The Subtle Art of Folding Space: An Ambitious Sci-Fi That Has a Few Odd Notes

 

Author: John Chu

Genre: Science fiction, LGBTQ rep, character drama, general fiction, BIPOC rep, Own voices

Publisher: Tor Publishing Group

Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)

Release Date: April 7th, 2026

TW: familial abuse, death of a family member (on page) attempted suicide (in the past, off page), funerals, mourning

I encourage my readers to also seek out Chinese and gay reviewers, as although I am a part of the queer community, I am an asexual white woman, and may miss some cultural nuance. 

This book had an amazing premise, but had a few missteps in characterization and for lack of a better term, sci-fi believably.  But first, the plot: 

Behind our universe are the pipes that maintain it (the Skunkworks). Each pipe in the Skunkworks is a law of the universe. The framework of our universe needs constant work, and repair to keep it from deteriorating. Ellie is one of these maintainers, along with her homicidal sister Chris. Their mother, who was one of the best maintainers in the planet, is dying. When Ellie finds out that someone is keeping her mother alive by kitbashing a workaround in the physics of the universe, it's up to her to choose what to do about it. Her choice will reverberate across the inner workings of the universe and more importantly her family. Will she be able to survive her choice? Will her sister ever stop trying to kill her?

I loved the premise of this book. The concept of a whole secret group of people who  keep the universe from breaking down by fixing the very laws of the universe. Each maintainer interacts with the Skunkworks differently and each way that they interact with them is unique to them. (For example,  Ellie's cousin Daniel sees the schematics as food that he can taste and readjust.) This has great potential for  characterization and conflict that the current novel barely scratches the surface of.  

I only wish that other aspects of this book were as strong. Firstly, the characterization in this novel felt off. Our main character, Ellie, is fine, however she clearly doesn't realize that she's been abused. She excuses her sister's abuse constantly and that can be hard to read for some. Also, her relationship with Daniel, a major supporting character/deuteragonist, raises a few eyebrows. She always describes Daniel as some variation of 'built like a fridge but surprisingly graceful' every time she sees him. Every time. It comes off oddly as they are cousins, and are not supposed to be romantic. 

Other than that mischaracterization, the sci-fi is a bit fuzzy. There is lip service paid to things like general relativity and quantum mechanics, but the way that both characters interact with the Skunkworks feels more like a fantasy. The jargon-laden explanations don't help with this feeling, and after parsing it, don't make sense. So be aware as a reader. 

Despite my criticisms, I enjoyed this novel, and will be eagerly looking out for a sequel. If you let the science wash over you, and can look over some raw characterization, you'll love this book.  

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Final rating: 4 stars

Drink paring: Green tea brewed grandpa style, for fixing the universe on the go 

Seasons of Glass and Iron: A Dream of an Anthology, From a Favorite Author

Author: Amal El-Mohtar

Genre: Fantasy, romance, romance elements, short story collection, BIPOC rep, literary fiction, erotic elements, science fiction

Publisher: Macmillian Audio

Format: Audiobook (NetGalley Copy)

Narrator:  Rachel Elizabeth Smith

Release Date: March 24th, 2026

TW: spousal abuse, death, war, racism (Islamophobia and others), body horror, Alzheimer's disease, gaslighting 

I encourage you to look at reviews by Arab/Lebanese//Middle Eastern reviewers, as I am a white American and have definitely missed the nuance in some of these stories.

I loved almost every story in this collection (even the ones I didn't understand, that were in Arabic) and several of them made me cry. 

I aspire to craft prose like Amal El-Mohtar. El-Mohtar's language is so vivid and rich, which lends itself to both novels and short stories. Because of her language, each story was like a fig fresh from the tree, bursting with sweetness and sensation. Every time she described a place, it was like I was there. Every time she described a character, it was like I could see them. However, just as the sweetness is sharp, the sadness cuts just as much.

I love that from the outset, this collection is about women. Women with complicated histories with their families, women fighting back from abuse, women finding comfort in one another, both platonic and romantic.  Women who are not good at all as well. And all different genres too! 

El-Mohtar is Canadian but is of Lebanese decent, and a lot of these short stories have a theme of something not fitting in to society or it's expectations and having to carve out a path for themselves through tragedy. I relate to this, and it was interesting to see her perspective on that displacement. There are also themes of sexual assault and abuse and the trauma of war running through some of the stories, which are pretty explicit, so be aware.

There is one story here that is erotically explicit ('To Follow the Waves') so be warned. The erotic elements of this story were as well done as everything else, even if the main character was reprehensible in her actions. 

I personally can't stop thinking about 'And Their Lips Rang With the Sun' and  'The Truth About Owls' and 'Florilegia, or, Some Lies About Flowers,' but every story was a joy to listen to. 

I would be doing as great disservice if I didn't mention the fantastic narration by Rachel Elizabeth Smith. Her voice had this flowing quality, and she especially was good at speaking Arabic, making the language sing. 

I'm so glad El-Mohtar gave us this anthology. I can't wait to read what she gives to us next!

Final rating: 5 out of 5 stars 

Drink paring: Jasmine tea, for Damascus and women made of flowers

 

   

 

 

Witch Season: An Uneven But Compelling Read

Author: Julia Bianco

Genre: Urban fantasy, adult fiction, romance, romantasy, BIPOC rep

Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)

Release Date: March 3rd, 2026

TW:  murder, death of a teen (on page), arson, cutting of the body, drug use, addiction

I really really wanted to love this book, but there were a few glaring flaws that caused me to only 'like' it.  

But first, the plot: Kathrine is a witch, who puts her blood-cut powers to use serving as the enforcer of the L.A. based Aestas coven. Aestas protects unsettled witches like her-witches that weren't born into a magical family, and instead awaken to their powers in tragedy-from prejudice and discrimination, and gives them community. However, that community is threatened when Silas Khatri, leader of the powerful coven Noctis comes to inspect them, looking for any excuse to bring the wayward coven to heel. At the same time that she must deal with the infuriatingly handsome rich boy, Kathrine must also deal with an insidious threat eating her coven alive from the inside, and may be forced to work with her enemy to save it. 

The world-building was the best part of this novel. I loved the distinction between old magic (magic relying on ritual and reagents, which doesn't work half the time, or worse works too well) and the new magic that Kathrine and her coterie do (storing runes inside themselves through meditation, and using their blood to cast); it really felt like an evolving system. I am also a sucker for political jousting and I loved seeing how the covens reacted to and pushed against each other. (Libertad rules!) The settings were vivid and believable enough as well (I love Aestas's restaurant). The language was snappy and easy to read, matching such a vibrant setting, as well.  (Although, are there not bloodborne diseases in this world? Cool if true.)

However, this was a character piece, and the characters fell flat to me. Katherine was fine, however, her self-flagellation became tiresome after a while. I outright  hated the MMC. Silas was a whiny rich boy, and his actions were reprehensible. I hadn't forgiven him by the end of the book, even after he 'atones.' I cannot say more about his actions due to spoilers, but every time he was on page, I wanted to scream at him. It is a shame, because I love that he is a PoC too, it's just his constant 'oh pity me' routine was so grating. The side characters were a bit better; all of Kathrine's friends (including the head of the Libertad coven, my favorite character) were very cool and very diverse (queer rep, and more BIPOC rep, yay!), but they weren't enough to override my disdain for Silas. I do appreciate that there were multiple POV's however, and that kept me trucking along.  

The romance was a bit on the rushed side for me as well. This isn't really an enemies-to-lovers book, more like 'distrustful colleagues to lovers' which is fine. It's the speed at which they fell for each other that I can't get over. The entire novel takes place over a very short period of time (a week or two in October) and so everything was way too fast. Kathrine and Silas were instantly attracted to each other (which I'm fine with; sometimes that happens) but then almost immediately fell for each other and started having sex, despite their fraught positions. It was unbelievable and took me out of the novel. However, the sex scenes were well written, if abrupt, and there was definite heat coming off the page that had nothing to do with L.A. They were plentiful and explicit, so be aware of that.  

I may seem harsh on this book, but I still want to read a sequel. I hope that Silas can truly improve, and that the romance can be fleshed out a bit more in the future. If not, I'll still be here for the fantastic world-building and Libertad in specific. 

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Final rating: 3.5 (rounded up to 4) stars 

Drink paring:  Light smoke lapsang to think of fire

 

Hello, Limerence: An Explicit, Beautiful Trainwreck

 

Author: Momo Yamaguchi

Genre: Humor and satire, queer fiction, POC Literature, romance (?), Japanese literature, adult fiction

Publisher: Mariner Books

Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)

Release Date: August 18th, 2026 

TW: violent fantasies (including murder, and shoving things up orifices) sexual assault, rape, death of a family member, isolation (pandemic related), homophobia (slight)

When the blurb compared this to Fleabag, they weren't kidding.  A ridiculous and relatable romp, Hello Limerence isn't for everyone, but for the ones who click with it, they'll love it. 

But first, the plot:  Mika is a 25 year old salarywoman in Tokyo Japan.Stuck in a dead end job, she seeks escape in romance and sex, desperate to lose her virginity. When she meets Tyler, a Japanese American expat, and another man, she does proceed to lose her virginity, but that isn't enough. Obsessed, or experiencing limerence if you prefer, she spirals when Tyler doesn't reciprocate her feelings. Together with her best friend Mika, she tries to navigate her 20's in modern Tokyo, even through a pandemic and a really shitty boss, which she murders in elaborate fantasies. Can Mika find true love, or will she be in limerence for the rest of her life?

The best part of the book was main character, Mika. She is an incredibly relatable 20 something, self-obsessed and chronically online, trying to find herself in our world. This novel is written in first person POV, so readers are in her head the entire time, and are privy to her wild and vivid revenge fantasies, and every sordid detail of her lust driven insanity. As a former 25 something, she's painfully realistic, including the chronically online obsession with social media and her need to find her true self. I also appreciate her perspective as a Japanese woman and her critiques of Western imperialism and her own culture. She's a mess, but a mess with potential past the solipsism.  (I also resonated hard with her jobless status later in the novel.) I love the messy queer representation as well; but to go into that would be spoilers, so I will not. 

I also like the tone. Mika's perspective is a roller coaster ride, one minute she'll be calling herself a 'loyal ho,' and the next minute she'll be mourning the death of a family member. Her sardonic tone can be a bit much sometimes, but I enjoyed it. I especially loved the fantasies, which were patenly hilariious and insane. 

The setting is a bit less vivid; I never forgot that we were in Tokyo but a large chunk of the later  parts of the book takes place in her apartment because of a (satirical) COVID-like pandemic. I wish that the setting was fleshed out more, but I understand why it wasn't. 

Hello, Limerence is a graphic and raunchy read, which isn't for everyone. Be prepared to read about close examinations of the body, and also to read gory fantasies against misogynists. However, if you can move past these roadblocks you will get a raw character portrait of a complex and morally grey character. 

Final rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars (rounded up to 4)  

Drink paring: Darjeeling, for the darkness and floral bite 

 

Kin: A Story About Found Famiy and Fate

 

Author:  Tayari Jones

Genre: BIPOC lit, Literary fiction, historical fiction, Queer lit 

Publisher: Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor

Format: Ebook (NetGalley Copy)

Release Date: Feburary 24th, 2026

TW: murder, racism (anti-Black), antisemitism, physical abuse, sexual assault, homophobia, deceptions of pre-Roe v Wade abortion (which I hope we don't go back to), child abuse (switches and beatings) 

I encourage you to engage with a Black reviewer, as I am white, and might miss some nuance. 

A book about what family truly is, sexuality and queerness, and navigating everything in the face of racism and class privilege. 

Kin is about two girls (and later women) Annie and  Vernice (or Niecy), who've been together since they were born. Growing up in a small town (Honeysuckle Louisiana) both girls have gone through tragedy; Niecy's father murdered her mother and then killed himself, when she was a newborn and Annie's mother walked out on her as a child.   When she finds out her mother might be alive, Annie leaves before graduating high school to find her. Vernice leaves for Spellman College, drawn into a whole new world. Trials and tribulations meet both of them, and they both endure and draw together, each pulling on their bond at different times to keep from drowning.

The POV's do a big job in keeping the story flowing. Annie and Vernice really do change during the novel, and this change is reflected in the way that the language changes as they grow apart. This really highlights the characters. I particularity appreciate Niecy's journey to reconcile her girl-loving tendencies in a heteronormative society. I also loved and related to Annie as someone who blew up her life to search for a mother that left her, that yearning resonated and had me sobbing at the resolution. 

There were moments of throat crushing horror as well, and I really felt the terror of the characters in that moment. The side characters are as rich as the mains, and all had their own stories.  

This book is complex, like Black womanhood itself, and filled with love and pain. The ending made me cry. I am glad that it wasn't fully wrapped up at the end. Like life, it is bittersweet and harrowing. 

Thanks to Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage and Anchor and NetGalley for the ARC!

Final Rating: 4 stars out of 5 

Drink Paring: Rose black tea, sweet and sharp