By Naomi
There are a lot of books I read and enjoy, but I don’t feel like I have enough to say for it to qualify as a Book Review. I though it would be fun to group books that have some things in common together, so that readers who are looking for something specific get some options. You can never have to many books on your TBR! In this round of mini-reviews, I have a witchy sapphic romance, a sapphic graphic novel and a sapphic space opera. The theme is – you guessed it! – lesbians in love. Happy reading!
With All My Haunted Heart by Isabel Sterling
A witch hired to ethically haunt a small-town B&B instead finds herself spellbound by her non-magical client in this cozy and enchanting sapphic romance.
While I enjoyed With All My Haunted Heart overall, I also felt that reading it was a bit of a downer. There are a lot of positives: it’s well-written, the characters and side-characters are great, and the plot and magic were fun and interesting. The issue for me was with the romance itself. We only get Pippa’s point of view, and it would definitely have helped me to also get Elle’s. Pippa is a great character to follow, she’s a very capable witch, she’s caring and passionate and a good friend. She also has quite a bit of trauma from being disowned by her family, and her insecurities were hard to read (but very understandable). She’s immediately attracted to Elle, but Pippa remains determined to do a good job and doesn’t let the attraction derail her. Yay for professionalism and competence!
Elle was, to be honest, not very likeable. She’s rude, condescending and outright mean in the beginning. It’ clear she also has issues she’s dealing with, as well as an ulterior motive, and having her POV would’ve made her more sympathetic. Pippa didn’t really let Elle’s rudeness get to her, which softened it a bit for me as a reader. I really wanted to root for them, and I’m not against their Happy Ever After, but it was at times a bit painful to read how Pippa has been treated by Elle, and (especially) how it made her feel. That might also just be a me-problem, maybe another reader would feel differently. While reading I fluctuated between loving the book and feeling conflicted about the romance. If the resolution had gone any other way I would’ve ended the book feeling very differently, but as it stands I believe the ending was exactly right. It also means that I would still recommend With All My Haunted Heart, with maybe one caveat.
Books, iced coffee and a side of dragons, what more could you need? This was indeed very cozy and heartwarming. There’s not a whole lot of plot going on, instead you get little vignettes across the seasons. The illustrations by Raquel Trave are absolutely wonderful and really add to the cuteness of the story.
The writing felt like it heavily leaned into Gen Z-slang/TikTok-language, which took me out of the story a little bit. The language smoothed out less than halfway into the story, so it’s not a deal-breaker and I could just enjoy this absolute warm hug of a graphic novel. The romance between Luci and Aster was so lovely and sweet, and there’s not just sapphic representation, but a whole lot of other wonderful queer characters.
As a sapphic space opera set during a Bachelor-style dating show featuring a murder mystery, Love Galaxy has a lot going on for it. The plot is highly entertaining and compulsively readable, with plot twist after plot twist to keep you on your toes. Temmi is certainly a brash character, and at times I really wanted her to take a breath and think before she reacted. She also showed a lot of vulnerability, which helped balance her out and made me root for her. It’s clear from the very beginning that there’s a lot of tension between Temmi and Spie, the imperial princess. However, Temmi has been cast as a love interest for Nix, Spie’s brother. As if the forbidden attraction between Temmi and Spie wasn’t enough to ramp up the anxiety, suddenly contestants are turning up dead. The political intrigue, the forbidden romance and the murders all kept me anxiously reading because I was so invested in the characters and the story. While Love Galaxy doesn’t really end on a cliff-hanger (even though I yelled when I turned the page and there was no more), I am not very patiently waiting for the sequel, Nebula Rising, which is set to release in April 2027.
