Read THE SIREN, THE SONG, AND THE SPY by Maggie Tokuda-Hall if you love mermaids, shipwrecks, hyenas, broken families in a broken world, bloodshed, lies, evil empires, resistance, oases, pirates, mothers, dragons, lovers, reckonings, cycles & noodle soup.
Read THE MERMAID, THE WITCH & THE SEA by Maggie Tokuda-Hall if you love ships, arranged marriages, queer love, mermaids (obvi), the sea as a character, the horrors of colonialism, learning to read, genderfuckery, good soup, learning your own magic, escape, comeuppance & doilies.
Read THE DEAD TAKE THE A TRAIN by Cassandra Khaw & Richard Kadrey if you love blood & guts & viscera, eldritch horrors, corporate bullshit, eyeballs (so many eyeballs), backstabbing, best friends, vodka, New York, more blood, more guts, more viscera, magic, takeout, doors & bookstores.
Read SO LET THEM BURN by Kamilah Cole if you love ancestral magic, the bond between sisters, the story that happens after the war is over, young people stepping up to save the world, dragons, libraries, magic schools, anti-colonial frameworks, intense crushes, the grey areas & dancing all night.
Read IN THE DREAM HOUSE by Carmen Maria Machado if you love haunted houses, gut wrenchingly beautiful prose, autobiographical accounts, trauma narratives, exceedingly queer stories, a meticulous exploration of abuse, thematic echoes & brilliantly structured books.
Read VENOM & VOW by Anna-Marie & Elliott McLemore if you love duel perspectives, enemies-to-lovers, warring kingdoms, secret identities, So Many Knives, badass mobility aids, genderfuckery, T4T romance, magical creatures, living castles, disguises, disability representation, being seen for who you really are.
(Also Vico Ortiz narrates the audiobook & gives an AMAZING performance).
Read THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER by V.E. Schwab if you love old friends, new friends, strong tea, being a hero, rebellions, running away, heists, chronic illness, magic items, sacrifices, festivals, markets, crowded shops, mirrors, f**ked up families & seeing what others do not.
Read A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab if you love magical tournaments, secret identities, political intrigue, lovers' reunions, shared pain, rebirth, masks, pirate ships, learning who you are, dysfunctional families, impossible decisions & body modifications.
Read SYSTEM COLLAPSE by Martha Wells if you love grumpy murderbots, annoying humans, trauma narratives, corruption corporations, saving those in peril, drones, watching media, using storytelling as both a technique for persuading as well as healing, and fixing the broken bits.