In this fantasy romance novel, Emma Hamm takes readers to a world where the gods are dead, a mysterious plague threatens the kingdom of Inverholm and the only way Princess Jessamine Harmsworth can save it is through a marriage she does not want. The story has a running start in chapter 1, when Jessamine is betrayed and murdered by the groom at the wedding before the story flags and meanders for most of the book. It manages to find its momentum again for the last few chapters, but the overall effect has plot and themes of revenge and “feminine rage” (promised on the back of the book) taking a backseat in favour of romance between Jessamine and the Deathless One. This leaves the book feeling clumsier than it needs to be. The Deathless One can fit New Adult or Adult fantasy-romance collections in public libraries. Emphasis that this book falls firmly in the New Adult genre and not Young Adult (for example, the sex scenes do not fade to black).

Maggie; Or, a Man and a Woman Walk Into a Bar, follows a woman as she experiences two life-altering conversations one after another: her husband tells her he is leaving her for his affair partner, his coworker Maggie, and her doctor tells her she has breast cancer. Told in a beautiful first-person prose that reads like journal entries, the narrator adjusts to her new reality while reflecting on her life and relationships as a friend, daughter, partner, Asian woman, (ex)wife and mother. The relationships between the narrator and her kids, as well as with her best friend Darlene, are particularly special, highlighting the power and importance of non-romantic, unconditional love. Vulnerable, reflexive, with gut-wrenching and heartwarming moments alike, Katie Yee’s debut novel is a deeply moving exploration of devastation and rebuilding that readers are sure to continue thinking about long after finishing the last page.