Samia

If you're a true crime girlie who thinks you could absolutely get away with murder because you've binged enough podcasts, The Midnight Taxi is about to humble you real quick. Siriwathi is a 28-year-old Sri Lankan American taxi driver in New York whose last passenger ends up dead in her backseat, and she has five days to prove she didn't do it. What hooked me immediately was Siri's voice - her internal monologue is so blase and rambling and hilarious. She relates literally everything to the true crime podcasts she's obsessed with, and as someone who is constantly listening to Rotten Mango, I have never felt so called out by a character.

But beyond the humor, this book hit me personally. Siri is almost 30, unmarried, living with her parents, constantly getting commentary about not doing enough with her life. The way she talks about herself - calling herself old and unkempt - I've been there. I've had those exact thoughts. And as the daughter of immigrants who worked so hard to give me the life I have, seeing Siri's story play out here in New York City with characters who are being exploited while chasing that dream, it just resonated so deeply.

The mystery itself kept me hooked. I sort of had the killer on my suspect list, but the way the murder was actually done and who was involved? I was so shook. The pacing with that five-day countdown created such urgency - I had to keep reading because I needed to know how on earth this murder happened.

Siri's friendship with public defender Amaya Fernando is so genuine too. You can tell Amaya really cares about her defendants, and watching Siri kind of wear her down until she lets her in was such a joy. I would honestly love to see more of their dynamic, maybe even from Amaya's POV.

This whole book is suspenseful but also kind of cozy in a way. If you loved The Tainted Cup, this is like the contemporary version with so much humor and heart.

Author Yosha Gunasekera is a Sri Lankan American attorney who represents wrongfully convicted people and was a Manhattan public defender, so she knows this world intimately - and it shows in every page. I'm giving this five stars and genuinely think everyone should read this and support this incredible Sri Lankan debut author.

This was an amazing wild ride of a book and I LOVED every second of it!! The unique magical system, the underlying dystopia, the mysterious world that we don’t know much about yet. Alfom has my heart and I am desperate to read all the novellas and get deeply immersed in this book. This is a perfect mind bending book for scifi and dark fantasy lovers alike. It’s not for everyone but I think being a hardcore scifi girlie I really loved it so much. I’m so curious to see what these Other beings are in the world that we just started learning about.

This was a deeply dark and moving novel about pain, desperation, and the formation AND continuation of generational trauma and how we can deal with it. While it feels almost unreal that two sisters would kill their uncle, it doesn’t shock me at all. The emotions and dynamics of this immigrated Indian family is something I deeply resonated with. How we hide things and how we never say what we should really say. It made me feel incredibly sad and empathetic towards these girls who we only know through the lens of one sister and that lens is bleak. However this is quite a brilliant book that showcases what it’s like to try to assimilate into “American”/western culture and how it feels to be torn between these two culture when you’ve been raised in America but have parents and family that have essentially lived a totally different life than you. I was really moved by this and can’t wait to see more from this author.

While this did start off slow for me, once it picked up, I was in. This is such a fun mix of cozy fantasy and murder mystery, and I was genuinely invested in figuring out what the hell was going on.

It definitely gave me Sherlock vibes, but set inside this cozy, quirky fantasy world with really great banter and humor that actually works. The mystery itself is super engaging, and I loved putting together all the little pieces as the story unfolded.

What really elevated it for me was the bigger picture happening in the background—there’s this massive sense of conspiracy layered on top of a looming Leviathan threat (aka giant monsters that could literally destroy the entire country), which added so much tension and intrigue.

The worldbuilding is eclectic and cool without being overwhelming, and by the end I could fully see this as a TV show. I finished it feeling excited to stay in this world, and I’m definitely looking forward to the next book!

Thank you to Roxanne Gay Books for the ARC!

If you need a palette cleansing book that may or may not carry life lessons but definitely carries the possession of a 6 year old boy by a CORGI of all things, then this book is for you.

I'm not entirely sure what I read but I did find this hilarious. Rose is not a likeable person (though in her self-centered, vegan, better than you mind she is) and we kind of see that POV really matters. Rose is the first person narrative we follow but as I read I find her incredibly annoying, pretentious, and kind of psychotic.

Which is hilarious since her nephew is possessed by a corgi spirit and somehow she makes it all about her and kind of loses her mind toward the end.

This is definitely a reflection on how Rose, as a person, in trying to control everything and always have everything her way, ruins her own life and can't seem to take the blame for it.

It's funny and entertaining and kind of nonsensical !

This was. a really refreshing and humorous read for me! I really liked the concept of Death being an actual "being" with feelings and thoughts and emotions. The dry humor was very well done and I like how Death not only learns who is murdering people, but also finds herself along the way. This gave me serious Supernatural (the show) vibes which cracked me up. This is a great cozy mystery read with a lot of humor and a new perspective on how the system of Life, Death, and all things between could be.

If you wanna be gaslit about being gastlit- this is the book for you.

I was at the edge of my seat reading this one because what on earth was going on!!

You have a woman named Eve who, with her partner Charlie, moved into this middle of nowhere rundown town to potentially flip this creepy house. Eve decides to open the door to some people who show up claiming they used to live in this house and they wanted to look at it again.

Eve is already really anxious as a person and nervous and also a people pleaser so she lets them in and thats when everything hits the metaphorical ceiling fan because we get potential time travel and ghosts and maybe a haunting but also maybe....

None of this is real??

This is a great read for a cold rainy day and teaches you some important life lessons.

1. don't live in the middle of nowhere 2. don't let anyone into your house ever 3. trust nobody

go grab this and read it now!!

What a spectacular first book of 2026. I will do my best to review this without spoiling anything because the journey of this book warrants full and utter ignorance.

What I can say is that Iris Lake has done it yet again and FLOORED me in the amazingness of her writing and her in depth understanding of the human condition and social issues all encapsulated into a captivating and eerie novel.

This is a love story, but not in the way you would think. This isn't just love between two people, but the love we carry for ourselves and how far we may be willing to go in a world that is moving too quickly for us to get that love and feelings of contentment and peace. This book discusses the fine balance between showing up for yourself and showing up for others, as well as redefining what happiness can mean and the desperation in which we seek in even when we think we have it all.

If you're a dystopian/scifi book lover like me that is looking for a book that explores the social repercussions of society through this lens with a devastating love story with a maybe/maybe-not happy ending I highly recommend this book. It's new and different and very thought provoking where I have been sitting for days being like what did I read and wanting to re-read it so see all the hidden nuggets of the truth carefully placed into the novel.

I feel like this could have been more interesting but overall it was a nice book. This was like a magical realism mystery book with a sprinkle of a love story. I would have liked more information on the magical system of the book maybe a flashback to the time because some of the historical context was a little confusing and I didn’t understand why only some people could feel the magic of the library. The story was compelling though and I found myself wanting to know more and more of it and figure out what happened between the two main characters. Very good cozy magical mystery

Thanks to Netgalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

Conceptually I found this a very interesting dystopic scifi novel. We don't know what is real and not real in this novel, not fully understanding why exactly these people don't have real memories and why language has been warped (which we know as readers) and manipulated. I feel as though we were almost on a precipice as readers ourselves in discovering who these people really are -but with all that said I think it could have had a little more depth or context for the reader. I was hoping that the end of the novel would be a third person looking at this "research center" from the outside or something because I'm quite confused as to what this book was commenting on. You're supposed to definitely be confused and not have all the answers but it feels like I read only part of a book and am waiting for party 2 without really having learned any information? Concept is cool but execution is okay.

Thank you to Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty much like watching a train wreck of every cliché magic school and end-of-the-world trope mashed together—and not in a good way. Imagine *The Hunger Games* tried to date the Triwizard Tournament and they had a super awkward lovechild that also wanted to be a “chosen one” story **and** a pick-me girl story all at once. Frankly, it was kind of a dumpster fire.

It started off with me thinking, *oh cool, there’s a spy element, maybe this is gonna be interesting!* And then—surprise—we’re going to magic school, even though I’m still not entirely sure how she figured that out. Once you get to the school, it settles into a competition-style book, which I normally love, but the “ordeals” themselves didn’t seem that intense. There’s a lot of murder happening, yet somehow this supposedly super secure school can’t figure out what’s going on or protect their students?

There are also a ton of plot elements introduced and then barely explored: a mysterious building no one is allowed in, her parents who apparently went to this school but she only half-researches, and a mentor who’s supposed to be incredibly talented but somehow can’t actually mentor her. Her power is weak, and you’d think the mentor would sense that something else is going on or help her reach her potential—but nope.

The main character is also all over the place, bouncing between “I’m so insecure” and “I’m the best ever,” which gives you whiplash. That really annoyed me because for character development, you kind of need to pick a lane and grow from it in a way that makes sense.

The romance was so bland I almost fell asleep. It *starts* kind of interesting when they meet, but the way they connect is super choppy. Half the time she’s saying she’s just using him to win the trials, and the other half she’s like, “I can’t stop thinking about him.” Meanwhile, they barely know each other and lie to each other constantly in a way that feels toxic—not romantic.

The monster reveal was also incredibly mid. There’s no real sense of where this monster fits into the hierarchy of the world. There’s a war between countries where some ban magic, but we don’t get much detail until later when it’s suddenly relevant. There’s also a “Great Hunt” mentioned that happened eight years ago, but no one really explains it, and I just didn’t get why it was included.

There’s a lot of repeated word usage, and some of the words aren’t even real—which is fine—but then at least give us a glossary or something? It felt like ideas were added as afterthoughts instead of being part of a cohesive, progressive storyline. Overall, it felt sloppy and rushed, which was disappointing because I *could* see the potential of what this book could’ve been.

I basically hate-read this because I really tried to like it or appreciate something about it, but I couldn’t. I don’t think I’ll be picking up the second one.

This was a really sweet, cozy read about second chances, big decisions, and figuring out what you actually want out of life. Jules inheriting a run-down dance hall and slowly uncovering Kitty’s past was such a comforting setup, and I loved the small-town, nostalgic vibes.

Jules felt very real to me — especially her fear of getting her hopes up and then being disappointed. That definitely hit. I also really liked the diary element and the way she slips into Kitty’s past, though I honestly wish we got more of that because it was my favorite part.

The romance was soft and fine, but I wanted a little more depth from Reeve, and I felt the same way about Jules’s relationship with her mom. A bit more there would’ve pushed this higher for me.

Overall, this was a warm, easy read that I enjoyed, even if I wanted a little more in some of the other characters.

I WANT TO CRY IM SO SAD THIS SERIES IS OVER BECAUSE I LOVED IT!!! -Sobbing hysterically from the devastation and love and roller coaster that i was taken on-

But seriously, this was a great ending to this series! I loved the buildup to this final type of battle that ensues with Aurelia and her father aka the Cobra King and that gets WILD- there are so many movie pieces throughout the book and the biggest question we all wanted answered was- whose side is Ghoul really on?

I would have loved more Ghoul content and I hope she's kidding and writes an extra book because I would so be here for it!! But seriously this is action packed- there's a lot of depth in the characters and a desperate hope that everything will work out.

This is an excellent why choose because sure, we have spice and romance, but we also have so many different characters and personalities that we get to learn about individually and see how they work together and what makes them complimentary to one another. Getting to see the background of each character provides a lot of emotional bonding for the reader, humor, and you et that feeling that you're rooting for them to win.

Thank you so much to the author for the ARC i hope to meet you one day and cry in person over this!!

This is just an absolute gem of a second-chance romance. What I really loved is how the book uses flashbacks between the two main characters who first met on their very first movie and, dare I say, fell in love and totally denied it and decided to never see each other again cuz of course they hate each other, and now, 13 years later, they’re back for the sequel. The way the story unfolds is just so well done. I loved seeing how they both grew and changed from when they were younger to where they are now. You can see it in their impulses, the way they talk to each other, and how they handle their emotions.

Plus, there’s this really interesting layer about how women are treated in the film industry and how that’s changed over time, which felt really relatable and beautifully done.

The side characters were all so much fun, and the banter had me CRACKING UP. I also lowkey teared up at the end which never happens to me so I am a FAN!!

Omg falling in love with a rockstar?? I'm not mad about it at ALL. This was a really cute story following Clemmie, whose dad is a rockstar, and her journey to learn the kind of woman she wants to be- her story starts out in a hot mess - no job, no man, no idea of where a future goes, and when she's offered a job to basically babysit a rockstar named Theo who she had a one night stand with (and she knew him as some guy name Edward), and thats where we see the sparks start to skyrocket. Both Theo and Clemmie learn a lot about themselves and each other as friends with the simmering romance in the background. I really loved the humor in this, the relationship Clemmie has with her sisters, and the insightful and gorgeous ending this story.

Great cozy read if you love fun banter and people working through their emotional issues in their 30s (im 30 so i relate a lot)

This was a really cute novel filled with some nice life lessons, humor, and a really awesome coming of age story. I really felt entertained and warm hearted feelings about watching Andy and Dominique grapple with their past, present, and how they will step into their future (the new year). So much happens in the span of a day which is chaotic and hilarious but at the same time endearing.

I don’t usually read YA but I did enjoy this one. Great read for YA and adults alike!

Charlotte is the worst human being in the entire world I want her to PERISH!!!

But sidenote I LOVED this book I am so HEAVILY invested. The writing?? Superb? The storyline? Beautiful. The love story? YEARNING ALL DAY!!

Jase and Pixie (IYKYK) have such deep seated problems and obstacles yet they found each other in the worst of times and reconciled in the even worser of times. Their love really touched my heart and getting to be on the journey of their second chance was beautiful.

This story is moving and filled with how love can bring out the best in you and impacts so much more than you and that other person, it lifts you up and provides you a space to grow into the best version of yourself.

I literally teared up and cried and can’t wait for this book to come out.

Thank you NetGalley for the E-ARC!

Thank you netgalley for the e-ARC!

STOPPPPP I love urban fantasy paranormal supernatural vibes!!

This is a super vibes review: I just really loved the characters and the cool music intertwined world that Bliss and Pisces live in - it’s very moody and edgy and romantic. There’s a bit of a murder mystery here and way more questions than answers ( but in a really good way) I feel like I’m hooked and I need to know what’s going on in the next book cuz this cliffhanger was CRAZY and I feel like we’ve only JUST started to scratch the surface of this storyline.

I would have loved to see more spice but I have a feeling now that it’s being saved for the next book (one can hope).

Awesome book for people who like crescent city, urban romance fantasy, and fun vibes with a little suspense and mystery!

This was SUCH a great novel! Not just because of the romance which was awesome but honestly because how relatable Reema is to me and how she touches upon all the issues modern say southeast Asian women face with their families ago it marriage and children and the shame that comes with “failing” at it. It really resonated with me and I felt such a deep connection to the storyline. Super awesome read!

w this was actually a pretty great thriller/lowkey dark comedy ??? It felt like inception but with murderers. We have Gwen aka Marin whose dad was a serial killer. She was with him when he did most of these killings and he “created” her to carry on his work- but does she ? When she starts getting body parts sent ringer house she goes down a crazy trip to figure out who knows who she is (because she was 9 when she was disappeared into the ether) and this pushes her beliefs about herself and who she is, as well as who the people in her life are. It’s giving serious trauma vibes but I find her humor hilarious while she’s uncovering who is killing people she knows. It’s funny, dark, and inquisitive and I kept reading on and on to discover I had no idea who was a villain in this story and who was not. Highly recommend if you’re into thrillers but need something slightly humorous. Definitely if you like grady Hendrix you’ll like this book!

Thanks to netgally for this arc !

Excuse me I LOVEEEEE THIS ONE!! Kai is literally like UGHHH he just does it for me !!! I loved the dynamic of this couple and how different they are and the forbidden love aspect. I also love the story of how they both learn about pride - Kai by accepting he will fail sometimes and it’s okay to have help and Isabella by putting hers aside and believing in herself. I really liked that she’s broke and works at a bar but then OF COURSE she’s a hotel heiress (🤣) but I’m totally here for it. The story was really hopeful and sexy and gorgeous and I ate it up. I’m really obsessed with them and can’t wait for the next couples story 😏😏😏😏

Really liked this one I think second chance romances are hard to do because the breakup and get back together has to be resolved in a way that feels authentic which Huang does by having a longer timeline. I liked that both characters has to really become more introspective and discover what they lost and wanted. Good amount of spice too. I took a star off because the brother storyline was a bit weak I feel like that could have been played up better and I also wanted more flashbacks of their past so I could understand them more. Overall great and can’t wait for the next one !

SCREAMING BECAUSE THIS BOOK WAS SO GOOD I ACTUALLY TEARED UP. See this is why representation is so important in books because the way I related to Sonya and some of the things her trauma led her to was insane. I think the beginning of the book started out a little confusing for me personally but then I got so LOCKED in and couldn't put it down. Not only is this a romance, but its so much more. I love how the author explores how different personality types form and how someone who seems cold and standoffish and someone who seems to be super happy can literally still be the same person, struggling with expectations from themselves and others. The way expressing feelings was so nicely explored and how both Adrian and Sonya really had to work on themselves in order to be with each other, yet they understood each other long before they truly understood themselves. I found this. story to have the perfect amount of spice, banter, and an amazing HEA. Literally one of my faves now!

Hellooooo since when am I into billionaire romances? Since Ana Huang laid it out for me HELLOOOOO.

Literally I loved this book, the forced proximity marriage was actually pretty fun - Dante and Vivian are bosses in their own right, but don't realize that the loneliness they feel in their life is something the other one is going to cure...

Firstly, I loved the representation of asian culture in this, it was really relatable to me and I was able to understand very well why it was that Vivian was the way she was around her parents and always trying to be so obedient- its really what we're taught and harder to walk away from than you'd think. Secondly, this couple gave me all the power couple vibes, you could tell that opening up to each other came as a surprise, especially for Dante and I was burning to the book hoping for their HEA because I felt for them so much.

CAN'T WAIT. to devour the rest of the books!!

I’ll give this a 2.5 it was honestly my least fave Emily Henry book and I have several reasons why.

Let’s start with the characters: While I understand that Hayden and Alice were supposed to kind of be cute opposites of each other (reserved and potentially broody versus super peppy) I felt like their characters weren’t really fleshed out as much as I would like. I couldn’t really get myself to relate for or fall for them. Their chemistry also felt a little sudden and weird and I don’t know if it would have helped to have Hayden’s POV or just something there to round them out - it felt like something was missing.

Margaret was probably the most interesting character up until the end and I won’t ruin it but I felt like her big reveal was so… mid. Like really? She did all this and waste two people’s jobs and careers ? Really selfish and stupid if you ask me.

The problems both characters face and their development felt short I feel like EH is usually so good at making the story about not just the love but the growth and it just fell short for me on this one.

Hope the next one is more to my liking but this wasn’t for me.