Reviews – Marked for Plot

The Prey of Gods – Demigods, Robots, Divas, and More!

This book is batshit insane, with so many things thrown together that made me clap my hands in delight. It’s the type of story that I can’t quite begin to talk about, because where the fuck do you begin? This is a good option for people who enjoy serious stories with humor mixed in, lots of unusual choices, and a book that feels deeply embedded in the genre fiction traditions whilst also reading like no book I’ve ever picked up.

I liked the first half a lot more than the back half, but the first half had a mountain of things that I loved. I want to read more Drayden, just because this was such a funky book, and I could see a version of this book that would’ve threatened some of my longstanding favorites for their place in my Top 10 list.

The Premise:
In a near-future South Africa, a new drug called Godsent is unlocking the limits of human potential. Several characters
(some not even teenagers and others hundreds of years old) chase their own dreams and agendas. This is a horrible description of the book, but I’m struggling to write a better one.

Read if You Like: vividly imagined characters, tonal mishsmash done well, creative settings, love not taking over the plot

Avoid if You Dislike: plot holes and dropped storylines, inconsistent prose, villain POVs, occasional crude humor

We Called Them Giants

I was a little on the fence about whether I wanted to write a full review of this one. We Called Them Giants is a short read, and probably not one that’s going to top my list of 2026 reads. However, it’s pretty widely disliked. I understand why, but I think dissenting opinions are always more interesting and useful to write about!

I think it’s impossible to talk about this one without spoilers for the ending, so I’ll break some of my normal rules for this review.

The Premise:
Humans have almost all vanished, and nobody knows why. Lori’s used to people abandoning her, but she can’t rely on herself during the apocalypse. When she and her travelling companion meet the alien creatures who presumably caused all of this, they aren’t sure if they should fight, run, or try to talk.

Read if You Like: lush & saturated visuals, mistrust during the apocalypse, aliens that feel alien

Avoid if You Dislike: endings without closure, books that could have been far longer

Green Fuse Burning – Introspective Horror

I’ve always enjoyed objects as a frame through which stories are told. The Empress of Salt and Fortune comes to mind, which leverages museum-style artifacts and descriptions through which a story is told. Green Fuse Burning takes a different route: paintings! This is an unabashedly queer indigenous horror that feels multidimensional and more thoughtful than genre fiction normally goes for. It’s the type of book that has a very specific audience in mind, but for whom this book is likely perfection.

The Premise:
When Rita’s girlfriend goes behind her back to get Rita an artist residency in the town her father grew up in, Rita isn’t sure it’s a good idea. The isolation and unfriendly locals light the coal of creativity, however, along with the lingering trauma that haunts her life. This story is told through the lens of the six mixed-media landscapes she paints during her residency, which trace a dark path through her mind.

Read if You Like: books about mental health and suicidal ideation, mushroom horror, internal monologue getting the spotlight

Avoid if You Dislike: racist small town residents, stories where ‘nothing happens’, bad audiobook narrators

Autumnal Book Covers

What does Autumnal Book covers mean??? Orange? Leaves? I don’t know. Anyways, here’s what I’ve got for this one. As usual for my book cover posts, I’m talking artists not authors, and book covers will link to their websites if I could easily find them.

The Absolute Martian Manhunter – Are Psychedelic Visuals Enough?

I’m … well I’m not sure. This comic was pretty widely regarded as one of the best releases in 2025, won a bundle of Eisner awards (mostly for the art of Javier Rodriguez, but it also won Best Limited Series). It felt right that this was my first foray into DC’s new Absolute line. It’s well worth the read for the page count, but I’ll need to finish the series to see if it can stick the landing. What I saw here wasn’t quite enough to cement it into my favorites list.

The Premise:
FBI Agent John Jones has been seeing things, reading minds, and all sorts of other strange phenomenon. As his personal life begins to fall apart, his work is consumed by more and more bizarre crimes. Middletown is beset by synchronized arson, widespread impulsive violence, and people lacing hamburgers with glass. At its heart is the White Martian, who seeks to bring an end to earth. And John hosts the Green Martian, who seeks to protect it.

Read if You Like: experimental art, metaphorical warfare, eldritch investigations, light horror elements

Avoid if You Dislike: cohesive plots, unhealthy marriages, emotionally detached characters

Super Supportive – The SLOWEST of burns …

… and not in a romantic way, either. It’s just slowwwwww and an absolute fucking delight. This is one of the more popular Royal Road stories out there, and it has kept me grounded during the past two months of craziness! This is what I’m staying up at night reading. I dove back in as a distraction, rereading from the beginning, only to decide I was going to keep going … and going … and going. Now that I am caught up with this serial, here’s my sales pitch.

The Premise:
Alien wizards have made a contract with Earth: we give you superpowers in exchange for being able to summon (and generously pay) said superhumans for various services, including hunting demons, cooking a formal meal, or dressing up as a mythological figure and serving cocktails. Anyways, Alden thorn is a kid whose parents were killed by a supervillain. So when he’s chosen, he wants to be a support hero focused on preventing collateral damage.

Read if You Like: slow burns, intense platonic friendships, lovable characters, explorations of mental health, light Video Game elements

Avoid if You Dislike: a single day to span several dozen chapters, tonal shifts between intense existential dread and lighthearted action slice-of-life

Books that Bring me Happy Memories

I debated a long time about whether or not I wanted this post to just be about books I read as a kid and have fond memories of. I ended up deciding no, but it’s certainly going to weight more heavily on this list than my kids-lit picks normally do. I still find a great amount of joy in reading, but I think I am able to more concretely link books to parts of my life as a kid, wheras now reading has taken on a life of its own.

The Halls of the Dead – The Dirty Side of Necromancy

It’s no secret to those who’ve been in my orbit for a while that How to Survive this Fairytale is one of my absolute favorite books. So, when Hallow dropped her next book, I knew I was going to have to pick it up. Halls of the Dead is a very different reading experience, and I didn’t jive with it quite as much. However, the through-lines between these two books (relentlessly queer, unconventional takes on common tropes, and unusual structural choices) is something I’m very interested in, so Hallow remains on my list of authors whose release schedule I will be avidly following.

The Premise:
Irene is the first necromancer to perform a resurrection since Jesus himself. She brought back her love, Agnes, with the help of her husband John. John is himself ancient, sworn to keep the necromantic arts alive despite not practicing them himself. This story weaves these three characters’ past and present, tangling them together in a desperate knot as they try to secure a future for the necromantic arts. It’s a horror/fantasy hybrid about gore, necromancy, and revenge.

Read if You Like: magic that doesn’t shy away from grime, literal beetles inside your stomach, character-focused stories, getting lost in the language

Avoid if You Dislike: another book in Victorian London, bugs, stories that de-prioritize plot, frequent flashbacks

Fabulous Bodies – A Riot and a Gorefest

My only previous experiences with Chuck Tingle have been his Comedic Erotica, most notably My Macaroni and Cheese is a Lesbian Also She is My Lawyer. I left having had fun, but not seriously considering Tingle as a novelist despite knowing he’s unrelentingly queer, was an icon during the Hugo debacle that was Rabid Puppies, and generally seems like an all-around good guy. Turns out, his Horror was delightful and I want to read more by him. Fabulous Bodies isn’t going to hit my favorite books of 2026, but it’s certainly in the top half of the 200-odd stories I’ve tackled this year. A very fun way for me to start America’s obligatory spooky season.

The Premise:
By day, Poppy is a dedicated mom and queer fashion influencer. By night she steals dead bodies for the black market. When her biggest job (a famous musician’s corpse) reanimates and is on his own macabre mission, Poppy suspects something is very wrong. She has no idea how much she’s underestimating the situation, and it’s about to get very bloody.

Read if You Like: assertive and competent protagonists, realistic portraits of a girlboss, high-energy horror

Avoid if You Dislike: characters who aren’t parenting paragons, horror without deep social commentary, body horror (see below)

Body Horror Content

graphic and plentiful once you hit the midpoint. Most notably, violent self-harm (mind-controlled), stabbing of eyeballs, stripping skin, cannibalism

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons)

I’ve been finding it more difficult to focus on audiobooks recently. Lots of stress at work means music is generally the better choice. After a come-to-Jesus moment with spacing out for an entire novella (my sincerest apologies to Bujold; I’ll return to you in print format) I thought I needed to disconnect from audiobooks totally until things calmed down. Turns out I just needed a cozy little fantasy story about a middle-aged woman inheriting a dragon egg.

The Premise:
Miss Mildred Percy doesn’t love her life. She lives with her sister far longer than she ever planned to, doesn’t particularly like her sister, and has disconnected entirely from her adventurous youth. When she inherits a trunk of oddities from her great-uncle, it turns out that a dragon was in her future, as was a vicar whom may or may not be the type of man she could envision her life with.

Read if You Like: cozy fantasy that isn’t overly twee, incompetent villains, finally standing up for yourself

Avoid if You Dislike: small stakes, petty family drama, larger characters getting the spotlight