James Nicoll Reviews

Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders (August 2025)

In the vein of Alice Hoffman and Charlie Jane Anders’s own All the Birds in the Sky comes a novel full of love, disaster, and magic. A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic – with very unexpected results – in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love. 

Jamie is basically your average New England academic in-training – she has a strong queer relationship, an esoteric dissertation proposal, and inherited generational trauma. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful witch. 

Serena, Jamie’s mother, has been hiding from the world in an old one-room schoolhouse for several years, grieving the death of her wife and the simultaneous explosion in her professional life. All she has left are memories. 

Jamie’s busy digging into a three-hundred-year-old magical book, but she still finds time to teach Serena to cast spells and help her come out of her shell. But Jamie doesn’t know the whole story of what happened to her mom years ago, and those secrets are leading Serena down a destructive path. 

Now it’s up to this grad student and literature nerd to understand the secrets behind this mysterious novel from 1749, unearth a long-buried scandal hinted therein, and learn the true nature of magic, before her mother ruins both of their lives. 

I’ll Find You Where the Timeline Ends by Kylie Lee Baker (November 2025)

“Here’s one thing I know for certain: I’ll never see you again. And if I never see you again, then in fifty years, the world will end.” ‑Yejun

Yang Mina, descended from a Japanese dragon god, was born with the power to travel through time, and has spent her life training to take her place in the Descendants, a secret organization whose purpose is to protect the timeline. But since moving to Seoul, everything is falling apart. Mina has discovered that the Descendants are corrupt, that her sister has been erased from existence, and that she can’t pass Calculus, which puts her mission to kiss the cutest boy in her year at risk.

With her very existence on the line, Mina decides to tread a dangerous path: team up with a handsome rogue agent named Yejun, who has a plan to free the Descendants from the corrupt influence, and (hopefully) restore Mina’s sister. Between class and their time travel dates, Mina can’t stop herself from falling for the mysterious Yejun. Yet, as Mina grows closer to Yejun, she also grows closer to discovering the truth, which may be the very thing that breaks her… 

The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk by Carissa Broadbent (August 2025)

New York Times bestselling author and BookTok sensation Carissa Broadbent returns with a brand new novel in the Crowns of Nyaxia series, The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk. 

Mische made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loves – and plunged the world into an eternal night. Now, imprisoned by the gods and obsessed with revenge, Asar is desperate to find her again. 

When a goddess offers them a final path to redemption – and back to each other – Asar and Mische embark on an extraordinary mission. Together, they must seize the power of the god of death so Asar may do the impossible: ascend to true divinity. 

Their journey will take them through mortal and immortal realms, alongside both old friends and ruthless enemies. But as the underworld teeters on the brink of collapse and the gods prepare for a war, Asar and Mische must decide what they are willing to sacrifice for the power to defy death. In a game of vengeful gods and ancient betrayals, there are some debts that even love may not be able to repay. 

The Midnight Shift by Seon-Ran Cheon (August 2025)

A bestseller in Korea, a biting, fast-paced vampire murder mystery exploring queer love and the consequences of loneliness. 

When four isolated elderly people die back-to-back at the same hospital by jumping out of the sixth-floor window, Su-Yeon doesn’t understand why she’s the only one at her precinct that seems to care. But her colleagues at the police force dismiss the case as a series of unfortunate suicides due to the patients’ loneliness. But Su-Yeon doesn’t have the privilege of looking away: her dearest friend, Grandma Eun-Shim, lives on the sixth floor, and Su-Yeon is terrified that something will happen to her next. 

As Su-Yeon begins her investigation alone, she runs into a mysterious woman named Wanda at the crime scene. Wanda claims to be a vampire hunter, searching for her ex-lover, Lily, and is insistent that a vampire is behind the mysterious deaths. Su-Yeon is skeptical at first, but when a fifth victim jumps from the window, her investigation reveals the body was completely drained of blood. Desperate to discover the cause of the deaths, Su-Yeon considers Wanda’s explanation-that something supernatural is involved. 

The Midnight Shift is a gripping mystery, overflowing with commentary about societal isolation and loneliness, the sharp knife of grief, and the effects of marginalization, perfect for readers of Cursed Bunny; Woman, Eating; and A Certain Hunger. 

Elusive by Genevieve Cogman (May 2024)

Revolutionary France is full of blood and bite, as vampires plot for power. Featuring Genevieve Cogman’s trademark wit and fast-paced plotting, Elusive is the second book in the Sunday Times bestselling Scarlet Revolution trilogy. 

Eleanor, once a lowly English maid, is now a member of the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel, known for their daring deeds and rescuing aristocrat vampires from the guillotine. 

Eleanor and the League are investigating the disappearance of Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand, the notorious French statesman and diplomat. But they soon uncover two vampire parties feuding for power, and learn that Talleyrand’s disappearance is part of a bigger, more dangerous scheme – one that threatens to throw France into bloody chaos …Perfect for fans of The Invisible Library series, Kim Newman and Gail Carriger, Elusive is the thrilling follow-up to Scarlet, a witty and inventive retelling of the beloved tale of the Scarlet Pimpernel. ​‘Utterly stunning. The intrigue and adventure keep you turning the page in this exciting tale of revolution, vampires and the guillotine’ – T. L. Huchu, author of Library of the Dead on Scarlet 

The Night Birds by Christopher Golden (September 2025)

Charlie Book and Ruby Cahill have history. After their love ended in heartbreak years ago, they never expected to see each other again.

Now, as part of his work for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Book lives aboard the Christabel, a 19^th century freighter half-sunken off the shore of Galveston. Over many years, a massive forest of mangrove trees has grown up through the deck of the ship, creating a startlingly beautiful enigma Book calls the Floating Forest. As a powerful storm churns through the Gulf, he intends to sleep on board as usual.

But when he arrives at the dock, he’s stunned to find Ruby there waiting for him. And she’s not alone. With her are a mysterious woman and her infant child, asking Book to hide them safely aboard the Christabel while they’re on the run. Only it isn’t the police who are after them, it’s a coven of witches the woman, Mae, has fled, stealing away the helpless infant for whom the coven had hideous plans…or so Mae claims.

It’s lunacy and Book wants nothing to do with it. But after the way he and Ruby ended things, and the unspoken pain between them, he can’t refuse. Yet even as he brings them out to the ruined ship and its floating forest, there are shadowed figures looming back in Galveston, waiting out the storm. And despite the worsening wind and rain, the night birds are flying, scouring the coastline for their prey. 

Hemlock and Silver by T. Kingfisher (August 2025)

Healer Anja regularly drinks poison.

Not to die, but to save — seeking cures for those everyone else has given up on.

But a summons from the King interrupts her quiet, herb-obsessed life. His daughter, Snow, is dying, and he hopes Anja’s unorthodox methods can save her.

Aided by a taciturn guard, a narcissistic cat, and a passion for the scientific method, Anja rushes to treat Snow, but nothing seems to work. That is, until she finds a secret world, hidden inside a magic mirror. This dark realm may hold the key to what is making Snow sick.

Or it might be the thing that kills them all. 

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz (August 2025)

A cozy near-future novella about a crew of leftover robots opening their very own noodle shop, from acclaimed sci-fi author Annalee Newitz. 

You don’t have to eat food to know the way to a city’s heart is through its stomach. So when a group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned ghost kitchen, they decide to make their own way doing what they know: making food — the tastiest hand-pulled noodles around — for the humans of San Francisco, who are recovering from a devastating war. 

But when their robot-run business starts causing a stir, a targeted wave of one-star reviews threatens to boil over into a crisis. To keep their doors open, they’ll have to call on their customers, their community, and each other — and find a way to survive and thrive in a world that wasn’t built for them. 

Salvación by Sandra Proudman (May 2025)

In this Latinx YA fantasy inspired by El Zorro, Lola de La Peña becomes the masked heroine Salvación in order to save her family and town from a man who would destroy it for the magic it contains…if she doesn’t fall in love with a boy in his company first.

Lola de La Peña yearns to be free from the societal expectations of a young Mexican lady of her station. She spends her days pretending to be delicate and proper while watching her mamá cure the sick and injured with sal negra (black salt), a recently discovered magic that heals even the most mortal of sicknesses and wounds. But by night, she is Salvación, the free-spirit lady vigilante protecting the town of Coloma from those who threaten its peace and safety among the rising tension in Alta California after the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.

But one night, a woman races into Coloma, barely alive, to tell the horrifying tale of how her town was obliterated by sal roja (red salt), a potent, deadly magic capable of obliterating anything it comes into contact with, and about the man who wields it: Damien Hernández. So when Hernández arrives the next day with a party of fifty strong and promises of returning Alta California to México, Lola knows it’s only a matter of time before he brings the region under his rule — all Hernández needs is the next full moon and the stolen, ancient amulet he carries to mine enough sal roja to conquer the land. 

Determined to protect everything she loves, Lola races against time as Salvación to stop his plans. What she didn’t count on was the distracting and infuriating Alejandro, who travels with Hernández but doesn’t seem to share his ambitions. With the stakes higher than ever and Hernández getting closer to his goals, Lola will do anything to foil his plans, even teaming up with Alejandro — who she doesn’t fully trust but can’t help but fall in love with. 

Blight by Rachel A. Rosen (June 2025)

What use is a revolution in a world ruled by magic? 

A young wizard on the brink of burnout searches for her lost mentor. A bereaved mother, summoned to the sea by an ancient god, risks all to avenge her child. Her ex-husband smuggles weapons to a rag-tag resistance.

The Cascade ruined the world that was; the Blight nearly destroyed what remained. The magical catastrophe unleashed demons and shriekgrass, an endless winter, and a promise of worse to come.

In what remains of Canada, the genocidal Dominion government rules with an iron fist, while the libertarian Silicon Valley Autonomous Region chips away at the country’s sinking west coast.

Can a restive coalition of revolutionaries, defectors, and magicians pick up the pieces? 

Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider (February 2025)

This breakout romantasy sensation by Rachel Schneider that has taken the Internet by storm bursts with suspense, romance, and a breathtaking twist you won’t see coming. 

Even though she’s not one of them, Brynn has spent her life among the Alaha, training to be a guard and waiting for the chance to attend the annual market hosted by the Kenta – the very same people who exiled her adopted community to a life at sea. Going to the market is a rite of passage eagerly anticipated by all young guards, but Brynn does not anticipate breaking a century-long peace treaty while there. Nor does she plan for the intense encounter with an enemy soldier that now threatens to unwind the fragile coexistence between their people – and everything Brynn once believed about herself to be true. 

Brynn’s loyalty to the Alaha is tested when the truth of who she is is brought to light by this soldier who’s taken an oath to bring her back to where she belongs. Narrowly escaping death on the violent high seas, Brynn’s connection to the Alaha is further tested when she learns about the world of magic she’s been denied. She was once certain of her fate and where she belonged, but the dark, knowing eyes of this stranger have her questioning everything, including her heart. Packed with knife fights and seafaring adventure, METAL SLINGER is the smash-hit start to the romantic fantasy duology the Fire & Metal series. 

The Faceless Thing We Adore by Hester Steel (August 2025)

Lemon, poppy seed, sun-warmed sand. These visions convince Aoife to quit her job, leave her manipulative boyfriend, and escape to the isolated shores of the Farmstead commune. There, among its charismatic and hedonistic residents, Aoife finds everything she’s been missing: a community that adores her, the freedom to indulge, and the promise to be a part of something miraculous. 

But darkness underpins her airy new way of life. A disappearing cave looms above an ocean no one dares step foot in, mysterious crying fills the night hours, and a rot is spreading across the island. But perhaps most concerning is the commune’s reverence for their leader, Jonah — a love tinged with fear that Aoife knows all too well. 

When Aoife’s boring old life comes crashing into her bold new one, loyalties are tested, unleashing a spiral of unspeakable violence that threatens to fracture reality itself. At the helm, Aoife finds herself desperately trying to protect everyone and everything she’s grown to love. Awkward, clumsy Aoife, who was always told she was weak, will soon realize the depths of her strength — and the pleasures of her rage. 

Alchemy and a Cup of Tea by Rebecca Thorne (August 2025)

Reyna and Kianthe have no trouble commanding the Realm, running a bookshop, or rescuing baby dragons…but can they save their town from the swarming influx of…tourists?!?

On the night of her kidnapping, all Reyna wanted was a relaxing cup of tea. She didn’t expect to be dropped in a hidden prison cell, but what the hells. She’s flexible.

With appropriate fanfare, Kianthe ​“rescues” her wife…but Reyna’s actually a terrible damsel in distress. Even worse, Reyna’s cell was booby trapped with a mysterious alchemy circle. What does a radical alchemist want with the Arcandor’s wife? And why did they think they could get away with this?

While they investigate, another problem surfaces in their hometown. Word of New Leaf Tomes and Tea — and its celebrity owners — has finally spread. Tourists are everywhere, harassing the locals and ruining the charm of Tawney. As their friends struggle with the sudden influx, Kianthe and Reyna have to face a bigger conundrum than rogue alchemists: the fact that closing their bookshop might be the only way to save their town.

Things can’t just be simple, can they? 

Ghost Cell by Zac Topping (July 2025)

Blade Runner meets John Wick in this sci-fi action adventure following a super-soldier whose very existence has been outlawed by the same society that created himAnder Rade is doing his best to stay under the radar after the mess in Atlanta when he’s contacted by the Special Activities division for the Genetic Compliance Department. 

The mission: infiltrate a secret organization of rogue mods known as the Ghost Cell in order to find out what they’re doing and who they are doing it for. The catch: Rade’s old team leader, Sevrina Fox, is a member. But Rade’s been searching for her since his liberation from the fight pits, and he refuses to betray her now. So in exchange for his cooperation, the GCD agrees to extend their promise of an official pardon for his rogue status to her as well. 

As if gaining acceptance into the Ghost Cell isn’t challenging enough, Rade is forced to walk a tightrope between avoiding suspicion and minimizing collateral damage from the organization’s violent and unsanctioned operations. But as his investigation gains steam, he soon realizes that the Ghost Cell’s true ambitions are far more dangerous than anyone thinks, and that the time to act is running out. 

With powerful forces out to stop him, Rade must decide if there are limits to his loyalty to Sevrina, and whether that line has already been crossed, and above all, how far he’s willing to go for a pardon he’s not likely to live long enough to see. 

The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi (July 2025) 

The epic conclusion to Moses Ose Utomi’s critically acclaimed Forever Desert series, The Memory of the Ogisi shatters every truth, destroys every lie, and is a story of oppression no one shall ever forget. 

Even deserts have a beginning. Even gardens have an end. Even water has a story. 

One thousand years after Tutu and five hundred years after Osi, the City of a Thousand Stories stands resolute on the edge of the Forever Desert. A teeming oasis, water flows into every mouth that thirsts and knowledge sprouts in every mind that hungers for it. 

Ethike is an Ogisi, one of the City’s many historians, who has devoted his life to studying a little-known figure named Osi. Unfortunately, the city has never approved any of his research papers and if he doesn’t find Osi’s story soon he will be stripped of his position. 

Desperate to keep himself and his family from losing everything, Ethike ventures into the Forever Desert in search of the Lost Tomb of Osi. If he can find it, he will finally be able to prove his worth to the City’s elders and, more importantly, cement Osi’s role in history. But history is a tale told by those with power. What Ethike uncovers beneath the sand is far beyond anything he could have expected.…and it is extremely angry. 

Girl in the Creek by Wendy N. Wagner (July 2025)

Girl in the Creek is a pulse-pounding eco-horror about how climate change is transforming our world, perfect for fans of Jeff VanderMeer and T. Kingfisher. 

Buried secrets only spread. 

Erin’s brother Bryan has been missing for five years. 

It was as if he simply walked into the forests of the Pacific Northwest and vanished. Determined to uncover the truth, Erin heads to the foothills of Mt. Hood where Bryan was last seen alive. He isn’t the first hiker to go missing in this area, and their cases go unsolved. 

When she discovers the corpse of a local woman in a creek, Erin unknowingly puts herself in the crosshairs of very powerful forces — from this world and beyond — hell-bent on keeping their secrets buried.