Genre: Road Trip

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by Berkley. 2026 is only halfway through, but Mackenzie Reed’s adult novel debut I Hope This Email Finds You in Hell is certainly in the running for the most amusing and eye‑catching book title. Mixing bits of office workplace banter with paranormal romance, this book is an accessible and casual adventure turned rescue road trip through hell. Tonally lighthearted while including moderately detailed paranormal fantasy lore, this book is best suited for contemporary romance or chick‑lit/women’s fiction readers looking for some fantasy‑action flavor. However, for veteran SFF readers or those purely invested in romance, the limited detailing and serviceable yet pedestrian romantic beats may leave something to be desired. Demon hunters, office shenanigans, a road trip through hell, oh my! If the title isn’t attention‑grabbing on its own, this book’s premise involving coworkers venturing into the corporate underworld is equally silly and genius. The story has a hilarious and solid start that’s consistently entertaining, with great office‑room banter mixed with familiar contemporary romance beats. Early chapters slightly resemble procedural Supernatural episodes where Sam and Dean Winchester pose as federal agents or office staff and a poor featured character is bewildered…

Strained and conflicting scifi tv show actors faking a friendship as a publicity stunt to save their acting career is an incredibly fun concept that serves as the premise for Cat Sebastian’s contemporary queer romance novel Star Shipped. Entertainment industry expectations, social media and online fandom engagement, a fake friendship road trip across the American southwest, this book has no shortage of good narrative hooks. A comfy and safe space of a romance novel, unfortunately the execution across the board hinders its great potential and results in a book that feels like it lacks a purpose or direction. One of my highly anticipated queer literature reads of 2026, this book wasn’t for me and was quite the disappointment at every turn despite it having good intentions and nice mental health representation. Star Shipped follows television actor Simon Devereaux who’s attempting to depart from the popular long-running TV-show Out There whose simplistic and limited acting opportunities have left him feeling uninspired and artistically constrained. It doesn’t help that he’s spent the last seven years co-starring against Charlie Blake, a built and handsome man who has less impressive acting and an unprofessional history on set. With the impending end of his contract…

“If the world was ending you’d come over, right? You’d come over and you’d stay the night…” because you broke your leg in a bear trap- Never has my heart felt so warmed by a post-apocalyptic survival road trip adventure, but Erik J. Brown’s debut novel All That’s Left In the World did that and so much more. A YA survival story of two lonely teenage boys finding a home in each other after most of the world died all around them, the book’s characters, tone, pacing and plotting feels pitch-perfect and is an incredibly well-crafted novel. A lot of other reviewers had previously mentioned how wholesome and cute it is, which had me raising an eyebrow given the genre and premise (I sometimes find post-apocalyptic stories slow and repetitive), but it really is such a hopeful and heartfelt book that far surpassed all of my expectations. Providing much needed queer representation is a sub-genre of science fiction that lacked clear standouts while avoiding being too graphic, harsh or scary, All That’s Left In the World is an outstanding and well-rounded book that’s sure to satisfy a wide variety of readers, even adults as well despite its YA classification and…

With beautiful rose-tinted postcard snapshots of various European locals, an endless array of food porn-worthy food and beverages, and two attractive horny bisexual ex’s (technically leaning more towards pansexual but I digress) stuck on a dream vacation itinerary, Casey McQuiston’s The Pairing has a stellar recipe on paper. And if I were to compare this novel to pastry on display, it certainly looks exquisite and intricately decorated in presentation (please bear with me and let me run with this bit). Unfortunately, once you cut the cake and start tasting it, it quickly becomes evident that there was too much literal (Theo) salt in the batter and maybe the cake was a bit burnt in places. My experience with reading The Pairing was similar to this poor hypothetical and metaphorical pastry in that the elements were good but a few crucial elements made this book difficult to enjoy. My biggest gripe was despite McQuiston pushing really hard to sell this as a past ex’s enemies to second chance loves trope, the enemies arc leaves a lot to be desired and the relationship dynamic between Theo and Kit has a dry and acidic aftertaste. I feel like this story would’ve worked considerably…

Easily one of the most creative and whimsical novels I’ve read in many years. Simon Stephenson’s Set My Heart to Five is a thoughtful (and occasionally edgy) commentary on human behavior and societal culture wrapped up in a seemingly light-hearted, meandering AI bot adventure. Despite being compared to Vonnegut’s ideologies and writing, the book’s content reminded me a lot of Daniel Keye’s Flowers for Algernon (which is one of my all-time favorite novels) in which both stories feature an innocuous narrator who does not understand the complexities of human behavior and terrible people around them. Set My Heart to Five’s premise of an AI bot developing feelings admittedly isn’t new territory, but the style of delivery and humorously dry character voice puts it in an entirely new area. First and foremost, Set My Heart to Five is not going to be for everyone, nor does Stephenson make an attempt to be mass-appealing. Jared’s character voice is somehow both frank and dry, yet also entirely comical in a witty, dark humor kind of way; you know that one friend who always talks about the unspoken elephant in the room that’s not socially acceptable, yeah that’s Jared. Full of fun wordplays and…