Guys I am so behind, send help! The good news is, these are all out now, so you can go read them! 🥳🥳

Love Galaxy by Sierra Branham
The Afterlands by Akemi Dawn Bowman
The Many by Sylvain Neuvel
Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill
The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen

Love Galaxy by Sierra Branham
Series: The Imperial Broadcasts #1
Published by DAW on April 21, 2026
Pages: 416
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

A romantic science fiction thriller in which a young woman from a dead-end planet gets cast on a reality TV show to compete for the hand of the prince—or princess. But not everyone is there for the right reasons…

Smart, sexy, compulsively readable and fun, this is for fans of Everina Maxwell's Winter's Orbit and Arkady Martine's A Memory Called Empire

Temmi, a young trash collector stuck in a dead-end job on a garbage planet, finds herself with a golden ticket she never expected: an opportunity to compete in an intergalactic dating show starring the brother and sister heirs to the galactic empire. Twenty-four women will compete on a televised program to marry the prince and princess—and future emperors—and to win the dynasty’s favor for their home planet.

Temmi may have been hand-picked to date the quiet, bookish prince, who is immediately taken by her brash personality and their shared passion for the sciences. But she can’t seem to keep away from the princess—and even though it couldn’t be a worse idea, their chemistry is undeniable.

But when contestants start turning up dead, and conspiracies begin to swirl around anti-imperial motivations of several contestants, Temmi among them, so much more than feelings are at stake.

In fact, very few of the participants of Love Galaxy have come on the show to find love. Sexy, snarky, and revolutionary, this fast-paced thrill ride will hook lovers of reality TV, fans of thoughtful sci-fi, and anyone who lives for drama.

Bottom Line: Another five star read, another book I had to pre-order. Not sorry.

The Afterlands by Akemi Dawn Bowman
Series: The Infinity Courts #3
Published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers on April 14, 2026
Pages: 416
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Nami must race against time to save Infinity—and humanity—in the explosive third and final book in the “cerebral and pulse-pounding” (School Library Journal on Infinity Courts, starred review) Infinity Courts series from critically acclaimed author Akemi Dawn Bowman.

Infinity has changed. Victory and Famine lie in ruins, while Ozias—previously the leader of the fight against the AI Residents who subjugated humans—has overthrown Death. And the boy that Nami unreservedly gave her heart to has been dragged back to the Capital to have his memory erased. In a shifting landscape of alliances, Nami doesn’t know who she can trust—she only knows it’s her mistakes that have driven them to today.

With few allies and even fewer friends, Nami sets off one final time to prove that a bridge between humans and Residents really is possible…before the shadows of the past destroy any chance of a better future.

The Afterlands is such a satisfying conclusion to the Infinity Courts series! Now, I will say, I had forgotten a lot. And we’re thrown right into the action, which is a bit unsettling when it’s been a minute (four years, in fact- a long time for my old brain to remember stuff, especially 500 books later!) and you can remember only the bare minimum. So that, in effect, is my one gripe- I’d have loved some kind of recap, any kind of recap. And I won’t lie- even as I remembered some of the stuff, I didn’t remember all of the stuff, but I was able to put it out of my mind and enjoy the story as it was.

Anyway, the characters were fabulous, Akemi Dawn Bowman’s writing is as engaging as ever, and I was definitely invested in the outcome. I loved how Nami just wanted people to be able to make their own choices, and it definitely struck a chord in terms of relevance to current issues. Without giving too much away (especially as this is a third book in a trilogy!), I was very happy to reach a satisfying conclusion to Nami’s story, and one that made me feel like the series was very, very worth reading.

Bottom Line: If you haven’t gotten to this series yet, now is the best time- you know it ends well, and you won’t have any issues remembering stuff. Off you go!

The Many by Sylvain Neuvel
Published by Solaris on April 21, 2026
Pages: 304
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

The minds of five normal people merge in a beautiful, unnerving first contact story where the strangest thing humanity has to face is each other, from the critically acclaimed author of Sleeping Giants.

“I’m you now. We all are.”

When advertising executive Carole Veilleux loses it at Booker’s donut shop and bites Booker on the arm, it’s about the most interesting thing to happen in the small city of Marquette, Michigan, in years.

But that’s only the beginning of the story. Carole and Booker find their minds merging, in a collective that extends to include Carole’s husband Shivansh and local doctor Evelyn Schlapp. The four of them become the beginning of something larger and stranger than they could ever have imagined.

So I have a little bit of conflicting feelings on The Many, but it was definitely more good than not. The story itself, the plot, the madness of folks sharing a mind, that was fabulous. I was absolutely drawn into the story, because talk about thought provoking! It seems so… invasive, right? Obviously jarring, and I cannot even wrap my head around someone else being in said head! Also, it is a little comedic at times too, which really helps make it more readable and enjoyable. I mean- one consciousness made up of so many different people almost has to be funny sometimes, yeah? There are also some really touching and heartfelt moments, which I equally appreciated.

But, I didn’t feel a real connection to any of the characters. I think I empathized the most with one of the OG Many Booker’s child Layla, but I also felt very uncomfy with them wanting to be part of the hivemind, as the hivemind was very freely sexual in nature. Perhaps it was meant to be satirical, but it missed the mark for me a bit. Anyway, the story itself was very engaging, and while I didn’t care a great deal about most of the individuals, I was curious about what would happen to the Many. I suppose that was the point, after all.

Bottom Line:  Definitely thought provoking, though I had some hesitation with kids in the mix.

Wife Shaped Bodies by Laura Cranehill
Published by S&S/Saga Press on April 14, 2026
Pages: 288
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

Sorrowland meets Manhunt in this literary horror debut in which an isolated newlywed—covered in mushroom growths like all the other wives in her community—strikes a precarious balance between following her husband’s strict rules and pursuing an intense connection with a woman who makes her question everything.

Forbidden from leaving her house from girlhood until marriage, Nicole has only her mother's lessons and what she can see from her bedroom window to draw on in forming her view of the world, and of herself. Taught that the mushrooms which cover the women in her village are repulsive and dangerous, she conforms to a rigid set of rules to protect herself and those around her.

When her wedding day arrives, Nicole moves from one prison to another—an empty mansion on the very outskirts of town belonging to the husband she’s been promised to since birth. As she haunts the edges of Silas's unknowable life and decaying home, maintaining control over her own transforming body becomes increasingly impossible. And when another wife with rebellious tendencies pays Nicole an unexpected visit, something within her cracks open. Their furtive explorations yield confusing answers, unearthing the long-buried secrets of the generations of resentful brides that came before. Unmoored, angry, and at last awakened, Nicole must reckon with who she really is, and perhaps, give in to what she truly wants.

Raw, visceral, and relentless, Wife Shaped Bodies is an exploration of gender, power, and community through the lens of mycological body horror and an ode to the unsettling beauty of the natural world.

Wife Shaped Bodies is so wonderfully messed up and so very unique! I also don’t want to give too much away, so I’ll keep it brief. The premise is bonkers, but go with it: women are not just women anymore, but some kind of fungus/human hybrid. I promise, go with it. We meet Nicole on what is her wedding eve, but also the eve of her mother’s death. This is obviously a lot, so you feel for her even though this is so bizarre. Also, Nicole has been very sheltered so moving to her husband’s house is going to be a big change.

From there, we learn so much more that you should really find out on your own. Most of the other mushmaidens know a lot more than Nicole, and she’s suddenly finding herself very curious about the world around her. Her husband is… well, sometimes he seems okay, and then sometimes he seems like a monster, and probably both things are true. But honestly the whole thing is wild, and I think my only real qualm is that I loved learning about the world and would have loved had the book delved just a bit deeper. Regardless, the book is wholly unique, and incredibly relevant.

Bottom Line: Bizarre, in the best possible way with awesome commentary on many levels.

The Photonic Effect by Mike Chen
Published by S&S/Saga Press on April 21, 2026
Pages: 448
Format:eARC
Source:Copy provided by publisher for review, via Netgalley

From New York Times bestselling author Mike Chen comes a page-turning space opera in which a starship captain and her crew receive a distress signal and find themselves at odds with various factions of a galactic civil war—for fans of Alastair Reynolds and Adrian Tchaikovsky.

After ten years trapped across the expanse of space, Captain Demora Kim and the crew aboard the Horizon are finally home. Only it’s not the home they know. The Cluster, formerly a peaceful cooperative between planets, is on the verge of collapse due to a civil war.

A way to end the conflict may lie in the limitless energy that trapped the Horizon crew halfway across the galaxy and the engine they crafted to bring them home. But that means going back to the pocket of space they’ve only just escaped.

Demi isn’t sure she’s up for the task. She fulfilled her promise. She brought her crew home. Maybe it’s time to walk away. However, leaving everything behind won’t be as simple as she thinks. Conspiracies are afoot, loyalties will be tested, and Demi’s choices could shake the foundation of the galaxy.

I have adored Mike Chen’s books, and I adore space opera, so this was bound to be a win, yeah? It started off a little slow for me, I must be honest. But as I got to know the characters, I became much more invested. Now, I’ll say this- I think this book could have been a little shorter, maybe. At times, it felt like some of the inner thoughts of the characters were a bit repetitive, and maybe it could have been… tighter, let’s say. Especially since we didn’t know much about their (or the world’s) background.  While the book is very readable without that background knowledge, I think it would have made it that much better. So scratch that- I don’t wish it was shorter, I wish it was the same length just with less pondering and more backstory.

I adored the characters. Even though we didn’t get to know them very deeply outside of their roles on the ship , I still had a very good sense of who they were at their cores. They all had to make a ton of morally gray “no good choices” choices, and that is my jam.  It was certainly compelling and high stakes, as Demi and the crew are literally trying to save an entire species, and dealing with a civil war of their own back at home. I was definitely invested in the outcome of both the characters and the plot, and despite my minor complaints, quite enjoyed this one.

Bottom Line: Clarke Griffin would appreciate the hell out of these impossible choices Demi has to make, just saying.

Have you read any of these books? Plan to? Let us chat about them!