beckykphillips's reviews
366 reviews

A quick hit from Alix E. Harrow that is absolutely worth it - I was immediately immersed in the post-apocalyptic America where demons have begun appearing in the Outlands where people are plagued by the effects of pollution and disease, while others live behind walled cities. Shrike Secretary is a storyteller for Iron Hollow and Sir John of Cincinnati comes to help slay a demon in their midst. This novella manages to pack queerness, criticism of Christianity, and Animorph references all into a quick 36 pages. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Amazon Original Stories for the advanced copy.

An absolutely incredible memoir from start to finish, Jenny Boylan is absolutely one of my new (to me) favorite authors and I will absolutely be going through her back catalog to read her other works after starting off with Cleavage. Throughout Cleavage, Jenny tells stories from her life pre- and post-transition and how the world was different when she presented as a man versus now as her true self. Her writing is just beautiful and immersive and her candor is eye-opening for anyone who has wondered about gender identity and what it means to transition. 

I honestly cannot say enough good things about this book and what a ~time~ for this book to be released with the current administration rapidly stripping trans people of their rights. Please read this and recommend it to all your friends, too - the world is better off with Jenny and her writing in it. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Celadon Books for the advanced copy.

This was my first time with Scaachi Koul’s writing and wow. In Sucker Punch, she discusses her divorce, growing up in an Indian family, and how she processed her rape when she was 18 while she was in her 30's. I really related to quite a lot of this book and appreciated her candor and how she approached each of these difficult topics. I also listened to Sucker Punch as an audiobook, which Scaachi narrates, and I highly recommend the medium. She narrates her stories superbly (of course) and brings an extra dimension to the fantastic words on the page. Be prepared for an emotional journey and you will be happy to have spent the time with her. 

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to MacMillan Audio for the advanced copy.

Wow - this was a fantastic, tight mystery jam packed with interesting technology, an immersive world, and queer characters! So much is fit into the book in such a short span of time. I definitely recommend for a quick read if you're into Sci-Fi *or* mysteries. I felt like I was in the world immediately, had a sense of all the characters and place. The read-a-like for Becky Chambers is definitely apt, and I appreciated that knitting was brought in too. 

I listened to this as an audiobook and really loved the narrator as well - she helped me get into the characters and the feel immediately, which is so important for shorter books. 

Thanks so much to NetGalley and to MacMillan Audio for the advanced copy.

Do you need a hopeful story about three sisters trying to protect their town from dark forces while one (of course) falls for that man that would undo everything they've worked for? Maybe you'd be interested in a magic system where you're either sacrificing your memories or your soul with each spell you cast? 

Meet the Petridi sisters, Calliope, Thalia, and Eurydice co-owners of the bookstore/cafe The Tea and Tome (dream workplace). Calliope is constantly worrying her sisters with her reckless use of magic, sacrificing memories for trifles like drying herself off after a shower. They have been entrusted by their mother to protect the Dark Oak, which holds a well of powerful, evil magic that the Petridi family has held at bay for generations. Enter Lucien Deniz, a powerful Shadowcraft practitioner, who has brought his coven to their town in order to secure the power from the Dark Oak for himself in order to save his sister Eléa. On what Calliope believes to be a chance encounter, she manages to magically bond herself to Lucien when they both find themselves at the Dark Oak. What follows is a story of familial healing and Calliope figuring out how to be her own person again. 

I really enjoyed the book - this is Breanne Randall's second novel and she really wrote such a delight. I think the consistent messaging of hope throughout really spoke to me in ~these times~ and while it may seem trite, when Thalia tells Calliope "Hope doesn't have the be a blazing fire...sometimes, it's just a flicker in the darkness but it's enough to guide us through" I teared up because I also very much needed to hear those words right now. The characters are so much fun, the number of times I annotated "Bro..." in response to Lucien's shenanigans is too high, but also felt right. We see so much development over the course of the story and the journey I went on was absolutely worth it. 

In additional delight - the final part of the book has excerpts from The Tea and Tome recipe book, and let me tell you the Basil Lemonade Martini is so freaking good. I definitely will be trying out the other recipes! 

Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine for the advanced copy. 

Maybe I'm a broken record at this point, but honestly 2025 is a dumpster fire so let's engross ourselves in a joyful, gay, sexy, fake dating romance that also has our main character learning to find himself and what he wants to be outside of his family's expectations. 

I Think They Love You centers on Denz Carter, the son of Kenneth Carter the CEO of 24 Carter Gold the premiere event planning agency in Atlanta. Kenneth announces that he will be retiring in the spring and Denz, along with his sister Cami, both want to put their names into the hat to take on the CEO role. Denz who is self-conscious of his lack of serious romantic prospects and his whole extended family group chat drags him for his strings of hook ups, announces he also has a serious boyfriend.  Denz of course...does not have a serious boyfriend and recruits his best friend and roommate Jamie to play the part. I don't want to give too much else away - but the reappearance of Denz's first big love, Braylan, in his life just brings in additional chaos to this plan. 

The writing in I Think They Love You is just perfection, Denz is a whole person with his own insecurities, friends and family that make 24 Carter Gold real. I absolutely love the relationship between Denz and Cami - the duality of both the support of each other and sibling bickering/rivalry felt so true to life. But also, let me just say the sex scenes in this are so hot: Denz "I just came here for a sandwich" Carter getting a surprise blowjob that is of course not actually sex and doesn't break the fake dating rules. At the heart of this, the story is so tender and explores the themes of finding yourself amid family expectations - Denz has to work through what he wants out life and not just what he thinks his family wants from him. 

I had the pleasure of listening to this as an audiobook and highly recommend the format. André Santana is perfection and has such lovely voices for each character, he truly brought I Think They Love You to life for me and I was easily swept up in the story. 

All in all, highly recommend. Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Dreamscape Media for the advanced copy.

Has the unrelenting nature of 2025 gotten you to a point where you need to dissociate from reality and maybe a rom-com will fix you? Well do I have the book for you. 

Unromance follows Sawyer Green, a romance author with the worse case of writer's block, and Mason Alvarez, a deeply attractive actor who has gotten his heart broken too many times and needs to take a break from dating. Sawyer and Mason meet after getting stuck in an elevator together and have a one night stand so ridiculously excellent that they both can't get each other out of their heads. When they bump into each other at the Christkindlmarket in Chicago, they reconnect and agree to help each other with their respective problems. Sawyer is going to break every single rom-com trope in an effort to de-romanticize Mason, while Mason will do his best to help Sawyer rekindle her writing mojo through the trope parade. The list of tropes the book runs through is just a delight and runs from cutting down your own Christmas tree to a trip to the Schaumburg IKEA (love the geographical accuracy by the way) a la 100 Days of Summer. 

Mason and Sawyer are wonderful characters, but they're also backed up by an excellent supporting cast including Luis, Mason's brother in law and personal trainer and Lily, Sawyer's best friend who calls her out on all her bullshit. The writing is fantastic and the characters feel absolutely real and work through all of their own issues throughout the novel. I also have to say I LOVE a horny FMC and Sawyer delivers on that - naming her suite of vibrators Mason? Adore. 

While I don't want to spoil too much of the book - I will just leave you with one of the lines that I think gives a great sense of the ride you're in for: “You don’t need to sell me, I’ve been sold since the very first accidental innuendo”

I also listened to Unromance as an audiobook, which was duet narration as each chapter is from either Sawyer or Mason's perspective. Again, love this to be able to get in both of their heads. The narration was great from both Mia Hutchinson-Shaw and Lee Osario - they give the characters distinct voices and REALLY know how to turn it on when they're going through their feels (of all different kinds).

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Hachette Audio for the advanced copy.

Perfect for dissociating on the way to and from my job; highly recommend

The Love Haters is my first Katherine Center book and oh boy - I absolutely stayed up way too late on a school night finishing because I just had to know what happened next and how Katie's (our FMC) story arc would go. If you're in the market for a rom-com about self-love and acceptance with a side of shitty boss and family drama - this is it. 

Katie Vaughn is sent to Florida to do a story on her boss's brother, Hutch, a coast guard rescue swimmer who became famous after a daring rescue of a dog. Cole, Katie's boss, passes this off as an opportunity for Katie to make herself indispensable at her job where people are being laid off left and right. In the process, we are introduced to Aunt Rue, the property manager for a set of cottages (and shops) in the Keys where Katie stays, Katie's best friend Beanie, and The Girls, a group of older women who all stay at the cottages with Aunt Rue. 

So much of the book is the love story between Katie and Hutch that survives miscommunications galore, lies from Cole, and a rescue at sea. But, one of the best bits is truly seeing Katie develop a better relationship with her body through her own hard work and the support of both Beanie and Aunt Rue. 

For a heartwarming joyful read (and couldn't we all use one right now?) I can't recommend it more. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy.

Delightful and insightful - Ira Madison III's Pure Innocent Fun is an essay collection detailing millennial culture touchpoints. Ira's voice shines through and I definitely recommend for folks that have enjoyed his culture podcast, Keep It, and for those who have not yet had the pleasure of listening. Ira hits on varied themes ranging from playing Power Rangers as a kid and to the power of daytime soap operas. While I'm not one for soaps, I appreciated his recapping to help everyone come along for the ride. Overall, a fun read and I really hope that Ira gets his Salt sequel...

Thank you to NetGalley and to Random House for the advanced copy.