#wtthtm

Evangeline Samos- Red Queen series by Victoria Aveyard

Sarah Schatteleyn- Blood on Her Tongue by Johanna Van Veen

Magnus Chase- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard by Rick Riordan 

The Sworn Soldier series (What Moves the Dead, What Feasts at Night, What Stalks the Deep) by T. Kingfisher

When Alex Easton, a retired soldier, receives word that their childhood friend Madeline Usher is dying, they race to the ancestral home of the Ushers in the remote countryside of Ruravia.

What they find there is a nightmare of fungal growths and possessed wildlife, surrounding a dark, pulsing lake. Madeline sleepwalks and speaks in strange voices at night, and her brother Roderick is consumed with a mysterious malady of the nerves.

Aided by a redoubtable British mycologist and a baffled American doctor, Alex must unravel the secret of the House of Usher before it consumes them all.

Setting: Turn-of-the-century

Horror, fantasy, gothic, mystery, historical fiction, turn-of-the-century, retelling, novella, series, adult

When the Tides Held the Moon by Venessa Vida Kelley

Endorsement from submitter: "One of those books I instantly knew would be an all-time favorite. It’s an absolutely beautiful, moving story about belonging, guardedness and trust, the way we hold ourselves captive, and letting go of the breath you’ve been holding. The historical time period of turn-of-the-century Coney Island is meticulously researched and exceptionally brought to life. With illustrations from the author sprinkled throughout, the book itself is a thing of beauty—trust me, you’ll want a physical copy for this one!"

Benigno “Benny” Caldera knows an orphaned Boricua blacksmith in 1910s New York City can’t call himself an artist. But the ironwork tank he creates for famed Coney Island playground, Luna Park, astounds the eccentric sideshow proprietor who commissioned it. He invites Benny to join the show’s eclectic cast and share in their shocking secret: the tank will cage their newest exhibit, a live merman stolen from the salty banks of the East River.

More than a mythic marvel, Benny soon comes to know the merman Río as a kindred spirit, wise and more compassionate than any human he’s ever met. Despite their different worlds, what begins as a friendship of necessity deepens to love, leading Benny’s heart into uncharted waters where he can no longer ignore the agonizing truth of Río’s captivity—and his own.

Releasing Río could mean losing his found family, his new home, and his soulmate forever. Yet Benny’s courageous choice may just reveal a love strong enough to free them both.

Setting: Coney Island, New York, 1911

The secrets are dropped like precious pearls, each one drifting lazily through the currents until they nestle in the sands in the depths of the heart. Perfectly timed and elegantly delivered--foreshadowed enough to be guessed at in some cases, and in others, unexpected and all the more beautiful for it. Nothing in the book feels unearned or forced, like the push and pull of a gentle tide, tugging the reader further and further out to sea, drifting safe in the arms of the Currents.

I both long for more of this world and these characters, to know more of the detail of the Currents and the society of mers, and also am so blissfully content with the amount that is shown. The cast is rich and diverse and authentic, every single character shining in their own voice on the page whether their accent is represented in their words or not. The found family feels real, as does the way they find themselves, and comparisons of the book to The Greatest Showman are not unearned. There is a beating, beautiful heart to this story and it bleeds from every pore with what it means to love, to know oneself, to be free.