Review: This is Where the Future Bleeds by Mike Brooks

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This is Where the Future Bleeds

Author: Mike Brooks

Published: 7th July 2026, Titan Books

Status: Read June 2026 courtesy Netgalley

My Thoughts:

This is Where the Future Bleeds is an entertaining stand-alone fantasy adventure from Mike Brooks.

Kitt Carver is a diviner whose magic allows her to find unclaimed Destinies, by-products of a god’s attempt to destroy the future, on the moors above Mereport where time stands still. It’s a risky business, but it doesn’t usually make her the target of assassins. When Kitt learns the attempt on her life is connected to a previously traded Destiny, and that its intended recipient is also in danger, she joins forces with her childhood friend Two Tongue Derna, also known as the Duchess of Death; Sulian, a powerful but permanently sozzled Swallowmage; and a small band of volunteers, including Kitt’s regrettable one-night stand, Donal Klae. Together they must cross the Timeless Lands to thwart a conspiracy that threatens to upend what remains of the world’s fate.

With a plot reminiscent of a D&D campaign, This is Where the Future Bleeds delivers adventure, action and a light touch of romance as Kitt and her companions risk everything to complete their quest. The journey is perilous, their enemies formidable, and there are several unexpected twists that keep both the characters and the reader on edge.

Kitt is an appealing lead, and her found family make for a terrific cast. Derna’s blunt manner had me laughing more than once, as did Sulian’s persistent grumpiness. I also enjoyed the later additions to the adventuring party, particularly Gra’al, Arkony and even Plainsong. The variety among the characters that populate Brooks’s world is engaging, and the queer representation feels seamless.

The magic system in This is Where the Future Bleeds is a little vague, though there is enough detail to support the story. Brooks’s most distinctive idea, that Destiny is a physical object that can be bought and sold, could have been explored further. He touches on how this trade affects individuals and society at large, but I would have appreciated a deeper examination of the concept.

I found the setting of This is Where the Future Bleeds effortlessly immersive. Brooks creates a vivid world, and I could easily picture both its geography and Kitt’s journey across it.

Offering excitement, humour and plenty of surprises, I think This is Where the Future Bleeds has much to recommend it to fantasy readers who enjoy a compelling adventure.

#bookreview This is Where the Future Bleeds by Mike Brooks @TitanBooks #read #book #review #fiction #fantasy #SpeccyFicChal #2026NewReleaseChallenge #ThisIsWheretheFutureBleeds Learn more at Book’d Out 

Top Ten Tuesday: Nonfiction Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 34 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

June 30: Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026

With a little tweak, I’m hijacking this week’s theme of Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026 on behalf of the Nonfiction Reader Challenge.

The Nonfiction Reader Challenge aims to encourage you to make nonfiction part of your reading experience during the year. It’s very flexible in that you can set your own goal (or have no goal at all), or you can make it more challenging by choosing books to meet some, or all, of twelve selected categories. Whether you read one nonfiction book this year or 100, everyone is welcome to take part at any time of year..

With that in mind, here are 15 Nonfiction Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026.

{Covers link to Goodreads}

6th October
25th August
29th September
13th October
25th August
27th October
1st September
14th July
10th November
15th September
17th September
7th July
13th October
8th September
2nd July

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Today is Top Ten Tuesday #TTT hosted by @artsyreadergirl #books #bookblogger This week I’m sharing Nonfiction Books Releasing in the Second Half of 2026 Learn more @ Book’d Out

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 20 Comments


Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

Life…

It’s been a largely uneventful week, The weather has been wet and cold so I’ve been happy to spend my time indoors.

I’ve been watching far too much TV though. My daughter and I are currently binging The Artful Dodger, and next on our list is the adaption of Carley Fortune’s book, Every Summer After (retitled Every Year After on Netflix). I recently binge watched Murder in a Small Town, and I’m currently catching up on Grantchester and The Great Pottery Throw Down.

It’s the last Monday of the month, so here’s my challenge updates: I’m not doing too badly though I’d prefer to be ahead of schedule.

2026 Nonfiction Reader Challenge: 6/12

2026 Speccy Fiction Challenge: 9/12

2026 Great Canadian Reading Challenge: 5/12

2026 Cloak and Dagger Challenge: 17/25

2026 Historical Fiction Reading Challenge: 12/15

2026 New Release Reading Challenge 63/60

What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy

This is Where the Future Bleeds by Mike Brooks

The Importance of Being Delia by Meredith Jaffe

New Posts…

Top Ten Tuesday: Books On My 2026 Winter List 

Review: If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle

Review: Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy

Review: Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson

Bookshelf Bounty

What I’m Reading This Week…

From USA Today Bestselling author Freya Sampson comes a swoon-worthy, laugh-out-loud romance inspired by Jane Austen’s beloved Pride and Prejudice that begs the what if your book boyfriend jumped from the pages of their story and into your life? “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single woman in possession of many romance novels, must be in want of a book boyfriend.”  Zoe Knight, a struggling romance writer, has sworn off men for good. At least…the ones in real life. Once a believer in a happily ever after, she now curbs her loneliness with the help of the best book boyfriends in literature – and there is no better man than Jane Austen’s Mr. Darcy. So when she stumbles into a classic London bookshop and argues with the annoyingly attractive store owner, Nick, who refuses to sell romance novels, she decides to liberate him of a dusty copy of Pride & Prejudice abandoned on a top shelf. But this is no ordinary book. After reading from the pages, Zoe finds herself in a remarkable situation: she has accidentally summoned the Mr. Darcy to the real world. Now, she’s face-to-face with the man she’s loved forever, and he’s everything she dreamed he would be. Handsome? Check. Brooding? Check. Talks like he swallowed a thesaurus? Check and check. But even in all his regency perfection, can he ever be as good as in the novel? And if he’s here, in her London apartment trying to figure out how to work a shower , what will happen to the literary world he came from? With Nick—the last man she could ever be prevailed upon to work with—urging her to send the fictional Darcy back to his own story, Zoe will have to decide what she really wants from a happy ending, before it’s too late.

Sergeant Harper Quinn has returned to her sleepy hometown of Koorinda in search of a quieter life. Until she learns that the town’s once glittering waterpark is being reopened, on the shores of its famous Red the place that her little brother vanished into thin air 30 years ago. And then Harper receives a a body has been found at the park. Once again, Harper finds her family at the centre of a shocking criminal investigation. This time, she is determined to find her own answers. But when secrets run this deep, the truth can drag you under . . .Red Lake is the page-turning first book in a brand new series by the digitally bestselling author of the Nick Vada series, Jason Summers.

Pioneering forensic scientist, anatomist and anthropologist, Professor Dame Sue Black takes the reader into our criminal courts’ witness box from the perspective of an expert witness, the forensic scientist, explaining exactly what that job is, what it demands, how the role evolved, and its likely future. The expert witness sits at the crux of the relationship between law enforcement, science and the legal system. When that relationship works well, it makes for compelling fiction, television and movies. When it works less well, it makes for compelling and explosive news headlines. In Dissection of an Expert Witness, Sue Black puts the relationship between these different institutions, and how they affect and are affected by the expert witness, under the microscope. Using shocking landmark cases that expose both the strengths and weaknesses of the interconnection between disciplines – she In which cases did we get it right? In which did we get it wrong? And if we had done it differently, might the pendulum of justice have swung another way? Incisive and compelling, following the impact of advances in technology to changes in funding and the effect of our gladiatorial system, Sue Black tracks the journey of this most intriguing of sciences through to its inevitable conclusion – and the toll it may take not only on experts but ultimately how justice plays out.

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @bookdatereads #SundayPost @caffienatedreviewer #SundaySalon @debnance I’m #reading #MostArdentlyYours #RedLake #AnExpertWitness

Bookshelf Bounty

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 13 Comments

Every third Sunday of the month (or so)  I share my Bookshelf Bounty – what’s been added to my TBR pile recently for review from publishers.

Click on the cover images to view at Goodreads

(My thanks to the respective publishers)

Thank you for the generosity of Emma at Words and Peace, and Kathryn from The Book Date for fulfilling these TTT bookish wishes.

Are any of these on your TBR? Which one appeals to you the most?

Bookshelf Bounty: New to my #TBR #reading #books #bookshelf #bookblogger #lovereading #bookreviews #newbooks Learn more at Book’d Out

Review: Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 5 Comments

Devil Mountain 

Author: Inessa Jackson

Published: 28th May 2026, Affirm Press

Status: Read June 2026 courtesy the publisher

My Thoughts:

Devil Mountain is an impressive Australian crime novel from debut author Inessa Jackson.

Pouring rain, a near miss with a guardrail, and a collision with a kangaroo that leaves her with an orphaned joey make for an inauspicious welcome to Stony Creek for Sydney homicide detective Ana Brown. Then there’s the body found chained to a construction fence, set alight, with strange symbols carved into the soles of his feet.

I really enjoyed this well-paced police procedural. Paired with local detective Harry Frost, Ana finds herself leading a complex investigation. Jackson’s plot is cleverly crafted, offering several convincing red herrings. Identifying the dead man as a local GP does little to narrow the possible motives for his murder, while the legend of a ghost on Devil Mountain and the disappearance of a young girl only complicate matters further.

Jackson leans into the legend of Devil Mountain, the vengeful spirit of a wronged woman, to create an atmospheric backdrop for the novel. It also reinforces one of the story’s major themes, exploring the misogyny Ana faces within the police force alongside the victim’s appalling treatment of women.

Ana is initially quite a prickly character, but learning what’s weighing on her helps to soften that impression. I found her responses to the discrimination she faces frustrating at times, even though she has few good options available to her, but I also admired her determination and courage in pursuing every lead, even at considerable personal risk.

With its absorbing pace, clever plotting, atmospheric setting, and strong characterisation, Devil Mountain is a terrific read and a welcome addition to the Australian crime fiction canon.

#bookreview Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson @AffirmPress @SimonSchusterAu #read #book #review #fiction #crime #debut #cloakdaggerchal #2026NewReleaseChallenge #AussieAuthor #DevilMountain Learn more at Book’d Out 

Review: Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 4 Comments

Vera Stein is Fine

Author: Julie Murphy

Published: 21st July 2026, Avon

Status: Read June 2026 courtesy Edelweiss

My Thoughts:

Vera Stein is Fine is a tender, sweet and sexy second chance romance novel from Julie Murphy, and her first to feature mature age characters.

When forty year old Vera Stein finally realises that Brody, her employer and the object of her crush since college, is never going to offer her what she wants, she is forced to take refuge with her grandmother, Ruby, at the Starlight Palms, a retirement village on the outskirts of Palm Springs favoured by former Hollywood types. It’s temporary, Vera tells herself, especially when she learns the on-site doctor is Elias Buckley, Brody’s college roommate, and technically her ex-husband. But  broke and with no where else to go, Vera can’t turn down the fortuitous opening for an activities director at Starlight Palms, or Eli’s offer to share his onsite apartment. 

It’s a fun set up for a second chance romance. Eli and Vera may have not seen each other in nearly twenty years but there’s definitely a lingering spark, despite hints of past acrimony. I enjoyed their banter and believed in their chemistry as tension yielded to passion and love. I felt Eli’s yearning for Vera, and his seriousness in his pursuit of her. I also understood Vera’s hesitancy.

Having sacrificed her ambitions to care for her dying mother, and being taken advantage of, both personally and professionally, by Brody, for most of her adult life, Vera feels disappointed with the direction her life has taken and struggles with how to move forward. Her personal growth in the story is rewarding as she begins to find her way.

I loved the residents of Starlight Palms, who not only provide plenty of laughs but, between Ruby’s surprise relationship and Leonard’s friendship, also help Vera recognise that her age is less a barrier to what she wants than her attitude. 

Balancing humour and romance with a thoughtful exploration of self-worth and second chances, Vera Stein is Fine, is a fine read.

#bookreview Vera Stein is Fine by Julie Murphy @AvonBooks #read #book #review #fiction #romance #2026NewReleaseChallenge #VeraSteinIsFine  Learn more at Book’d Out 

Review: If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 5 Comments

If Books Could Kill

Author:  Kate Eberle

Published: 18th June 2026, Michael Joseph UK

Status: Read June 2026 courtesy Netgalley

My Thoughts:

When Roxy Mitchell makes a wish to be the main character in the next novel written by her favourite romance author she unexpectedly finds herself the leading lady in a deadly thriller in Kate Eberle’s funny and fantastical debut, If Books Could Kill.

Roxy doesn’t really believe the busker with crazy eyes and a handful of purple glitter has the power to make her dream come true until she meets Jack. A handsome lawyer, he seems determined to sweep Roxy off her feet with an intimate dinner for two in the courtyard of the Boston Public Library, followed by a playful game of hide and seek among the stacks, and then a knee trembling kiss. The knife is the twist she didn’t see coming. 

Suddenly Roxy is fighting for her life, the victim of a crazed plot by a remorseless mastermind (and an author experimenting with a new genre). Her only ally is Grant, a meek English professor (and aspiring crime fiction writer) whom she accidentally abducts and drags into the madcap adventure that crosses the globe.

If Books Could Kill really is a lot of fun, and I thoroughly enjoyed the whimsy of the plot, which offers a bit of everything, but never feels messy. It’s fast-paced with plenty of action that pits Roxy and Grant against a competitive group of serial killers. Despite this, the stakes aren’t particularly high (because main characters are rarely killed off) but Eberle creates enough tension to sustain interest in the outcomes of both the caper and the romance. 

Roxy is feisty, cynical, and brave- not common traits for a romantic heroine, but perfectly suited to a thriller. Eberle also subverts expectations for Grant’s character, clearly taking on the roll of Roxy’s sidekick he is anxious, and not particularly athletic.

The romance is a slow burn, not only because the priority for Roxy and Grant is staying alive, but because falling in love scares Roxie more than serial killers do. Eberle weaves the tropes romance readers love into the story including ‘opposites attract’, ‘forced proximity’ and ‘only one bed’. I enjoyed the banter between the pair and the surprising tenderness of their relationship near the end.

If Books Could Kill is an impressive debut, witty and thrilling with a satisfying happily ever after

#bookreview If Books Could Kill by Kate Eberle @PenguinUKBooks #read #book #review #fiction #thriller #romance #debut #cloakdaggerchal #2026NewReleaseChallenge #IfBooksCouldKill Learn more at Book’d Out 

Top Ten Tuesday: Books on My Winter 2026 To-Read List

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 54 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together.

June 23: Books on My Summer Winter 2026 To-Read List

Winter in Australia runs from 1st June to 31st August so while you are reading in the Sun, I’m snuggled up on the couch in my fuzzy slippers.

This list is a mix of books I’m lucky enough to already have a review copy of, books coming out during that period that are still on my wishlist, and books that I plan to read to fulfil challenge goals.

{Covers are linked to Goodreads}

The Exquisite Torment of Loving Your Enemy by Brigitte Knightley is the second book in the Dearly Beloathed duology and is my most anticipated book for Winter, if not the whole year. It’s out July 7th, I was hoping for an ARC but if not I’ll be buying it the day it’s released.

The Changeling is the latest fairytale inspired historical novel from Australian author Kate Forsyth to be published on 7th July. Inspired by the true story of Scotland’s first witch-hunt, it’s a spellbinding tale of witchcraft, forbidden love and defying fate.

I feel like practically everyone has read Mad Mabel by Sally Hepworth already so I jumped on the chance to read the UK 9th July release ARC

An Expert Witness by Sue Black will satisfy the True Crime category of my Nonfiction Reader Challenge. It focuses on the role of a forensic science expert in the criminal courts and will be published 2nd June.

Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman is on my list because well FOMO, but also because it meets the Dystopian category for my Speccy Fiction Challenge.

You’ll Love it Here by Natalie Sue sounds like a lot of fun, it’s about burning out, starting over, and finding your people in the most unexpected places. It’s an ARC being published in 11th July that I selected to read to meet my goal for the Great Canadian Reading Challenge.

I need to read The Dark Lord’s Guide to Dating (and Other War Crimes) by Tiffany Hunt which is the first book in the Guides to Villainy and Love because I have an ARC of the second book in the series to read in September.

I haven’t decided if I’ll use Lost in Curiosity by Roberta Kwok for the Science or Lost and Found category for my Nonfiction Reader Challenge yet, it’s publishing 21st July.

Time Travel for Beginners by Jaclyn Moriarty arrived in the mail just yesterday as I was drafting this post. It’s being published 28th July.

Thanks to last week’s Top Ten Tuesday Bookish Wishes and the generosity of Emma of Words and Peace, and Kathryn of The Book Date I have two more books to add to my Winter Reading List, The Ballad of Falling Dragons by Sarah A. Parker and Between the Stops by Sandi Toksvig.

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Today is Top Ten Tuesday #TTT hosted by @artsyreadergirl #books #bookblogger This week I’m sharing Books on My Winter 2026 To-Read List Learn more @ Book’d Out

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #SundayPost #SundaySalon

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 19 Comments

Linking to: It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? at BookDate; Sunday Post @ Caffeinated Reviewer; and the Sunday Salon @ ReaderBuzz

Life…

I was at my parent’s place over the weekend. My dad needed a hand with moving a ridiculously heavy glass table up a tiny outdoor spiral staircase, and mum sweetened the deal with lunch. We tend to see them more often in winter because with good weather they are usually gallivanting across the countryside or entertaining. Despite both nearing their 80’s they keep an exhausting schedule. I always take them a stack of ARC’s I’ve finished and we usually leave with whatever raffle item they’ve won recently that they have no use for.

The weather was lovely, cool with blue skies and apparently we can expect more of the same this week but with chilly nights. I’ve dug out my fuzzy slippers and have my heated throw on standby.

What I’ve Read Since I last Posted…

Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

If Books Could Kill by Kate Erberle

Devil Mountain by Inessa Jackson

New Posts…

Top Ten Tuesday: Bookish Wishes

Review: Hot Girls Die First by Kayleigh Suggett

Review: The Last Page by Katie Holt

Introducing the Deluxe Edition of the Heralds of Valdemar by Mercedes Lackey

Review: Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

What I’m Reading This Week…

Welcome to Starlight Palms, a favorite retirement facility among Hollywood actors and industry professionals tucked away just outside of sunny Palm Springs. Filled with forgotten scream queens, eccentric screenwriters, and heartthrobs of the past, it has a brand-new resident: Vera Stein, age forty.
Vera knows she’s missed her chance at a life worthy of the silver screen, just like she missed her chance at ever finding true love. But Vera isn’t one to take chances. She’s spent most of her adult years caretaking for her dying mother and her movie star boss’s ego. Now abruptly houseless and jobless, Vera has nowhere to land, so to grandmother’s house we go!
The Starlight Palms Senior Living Center is midcentury Hollywood down to its pastel-painted bones. This desert gem isn’t lacking in saucy plot twists (swinging seniors, anyone?) or a leading man: Elias Buckley, the on-site doctor and Vera’s former ill-fated college fling and—for reasons that will stay in Vegas—legally her ex-husband according to the state of Nevada. It’s not long before Vera falls into a job as the activities coordinator and under the spell of a certain smart-mouthed doctor… Suddenly all those empty years in LA look less like mistakes and a lot more like backstory.
With a fresh start at her fingertips, Vera begins to see that even with all the detours she’s taken, there’s still a Hollywood ending (and maybe even a happily ever after) in sight…

A thrilling adventure packed with laughs, escapes and kick-ass action, about a smart-talking bunch of rogues and dropouts being thrust into the destinies of empires.
Kitt Carver is one of the best diviners in the business at finding destinies for the rich and powerful. When she’s nearly killed, and her regular broker is murdered, it becomes clear that someone has an issue with the last destiny that she found. 
Determined not to let anyone else die, Kitt gathers a mismatched group – including Two Tongue Derna, her childhood friend and now a renowned street duellist; Sulian the Swallowmage, powerful but plagued with intrusive visions of futures; and Donal Klae, Kitt’s one-night stand who was accidentally responsible for her near-murder – and sets off across the Timeless Lands to warn the destiny’s recipient. 
However, unbeknownst to Kitt, she has her own destiny; one which might spell disaster for everyone.

Pleasing other people is hell. Pleasing herself is a revolution.
A loathsome feline. A family mystery. And a woman who’s done playing nice.
For more than thirty years, Delia Watson has been the woman behind the man. The silent engine driving her husband Charlie’s glittering music career, the backbone of a thriving dental practice and the woman who could always be relied upon by friends and family alike. Now retired, she’s ready to embrace life as a lady of leisure. But the universe has other plans. Against her better judgment, Delia is guilt-tripped into cat-sitting the ghastly Igor in Pretty Point, the harbourside suburb where Charlie grew up. Just as Delia’s resigned to making the best of things – again – a letter arrives for her husband, from a cryptic stranger. Charlie claims he’s never heard of this woman but Delia knows him better than anyone – and he’s lying.
Finally, Delia’s had enough. Aided and abetted by the ladies from the bridge club, she’s determined to solve the mystery. But her quarry proves elusive, the cat goes missing, her husband’s furious and her mother-in-law is threatening to call the police.
Beneath the superficial charms of Pretty Point lurks a sordid story of betrayal, greed, and ambition … and the dead have stories to tell.

Thanks for stopping by!

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? #IMWAYR @bookdatereads #SundayPost @caffienatedreviewer #SundaySalon @debnance I’m #reading #VeraSteinIsFine #ThisIsWheretheFutureBleeds #TheImportanceofBeingDelia

Review: Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See

~ shelleyrae @ Book'd Out ~ 10 Comments


Daughters of the Sun and Moon

Author: Lisa See

Published: 16th June 2026, Simon & Schuster AU

Status: Read June 2026 courtesy Netgalley 

My Thoughts:

“…together we are daughters of the sun and moon.”

Lisa See’s Daughters of the Sun and Moon blends historical fact and fiction to tell the story of three very different Chinese women whose lives intertwine in the nascent town of Los Angeles during the late nineteenth century.

Told in five parts, each introduced with a historical photograph and newspaper article, the story unfolds from the alternating perspectives of Petal, Dove, and Moon, with events taking place primarily over the course of about a year.

Petal is eighteen years old when she arrives in Los Angeles in 1871, having been sold by her starving peasant family in China and then auctioned off to become a “woman always holding up her legs”—an indentured prostitute.

Seventeen-year-old Dove, with the cruelly bound feet that mark her as beautiful and refined, has been sent to Los Angeles to become the second wife of a much older, wealthy merchant.

In 1926, octogenarian Tong Yu, known as Moon, recalls the arrival of Petal and Dove, whom she meets when they are brought to the office of her husband, Dr. Chee Long “Gene” Tong, a respected practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine.

The three women reside in Calle de Los Negros, the neighbourhood to which the roughly 178 Chinese immigrants, including just 34 women, living in Los Angeles are largely confined. Their stories, based on the lives of real women, are fascinating and heartbreaking examples of courage and resilience in the face of traditional expectations, disenfranchisement, misogyny, and racism. See writes candidly about their harrowing experiences, and it is not easy to read of the loss, violence, and trauma Petal, Dove, and Moon endure. Yet somehow these women cling to the slim thread of hope that the freedom, love, and justice they desire will one day be theirs, largely because of the support and solace they find in one another.

The pivotal event in Daughters of the Sun and Moon is what became known as the Night of Horrors, a riot triggered by a rivalry between two Tongs that resulted in nearly 500 white and Latino Americans descending on Calle de Los Negros. With a population of around 5,000 people and barely a handful of police, Los Angeles in the late nineteenth century was a rough, almost lawless town rife with violence, corruption, and anti-Chinese sentiment. On the night of October 24, 1871, the mob ran unchecked, destroying property, committing numerous assaults, and, most grievously, lynching at least fifteen Chinese men and boys, while several more Chinese residents were shot or beaten to death.

Rich in historical detail and populated with memorable characters, Daughters of the Sun and Moon is a challenging and powerful novel of friendship and survival in the face of tragedy, which I recommend.

#bookreview Daughters of the Sun and Moon by Lisa See @SimonSchusterAu #read #book #review #fiction #historical #histficreadingchallenge #2026NewReleaseChallenge #DaughtersoftheSunandMoon Learn more at Book’d Out