

Review of Heartwood by Amity Gaige
Amity Gaige's Appalachian Trail-set novel offers several of my favorite elements: a Maine setting, a missing-person storyline, an...
7 days ago


Review of Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V. E. Schwab
This wonderfully creepy lesbian vampire story is largely about female empowerment, but also about love, discovery, reinvention, and...
Jul 24


Review of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Harpman's slim novel poses a mysterious situation without promising concrete explanations. Our main protagonist knows little about her...
May 22


Review of The Jackal's Mistress by Chris Bohjalian
The deep bond that builds between an injured Union soldier and the Virginia woman who secretly takes him in is touching and complicated,...
May 1


Review of The City of Brass by S. A. Chakraborty
I loved the worldbuilding and the headstrong, powerful loose cannon of Nahri, as well as the Middle Eastern fantasy setting. I found...
Apr 3


Review of What In the World?! A Southern Woman's Guide to Laughing at Life's Unexpected Curveballs and Beautiful Blessings by Leanne Morgan
Comedian Leanne Morgan's memoir traces her path from an attention-seeking, beloved young girl to a young adult facing missteps and...
Feb 11


Review of Isola by Allegra Goodman
Isola , based upon the story of a real-life sixteenth-century woman, shifts between details of a life of moneyed ease and an abandonment...
Feb 5


Review of Bright Young Women by Jessica Knoll
Knoll's novel was inspired by real events; Bright Young Women traces a serial killer targeting young women and in the character of...
Oct 16, 2024


Review of A Fate Inked in Blood (Saga of the Unfated #1) by Danielle L. Jensen
The first in Jensen's fantasy series ticked many of my boxes--strong female main character, a tension-filled Chosen One premise, a fight...
Oct 2, 2024


Review of Bright I Burn by Molly Aitken
Aitken's story of a strong, crafty, fearless woman in 1200s Ireland is based upon the real figure of Alice Kyteler, whose power and...
Oct 1, 2024


Review of Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe
Thorpe's irresistible character of 19-year-old Margo discovers her strength, drive, creativity, and vulnerability after becoming...
Sep 4, 2024


Review of Lone Women by Victor LaValle
LaValle mixes a Western setting with strong feminist messages, magical realism, haunting elements, and the terrifying, freeing truth in...
Jan 17, 2024


The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi (Amina al-Sirafi #1) by Shannon Chakraborty
I loved every bit of the story of willful, sometimes grumpy pirate Amina al-Sirafi and her quest, her strategic swearing, her strength,...
Nov 15, 2023


Review of A Dangerous Collaboration (Veronica Speedwell #4) by Deanna Raybourn
In this installment of Veronica and Stoker's Victorian England mystery-solving, they enter a sinister, gothic scene--and despite spending...
Sep 19, 2023


Review of A Lady's Life in the Rocky Mountains by Isabella L. Bird
Isabella Bird's nonfiction account of her 1873 travels through the rugged, wondrous American West is full of her irresistible...
Aug 31, 2023


Review of The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
I loved the futuristic space-mission capabilities, smart and strong all-woman crew, the mystery and suspicion, and most of all the...
Aug 23, 2023


Review of A Conspiracy in Belgravia (Lady Sherlock #2) by Sherry Thomas
Book two of Thomas's Lady Sherlock series offers a robust dual mystery, clever female characters, priceless gems of insight from...
Aug 17, 2023


Review of A Perilous Undertaking by Deanna Raybourn
This second book in Raybourn's historical fiction mystery series, set in Victorian London, hooked me even more fully into Veronica and...
Aug 2, 2023


Review of Daughter of the Pirate King (Daughter of the Pirate King #1) by Tricia Levenseller
The fun first book in Tricia Levenseller's trilogy about a teenage female pirate captain sets up a long game toward obtaining a key...
Jun 27, 2023


Review of Weyward by Emilia Hart
Emilia Hart's debut novel links women in three timelines through blood and a powerful connection to the natural world as they resist male...
Mar 15, 2023