right!

Of note: if you require an irreproachable, fully good character to root for in your stories, this book might not be your cup of tea. Also, if you’re marriage is currently struggling, maybe don’t pick this one up just now. But otherwise, I recommend this as a great choice for spooky season reading.

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