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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Johanna van Veen's BONE OF MY BONE my first van veen Some uneven pacing and dialogue but I will always be happy when a newer writer doesn't follow a formula and swings for the fences, especially w historical fantasy a lesbian, another lesbian, and a saint's head walk into a bar...

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Oksana Vasyakina's STEPPE 2nd in her loose auto-fiction trilogy the first one was centered around her mother's death - this one is about her father who is a long-haul truck driver in Siberia about as uncomfortable and thinky as WOUND

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Isabel J. Kim's SUBLIMATION Absolutely not my usual thing but the author blurbs sold me on it and I loved it. for the severance crowd - when you immigrate another instance of you is created and stays behind lit scifi tech thriller??? idk...just read it

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

T. Kingfisher's WOLF WORM YAY! Kingfisher finally back to horror form (to me) Absolutely insane vampire lore going on here like jesus christ (the cover copy/blurbs mention them but I forgot it wasn't just bug horror so the vampires took me by surprise)

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Aliya Whiteley's THE MISHEARD WORLD yoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo I don't want to say too much and ruin it but a great genre-bender early frontrunner for my top ten 2026 list

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

Anna Kovatcheva's SHE MADE HERSELF A MONSTER absolutely not what I was expecting and thank god really terrific it's historical fiction but this is the closest a book has actually been to "witcher vibes" in a while - it feels like a really long fleshed out side quest ciri will have in W4

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

lemme quick summarize what NEW stuff I've read since this - Avery Curran's SPOILED MILK - I love 4 to 10 closeted little lesbians. Some of the creepiest possession descriptions in a hot second.

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 29/09/2025

Look at my son's first full season in the majors

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

TALL IS HER BODY by Robert de la Chevotiere Such a viscerally emotional read, right from the first chapter. Never really lets up. Kind of reminiscent of Vivek Oji for me, in its grappling with violence and family and found family and identity.

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

(re-read - kind of) ELRIC OF MELNIBONE AND OTHER STORIES by Michael Moorcock Yeah yeah I dipped into yet another "author's definitive collection" for Moorcock,,,,, I can't help it. Loved the accompanying essays in this one and the script for the Elric comic Moorcock did with Simonson

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

HONEYSUCKLE by Bar Fridman-Tell A bit saggy in the middle but still a really weird and unsettling, entirely off-putting (positive) re-imagining of Blodeuwedd (which is already fucked up) ACTUALLY a slap in the face a lot of people need re: the meaning of real and explicit and implied consent

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

I AM YOU by Victoria Redel Absolutely insane. One of the more astounding things I read this year. Maria van Oosterwijk and Geertje Pieters, complicated little lesbians. Just a terrific book. Needs more marketing!

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

REVELATION SPACE by Alastair Reynolds WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME ABOUT THE ILIA AND ANA PLOTLINES BC I WOULD HAVE READ THIS AGES AGO also found out there are 3?? ilia/ana fics out there so someone feels me on that aspect too

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

SONG FOR THE BASILISK by Patricia A McKillip - one of hers I hadn't read yet, not a favorite but still It's A McKillip novel so

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

MAKING HISTORY by KJ Parker - fun. FUN! After reading so many of his older novels this year it was kinda nice to read something zippier with his usual charm

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

my impressions are fuzzier now so less zippy blurbs to accompany them ,, but finally updating this thread w everything I've read since THE WAX CHILD by Olga Ravn unsettling, queer (in all senses), i HAVE to read fewer depressing witch trial books

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

A BLOOD AS BRIGHT AS THE MOON by Andrea Morstabilini Is TIMELESS-GOTHIC a thing? Really fresh take on vampires/vampire lore/anatomy. What if there was a mostly-sequestered vampire moon cult centered on the Mad King of Bavaria? Really loved the ways Ludwig was woven into this. Agata!

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Re-read THE LEOPARD by K.V. Johansen First of a duology nestled in her larger series - introduces Yeh-Lin!!!! Somehow even with Moth right there, my fave wizard-possessed-by-a-demon in this series

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

My 2-novellas-in-24-hours "oh shit I need to read more" panic FATE'S BANE by CL Clark CINDER HOUSE by Freya Marske Both good

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

(Re-read) THE BLUE PLACE by Nicola Griffith - lesbian Jack Reacher but much cooler - from '98 but holds up really well - 😭😭😭😭😭

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

Haven't updated this in ages on here oh my goodness THE PROOF HOUSE by K.J. Parker - didn't like it QUITE as much as the first two books but it somehow has twice the malignant energy - iseutz 😔

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 25/05/2025

Max showed hole this weekend tho so it has all been worth it

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

THE BELLY OF THE BOW by K.J. Parker Would have read this immediately after the first one but hadn't bought it 😔 Even better and absolutely devastating. The last book is BASED AROUND ARMOR PROOFING???

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Wait totally forgot to post this last week but THERE IS NO ANTIMEMETICS DIVISION by qntm - so surprisingly up my alley - admittedly wasn't expecting much but it's exactly the kind of horror that freaks me out and I was also in some emotional peril so - just a really good scifi novel too

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

THE NIGHT IS NOT FOR YOU by Eman Quotah - SOOOOOO good - I wish Run For It books were more consistent so far but this was stellar - Umm al-Duwais!!

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

The way I have nothing nice to say

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

THE BOOK OF I by David Greig Randomly read this whole thing on my flight yesterday bc I didnt realize it was a novella - brutal, funny, and very surprisingly moving - a monk, a viking, and a mead brewess rebuilding an abbey and their lives in the wake of a massacre

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 11/05/2025

COLOURS IN THE STEEL by KJ Parker - have read quite a bit but somehow not enough Parker - won't call it "bleak" but he has a way of writing violence so dispassionately that it's even more impactful - also if u love learning how a trebuchet is made & 6-page descriptions of the stationers' district

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Saw a tweet asking how fun football can be without "pep disciples"

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

THE MERCY MAKERS by Tessa Gratton - not as over-written as her previous adult books (good) - I think she's trying to do more interesting things prose-wise than many many current sff writers but this is the first time it has (mostly) worked for me - v cool science/architecture-magic stuff going on

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 04/05/2025

(re-read) BLACKDOG by KV Johansen would u believe I STILL haven't read THE LAST ROAD bc i refuse to let this series end but finally taking the plunge and re-reading the series so I can do just that still one of my absolute favorite fantasy novels (I think the series gets stronger later too!)

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Is he wrong??? Not exactly but he shouldn't say it so loud and w such derision 🥺

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Apropos of no tweets of my own lmfao

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Also this surprised a laugh out of me bc there really isnt enough of this in f/m anything (secondary romance plots, romance genre, anything lmfao)

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 25/04/2025

THE HUNGER WE PASS DOWN by Jen Sookfong Lee - is (mostly) contemporary-set horror worming its way back into my good graces? Maybe - stellar, goes from 80 to 100 to 150 and then doesnt back down - sticks the landing - genuinely uncomfortable and dread-inducing

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

Also finally finished VIVIA by Tanith Lee, another book that could best be described by making a squelching sound (positive) Liked it way more than Lycanthia (HER werewolf novel) If you read Lee you know what you're getting into but this one IS really gnarly

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

THE RED WINTER by Cameron Sullivan - well I was semi livetweeting this but a very cool werewolf "origin" tale - Beast of Gevaudan and Joan of Arc shenanigans - very fun occult lore - lots of big old feral werewolf dicks - approximately none of which are featured in sexy scenarios

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

The void, possession, andraste, evanuris, northern thedas lore i was looking forward to in veilg*ard

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Maiden.... also not particularly my cup of tea

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Got quite far in this book (much skimming) but then , the dreaded ,, but what if we had a child I could forgive there being no fucked up queen and knight horny dynamic but

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

When a dude gets his tongue cut out w a razor mere chapters after the best finger fucking paragraph I've read since metal from heaven

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

THE WORKS OF VERMIN by Hiron Ennes - TOTALLY different from Leech - Harrow the Ninth best tlt novel truthers this one's for you - when you're psychosexually obsessed with your best friend (quite bad) OR you're psychosexually obsessed w your best friend (extremely derogatory)

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 06/04/2025

SUSHI RACE AT TOKYO DOME BABY

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allison @jstmalicious.bsky.social · 25/03/2025

"now let's comp it to a bunch of books allison doesn't like"

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