When Sir Cameron learns he’s supposed to die for a prophecy in order to stop a sorcerer from killing their world’s god, he flees to the sorcerer, the one person who should want him alive, for protection. But the sorcerer doesn’t have to like Cameron, or even keep him human, in order to keep him alive. Unfortunately for Merulo, Cameron seems to enjoy his mistreatment, and feelings form between the two as they sort of work together.

This was a ridiculous and wonderful story with a ridiculous and wonderful romance.

The romance was not like most that I’ve read. I don’t know what word I’d use. Not sexy, not angsty, not sweet exactly. Except it was sweet and beautiful in its own weird way. They definitely had little moments of sweetness among the perversion and antagonism and annoyance. They also had big moments of undeniably showing their love that they just tried to pretend didn’t happen.

This is one of my favorite kinds of humor, and I never know how to describe it. A little bit absurd and silly, entirely on purpose, and the things characters say and do are unexpected in a way that is genuinely so funny.

All of the characters were great. Well, not Glenda, but she wasn’t meant to be likeable, really. I don’t think. Cameron was ridiculous and cowardly (not that I’m blaming him for that, I wouldn’t want to fight in battles or be stabbed for a prophecy either) and self-serving and sometimes wildly oblivious, but also sometimes observant and optimistic and kind when he wanted to be. Merulo was grumpy and disgruntled and exasperated and sometimes a little mean, but also determined and smart and could be thoughtful.

I did not predict anything about the plot. Some things, I was like, “I did not see that coming, but looking back, all the clues were there, it makes complete sense.” Other things, I was like, “I did not see that coming, and there was no way I could’ve, but it’s still cool.” There are a couple things I don’t really understand or think were answered, but I liked everything else so much that I just don’t care. And I don’t think they really needed answers. Like, was the prophecy correct or not? Does it matter? It’s still what brought Cameron and Merulo together either way.

The world building, or premise about the world, was really unique and strange. Ultimately it’s another thing that doesn’t really make a difference in the story but is still what brought the two together and gave Merulo his motivation and thus made the whole story possible.

I just learned, after writing everything above, that this is the first in a series. (It’s not currently listed as such on Amazon or Goodreads.) Which is admittedly frustrating, I like knowing before I read a book that it’s the first in a series, but I digress. The ending did drop a lot on the reader and was a bit open, but in the sense of, the characters sort of ended one chapter in their life and now they’re starting a new one. I was ok with that. But I suppose there are still more answers and explanations to come with the sequel.

I’m updating after posting to add something else I thought of. The main character has his body swapped from amab to afab for a bit, and it is mostly made into a joke, not a nuanced take on gender. I guess it didn’t really bother me because it being silly made sense and fit with the tone of the story and the characters. But YMMV.

The audiobook narration by Dan Calley was great. Characters sounded different and natural but with the right kind of performance to suit the ridiculousness.

Overall, I had a great time listening to this. It was delightful! The story was unique, the characters were ridiculous and lovable, and their romance was sweet in its own weird way.

*Rating: 4.5 Stars // Read Date: 2026 // Format: Audiobook*

The past month has been even more tiring than usual for me, but I’m still chugging along.

My free time lately has been taken over by Dressmaker! I didn’t even know about this game until I started seeing videos of it, and I sort of spontaneously bought it, and it’s been a lot of fun!

I also tried playing Cultist Simulator again, a game I had tried a few years ago, but I think it’s just a game that’s not for me. It’s neat, I really want to like it more, but a little too grindy, and trying to figure out what to do when it’s all so obscure just frustrates me.

I watched Project Hail Mary, I don’t know if I mentioned that in a previous update. There was too much suspension of disbelief required for me to be able to really get into it, but the acting, effects, cinematography, etc. was all great, and it had its cute and funny moments.

I don’t know, I can’t think of anything else, so I’ll just move on to the bookish stuff.

Blog/Bookish Updates:

Nothing.

Books I Received for Review:

To Our Untamed Core by Sonido Reyes – This was the only Libro.fm book I grabbed last month. It’s a queer YA dystopian about a trans guy trying to save his boyfriend in a fight-to-the-death game.

I’ve already reviewed A Dangerous Bargain by Erin Cotter, it was a mysterious YA historical fantasy set in Renaissance Florence, and this is the beautiful hardcover.

Speaking of beautiful hardcovers, look at the gorgeous cover art and sprayed/stenciled paged edges on this one! The Silver Kingdom by Radiya Hafiza is a South Asian–inspired YA romantasy with magic and forbidden romance between royals.

When the World was Happy by Benjamin Alire Saenz is about teens navigating life with the help of family and friends after a school shooting. It sounds like a hopeful sort of story.

Last but certainly not least, Just the Good Parts by Robbie Couch is about a teen whose dad goes missing, and when he discovers he can travel to other people’s memories using scents, he uses it to find clues, but another boy keeps showing up in memories where he doesn’t belong. I featured this one on my list of upcoming books I’m excited for, so I was indeed excited when this one showed up!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me all these in the mail!

Books I Finished:

If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!

Apparently, Sir Cameron Needs to Die by Greer Stothers – So… I only read one book last month. But it was a great one! It was unique and fun and made me laugh and had a romance that was sweet in its own weird way.

Virgil’s family is in debt, his father is dead, his brother is missing, and he’s already bargained away most of his life to the angels who walk among them in Renaissance Florence in order to better support his family as an artist. When the situation becomes more dire, he gets help from the fellow apprentice he can’t stand, Leonardo da Vinci, to solve the mystery before it’s too late.

*I received a copy of this book from the publisher. This has not influenced my review.*

A historical setting mixed with fantasy, trading away bits of your life in deals with supernaturals, art, mystery, sibling bonds, romance, what a great combination of things!

This was one of those books that was full of tension and mystery, where you’re not sure exactly what’s going on or going to happen, but you know it’s something. That was my favorite thing about the book, the mystery of the (somewhat creepy) angels and Lupa’s unusualness and the missing brother and the Medici family. It made me want to keep reading. I feel like a few things in the plot were sort of waved off and just happened without a real explanation, but I think all of the mysteries were addressed, so not a huge deal.

The romance relied a lot on feelings they already had before the book started, even though Virgil hadn’t realized exactly what those feelings were, but we weren’t shown much of that, so I just didn’t really feel the strength of their feelings. That being said, it was still a sweet and touching romance.

All the main relationships were sweet, actually. The relationship between Virgil and his brother relied on the past too, but that one worked for me, I feel like we were shown the bond between them well in Virgil’s memories. And I liked the protective friendship and care formed between Lupa and the boys, especially Virgil.

Virgil, Leonardo, and Lupa were all easy to like. But I especially liked Lupa, with her childlike naivety about the human world, making mistakes but wanting to help.

There’s an interesting comparison to be made here between making deals to be a better artist and using AI to make art. The book obviously doesn’t state that directly because there’s no AI in the setting, but it does hint at it in its message.

The cover art is beautiful, and the hardcover book itself under the dust jacket is a gorgeous red color.

Overall, the Italian Renaissance setting was fun, the plot was mysterious, and the friend, sibling, and romantic relationships were all sweet.

*Rating: 3.5 Stars // Read Date: 2026 // Format: Ebook via TTS / Hardcover*

I was feeling bad about being late to get this posted, because it’s meant to be about books releasing in the second half of the year. But then I realized, I did Part 1 in mid-March, and it’s now almost exactly six months from that date, which means I’m right on time if you go by that metric

Anyway, here’s ten queer sci-fi/fantasy books (standalones and series starters) that have either already released or will be releasing in the second half of the year (mostly). Enjoy!

*If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon US, I’d appreciate it if you use my affiliate links! It will help support this blog at no additional cost to you!*

A Dangerous Bargain by Erin Cotter

A seventeen-year-old artist in the Italian Renaissance who only has months to live (because he bargained away most of his life to support his family) teams up with Leonardo da Vinci when his brother goes missing. Supernatural bargains, mystery, romance, and a historical fantasy setting—that is a great combo and very much sounds like something I’ll like!
Amazon // Goodreads

So Superb It’s Killing Me by Zachary Sergi

It sounds like this one is about a magic school, and a competition, and maybe a bit of mystery and romance, and character growth. I like all those things, so this sounds cool.
Amazon // Goodreads

When Yesterday Ends by S. Jean

Someone gets kidnapped and is going to have his heart eaten by a cursed fey unless he can break the curse in time. I’ve read some other books by this author and they were surprisingly gentle despite the subject matter, so I guess we’ll see if this one is too. It sounds like a good story nonetheless!
Amazon // Goodreads

Just the Good Parts by Robbie Couch

A teen’s(?) dad goes missing, and when he discovers he can travel to other people’s memories using scents, he uses it to find clues, but another boy keeps showing up in memories where he doesn’t belong. It’s a unique idea, and I’ve enjoyed another book by this author with similar vibes about trying to figure out life, so I imagine this will be good too.
Amazon // Goodreads

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley

People start turning into salt, and a man who was raised in the salt mine cult and then converted to a Jesuit priest goes to investigate. That’s the best way I can succinctly explain this one. I’ve already read it, and it was very unique and very Natasha Pulley. Not my personal favorite of her books, but still a great read/listen.
Amazon // Goodreads

Adam, Mine by K. Ancrum

A Frankenstein-inspired “queer romantic horror thriller” about a boy’s experiments turning another boy into a monster. Any books that’s inspired by or a retelling of Frankenstein catches my attention, especially when they’re queer, and this sounds so interesting.
Amazon // Goodreads

Be Still My Unbeating Heart by Josh Winning

A vampire who no longer drinks human blood gets accused of murders while on vacation and works with the stoic investigator to solve the crimes. Another I’ve already read, and although it did have a serious plot and some serious character moments, it was also fun with a touch of whimsy and m/m romance.
Amazon // Goodreads

Dead New World by Lin Darrow

A future dystopian world in which technology has created immortality by bringing the dead back through holographs, but even ghosts have to struggle in the gig economy, and the MC and her friends have to solve the mystery when someone starts kidnapping ghosts. I’m not sure how it’s LGBT+, but it’s listed as such, so I’m just trusting that. It’s the first in a duology. From reviews I’ve seen, this one sounds absurd in a great way.
Amazon // Goodreads

The Bard and the Messenger by Aleksi Gray

A bard decides he needs to have some adventures of his own to sing about, so he sets out with a messenger, and they go have adventures and romance. Also, according to the author, is has a trans MC. It sounds fun and cozy and cute!
Author’s Linktree // Goodreads

Devour Me by Emily Rath

A wraith, the witch whose soul he’s supposed to eat, and the human who stops him, and it’s a MMF romance, and the first in a series. Love triangles are fun, but I think more books should have throuples and polyamory, so I’m always excited when I find one. I also love reading about uncommon supernaturals, like wraiths. So this sounds perfect for me!
Amazon // Goodreads

I normally post these on Sundays, not Wednesdays, but my schedule is more of a suggestion than a rule, at this point.

So what have I done in the past month? Not a whole lot worth talking about. (I’m sure you’re all shocked.)

I finished my random choices BG3 run. It turned out to be an evil run! I actually made it to the end, and my character decided to take over the world and even chose the option that was like, “I planned this the whole time!” So that was a twist ending.

I decided to take a break from BG3 after that (not because of the ending, just because I’ve played it 20 times now, if you count my last random choices run that ended early), and instead of playing any of the many unplayed games I have and want to play… I started playing I Was a Teenage Exocolonist again. I wanted to see if I could accomplish something that everyone has always said isn’t possible, but then one person told me a way to do it. But I also just kind of wanted to play again, and I quickly got sucked back in. It is as wonderful as I remembered. Here’s my review if anyone is interested.

I also watched the second Wicked movie. Not going down as a favorite or anything, but I liked it more the than the first, thought it had more to the story. I’ve never read the books or seen the musical, so it was neat seeing the explanations for things like the tin man and scarecrow. It’s also a visually stunning movie.

Blog/Bookish Updates:

Nothing.

Books I Received for Review:

These are my recent Libro.fm ALCs, so I’ll link to their Libro.fm pages in case anyone wants to support local bookstores.

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley – Hoo boy, I’ve already read this one, and I still don’t know how to describe it Sort of metaphysical fantasy? And the apocalypse? People start turning into salt and a Jesuit priest originally raised in the salt king cult is sent to investigate..

Devour Me by Emily Rath – A wraith, the witch whose soul he’s supposed to eat but doesn’t want to, a historian, and a MMF romance, plus it’s the first book in a series. It sounds perfect for me.

The City of Slaughter by Aden Polydoros – I read the first book in this series (I didn’t know there would be more books), and it was fantastic, I gave it 4.5 stars. So this sounds like it’ll be great too with the same characters and more historical supernatural mystery.

Predestined by Rebecca Danzenbaker – YA dystopian romantic thriller about a girl whose AI future-predicting app tells her she’s going to vanish tomorrow morning and a rebel who wants to destroy her. There’s a little more than that in the actual description, and it sounds like an interesting idea.

Night of Madness by Ryan Douglass – “Teen influencers compete in a horror movie–themed overnight competition, only to realize the real test is staying alive.” Sounds like a fun horror book for spooky season. The first printing of the hardcover also has these cool sprayed/stenciled page edges.

My Killer Family Reunion by Dinesh Thiru – Described as a murder-comedy perfect for fans of Knives Out, “after an attempt on her wealthy grandmother’s life at a family reunion, an Indian American teen hunts for the culprit.” This one isn’t quite within my genre taste, but it sounds fun if it is within yours.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me all these in the mail!

Books I Finished:

If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!

I read four books in August! That’s more than I’ve managed in a while. The first three were Libro.fm ALCs, some from previous months.

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson – Cozy horror? And a creepy, magical forest. This was less about the romance than I expected, but it had two romances (both queer) and sweet family.

The Salt King by Natasha Pulley – This was one of those Pulley books that didn’t quite hit for me, but it was incredibly creative and unique and well-written.

Doppelbanger by W.H. Lockwood – Sci-fi romance about two versions of the same guy from different universes. I have mixed feelings because I had a lot of issues, but I also had fun.

Be Still My Unbeating Heart by Josh Winning – I heard about this one from Roberta @ Offbeat YA. It was a fun murder mystery with a vampire MC and a bit of romance!

Cyrus is a wrongdoer who’s hiding a secret about his magic and needs to boost his reputation, so when champion Maximilian, also needing a boost, offers a deal to stage some fights, Cyrus takes it. He doesn’t expect to have quite so much fun and start developing feelings for the person who’s supposed to be his nemesis.

*I received an audio copy of this book via the Libro.fm ALC program. This has not influenced my review.*

This was silly and fun and cute! Just the right amount of ridiculous for the world and premise. But also with its serious moments and emotions.

It was surprisingly believable the way these two came together and transitioned from nemeses to lovers. I could feel something growing between them, some pull to each other, even before it was romantic. Perhaps not the deepest exploration of a relationship I’ve ever read, but one in which I felt the chemistry and connection. Including in a couple sex scenes that were both hot and sweet. And they balanced each other. Cyrus needed a little of good influence, and Max needed a little bit of bad influence to have some fun.

I have some minor annoyances. Not book-ruining, more like, I’m curious if anyone else had the same thoughts. *SPOILER (highlight to reveal)* I didn’t understand why Max still trusted Balthazar after the first betrayal. When it happened, I thought to myself, “He’s never going to forgive Balthazar for this.” But he did. Immediately. Or rather, it was like Max didn’t even think there was anything to forgive. But if Balthazar cared about Max, he would never have put Max in a position where he almost had to murder the person he loved. So I spent the rest of the book waiting for Balthazar to do something else. When Cyrus overheard Max talking to the reporter, I actually thought that was Bal, shapeshifted, because this world has magic, so why not? Turns out I was wrong about that, but I was right about shapeshifting existing. Which then also annoyed me because why did Cyrus not consider that? I was so happy when Cyrus found out Max’s original plan was to kill him in the end and he (Cyrus) didn’t overreact, just talked it out with Max, only for him to then overreact with the reporter. I guess these are just book things, gotta happen to make the story work. Or it’s easy for me to see them logically as a reader, but it’s different for characters who are in the situation.

The audiobook narration by Will Watt was wonderful. He’s a fantastic narrator and brought Cyrus to life in a way that captured his ridiculousness but still sounded completely natural. And characters sounded different enough to easily tell them apart.

Overall, I don’t have a lot to say, but this was a fun fantasy romance, and I enjoyed it!

*Rating: 4 Stars // Read Date: 2026 // Format: Audiobook*

Nothing good to report about real life this month.

I forgot to mention last month that I tried Paralives. It’s still in early access, and I think it has a lot of potential! I probably won’t play it much for now though. To be honest, learning a whole new life sim sorta feels overwhelming. Especially when I don’t think any life sim is ever going to top The Sims 3 for me. I’ve already found my life sim soulmate. But I really do think Paralives could be someone else’s favorite. And the freedom in build mode is phenomenal. Finally a game giving players to the option to actually just do what they want. You want to have things clip into each other? You can! You want to extend a window past the wall? You can! Also the option to rotate objects on all axes? Really great. And I love seeing all the builds and characters people are creating in the Paralives subreddit.

Aside from that, I’ve been playing the same games when I have a little time and energy for myself. I’m currently doing a random choices run in BG3, those are always wild. I have surprisingly made it to Act 3 without any dialogue choices resulting in instant game over. Though almost every companion you can recruit is dead

I don’t think I watched any movies or shows, but I did find this video that randomly showed up while I was scrolling through shorts and it made me laugh a lot, so maybe it will bring you some joy too.

Blog/Bookish Updates:

It was my 11th blogiverary last month! Here’s my celebratory post about some of my first and favorite posts, in case you want to check that out.

Books I Received for Review:

July was another great month for me with the Libro.fm ALC program!

Adam, Mine by K. Ancrum – A queer YA Frankenstein-inspired story about a teen boy creating a monster out of another teen boy. I love Frankenstein stories, and it’s been a while since I’ve read one.

The Lord of the Wood by E.M. Anderson – Queer romance(?) about a man venturing into an enchanted forest and finding a man with power over the forest turning into a beast.

Mosswood Apothecary by JP Rindfleisch IX – Cozy, queer fantasy with romance and plant magic that looks to be the first in a series.

Doppelbanger by W. H. Lockwood – M/M rom-com where two versions of the same man from parallel universes fall in love. This sounds fun.

A Dangerous Bargain by Erin Cotter – A queer YA historical fantasy about a young man who has bargained away most of his life to an angel to support his family teams up with Leonardo da Vinci to try and save his brother. This definitely sounds like my kinda book! (Also did I bargain part of my life for this photo? I didn’t know my phone could do depth of field. How did it do that for this photo and only this photo?)

Survival Show by Juno Dawson – A YA dystopian(?) about a girl who enters a deadly televised singing competition to save her family.

Dead Girls by Beck Kubrick – A YA graphic novel about the daughter of a serial killer hunting down a copycat killer with the help of her friends. And I’ve been told it has both queer and disability rep! The beautiful cover art is also on the hardcover itself. Also I just flipped to a random page to show the inside art, I have no idea if it’s a good page for sharing

Killing Sadie by Rachel Peterson – A YA thriller about a murder with multiple unreliable narrators, and finally the victim herself narrating what actually happening leading up to her death, which sounds like a cool concept. And the first printing has red page edges!

Rainbow Boys by Alex Sanchez – A queer coming-of-age story about three teen boys in the early 2000s. According to the info I received, this is a special 25th anniversary edition, available September 29th, with a new look (I love those fun page edges!), “a heartfelt new author’s note, and an introduction by Gender Queer creator Maia Kobabe.”

Thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me all these in the mail!

Books I Finished:

If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!

Midnight Project by M.N. Arzu – This was a unique idea about a vampire starving because blood is sickening him, so he turns to a human hematologist for help, and I enjoyed it!

Nemesis, Mine by Amy Archer – This was a silly and fun and sweet M/M romance between a wrongdoer and a champion in a fantasy world! This was one of my Libro.fm books last month.

My 11th blogiversary was a couple weeks ago, but I couldn’t think of a post idea to celebrate it. So a couple weeks late, here’s what I’ve come up with! I thought I’d look back at my first posts in some of my different blogging categories and talk about them and maybe share some of my favorite posts too.

(I normally post reviews on Wednesdays, but I don’t have one, so I figured might as well just post this already.)

Book Reviews

My first book review was for Incubus by Amanda Meuwissen, though I have since reposted it with some updates (kept the original review though). And you know what? My review is still solid! Not as cringey as I thought it would be, and it’s still a series I love and keep rereading.

Choosing a favorite book review is hard because I don’t want to just choose my favorite book, you know? I’ve always liked my review for Real Vampires Don’t Sparkle by Amy Fecteau. I think it’s a fun one while still actually reviewing the book. Honestly, this might my favorite thing that I’ve ever written in a review:

Not only that, Matheus and Quin made the perfect couple. And by couple, I mean not a couple. And by perfect, I mean they constantly bickered and only half-teasingly threatened to maim each other (as you do when you’re a vampire).

And it’s another series I still love and keep rereading, though it has been some years now.

Game Reviews

My first game review was Tusks, a gay orc dating sim. It caught my attention and was only a few dollars, and I think it was the first visual novel I’d played. I have to credit it as being the game that got me into trying more stuff like this, more games that weren’t just The Sims or whatever else I played as a kid/teen, and clearly the game that got me started writing game reviews. And I still think it’s a decent review.

For some reason, this is even harder. I’ll go with my Project Zomboid review. It’s not funny or anything, and it’s one of my longer ones, but it’s exactly the kind of review that would help me. And what I’ve learned in 11 years of blogging/reviewing is that you will never be writing reviews for everyone, because different people like different types of reviews (long, short, funny, informative, etc.), and we’re all coming at games/books/media from a different place. So when you’re looking for reviews, the best ones are usually the ones that match where you’re coming from. E.g. Stressful zombie games with real-time mechanics? Not usually my thing, but I love this one, so my review is going to help other people who also aren’t usually into this kind of game but are curious about this one.

Bookish Memes

Back when I started blogging, there were so many weekly things to participate in. It was nice, in a way. As a newbie, it was a way to find others and easy ideas for posts. But it was also a lot of, “Great post, here’s mine!” comments that got tiring. Pros and cons. My first was a Top Ten Tuesday post about authors I’ve read the most books from. I’m not so much an author person, I’ll love a series by an author and then forget to check for other books, or not be interested in what else they write, or try another book and not like it as much, etc. Also some of my favorite authors have only written a few books. However, 11 years later, there are quite a few authors I’ve read at least six books by, even if it was just for one series, so the list would look pretty different.

I don’t think I have a favorite meme post and don’t feel like trying to find one.

Bookish Discussions

My first discussion post was, “What Do You Listen to While Reading, Writing, and Blogging?” It’s fine. A little cringey. Has a link to a cool website I forgot about where you can tailor cafe background noise to listen to.

My favorite discussion… I’m gonna go with two because it’s my blog, and I can do what I want.

“What Does Frankenstein’s Monster Actually Look Like?” was so fun for me to write, and I want to do more posts like that. Super niche, but something I’m just genuinely struck with the desire to talk about and can have fun with. (It also gets probably more views than any other post of mine, though that’s probably because Frankenstein is such a well-known thing, and then also a Frankenstein movie came out, thank you, Guillermo del Toro.)

“Thoughts on Disability Rep in Books” is just a topic that’s important to me and something I felt like I could actually add to the conversation about.

Book Recs

Speaking of disability, my first rec post was about books with disabled characters. I should make another because although a couple of these are still good recs, the rest I feel like aren’t very good rep or I still haven’t read them.

Maybe this is recency bias, but I’ll go with books with nonbinary characters. There are some fantastic books and some fantastic rep on that list.

Update Posts

My first update post was September 20, 2015. It’s clunky and not exciting (not that my update posts are particularly exciting now, but I like to think they’re less clunky at least). Back then I did weekly updates, and it took me a while to figure out how I really wanted to do them.

I don’t have a favorite update post, they just are what they are. It’s fun when I at least have art or book photos to share.

Blogging Posts

My first blogging category post was a discussion about revamping and reposting book reviews. I reread it, and to be honest, I made some good points. I think I should repost more.

My favorite is about my blogging history and failed blogs, because I took a weird path to get here, including briefly being the #1 internet authority on Gravity Falls cosplay, despite never having done cosplay myself.

Writing

The first bit of my own writing that I shared here was a short story called “All’s Fair in Love, Ice Cream, and Power Outages.” Reading it again now, it makes me cringe a bit, I have not mastered the craft of writing But I think the dialogue is good and the relationship between the characters comes through. When I was still trying to write, dialogue was usually what came to me first and most naturally.

My favorite writing that I’ve posted here is my Misunderstood Merman poem. Could be touched up a bit, but I think I nailed the vibe.

Daniel is a vampire who can no longer drink blood because it’s making him sick, so he turns to human hematologist Alec, at the risk of losing his freedom, in the hopes of finding a cure. Alec wants to help Daniel, as well as study his blood for the medical advancements it could provide, but saving a vampire could be a dangerous task.

*I received a copy of this book from the author. This has not influenced my review.*

This was an interesting, different sort of vampire book. For me, at least, since most of the ones I read are the romance kind or at least the action-y urban fantasy kind.

This author has a skill for exploring the idea of what might happen if paranormals really existed and someone found them, in a way that feels very grounded and believable (but still hopeful). And that’s a neat thing to explore. It also makes the characters easy to root for or hate, because what they’re doing all feels like it could be really happening.

This was also a vampire story idea that I don’t think I’ve ever seen. A vampire who is getting sick from blood and unable to drink it, but he’ll die without it. It was fun seeing his more dangerous, vampirey side come out too though. Both the vampire and the story were a mix of science and paranormal.

It’s a pretty slow-paced book, by necessity. It’s about scientists in a lab, not a ton of action to be had there. It’s not bogged down in explanations, it’s more about the reactions of the humans involved, the ethical questions around saving a being who feeds on humans, the worry of not knowing if he could be saved, and the thoughts of an immortal being facing mortality. But it did start to pick up and develop more tension further in the book when certain things started happening. 

I was worried the medical stuff might be a problem for me, but it was never too graphic or anything. Trigger warning though for *SPOILER* *SPOILER (highlight to reveal)* some needles and IVs, one instance and maybe a couple vague mentions of vomiting, and forced drugging/sedation. *END SPOILER*

There were some nice friendships / found family, even if the book didn’t get too deep into them. There were some conversations, but it was shown more through their trust and their actions.

This is sort of a spoiler since it’s about the ending, though I won’t give any specifics. *SPOILER (highlight to reveal)* The ending was very fun. Both the sweet stuff and the scary vampire stuff. *END SPOILER*

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that made the paranormal feel grounded and had some interesting vampire ideas and sweet friendships!

*Rating: 3.5 Stars // Read Date: 2026 // Format: Ebook via TTS*

I’m a few days early, June isn’t quite over yet, but that’s ok. So what did I do this month? …Not much that I can remember. I actually did quite a bit of cleaning, pushed my body more than I should’ve, but sometimes you don’t really have a choice. So I’ve been too exhausted to really watch movies/shows or play games much, and I definitely did not have the energy to make any more art.

I shared a song from Arcane last month, but I’ve still been listening to the soundtrack a lot, so here’s another fantastic song. Something I wouldn’t normally listen to, what with all my headaches, but it’s just so good.

Let’s just get to the books because I do have a lot of those to talk about. Also, if you play games (especially visual novels) and didn’t see my recent post about games with nonbinary characters, please do check that out because there really are some great games on that list!

Blog/Bookish Updates:

Nothing this month.

Books I Received for Review:

June was a great month for me with the Libro.fm ALC program. I have not managed to listen to most of these yet, but I am excited for them!

The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher – Dark academia fantasy about former best friends with a nonbinary protag.

Nemesis Mine by Amy Archer – M/M romance between a hero and villain with a fake feud.

Bright Dead Things by Hailey Turner – M/M second chance romance while traveling to a dangerous fae court, and I’ve enjoyed another series by this author and narrator.

Devils We Know by L. T. Thompson – Second-in-series YA historical fantasy about queer teen sailors/pirates.

The Disco at the End of the World by Nathan Tavares (sci-fi in an alternate version of our world, queer counterculture, and a bit of romance.

I also got Midnight Project by M.N. Arzu, from the author. A vampire gets help from a hematologist when blood is killing him instead of sustaining him. It sounds like a unique vampire book!

And I got The Lure of Wolves and Whispers by Amanda Connolly, from Simon & Schuster. It’s the first in a trilogy, described as “Irish lore-inspired romantasy [that] follows one sister who offers her life in exchange for the other’s.” It also has magic and competition and court intrigue, all of which sounds great! This is also a surprisingly beautiful cover. I mean, it does already look pretty because it’s a nice design, but then you get it in your hands and move it around in the light, and the wolves have this holographic/iridescent thing going on My pictures don’t do it justice. Also, I know they’re not very aesthetic photos, just cropped close-ups, but I needed you all to see the colors changing. The hardcover itself is black with white text on the spine.

Books I Finished:

If you’re considering buying any of these books from Amazon, I’d really appreciate if you’d use my affiliate link!

The Disco at the End of the World by Nathan Tavares – I described it above. It wasn’t quite for me, but it had some unique ideas and lots of queer joy without ignoring the difficulties.