Phoebe's Diary

 Phoebe's Diary by Phoebe Wahl (2023), 464 pages

If you read my previous post about Little Witch Hazel, you know that Phoebe Wahl is a favorite artist of mine. This is her somewhat true, somewhat fictionalized teenage diary. Wahl very much captures teenage angst and coming of age. It reminds me a lot of the risqué Judy Blume books we all read too young and hoped that our parents didn't know what was actually in them. Do people still read Judy Blume? I am aging myself, but I am not sure what the current equivalent would be. I suspect a lot of teenage girls would relate to this novel. If you are a parent to teenagers, you might want to wait until they are adults before diving in. 

Coffin Moon

Coffin Moon by Keith Rosson, 320 pages

Vietnam vet Duane is back home after his tour of duty, and with the help of his in-laws, has managed to get sober (despite his job as a bartender), salvage his marriage, and become a foster parent to his niece, Julia. But one night at the bar, Duane runs afoul of local gang leader John Varley, and Varley decides the best way to get even is to massacre Duane's wife and in-laws in the goriest way possible. In their grief, Duane and Julia decide to get revenge on Varley, despite the fact that Varley is a vampire and nearly unkillable.

I loved this book, which felt like a throwback to the classic Stephen King novels of the 1970s, but without the coke-addled overlong books. This was tight, surprising, scary, and altogether fantastic. I highly recommend it for horror fans.

Not Quite Dead Yet

Not Quite Dead Yet by Holly Jackson, 400 pages

Jet is the disappointing daughter of one of the wealthiest families in town, having moved back into her parents' house as she procrastinates starting her life over. But then one day, she's attacked in her kitchen and left for dead. Jet survives the attack, but is given just a week left to live, which she chooses to spend solving her own murder. She moves onto her childhood friend Billy's couch and begins her investigation into everyone she knows, all of whom seem suspicious now.

This is an interesting conceit for a thriller/mystery, and overall it's done pretty well, acknowledging Jet's physical limitations in a way that would be totally ignored in a TV show or movie. However, I do have an issue with the fact that the doctor is able to pinpoint exactly how many days Jet has left before an aneurysm kills her — and the fact that the doctor is correct in her deadline. I get why it was done, but that bit made it hard to suspend disbelief in an otherwise excellent novel.

Red City

Red City by Marie Lu, 432 pages

Alchemy and the magical art of transformation is the rule in Angel City, which is unofficially under the power of two rival crime syndicates, each with their own alchemists and enforcers. Childhood friends Sam and Ari became close through their rough upbringings, but each is secretly recruited by the rival gangs. While they once may have loved one another, they soon find themselves facing decisions about family, loyalty, magic, and each other. The only thing that's clear is that neither of them can turn back now.

I'll admit that I read this one a while ago, and the main things that stuck with me were the brutality of the magicians and gang leaders, and the lack of trust EVERYWHERE. Really, this one reminded me of Jade City, and not just because of the name. So I guess read it if you already finished the Green Bone Saga and want more magical mafia books.

Homicide and Halo-Halo

Homicide and Halo-Halo Mia P. Manansala (2022, 279 pages)

Back in Shady Palms, the annual beauty pageant has the whole town busy in preparation. Lila is extra busy as a backup judge and opening up her new Bruja Cafe with her best friend Adeena. When a major figure in the pageant turns up dead in the river, accusations are thrown across the map and the event continues.

What I liked:
✨Like before, love learning the Filipino recipes!
✨This one was more fun trying to figure out what happened, there were lots of good contestants!

What I didn't like:
💤Not usually a fan of parading around girls to be gawked at, so the pageant setting wasn't my favorite despite some very progressive changes to it
 💤The main character is very much the Main Character and it often feels like the things that revolve around her are excessive
💤Continuing the love triangle but not really developing those relationships further

 The second in the Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery series.

⭐⭐⭐ 

Greenteeth

Greenteeth by Molly O'Neill (2025, 304 pages)

Jenny Greenteeth keeps her lake nice and tidy. Sure, some people throw in trash, coins, bags of kittens, etc, which she collects and/or eats. When live human woman is thrown into her pond anchored down to die, she makes the decision to save her instead.

A magical, quest based book across Arthurian British Aisles. Unique characters with real conflicts, and the natural roller coaster that comes with enchanted adventure.

What I liked:
✨Magical whimsy
✨Apparently a lot of the characters/beings are real Arthurian legends, I didn't know a single one of them but I still enjoyed it!
✨"Found family starting to get kind of annoying too"

What I didn't like:
💤I know this is fantasy, but there were some unbelievable plot points that made me question the plot
💤Not a lot of explanation behind the BBEG (couldn't really tell you who he was, but it might help if you're familiar with this lore)

Favorite quote: "'Well what do you suggest? I'm not carrying him through the gate!'
I ended up carrying Cavall through the gate."

 

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 

The Best of Adrian Tchaikovsky

 The Best of Adrian Tchaikovsky by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 624 pages

Adrian Tchaikovsky is a prolific cross-genre writer, and this (his first short story collection) collects work from the entirety of his long career. The book is sorted into six sections: sci-fi (post-apocalyptic and dystopian flavor), fantasy (low fantasy variety), weird, weird but it's a series of related paranormal stories, fantasy (high fantasy variety), and sci-fi (space flavor). This structure does a good job highlighting Tchaikovsky's range, although it's not ideal for reading straight through, which is in fact what I did. That being said, I am genuinely impressed at how variable Tchaikovsky's writing voice is. When reading more than 600 pages of short stories by the same author, it is easy for things to begin to feel repetitive (especially, for example, eight consecutive stories about post-apocalyptic settings), but Tchaikovsky does a great job inhabiting the narrators, and making them feel different. 

I think the greatest strength of this collection is stories that have the kernel of an idea that is interesting to think on later. Especially in the case of many of the shorter stories, the plot is interesting enough, but what hooked me was thinking about the concept and expanding on it in my own mind. That being said, there were a couple of stories that were real standouts in their entirety. Precious Little Things, which is about a society of tiny homunculi that arose in a wizard's tower as the wizard stood frozen in time but leaking power, apparently serves as a prologue for the novella Made Things, which I will definitely check out. The Final Conjuration is one of the most unique takes I've seen on a Sherlock Holmes story, which is a pretty competitive field, and is also very good in it's own right. Goblin Autumn is the last story in the collection, and I think I will be thinking about it for a long time. I will say, after reading enough stories, the structure that Tchaikovsky tends to gravitate towards becomes a little more obvious, and it becomes easier to anticipate the plot twists when you come to recognize the types he likes to use. Overall I think this is a very strong collection, but it may be best enjoyed a little at a time. 

Lady Tremaine

 Lady Tremaine by Rachel Hochhauser (2026), 352 pages

Mother's always know that sometimes hard choices need to be made for the future of your children. Sometimes those choices make you appear to be an evil Stepmother in the eyes of the very children you are protecting. This novel is a loose twist on Cinderella. It follows Etheldreda as she navigates surviving twice-widowhood in a crumbling house with little income, and three daughters who are coming of age. I don't want to give too much away, but it is a great look into single-parenthood, the resourcefulness of fake-it to you make-it(ish), and standing up for what is right while staying true to yourself. This is an imaginative take on the story and definitely worth a read.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

 Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Anaïs Flogny (2024) 240 pages 

Cinematic and expansive. Parallels some of the Godfather trilogy organized crime milieu, but with a gay man at the center. Closeted gay men, who are both immigrants in America, find the underworld of importing and selling alcohol and, later, other drugs to be their way to success and power. Jules, the younger protege, and Adam are scrappy. The story moves from 1930s Chicago to 1940s New York. Eufrasio is a more violent and ambitious partner from the Mafia family in New York who comes between Jules and Adam. Jules begins to hate himself as he confronts betrayal and guilt.

The Elsewhere Express

The Elsewhere Express by Samantha Sotto Yambao, 432 pages. 

Sometimes when people's thoughts start to drift away from their life, those people drift towards the Elsewhere Express, a train made of thoughts that promises a more magical existence, full of peace and purpose. Raya has been drifting for years, robbed of her purpose when the brother she was born to save dies young. She has tried giving up her dreams of songwriting to pursue his instead, but she can't help but feel unmoored from her life. She finds herself on The Elsewhere Express at the same time as Q, an artist who is losing his art as he loses his vision. But something else has boarded the train at the same time, a stowaway with the power to destroy the train is Q and Raya can't find a way to stop it. 

This book has maximum amounts of whimsy, balanced out somewhat by the very real pain of the characters. It feels like the show Infinity Train by way of Studio Ghibli. While the story was engaging, the setting is the real star of the show. It creates the kind of place that I wanted to linger in while I read the book. However, time nonsense is a bit of a plot pet peeve of mine, and I am afraid that does come into play into this book, which makes it a little hard for me to fairly judge the resolution. This is a book that deals heavily with the symbolic and emotional, turning it into something physical to examine it from a new angle. I don't know if I enjoyed this book quite as much as the author's first novel, but it has given me a lot to chew on, and I wouldn't be surprised if I end up rereading it at some point.