All-Time Favorites

So hard to choose a favorite...

As of September 2026, Gateway Book Reviews has been posting weekly book reviews for 6 years! Over the years, there have been ups and downs as new trends and old tropes fought for placement on the shelves. Below is a one-stop shop of the top reads I've featured on Gateway Reviews!

PERSONAL PICKS

After 6 years, I've collected quite a few favorite books I've had the pleasure to read for GR. But not all favorites are created equal. If you're looking for the true Best of the Best since 2020, the following list contains the absolute highlights of Gateway Reviews.

	The Shadows Between Us Tricia Levenseller ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this second-world fantasy where wicked wit and witty comebacks are the rule of law, Lady Alessandra Stathos finds herself on the hunt for the Shadow King's hand in marriage (though she doesn't plan to keep him around after the nuptials). Perfect for fans of Rosamund Hodge's dark fairytale Cruel Beauty and Sherwood Smith's court fantasy Crown Duel. Fantasy / Romance
Firekeeper's Daughter Angeline Boulley ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this contemporary crime thriller where familial duty clashes with a quest for the truth, Daunis Fountaine finds herself straddling the line between the White world of her mother, the Anishinaabe world of her father, and the call of the FBI to use her as an inside informant after her best friend's drug-related death. Perfect for fans of Aiden Thomas's culture-soaked fantasy Cemetery Boys and Courtney Summers's gritty thriller The Project. Thriller / Contemporary / Crime / BIPOC
	The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea Axie Oh ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this ethereal fantasy set beside a storm-ravaged sea, Mina launches herself into the waves to save her brother's life and finds a foggy Spirit Realm and long-slumbering Sea God in danger beneath the waves. Perfect for fans of June Hur's Korean historical fiction The Forest of Stolen Girls and Elizabeth Lim's fractured fairy tale Six Crimson Cranes. Fantasy / Romance / Sea / Dragon / BIPOC
The Renaissance of Gwen Hathaway Ashley Schumacher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this contemporary Renaissance Faire romance swathed in the trappings of fantasy fun, Madeline finds herself wrestling with the grief of losing her mother while working at her mother's favorite Ren Faire for the summer. Perfect for fans of Ashley Schumacher's bookstore romance Amelia Unabridged and Joan F. Smith's summer camp novel The Half-Orphan's Handbook. Contemporary / Romance
	Every Time You Hear That Song Jenna Voris ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dual-timeline coming-of-age novel, Darren Purchase sets out on a road trip to win the money she needs to escape her small town by tracking down the clues that Decklee Cassel, Darren's favorite country singer, left behind in her last will and testament. Perfect for fans of Ellen Raskin's witty middle grade novel The Westing Game and Taylor Jenkins Reid's sapphic romance The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. Contemporary / Historical / LGBTQIA / Music
Time After Time Mikki Daughtry ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dual-timeline home renovation romance, Libby uses her college fund to buy an old Victorian house that needs far more repair than she bargained for and finds the journal of a woman who lived and found love in this same house 100 years before. Perfect for fans of Malinda Lo's sapphic historical fiction Last Night at the Telegraph Club and Patricia Highsmith's lesbian classic The Price of Salt. Contemporary / Historical / Romance / LGBTQIA

FAN FAVORITES

My personal favorites aren't always the top audience hits (even if I'd like for them to be!). Some books have a mass appeal that goes beyond my own Best of the Best. Whatever my thoughts on the following books, these stars have risen to be the most popular books featured on Gateway Reviews. If you're looking to explore the buzziest books I've reviewed, look no farther!

	Sky's End Marc J. Gregson ⭐⭐ In this second-world science fantasy, Conrad has to drag himself out of the slums, fighting tooth and nail, to reclaim his rightful place at the top of this Meritocracy through the grisly Hunters' Gauntlet. Perfect for fans of Victoria Aveyard's fantasy dystopia Red Queen and Rebecca Yarros's war-dragon fantasy Fourth Wing. Fantasy / SciFi / Dragon / Action
Don't Let the Forest In C.G. Drews ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this boarding school eldritch horror, Andrew Perrault lives and breathes (and would even die) for Thomas Rye, even if that means following Thomas into the blood-soaked darkness of the forest just at the edge of campus. Perfect for fans of Victoria Lee's dark academia thriller A Lesson in Vengeance and Kosoko Jackson's eldritch horror The Forest Demands Its Due. Horror / Contemporary / LGBTQIA
	How to Survive a Slasher Justine Pucella Winans ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this queer meta-horror, CJ Smith has had a lifetime to practice being the perfect Final Girl, but that doesn't mean they're ready for it when a prophetic slasher manuscript set in their hometown winds up on their own front porch. Perfect for fans of Stephen Graham Jones's indigenous horror My Heart is a Chainsaw and Adam Sass's queer slasher Your Lonely Nights Are Over. Horror / LGBTQIA / Contemporary / Latinx
Most Ardently: A Pride & Prejudice Remix Gabe Cole Novoa ⭐⭐ In this trans-masculine historical romance, Oliver Bennet has to shed the petticoats and skirts of the girlhood he was assigned to discover the queer nightlife of the Regency that suits him much better. Perfect for fans of Sophie Jordan's regency romance Sixteen Scandals and Rosalyn Eves's scandalous historical fiction An Improbable Season. Historical / LGBTQIA
	The Rose Bargain Sasha Peyton Smith ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this Regency-inspired historical romantasy, Ivy Benton has nothing to lose by entering the fae queen's bloody competition for the prince's royal hand in marriage. Perfect for fans of Keira Cass's royal dystopia The Selection and Graham Joyce's dark fae fantasy Some Kind of Fairy Tale. Fantasy / Romance / Historical / Faerie
The Lake House Sarah Beth Durst ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this summer camp horror, Claire wants absolutely nothing to do with the "enrichment activities" and "lifelong friendships" of camp... especially since the camp is literally on fire when she's dropped off on the dock. Perfect for fans of Laura Bates's plane crash thriller No Accident and Kate A. Boorman's spelunking horror Into the Sublime. Horror / Paranormal / Camp

RUNNERS-UP

It's so hard to curate a true Best of the Best list when it comes to the books I've featured on Gateway Reviews... so I won't! All good books deserve praise, and the following books deserve a slice of the limelight. If you're looking for the great books that made my choice of Best of the Best so very difficult, look no further!

	Ruinsong Julia Ember ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this Phantom-of-the-Opera-inspired fantasy, Cadence's voice makes her one of the queen's most powerful mages, a master of torture always willing to do the queen's bidding (until the day she isn't). Perfect for fans of Marie Lu's villain fantasy The Young Elites and Adalyn Grace's nautical fantasy All the Stars and Teeth. Fantasy / LGBTQIA / Magic
The Project Courtney Summers ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dark cult thriller, Lo Denham desperately wants to reconnect with her last surviving family member, her sister Bea, even if that means sinking into the clutches of the Unity Project. Perfect for fans of Amy Christine Parker's cult thriller Gated and Laurie Devore's burn-it-to-the-ground thriller A Better Bad Idea. Thriller / Contemporary / Cult
	Katzenjammer Francesca Zappia ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this unsettling body horror, High School has come alive, breathing and bleeding, while Cat and her classmates are trapped inside, unable to control their own transformations. Perfect for fans of Neil Gaiman's middle grade horror Coraline and Lauren Oliver's time-loop coming-of-age novel Before I Fall. Horror / Contemporary
Forget Me Not Alyson Derrick ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this sapphic contemporary romance, head trauma erases the last few years of Stevie's memory, leaving her secret lover Nora (and the plans they had to escape their backwards small town) in limbo. Perfect for fans of Gayle Forman's introspective speculative fiction If I Stay and Kevin Christopher Snipes's queer apocalypse romance Milo and Marcos at the End of the World. Romance / Contemporary / LGBTQIA / BIPOC
	Off With Their Heads Zoe Hana Mikuta ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this bloody Alice-in-Wonderland horror, Caro Rabbit works as the Red Queen's pet headhunter, and Alice Sickle wants the Red Queen's pretty head. Perfect for fans of Marissa Meyer's Lewis-Carroll-inspired fantasy Heartless and Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone's star-crossed sci-fi romance This is How You Lose the Time War. Horror / Fantasy / LGBTQIA / BIPOC
Leaving the Station Jake Maia Arlow ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this sapphic coming-of-age novel, Zoe hops on a cross-country passenger train home for the holidays so nobody will get the chance to ask her tricky questions about her first semester away from home. Perfect for fans of John Green's boarding school Bildungsroman Looking For Alaska and Edward Underhill's whirlwind romance This Day Changes Everything. Contemporary / LGBTQIA / Romance / Coming-of-Age

UNDER-RATED GEMS

Not all the books I adore get the attention they deserve. The following books are some of the best books I've featured on Gateway Reviews... with some of the fewest views. These gems have been hidden by the algorithm, and I won't stand for it any longer! If you're looking for a great read that's gone under the radar, the following books belong on your TBR.

	Breakup From Hell Cale Dietrich ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this queer paranormal romance, Owen's freshman roommate turns out to be the literal Prince of Hell, here in this dimension as part of a new interdimensional exchange program. Perfect for fans of Ann Dávila Cardinal's hellish anti-romance Breakup From Hell and Jake Maia Arlow's queer coming-of-age novel Leaving the Station. Romance / LGBTQIA / Contemporary / Demon
Wavelength Cale Plett ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this music-infused coming-of-age novel, popstar Alexander Ash (or Sasha, as they prefer to be known) flees the international stage to find refuge in a small town where they can finally learn to be themself without any scrutiny. Perfect for fans of Jake Maia Arlow's sapphic coming-of-age novel Leaving the Station and Disney Channel's popstar-in-disguise series Hannah Montana. Contemporary / LGBTQIA / Romance / Music
	Hello Sunshine Keezy Young ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this paranormal horror graphic novel, Alex has gone missing, and his friends are wallowing through the mess of (metaphorical and literal) mental health demons he left behind. Perfect for fans of Alice Oseman's queer graphic novel series Heartstopper and C.G. Drews's eldritch horror Don't Let the Forest In. LGBTQIA / Graphic Novel / Paranormal / Demon
Burn Our Bodies Down Rory Power ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this small town speculative thriller, Margot runs away from home to meet her grandmother for the first time, arriving in Phalene, Nebraska just to find the family fields on fire (and her own body burning amidst the wheat). Perfect for fans of Willa Cather's Nebraska classic My Antonia and Sandra Dallas's Great Plains historical fiction Tallgrass. Contemporary / Thriller / Supernatural
	Pretty Girl County Lakita Wilson ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this BIPOC coming-of-age novel, Sommer Watkins gets roped into her ex-best friend's scheme to get off the waitlist at her dream art school by throwing a local fashion show. Perfect for fans of Kalela Williams's Black coming-of-age story Tangleroot and Angie Thomas's rallying cry The Hate U Give. Contemporary / BIPOC
Never Ever Getting Back Together Sophie Gonzales ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this sapphic contemporary romance, Maya gets invited to participate in a new second-chance dating show starring her horrible ex-boyfriend where she plans to humiliate him live on TV. Perfect for fans of Kathryn Foxfield's realty show thriller Come Out, Come Out, Whatever You Are and Elise Bryant's tropey romance Happily Ever Afters. Romance / Contemporary / LGBTQIA

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Too many good books, too little reading time: that's always been my motto. The following books might not have topped my Best-of-the-Best, but they're worth every precious minute spent reading. These are sticky books, not technically-perfect but the kind of books to resonate long after the final page. If you're looking for books that will stick with you, look no further!

	Loveboat, Taipei Abigail Hing Wen ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this travel-based coming-of-age novel, Ever Wong's parents send her to Chinese school in Taipei for the summer, where she has much less supervision than she's ever had before. Perfect for fans of Ann Brashares's summer coming-of-age novel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants and Kevin Kwan's fictional travelogue Crazy Rich Asians. Contemporary / Romance / Coming-of-Age / BIPOC
A Lesson in Vengeance Victoria Lee ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this dark academia thriller, Felicity and Ellis decide to get rather scientific with the Dalloway School's supposed occult history. Perfect for fans of Kirsten Miller's small town ghost story Don't Tell a Soul and Kass Morgan and Danielle Paige's dark academia fantasy The Ravens. Thriller / Contemporary / LGBTQIA / Witch
	The Silent Unseen Amanda McCrina ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this World War II historical fiction, Maria escapes from a Nazi labor camp only to find her home on the Polish-Ukrainian border overwhelmed by a nationalist resistance movement, ever-changing local loyalties, and the threat of foreign invasion. Perfect for fans of George Orwell's prescient dystopian fiction 1984 and Joseph Heller's war satire Catch-22. Historical / WW2
Gwen & Art Are Not in Love Lex Croucher ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this campy queer historical romance, Gwendoline and Arthur may have been betrothed since birth, but they're really not each other's type. Perfect for fans of Erin Cotter's Elizabethan historical fiction By Any Other Name and Sophie Gonzales's tropey romance Perfect On Paper. Historical / LGBTQIA / Romance
	The Worst Perfect Moment Shivaun Plozza ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this bittersweet afterlife fantasy, after dying in a hit-and-run, sixteen-year-old Tegan Masters wakes up in the Marybelle Motor Lodge (AKA the worst motel in all of New Jersey) just to be told this is what her perfect afterlife looks like. Perfect for fans of Akemi Dawn Bowman's afterlife sci-fi The Infinity Courts and NBC's introspective comedy The Good Place. Contemporary / Afterlife / LGBTQIA / Angel
The Last Bookstore on Earth Lily Braun-Arnold ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In this bookish apocalyptic sci-fi, Liz Flannery has been sheltering-in-place at the bookstore where she used to work since an apocalyptic Storm destroyed the world as she knew it, but the store might not survive the next deadly Storm on the horizon. Perfect for fans of Stephen King's pandemic sci-fi The Stand and Jessie Greengrass's climate change apocalypse The High House. SciFi / Apocalyptic / LGBTQIA

At Gateway Reviews, I'm happy to dive into the trenches of unvetted books to really find the gems, and those gems deserve a chance to shine. 6 years of new books is a lot to trudge through, so these lists are meant to distill a few of the Best and Buzziest Books I have on offer. Hopefully at least one or two of these featured reads will make it to your ever-growing TBR!