Apologies for the delay in posting this recap. Life stuff came up and I needed to take care of my own, but it’s finally here. The biggest thing that happened in April is I debuted with my sapphic true crime fantasy noir novella, Ice Upon a Pier. The reception has been great so far, and I’m so excited that people have purchased, read, and enjoyed it. I did get some reading done, but absolutely not the level I’m used to. I’m really excited to continue down this path and there are announcements coming in June.
Here are the cool things that happens with Ice Upon a Pier:
- Bar Cart Bookshelf left a review and a recipe for a drink inspired by Ruta’s story, The Contract Killer
- I got to chat with Tales From the Trunk about the process of publishing the novella
- I was on the other side of a blog interview over on Thoughts Stained with Ink
ARCs
- A Flame in the Night by Morgan Dante (adult, paranormal fantasy)
- An established couple that’s a burlesque dancer and a war veteran who invite a third into their relationship that’s a vampire
- Absolutely understood the assignment of an erotic queer vampire fantasy that’s a really nice aperitif in terms of length and structure
- The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro (adult, horror)
- A woman trapped in what society says is an ideal life of multiple children and stay-at-home motherhood is haunted by La Llorona and reconnects with her familial heritage to find a solution
- Compulsory heterosexuality and perfect motherhood at the mother’s expense are the real villains here with plenty of scares along the way
Physical Copies
- Little Death Chapter 1: Death and the Boy by Pom Poison (2022, adult, horror)
- Trans boy Ellery Firth is just minding his own business trying to survive at a boarding school when a lich lord sets his sights on him from a parallel dimension of magic, necromancy, and war
- Beautiful art with an intuitive sense of story-telling, please mind the content warnings before diving into one of my favorite things
- Titus Alone (Gormenghast #3) by Mervyn Peake (1959, adult, fantasy)
- The final entry into the Gormenghast trilogy, where Titus is anything but alone in a world that’s less decrepit castles and more like the 50’s with its cars and other technology
- Genuinely my favorite with its narrative efficiency and despite Titus finally having some agency but no political sway or social mobility
Light Novel
- Bakemonogatari Part 02 by Nisioisin (illus. by Vofan) (2017, contemporary fantasy)
- Araragi once again finds himself solving another problem with aberrations for a lesbian school mate and a middle schooler
- So much wordplay, nods to the works inspiring the stories, and more world-building around the aberrations themselves
Manga
- Barbarities Volume 2 by Tsuta Suzuki (2023, history-inspired yaoi seinen)
- The political intrigue intensifies as Joel and Adam try to figure who’s behind a series of threatening letters and Gil and Luis cause other problems of their own
- This has one of the most impressive delivery of character development and backstory in a sex scene that I’ve seen in a while; absolute masterclass
- Gunbured x Sisters Vol. 4 by Wataru Migotawa (2023, fantasy yuri seinen)
- The epic conclusion of a series about a dhampir trying to find her sister and a warrior nun trying to solve her wet nurse’s murder
- A satisfying conclusion despite the brevity of the series, another one that really delivers on the love and sex between its main couple
- Tokyo Ghoul: Re by Sui Ishida (2017-2023, horror seinen)
- Ken Kaneki has another meltdown and dissociates to become ghoul investigator Haise Saseki and his own squadron of ghoul hybrids; the tragedy only escalates from there
- There are still scenes and character moments I am completely still not over
- Ishida’s art is as beautiful as it is devastating, but maintains a bit hope and never goes into full nihilism
Jo Writes Fantasy 