Seanan McGuire: "Inkpot Gods"

Title: Inkpot Gods [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: Alchemical Journeys (4th of 5 books)
Author: Seanan McGuire [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural
Year: 2026
Age: 16+ (the book is geared towards adults, but can be read by mature teens)
Stars: 5/5
Pros: Fascinating concept. Rich mythology. Characters who transcend the page.
Cons: The dual timeline with a foot in the 19th century may not sit well with everyone. In the "present" timeline there's a lot of exposition/recapitulation (though it's required in order to bring a new character up to speed).
WARNING! Death in childbirth, dismemberment, body horror/flensing, self-harm, stabbing, near-drowning, animal death, misogyny/sexism, suicidal thoughts.
Will appeal to: Fans of the series who loved Book 3 more than Book 2. Readers who enjoy a creative, exciting twist on concepts made flesh, gods incarnate and the heart of creation. 

Blurb: More than a century has passed since Asphodel Baker refined the process allowing her to imbue alchemically created life with power More than a century since she built the Impossible City on the ruins of Olympus. And now, so long after her exit from the world, the descendants of her dark alchemy - who exist in a reality that inches ever closer to the hellscape of her imagination - step into a place of birth, of discovery, of horror, to make amends for the sins of the past. Can the gods of today defeat the evils of their maker, or will the legacy of the most powerful alchemist the world has ever known prove to be their undoing?(Amazon excerpt)

Review: This series is FABULOUS (except for Book 2 LOL), and I'd be happy to read it for the rest of my life, but alas...we're approaching the ending. Only one book to go! Catch up while you can (the final installment will only come out in 2028...). Thank me later 😉.

DOUBLE ANGLE

While Book 4 in the Alchemical Journeys series is a direct sequel to Book 3, and at the same time draws on the events of Book 1 (the second installment was, for all purposes, a "sidequel"), it also broadens the scope of the story in two different ways. In the past, we're treated to an insight into the life of Asphodel Baker, the first female alchemist, to whom a number of our protagonists owe their non-human existence; in the present, we're introduced to Lilianne, a trans woman and a budding alchemist herself, whose life becomes entwined with the rest of the cast's due to a...meet-cute with one of them 😁, and who's in for a shock or two (more like a dozen) and a lot of reckoning to be done.

Asphodel's villain origin story was a blast to read (and a real eye-opener). Leave it to McGuire to write a despicable character in a way that makes you almost sympathise with them, all while you never forget how monstrous they are (in this particular case, the period-accurate misogyny helps a great deal with the sympathising part). Asphodel is a complex villain, and if her transition from innocent, wronged little girl to evil schemer is a bit abrupt, it's not like this impacts the story as a whole. Lilianne counterbalances the "villainous alchemist" trope and adds her own coming-of-age arc to the mix, one in which her identity and her pursue of alchemy are cleverly connected. (Before you ask: she has a supportive - and incidentally, magical-adjacent - family, so hers is mostly a story of trans joy, though McGuire doesn't shy from mentioning the trials that come with reinventing yourself on a physical level in a very vocally hostile society. Then again, the story is set in 2018, prior to the horrendous backlash the US trans community has experienced in the last couple of years). [...]

Leslye Penelope: "The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass" (ARC Review)

Title: The Inevitable Undoing of Zahara Douglass [on Amazon | on Goodreads]
Series: None
Author: Leslye Penelope [Site | Goodreads]
Genres: Supernatural, Thriller or Mystery, Sci-Fi
Year: 2026
Age: 16+ (the book is marketed to adults, but the protagonist is in the NA age range, and parts of the novel are set in her or her sister's past. See the WARNING! section though)
Stars: 4/5
Pros: Interesting blend of magic and technology with an intriguing mystery core. Puts a strong sibling relationship front and center.
Cons: Requires some suspension of disbelief. A couple of twists aren't hard to figure out. The main character comes across as younger than her age. Too much focus on lust/potential romance.
WARNING! Blood, violence, injuries, death, illness (sickle cell disease), kidnapping, earthquake-like events, bugs, snakes. Alleged mental illness (delusions/obsession), forced hospitalisation, racism, anorexia/fatphobia (mentioned), OCD, masturbation.
Will appeal to: Those who can appreciate a magical twist on the Millennium Bug crisis. Those who enjoy sibling narratives with strong characterisation.

Blurb: In April 1995, Zahara watched her twin sister, Annica, get hustled into a stranger’s car and disappear - only to return to a world where no one has heard of Annica. Not her mother. Not the police. No one. Four years later, as the world braces for the looming Y2K crisis, Zahara finds evidence proving her sister was real and hires a private investigator to dig into her family’s shadowed past. When the investigation leads to two charismatic men who once served with her father in Vietnam, Zahara realizes she and her sister may be pawns in a dangerous power struggle with unthinkable consequences. To find Annica, Zahara must face the truth about her family, her memories, and the power lurking within her. But the sisters’ reunion comes at a price - one that could bring about the end of the world. (Amazon)

Review: First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Little, Brown Book Group UK for providing a temporary ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

PECULIAR PATCH-WORLD

A number of books are capitalising on the '90s nostalgia lately, but TIUOZD is one of the rare exceptions where the time setting is actually integral to the story: the plot deftly incorporates the Y2K (Millennium Bug) scare, when half the world was afraid technology would stop working (or at least mess up big time) as soon as the computer clocks hit 00:00 on January 1st 2000. While - based on the synopsis - I was anticipating your typical multiverse scenario, the story went in a direction I didn't expect, weaving Caribbean folklore/magic and technology, sisterly love (of course) and family secrets, past, present and future, in a very satisfying way. If the explanation behind Annica's disappearance and the retconned world it spawns needs some suspension of disbelief, it nevertheless creates the path for a wild, high-staked adventure that I haven't seen the like of in any other story - and if it takes some time to get there (the real, sometimes madcap action isn't introduced until the last third of the book), that doesn't mean it isn't time well spent. Along the way, we get glimpses of Zahara's experience as a Black ballet soloist, while a number of flashbacks recount Annica's battle with sickle cell disease and the rise of her hacking abilities, and their father's brush with the supernatural while he was serving in the Vietnam war - with the author making use of chats/computer entries and tape recordings as narrative devices for the latter two narrators. [...]

Offbeat Offline: July 2026 (A Big PHEEEEEW)

Welcome to Offbeat Offline, where I bring you up-to-date with what went on in my life during the month just gone, give you a sneak peek of my next shenanigans, and share my favourite posts of late!

What happened last month to yours truly? Unforgiving, relentless heat, but on the other hand, a clean bill of health. I spent the month glued to my fan, didn't read much in terms of new books but did a lot of rereading...what else? Uh, nothing. No going out (except for grocery shopping and one dye job) and no housekeeping (except for the bare minimum), because again...THE HEAT 🥵. Anyhow, let's start with the bookish stuff as usual...