Fab Fall Finds!

This one’s blurbs starts off:

It’s watching

It’s taking.

Phew! Liz, a young Black woman, reluctantly goes back to her small Pennsylvania hometown for her bestie’s wedding. Although she’s grown and has learned how to deal with racist passive aggressions, she’s still not looking forward to them once she’s back. On the actual day of the wedding, though, she has a new worry: the daughter of the bride, Caroline, has gone missing. And all there is to go on is a white fabric covered in blood. That, and the pattern Liz noticed of a Black girl going missing after a summer party in the woods. The last time it happened, though, the girl was found with her chest open and her heart missing. Liz needs to get to the bottom of what’s going on in the town before it’s too late.

In Henderson’s latest gothic novel, Marion Shaw is from the poorest part of the city and desperate to get out. One day she finds an odd opportunity that may just help her: in the newspaper is a listing for a bloodmaid. She knows that bloodmaids serve wealthy houses in the north by allowing their masters to drink their blood, but she doesn’t know much else. She applies to the position and is soon the newest bloodmaid for the House of Hunger. She’s eagerly serves her new, charismatic mistress, Lisavet, but when she starts to notice other bloodmaids disappearing in the night, she’ll need to figure out some things in order to survive.

When securing the bag goes wrong, case #1,001. You hate to see it.

After years of economic uncertainty and violence, 12-year-old Bird has been taught to uphold what’s seen as “American culture” by his father who was once a linguist. In order to uphold this so-called culture, authorities are allowed to take away children of those who disagree. These children just so happen to often be of Asian descent. One day, Bird receives a cryptic letter that leads him to trying to find the “unpatriotic” poet mother who left him years ago. The journey brings back memories of the folktales she told to him, and may have him thinking differently about injustice.

So I know this one will be fun. Lila’s life is looking pretty sweet. She’s got a great business going, the Brew-ha Cafe, and is starting a new romance with her friend Jae. But her messy cousin, who hasn’t been in contact with the family for 15 years, is back and claiming he’s on the up-and-up. Lila knows better, though, and her suspicions are soon validated when he’s accused of murder. Now, being the dedicated Macapagal family member she is, she sets out to clear her cousin of any (murderous) wrong doing. Unless…he did it?