The gay Pride and Prejudice retelling of our collective dreams, When Darcy Met Lizzy has all the yearning and intelligence of its source material while also adding new life. Reading this felt like falling in love with something familiar for a second time. You can feel Downing’s love for Austen in her reimagining of our …
This was sooooo compelling and delightful! A goose girl retelling, yes, but goose girl as a regency-fantasy-horror-fairytale. This had all the signature warmth and quirk of her other fantasy books, but tinged with true horror elements— some of the more grotesque imagery has really stuck with me. I loved these characters, and the ending was flawlessly …
Truly the only novel about an MFA poetry program that matters; part parody, part homage, and another Cyrano de Bergerac retelling, this ridiculous farce of collegiate-town manners and betrayal is a heady read. –Ruby, Annie Bloom’s Books, Portland, OR Poetry month theme reading can include novels, too– novels in verse and novels about poetry. Ask for …
A retelling of the Lin Daiyu tale from 1880s China to the American West. A story about fate and reclaiming your own history. –Michelle, Edmonds Bookshop, Edmonds, WA Finish AAPI Heritage Month strong with selections from Edmonds Bookshop and other bookstores, and keep supporting Asian authors all year long.
Iron Widow is a book born from female rage. I often pitch it as “Pacific Rim” meets The Handmaid’s Tale because those are two properties familiar to Western audiences, but in truth, I was more inspired by Japanese mecha anime and Chinese harem dramas. The gilded palaces of Imperial China, where thousands of women must …
