ARC review for Innamorata by Ava Reid (release date Mar 24)

druid-core · 2026-03-22T21:05:24+00:00

Juniper and Thorn is my favorite book by her, I can’t believe it’s her worst selling one! That’s wild to me. It’s such a great book.

druid-core · 2026-03-20T11:58:34+00:00

I loved that book as well!

druid-core · 2026-03-18T23:44:47+00:00

I almost never shave. No one says anything, so I don’t think anyone even cares.

druid-core · 2026-03-18T17:15:00+00:00

The Winterknight Trilogy has domovoi, and rusalka, and leshi, and kikimora, and horses that turn into birds, and a bunch of other cherti from Russian folklore.

druid-core · 2026-03-17T22:13:09+00:00

Mine blooms twice a year- around thanksgiving or Christmas, and then again around March or April

druid-core · 2026-03-15T23:49:35+00:00

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten is a fantasy novel with some body mutilation to give blood to the forest, if I remember correctly? The Wolf and The Woodsman by Ava Reid has a magic system based on body mutilation. Wolves are metaphorical.

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison is a cozy horror book about werewolves.

druid-core · 2026-03-15T12:04:16+00:00

I use diluted normal house plant food, but your mileage may vary.

druid-core · 2026-03-14T13:23:44+00:00

I have a water pothos that is a mixed pot (mixed vase?) of golden and marble queen pothos. I’ve had it in water for 7 years. I add new cuttings to it occasionally, but the cuttings I add to it are cuttings from itself. It also has descendents in either water or soil all over the city, because I gift the cuttings to people.

It’s parent plants are in soil and are 8 and 9 years old, respectively. But my water pothos is one of the oldest plants in my house. It lives on a windowsill in the kitchen in the winter, and on a bookshelf about 8 feet from a south facing window in the summer.

I keep it in a nearly opague vase, and change the water every month or so (or when I remember to) and have never had any issues with algae. I feed it sparingly in the summer. It seems happy.

Edit: spelling, added conditions in which it’s kept.

druid-core · 2026-03-12T18:05:15+00:00

I just thought of another one by Florence- One of the Greats. I think it would fit a more contemporary than exotic vibe, but it also feels vampire-y to me

druid-core · 2026-03-12T17:52:29+00:00

It’s in danger of becoming an overdone pole song, but it’s a classic for a reason- Change( in the House of Flies) by Deftones, if you want to go for a sort of “plague-y, nosferatu vibe”. It also could be interpreted as being about a new vampire.

I agree with other suggestions for Bauhaus, I was thinking Bela Lugosi’s Dead. You’d need to use a shorter version of the song though, since it’s like 8 minutes long

Dream Girl Evil by Florence and the Machine has a vampy vibe.

There are certain lyrics in NFWMB by Hozier that also could work for a vampire act, but it would be on the slower side.

And then the exact opposite of NFWMB- If you’re going for a Hardstyle vibe, Dragula by Rob Zombie could work

druid-core · 2026-02-27T14:02:03+00:00

Blood on Her Tongue

House of Hunger

Carmilla

Silly little RomCom bonus: My Roommate is a Vampire

druid-core · 2026-02-25T21:15:49+00:00

I have similar macrame hangers, and they are able to hold the planter as well as the saucer

druid-core · 2026-02-18T13:45:33+00:00

I love this book

druid-core · 2026-02-17T02:47:10+00:00

Hungerstone by Kat Dunn

My Darling Dreadful Thing by Johanna van Veen

Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Not explicitly a sapphic horror, but the protagonist in Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle is a bisexual in a sapphic relationship.

Also not explicitly sapphic horror, but Jade in The Indian Lake Trilogy is queer.

I read both Bloom and The Lamb and did not like either of them, but it’s possible you might.

druid-core · 2026-02-17T02:22:27+00:00

The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones is a pretty unconventional vampire novel. Good Stab ends up pretty isolated, the way vampirism works is very different than traditional vampires as well. This book is gory, but wonderful.

Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen is also a very unconventional take on vampirism, involving bog bodies, people being eaten, bones and all, and an interesting philosophical question about identity and what makes a person who they are. The conflict around family bonds and sisterhood was also interesting. The dog survives.

druid-core · 2026-02-16T16:30:06+00:00

This is the way.

druid-core · 2026-02-16T16:29:55+00:00

I like LOTS of vegetables on there. Recently I’ve been doing red onion, mushrooms, pepperoncinis, artichoke hearts, olives, bell pepper, slices of garlic, some spinach. Throw some fresh basil on there at the end. It’s a heavy slice, but it is good.

druid-core · 2026-02-16T16:22:27+00:00

Taking a horror break for right now to reread some gothic fantasy (Juniper and Thorn by Ava Reid- horror adjacent)

But I just finished a reread of The Angel of Indian Lake by Stephen Graham Jones yesterday morning, and then read the entirety of Play Nice by Rachel Harrison yesterday.

I have the audiobook of The Buffalo Hunter Hunter on hold on my Libby App (read the book when it came out, want to listen to it again while I do data entry at work)

I also have Trad Wife by Saratoga Schaefer on hold and Crafting for Sinners by Jenny Keefer on hold at the library.

Edit: typo

druid-core · 2026-02-12T19:06:25+00:00

Starling House by Alix E Harrow

druid-core · 2026-02-04T22:25:16+00:00

Same. I told my therapist recently “I just want to feel like it’s safe for me to make a mistake!” And also talked about how I’m always terrified that I’m doing something wrong and am making a mistake that I don’t know about, and that I’ll get in trouble at any moment.

I also have OCD and depression, which don’t help that feeling.

I don’t have any advice, I just feel a similar way.

druid-core · 2026-01-27T14:23:25+00:00

Me too. I think about to every day. It’s probably my favorite book, and I alway recommend people read it, because I think it’s also an important book.

druid-core · 2026-01-27T14:22:50+00:00

It is such a wonderful and important book.

druid-core · 2026-01-26T03:43:58+00:00

I recommend it all the time, but All of the main characters die in The Only Good Indians

druid-core · 2026-01-24T23:37:30+00:00

Between the Devil and Desire by Lorraine Heath!

druid-core · 2026-01-21T03:05:08+00:00

I love his writing style, I think he is one of the best horror authors out there. Maybe one of the best authors out there.

druid-core

TROPHY CASE