Cover of Otherworldly, featuring two white people holding each other amidst a snowy forest

About the Book

Title: Otherworldly
Published: 2024
Swoonworthy Scale: 7

Cover Story: Mid-Swoon
BFF Charms: Yay, With Benefits
Talky Talk: Silent But Deadly Sassy
Bonus Factor: Found Family
Factor: Gods and Goddesses
Relationship Status: Long Haul

Cover Story: Mid-Swoon

The people on all of Luken’s covers are really well drawn/depicted, and these two are no exception. Ellery’s a lot “prettier” than I expected them to be—although we only hear them describe themselves disparagingly—but Knox is 100% a dreamboat. I’m not sure why or where they’re falling, though. (Are they falling? I’m not sure.) But they’re definitely falling for each other. *ba-dum-tss*

The Deal: 

Ellery has lived for five years in an endless winter. No one knows why their city and surrounding areas are cursed to enduring cold, but the citizens are dealing with it the best they can—or moving away. Ellery’s working to send money back to her family’s farm, which is struggling because of the lack of seasons; their mom continues to pray to the goddess, asking for help and guidance. Ellery no longer believes, but someone’s about to come into their life that will make them second guess everything they think they know.

BFF Charms: Yay, With Benefits

Yay BFF Charm

Ellery doesn’t think they’re anything special, but they’re very wrong. They’re a loyal, dedicated, strong person who deserves all the good the world can bring them. I hated reading about their lack of confidence, but loved seeing them through Knox’s eyes because he saw what I did—that they’re truly outstanding, even if they don’t think it.

BFF Charm With Benefits - a pink BFF charm with a lipstick kiss

Knox is equally outstanding but also has an irresistible quality about him that makes it easy to see why Ellery’s physically attracted to him from the very start, even before they know each other. He’s supernaturally stunning, but he doesn’t let the fact that he’s beautiful override his humility and kindness. He’s a gem of a human-adjacent liminal creature and I’d be swooning right alongside Ellery were I to know them both.

Swoonworthy Scale: 7

Before they meet, Knox, to Ellery, is “hot weird guy” who comes into the diner they work in to pick up to-go orders. After they meet, officially, Knox is still hot and weird, but has more to him than that. Ellery’s physically attracted from the start, and Knox is attracted to them too, but neither side feels like insta-love. And their chemistry is real.

Talky Talk: Silent But Deadly Sassy

Ellery, while self-depreciating, is no-nonsense when it comes to the people they care about. They don’t say much, but when they do speak up, it’s both witty and important.

“Excuse me,” Bram said. “We were talking.”

“Oh,” said Ellery, turning. “I thought you were finished. I heard that last insult, and it really seemed to put the nail in the coffin of that conversation. My bad, though. Did you want to continue being a jerk, or …?” Ellery trailed off.

Bonus Factor: Found Family

Characters Jen Jack and Grams from Dawson's Creek standing together

Ellery lives with their cousin Charley, and Charley’s girlfriend Zada. Ellery feels like a burden, but Charley and Zada both love haing them live with them. They see them as a little sister, and want to take care of them, make them feel more at home than they did with their parents. It’s a sweet dynamic, and Knox, at first an outsider, immediately sees that their relationship is one that he’d love to have in his life.

Factor: Gods and Goddesses

A group of Greek gods from the Percy Jackson movies sit on their thrones on Mount Olympus

Lukens’s books always have a heavy helping of world-building that I’d like to know more about, and Otherworldly features a set of god dynamics that, while explained well, don’t go into enough detail for me and my nosy nature.

Relationship Status: Long Haul

There were some twists and turns on our date, Book, but I’m willing to give this thing between us a go for the foreseeable future, if you are. There’s something about you that I just can’t deny.

Literary Matchmaking

Spell Bound

Lukens’ previous novel, Spell Bound, similarly—and delightfully—mixes modern day with fantasy and queer characters.

Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything

The main character of Justine Pucella Winans’s Bianca Torre is Afraid of Everything is also dealing with isolation, carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders … and a possible murder.

We Are Mayhem

Beck Mooney-Rourke’s We Are Mayhem also features found families and a queer main character who goes against the grain.

Mandy (she/her) is a manager at a tech company who lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, son, and dogs. She loves superheroes and pretty much any show or movie with “Star” in the name.