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Cruel is the Light by Sophie Clark

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Selene Alleva is an exorcist, possibly the most powerful one since the Deathless God was impaled two hundred years ago, sacrificing himself for humanity. Known as the Butcher of Rome Selene knows that she is nothing more than a tool of war for the Vatican, a role she is more than willing to play as long as it keeps Rome safe from the demons that plague the world.  Jules Lacroix is an orphan and a soldier, abandoned to a church as a baby and raised in an orphanage he is once again abandoned at fifteen, sent to the front lines to battle the demons. In the four years he fought he became a monster, slaughtering demons by the hundreds while watching his comrades die over and over again. During a battle against the Tsarina of the Caspians Jules discovers that there may be more to him than he ever imagined. Determined to discover who he truly is Jules deserts the army and heads for his home in Nice, where he meets The Butcher of Rome, saving her life when the most powerful dem...
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The Luminous Faeries and Mothra by Takehiko Fukunaga; Yoshie Hotta; and Shin'ichiro Nakamura. Translated and essay by Jeffrey Angles

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The Kaiju universe at its roots with Godzilla as its "King" is inherently political, it is one of the reasons these stories continue to be told and retold over decades. The Luminous Faeries and Mothra not only follows this rule, it may actually set the standard for some of the remakes we have recently received.  The three authors who contributed to making this novella were politically active in their own ways so it should not come as a surprise that this ends up being an open letter to the U.S. and Russia (but mostly the U.S.) that they need to leave Japanese politics to Japan. It is in turns petty and snarky and holds back nothing when alluding to real-life protests and deaths that had recently taken place in JP. The only female character is named after a student who died during the Anpo Protests. You genuinely can't get more blunt than that. I think what makes this stand out just as Godzilla did for its stance on Nuclear powers, it's not just these three...
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A Girl Walks Into the Forest by Madeleine Roux

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Valla has been chosen by the Count to be his bride. With visions of beautiful gowns and ladies in waiting in her head she sets out with her brother Gavril and his wife Maksi through the Gottyar Forest, a place crawling with things better left alone. The first night staying in the forest Valla is attacked, her beauty destroyed, the one thing that she was sure to keep her in the Count's good graces. Upon arriving at the camp of the Count Valla discovers two things: 1. She has been lied to, he is no fairy tale prince, but a cold-hearted small man who treats Valla and everyone around him as an object. And 2. The loss of her beauty is a small thing compared to the horrors that await her once she arrives at his castle.  Omg given the actually really very tame in comparison to the book Dear Reader note at the beginning I was not expecting this to go as sideways as it did as quickly as it did. That being said this was one absolutely fantastic ride! Valla is an interesting chara...
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This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki and Illustrated by Nicole Goux

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Abby Kita was sent to Wilberton Girls School after a tragedy at her previous school. As the new kid, she seems to be constantly picked on, especially by members of the WTS, the elite theater group at the school. After the group's showing of Romeo and Juliet Abby leaves the after party and heads back to her room, determined not to mingle with any of the other girls. On her way back though she runs into Elizabeth the beautiful star of the play who she says some pretty bizarre things to Abby, and she rushes off leaving her playbook behind. Abby hangs on to it to give to Elizabeth the next day, however, tragedy has struck again and Elizabeth is found dead. The police say it's a suicide but Abby has found a clue, tucked away in the play that points to murder.  This was such a sad story that was and unfortunately still is common for girls and members of the LGBTQ+ community. There isn't necessarily a light at the end of this tunnel, it truly is tragic from beginning t...
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A Masted of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark

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Cairo is flourishing thanks to the great al-Jahiz breaking the wall between worlds allowing Djinn and other magical entities to not just coexist but thrive here on Earth. Everyone owes a bit of a debt to al-Jahiz, but one group of British men under the leadership of one Alistair Worthington takes it a bit too far, forming a cult around the great alchemist. Determined to find a way to use his knowledge to secure further peace of the world Worthington and his order collect relics of the man, not knowing that someone claiming to be al-Jahiz himself has plans for the world as well and its not peace, they want nothing less that total subjugation and this al-Jahiz will start their reign of terror by wiping the Order of al-Jahiz off the map. With little to go on Fatma el-Sha'arawi an agent of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities is in a race against time to stop a mass murderer claiming to be one of the most important men in history.  This was so go...
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A Pilgrimage of Swords by Anthony Ryan

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Seven people set out to pray to the Mad God, said to grant a wish, only one wish to those who complete their pilgrimage. Pilgrim, Seeker, Player, The Tragic Lovers, Priest, and Book all have secrets and all have a wish dear to their hearts but as they get closer to their destination they begin to question whether or not their quest is worth it.  This was an extremely fun, short story with an MC who reminded me of Aragorn from LOTR if he had very questionable morals and a talking demon sword 😅. And honestly, while I loved Pilgrim, especially since at the end he's like "This was actually great because now I can go kill even more people!" Seeker was my favorite. And yes this is mostly because she's a beast master and has a hyena. Seriously hyenas are underappreciated animals and are perfect for fantasy novels so I don't know why they aren't used more. But I feel like she'll be a great balance between the chatty Demon Sword and the silent Pilgrim ...
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Lout of Count's Family by Yu Ryeo-Han

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Kim Roksu falls asleep one day reading the fifth volume of Birth of a Hero and wakes in the body of minor antagonist character Cale Henituse. Which is great except for one small thing; in a week Cale is going to be beaten half to death by the Hero Choi Han! Determined to avoid that fate and live his life as the spoiled, loutish older son of Duke Henituse Cale immediately sets to work to increase his reputation not knowing that he'll end up far more embroiled in the novel's events than he ever intended.  This was so much fun! Cale is the absolute perfect reluctant Hero because everything about Kim as Cale screams Hero. Kim/Cale may come across as calculating and selfish but as we learn more about his life as Kim it's pretty easy to see that these are defense mechanisms. As an orphan Kim/Cale is very defensive especially when it comes to getting close to other people but because he was an orphan he also has an ingrained need to protect those he sees as being in a ...
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