Revelle by Lyssa Mia Smith

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: domestic violence, manipulation, racism, murder, death, drowning, abandonment, gaslighting, chronic pain, death of loved ones, grief, orphan, corporal punishment, gun violence, attempted murder, blackmail, fire

This was a dreamily decadent YA fantasy that pulled back the curtain on a truly unique magic system and showed both the glitz and glamour of showbiz and the rusty grit beneath a performer’s nails. Really enjoyed the writing style and the way it pulled apart structures of privilege and power. Also, I will always be a sucker for something that pulls on Moulin Rouge!

Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll

🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: violence, death, murder, graphic violence, sexual assault, rape, blood, racism, sexism, homophobia, misogyny, kidnapping, trauma, grief

This fictionalised retelling (ish) hits back hard at the decades of repression and silencing of the victims of one of the most infamous serial killers. They have always been the footnotes of his story – until now.

Full review here.

The List by Yomi Adegoke

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: sexual assault, harassment, racism, suicide, suicidal thoughts, death, rape

I was absolutely loving the narrative style of this book and the ethical dilemma at its heart. The ending and resolution just did not hit like I wanted it to. Still a very solid read though.

The Heroines by Laura Shepperson

🧠

TW: murder, death, sexual assault, rape, abuse, suicide, violence against women, violence against children, emotional and verbal violence, animal violence, discussions of child sexual assault and molestation, misogyny, bodily mutilation, public humiliation, child death

I enjoyed the narrative structure of this book – following that of a Greek tragedy, complete with Chorus. That was the most impactful element of the book for me. Sadly, this just did not hit the heights of other Greek mythology retellings I have read, particuarly in its feminist bent.

Monstrous by Jessica Lewis

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: murder, violence, death, graphic violence, parental abandonment, domestic abuse, child abuse, homophobia, fatphobia, suicidal thoughts

Lewis’ writing was incredibly exciting and brought something I found completely fresh to the table. I always enjoy an exploration of vigilante justice and female rage, taken to bloody extremes here. However, I just did not love that ending.

There’s No Way I’d Die First by Lisa Springer

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: murder, violence, death, gore, graphic violence, torture, racism

Easily one of the best YA horrors I have read this year. This is a slasher narrative unlike any other. It is gory, violent and so imaginative in its kills. Springer has created some truly nightmarish scenarios, which will stay with me for quite some time. I love how much the narrative is careful to critique the consideration of horror within the media and particularly how horror has traditionally treated Black characters. 

Full review here.

Your Lonely Nights Are Over by Adam Sass

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: racism, murder, death, violence, graphic violence, gaslighting, verbal abuse, emotional abuse, physical abuse, abusive relationships and hostile law enforcement (taken from start of the book)

This balances heavy societal topics with dashes of camp horror, truly terrifying sequences and characterisation that truly sings. Adam Sass is an author to watch and I truly recommend him as an emerging scream monarch of YA horror.

Full review here.

The Meadows by Stephanie Oakes

🏳️‍🌈🧠⭐️

TW: queerphobia, conversion therapy, transphobia, racism, misogyny, PTSD, suicide (taken from the start of the book)

Sometimes a book just makes you ache. This is one spilling over with emotions: anger sadness and a tiny kernel of hope. It is a quietly devastating book that hits to close to home.

Full review here.

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: sexual abuse, gore, murder, death, violence, graphic violence, suicide, blood, child sexual assault, molestation, sexual assault, abusive parents, emotional abuse, physical abuse, neglect, gaslighting, grooming, animal death, body horror, possession

Liselle Sambury just became a solid author on my watchlist. This is an incredible YA horror, with a poignant look at intergenerational trauma, abuse and darkness. It is full of the monstrosity of humans.

Our Wives Under The Sea by Julia Armfield

🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: blood, parasites, gore, drowning, burns, death of a parent, assault, graphic descriptions of violence, suicide, death, depression, trauma, psychosis

This was a haunting story that grapped me by the throat and pulled me into the murky depths of its ambiguous, delectably told pages. Something about it was so intoxicating and twisted – impossible to look away from. It has some of the most stunning writing I have read this year. Armfield is a talent to watch.

A Taste of Darkness

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, murder, torture, sexual assault, blood, violence, gaslighting, attempted child murder, institutionalisation, fire, arson

This is a bone-chilling YA horror anthology that serves as perfect reading for the nights drawing closer and darker. was genuinely such a solid anthology – with every story delivering something intriguing, unique and horrifying in its own way. I’ll go through each story in turn in my full review; just know that I would read a full length continuation of every one of them. 

Full review here.

The Scarlet Alchemist by Kylie Lee Baker

⭐️🧠

TW: death, violence, blood, murder, graphic violence, gore,  sexism, death of parent, fire, burning at the stake, gore, sexual harassment, self harm, bullying, classism, animal death, kidnapping, racism

I adored this bloodthirsty little beast of a book. It was unapologetically dark and brutal, wallowing in the rivers of blood and gold that flood through this book. Zilan was a fantastically complex and conflicted protagonist caught in a web of politics, magic and death.

Full review here.

Furies

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, sexual assault, racism, grief, assault, Nazism, transphobia, homophobia, ageism, misogyny, sexism, classism

This short story anthology was released in celebration of Virago’s 50th birthday, with each story centring around reclaiming a word often used as a misogynistic insult. This had some excellent writing and interesting ways of reinterpreting each word. However, it just felt a little forgettable to me – getting glimpses of teeth but not yet fully bared.

And Don’t Look Back by Rebecca Barrow

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, murder, abandonment, grief, car accident, emotional abuse, physical abuse, child abuse, gun violence, gaslighting, stalking, violence, gore, blood, injury

Ok, Barrow has my full attention. This book carves out a twisty atmospheric thriller that hinges on familial relationships and that bond of love and strength that can come through horrendous circumstances.

Full review here.

The Sun and the Star by Rick Riordan and Mark Oshiro

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: outing, PTSD, death, grief, gore, injuries, blood, bugs, loss of a parent, disordered eating

Sometimes in life, you just need to return to the familiar world you love and see what’s new. Riordan and Oshiro have created this touching romance story amidst battling through your own trauma and learning to live with it. It is an action-packed story, full of heart and soul.

You’d Look Better as a Ghost by Joanna Wallace

🧠

TW: death, murder, violence, graphic violence, gore, drowning, elderly abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, confinement, infidelity, grief, counselling, trauma, suicide

This was a book deeply rooted in the blackest pits of hellish humour that I adore. It has a narrator like no other in the form of Claire. Here is a deeply messed up little kid all grown up as a vicious serial killer. Her kills have a twist of ingenuity to them that often matches the crime, but also fall as bluntly as her hammer. 

Full review here.

Hatchet Girls by Diana Rodriguez Wallach

⭐️🧠

TW: death, murder, blood, violence, gore, gaslighting, drugging, physical abuse, emotional abuse, racism, stalking

I really enjoyed this dark and brooding mesh of different very autumnal genres for me: a murder mystery/thriller, mixed with some paranormal elements and a historical nod to the infamous Lizzie Borden case.

Full review here.

Supper For Six by Fiona Wallace

TW: murder, death, violence, gore, fire, abandonment, cheating, physical abuse, blood, corpses, drugging

I am a sucker for a good narrative format that plays with expectations and genre, which this delivers through the use of a true crime style podcast that may be getting a bit too involved in its case. Full of twists, tricks and surprises.

Full review here.

Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠

TW: death, violence, gore, grief, murder, branding, body horror, panic attacks, anxiety, depression, drowning, bloodletting, self-harm, magical substance abuse, magical asylum, institutionalisation

From the first few pages, I was hooked on this gloomy Dark Academia style fantastical mystery that shifts like the sea, impossible to capture. Lacelle has created such a rich and expansive world with a unique and deeply fascinating magic system. The way the lore intersects with the mystery was excellent.

Full review here.

Medusa by Rosie Hewlett

🧠

TW: death, violence, murder, rape, sexual assault, parental abandonment, neglect, PTSD, trauma

Hewlett packs on hell of a punch in this tightly written snakebite of a book. It is eviscerating, emotional and weaves a rich tapestry beyond the myth you may think you know. It makes me very excited to read her take on Medea.

The Bronzed Beasts by Roshani Chokshi

⭐️🏳️‍🌈🧠💙

TW: antisemitism, death of a loved one, blood, gore, grief, murder, death, grief, ableism , serious injury, injury detail, body horror

As a huge fan of The Gilded Wolves series, I had been putting off reading this as I did not want to say goodbye to these exquisite characters. I enjoyed the twists and turns, particularly how internally devastating they were. However, that ending just was not fully there for me – though the epilogue was fantastic.

The Scarlet Veil by Shelby Mahurin

⭐️🏳️‍🌈 (side characters)

TW: blood, murder, violence, gore, death, kidnapping, stalking, obsession

This totally enraptured me and took me on an epic journey of a love story for the ages, a deeply Gothic murder mystery and my personal favourite, the masquerade ball scene. I also have never read the Serpent & Dove series, but it did not feel like that mattered too much!

Full review here.