I’m considering both adult and YA projects, with an interest in cross-genre speculative fiction with literary writing. I love novels with unique, expansive worldbuilding, ambiguous morality, and gritty, atmospheric worlds. I love multi-POV stories, multi-timeline stories, and experimentation with structure and point of view. Novels based on the author’s cultural identity and personal experience will always be more interesting to me, especially novels by BIPOC authors, LGBT authors, and authors with disabilities.

I am fine with all dark topics as long as the subject-matter is handled with maturity and integrity. 

In fantasy: 

• I’m very drawn to twisted fairytales like THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN by Ava Reid, DEERSKIN by Robin McKinley, or DEATHLESS by Catherynne Valente. 

• Dark fantasy like WITCH KING by Martha Wells or STAR EATER by Kerstin Hall.

• Political fantasy like THE TRAITOR BARU CORMORANT by Seth Dickinson. 

• Inventive magic systems like VESPERTINE by Margaret Rodgerson.

• Fantasy novels set in more recent time periods with strong cultural inspiration like GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 

• In romantasy, my all-time favorite is KUSHIEL’S DART because it combines romance, expansive world building, and political conflict with beautiful prose. 

• Fantasy books that incorporate philosophy, such as R.F. Kuang’s KATABASIS.

• Books that feature religion, like THE CITY OF BRASS by S. A. Chakraborty. If your novel has saints, monks, nuns, or cults, I want to read it. 

• I love fantasy dystopias similar to THE FIFTH SEASON by N.K. Jemisin.

• Novels that experiment with perspective and identity like HARROW THE NINTH.

In science fiction: 

• I enjoy anything that incorporates horror and dread with science fiction like ALIEN or ANNIHILATION by Jeff Vandermeer. 

• Existential science fiction that alters our understanding of reality or what it means to be human like THE LEFT HAND OF DARKNESS by Ursula K. Le Guin or THE THREE BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu.

• In dystopian, I prefer stories with a fresh take on the end of the world, like THE MEMORY POLICE by Yōko Ogawa.

• I love space opera and hard scifi, especially anything that incorporates physics, biology, or linguistics. Examples: NINEFOX GAMBIT by Yoon Ha Lee, THE FIRST SISTER by Linden Lewis, LEVIATHAN WAKES by James S. A. Corey, A MEMORY CALLED EMPIRE by Arkady Martine, and ARRIVAL. 

In horror: 

• Horror shaped by real-world events like OUR SHARE OF NIGHT by Mariana Enriquez or TENDER IS THE FLESH by Augustina Bazterrica.

• Psychopath kids like SUNDIAL by Catriona Ward or BABY TEETH by Zoje Stage.

• Books that focus on the horrors of motherhood and childbirth like ROSEMARY’S BABY by Ira Levin or WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN by Lionel Shriver.

• Any type of religious horror like THE UNWORTHY by Augustina Bazterrica or THE YEAR OF THE WITHCING by Alexis Henderson. I’d love to read an evangelical horror book set in a megachurch. 

• Books about creepy or haunted hotels like THE SHINING by Stephen King or THE RETURN by Rachel Harrison. 

• A horror interpretation of dark academia like Cassandra Khaw’s THE LIBRARY AT HELLEBORE.

In literary: 

• Unhinged narrators like BOY PARTS by Eliza Clark, BUNNY by Mona Awad, or THE VEGETARIAN by Han Kang. 

• Novels that experiment with structure and perspective like DEATH IN HER HANDS by Ottessa Moshfegh or BRUTES by Dizz Tate. 

• Brutally unlikeable narrators like ACTS OF DESPERATION by Megan Nolan, NIGHTBITCH by Rachel Yoder, or RIPE by Sarah Rose Etter.

• Upmarket interpretations of genre concepts like Claire Khoda’s WOMAN, EATING, NATURAL BEAUTY by Ling Ling Huang, or LITTLE RABBIT by Alyssa Songsiridej.

• Historical literary novels like MATRIX by Lauren Groff or HILD by Nicola Griffith.

• Literary dystopian like SEVERANCE by Ling Ma. 

BOOKS I LOVE

ANNIHILATION and BORNE by Jeff Vandermeer

DEATHLESS by Catherine Valente

WITCH KING by Martha Wells

REBECCA by Daphne du Maurier

THIS IS HOW YOU LOSE THE TIME WAR by Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar

NATURAL BEAUTY by Ling Ling Huang

SISTERS OF THE VAST BLACK by Lina Rather

GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW and CERTAIN DARK THINGS by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

THE FIFTH SEASON by N.K. Jemisin

OUR WIVES UNDER THE SEA by Julia Armfield

WUTHERING HEIGHTS by Emily Bronte

SPEAR by Nicola Griffith

THE MEMORY POLICE by Yōko Ogawa

JUNIPER AND THORN by Ava Reid

THE EXPANSE series by James S. A. Corey

THE THREE BODY PROBLEM by Cixin Liu

PIRANESI by Susanna Clarke

THE YEAR OF THE WITHCING by Alexis Henderson

BUNNY by Mona Awad

THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X by Malcolm X

SUNDIAL by Catriona Ward

THE BOOK EATERS by Sunyi Dean

A SCANNER DARKLY by Philip K. Dick

WILDER GIRLS by Rory Power

WOMAN, EATING by Claire Kohda

THE BELL JAR by Sylvia Plath

THE CITY OF BRASS by S.A. Chakraborty 

MATRIX by Lauren Groff

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt

THE POPPY WAR and KATABASIS by R.F. Kuang

THE LOCKED TOMB series by Tamsyn Muir

YOU by Carolina Kepnes

CHLORINE by Jade Song

The RED RISING series by Pierce Brown

DUNE by Frank Herbert

MY YEAR OF REST AND RELAXATION by Ottessa Moshfegh

THINGS I’M NOT A GOOD FIT FOR

Romcoms

Anything cozy

Heist books

Horror books that glorify serial killers

Domestic thrillers

Non-fiction

Middle grade or picture books

Graphic novels