This was just so utterly wonderful, it felt like it was distilled in a lab for me. I adore a speculative or magical realism element in my romances and the alternate universe hopping was great. It provided fun scenarios for our leads to tackle while also allowing for moments of personal growth and reflection. Marlowe and Priscilla’s relationship has a great arc of former school rivals to begrudging allies and finally lovers. The way that they could spur each other to be their best made it clear why they were meant to be. I’m also a huge sucker for a beloved mentor in a book and I could immediately feel why these girls would move heaven and earth to find Dallas. Finally it’s very refreshing as a former theatre professional to read a book that actually gets it right. No shade to new theatre fans, but when I read a book that incorporates the art form without much of an understanding I can tell (I’m looking at you Kate Golden Hozier knockoff book).

If you’re looking for a Sapphic romance with magic, insufferable theatre kids, and a lot of heart then this is the book for you. I would compare this book to One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston, I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston, and Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun.

🌟3.75 stars 🌟 I'll be honest the first portion of this book read like all the middling cozy fantasy romances I've read this year, however once we reached the POV chapter from God things started getting weird in the best way. My initial lack of interest came from a struggle to believe that Purcell and Cyprian should have any attraction to each other. It felt like the narrative was forcing the two of them together because they fell into an enemies/rivals dynamic with no build up. Frankly I think the romance is the weakest aspect of the story, but the weird post apocalyptic sci-fi setting made up for it. I wish that we had spent even more time with the Underground wandering through the eerie Undercity. I think that Snow could write a really compelling sci-fi story and that they should make romance more of a C-plot. Though this wasn't perfect, I'll definitely be checking out Snow's next book to see what wacky ideas they come up with.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It truly pains me that this was a disappointing three star read. I'm always on the hunt for a good queer horror romance to inflict upon my book club as our February read and this was sadly not up to snuff. Even though this didn't meet my expectations, I did enjoy both the romance and the horror element. Our leads are very intentionally modeled after Jennifer and Needy from Jennifer's Body and I'm a big fan of that dynamic. I also thought Marcella's monster form was wonderfully spooky. There's a scene in which you can see her prehensile tongue within a victim's eye and I thought that imagery was great.

When thinking about what didn't work for me, I think the biggest issue is that the logic didn't track correctly. I just couldn't suspend my disbelief that Marcella wouldn't be suspected by authorities for the murder she commits in chapter one. This lack of logical progression extends out to our side characters who felt more like NPCs than people. They should all be 1000x more suspicious of Marcella and Lacie. Having these under formed characters meant that the threat of danger felt nonexistent. I also felt that the lore of Marcella being a queen monster was underexplained, so when it was pertinent to the plot I was a tad confused.

I do think that this could still be quite an enjoyable read for people who don't get hung up on the same issues as me. If you're a big mystery lover like me than this book might not be for you, but if you're down for things to be a bit more free flowing it may work. Even though this didn't hit I'm still excited for this author's next release, hopefully it will work.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I'll always be happy to have more in the Murderbot world even if it's just a short story and this served as a lovely little check in with Peri. The most recent full length book in the series focused on Murderbot grappling with trauma and acknowledging it's own emotions which made it fun to see how that rubbed off on Peri. I will say that this story will best slot in right after you read Peri's introduction to the series because I initially struggled to remember if the crew had met Murderbot. I've also been reading this series for many years, so if you're just reading a bunch of the books in succession there's a good chance your memory will be better than mine.

I highly recommend picking this up on audio for Kevin R Free's narration, which is impeccable as always, and for the dynamic soundscaping. I don't think any of the other audiobooks in the series have done that before and it added a really nice ambiance.

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an audio ARC in exchange for my honest review.

You ever read a story that just kinda feels like a series of plot beats without expansion? Cause that what this felt like to me. I barely knew Mari and Elle by the time they were pulled apart. Give me some build up for why Elle is so isolated and connects with Mari. It also felt like we didn’t dig enough into the familial dynamics at play enough. Frankly I think this needed to be either a print novel or a graphic novel series with the amount of ground that needed to be covered.