#st. martin press

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Keith Harary, Ph.D. and Barbara Weintraub - Mystical Experiences (in 30 days) - St. Martin Press - 1990

[that-butch-archivist]

"Marcia and Sarah"

source: Girls' Night Out, photographed by Chloe Atkins

Year of publication: 1998

[garadinervi]

Ntozake Shange, Hijo de las Americas, in A Daughter's Geography, Designed by Manuela Paul, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983, pp. 49-50

[averlym]

litany of the martyrs (click for better resolution!)

[hayleyreadssapphicbooks]

Ladies in Hating by Alexandra Vasti

Before reading, I was unaware that “Ladies in Hating” by Alexandra Vasti is part of a series until I added it on Goodreads. I’m glad I didn’t notice because the book is incredible! It’s likely “series” overstates the relationship of the books, and they may just be in the same world or Regency era. From a quick glance, it appears this one is the only sapphic one, too (sorry if I’m wrong about that). I can safely say this book is a standalone novel regardless of the others, as it made total sense and didn’t rely on any previous knowledge.

I loved, loved, loved this book! The novel features Georgiana and Cat, two authors who came from different but intertwined backgrounds (one of high status and the other in a servant family) who end up crossing paths years later. At this point, both are highly successful but controversial authors. Enveloped in a sort of feud because of their writing similarities, they both end up researching at a (possibly haunted) dilapidating mansion.

The relationship between the two women changes the course of both of their lives in a collision course of passion and intrigue and it is absolutely delicious and delightful to partake in. The Regency era gives a hint of scandal to their relationship while their colliding careers give stakes and drama.

If you’re interested in sapphic romance, this is definitely not one to miss! Especially if you like Regency romance. Also, a hint of supernatural and murder mystery spice up the novel (in addition to the actual spice). Highly recommend!!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC!

POV: third person, past tense, two POVs

Spice: 🔥🔥/3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

[aroaessidhe]

An employee within the marketing department of Wednesday Books, an imprint of St Martins Press, which is an imprint of Macmillan, has made numerous posts with racist and Islamophobic rhetoric amid the genocide of Palestinians, and the publisher has been silent for months. This employee is also in charge of sending arcs to influencers, and a number of people have noticed a pattern of Arab and Muslim readers not receiving arcs, which is potentially related.

Readers are asking for the publisher to address and denounce the racist remarks from the employee and offer tangible steps for how they are going to mitigate the harm, and until they do so we are boycotting St Martins Press and its imprints: Wednesday Books, Griffin, Minotaur, Castle Point Books, Thomas Dunne Books, and SMP Swerve.

This means not posting about or reviewing these books, though you can still buy and read them.

And more recently, and the reason for my specific post today, sign the petition to make clear the number of community members who are demanding action!

If you want to use a US zip code, why not use 10271 - where the SMP Marketing Department is.

You can find more info/updates at readersforaccountability

[eggcatsreads]

Reminder that the publisher that sent unsolicited and unconsented for sex toys to people is the SAME one still currently under boycott, and that this boycott is explicitly to not do promotion or reviews of their titles. This boycott has been going on since October of 2023, and since they have not responded it is still ongoing.

And yes, this includes any titles you may have on Netgalley (or other arc review sites).

"But wait, my feedback ratio!" I hear you cry.

There's a solution for that. When the boycott started I had about 2 SMP titles, and 1 I had just reviewed. And on NG using the "will not provide feedback" option negatively affects your feedback score, so no, I'm not suggesting that.

Here are the 3 "reviews" for the titles I had from the boycotted publisher.

And then I have not requested or taken any of their titles that they've placed on "Read Now" to try to force an end to the boycott.

Doing this has not affected my acceptance rate for titles I request, by the way. Publishers who rejected me beforehand still do, publishers who generally accepted me still do, and ones where it was a 50/50 are still about the same.

[judgeitbyitscover]

The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Cover art by Frank Morris

St. Martin's Press, 1988

FBI trainee Clarice Starling has an elusive serial killer to hunt.

Only one man can help.

Psychopathic cannibal Hannibal Lecter...

The serial killer nicknamed 'Buffalo Bill' has been capturing and starving women, then murdering and skinning them. FBI rookie Clarice Starling is assigned to solicit help from imprisoned psychopath Dr Hannibal 'the Cannibal' Lecter, whose insight into the depraved minds of serial killers is second to none.

But in exchange for inviting her into the darkest chambers of his mind, Hannibal begins to probe at hers, demanding knowledge of her childhood demons as the price of understanding Buffalo Bill's.

Clarice knows how dangerous this man is, and the terrible things he can do with this information. But women are still disappearing, and time is running out...

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

Margaret Duncan - The Witch Stone - St. Martin Press - 1976

[that-butch-archivist]

"Sean"

source: Girls' Night Out, photographed by Chloe Atkins

[garadinervi]

From: Ntozake Shange, A Daughter's Geography, Designed by Manuela Paul, St. Martin's Press, New York, NY, 1983

[brightbeautifulthings]

Nobody in Particular by Sophie Gonzales

"'Being in a relationship that doesn't work out is life. Getting into a relationship you know won't work is masochism.'"

Year Read: 2025

Rating: 3/5

Thoughts: This is a nice angst-with-a-happy-ending wlw romance, with a dash of royal drama. If that sounds like your thing, no reason to read on! This book is probably for you. That being said, I'm not sure it was quite for me, and that's not because there's anything in particular (ha) wrong with it. It was a little heavier on the angst than I expected, and I wasn't ever quite excited to come back to it. I think this is because Gonzales tries very seriously to navigate the potential issues with coming out in a Catholic country, particularly as royalty. It's well done, but it's a bit heavier than a typical YA romance.

I enjoyed the two main characters and their friend group. Danni works hard to overcome the bullying she faced at her last school, and Rose is just delightful on the page. She's poised and snarky, and most of my favorite lines of dialogue came from her. Apart from the romance, there's also an excellent friendship bond for both of them with Molly, and I liked seeing the girls come together to support each other. The plot took one twist I was expecting and one I wasn't, and it was fun to watch both of those play out. The end is unexpectedly optimistic after the hopelessness of some of the middle chapters, but I'm always here for a happy ending. I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books.

[aaronstveit]

St. Martin's Press Boycott

From the Readers for Accountability Toolkit:

The boycott of St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and other related imprints is a direct response to the publisher’s lack of accountability regarding a) statements made by an employee in their marketing department and b) their failure to respond to concerns about possible systemic issues within the department.  

This employee, who we will not name, posted Islamophobic, queerphobic, and anti-Palestinian content on their personal (but public) social media. This included pinkwashing and use of the term “pallywood” which is used to imply that videos of Palestinians being murdered or brutalized by Israeli soldiers are fakes.  

This content was shared in Instagram stories and was brought to our attention by Palestinian activist and content creator @vivafalastinleen.  

Leen noted that while she is on the St. Martin's Press influencer list, she never seemed to receive any of the ARCs she requested. Other Arab, Muslim, and Palestinian creators had previously noted the same thing. 

Leen further noticed that her white counterparts, with a comparable or smaller following, would receive these ARCS regularly and without issue. She began to question if this was a symptom of the employee's bigotry or perhaps a systemic issue within the marketing department at this publisher when she was made aware of the posts shared by this employee.  

Leen attempted to reach out to St. Martin's Press when the employee's posts came to light, but struggled to receive a response and was largely ignored. Other influencers and content creators reached out as well with similar results. However, Leen did eventually receive an email from Brant Janeway. 

The response, however, was dismissive and defensive with no action being taken to investigate. 

The boycott was officially enacted after ten days of radio silence from St. Martin's Press and Wednesday books. During those ten days, content creators were emailing, DMing, commenting, and making videos to demand that St. Martin's Press make a statement to no avail. 

As such, Leen created a video that provided other creators with context for the boycott. This video also included a large number of screenshots and significant context explaining why those screenshots are so dangerous. Twitter likes were also included to provide evidence of how deep the employee's bigotry runs. 

R4A have since then assisted in bringing attention to this issue by providing education and resources for the boycott. This includes a petition outlining our demands and urging St. Martin’s Press to hold their staff accountable to the MacMillan Code of Conduct.

While St. Martin’s Press has largely remained silent despite resuming posting like normal on their socials, they did take the time to unfollow two prominent BIPOC creators within the community including @satrayreads and @vivafalastinleen.  

An email was sent from R4A to St. Martin’s Press on 12/14/23 outlining our concerns and issues with St. Martin’s Press and a response was received on 12/15/23. This response failed to meet the demands of the boycott and was heavily focused on equitable ARC distribution. As such, the boycott continues and further updates will be shared as the situation develops.

This boycott means that while you can buy and read books published by St. Martin's Press and its imprints, you should not platform this. This means not marking them as 'read' or 'reading' on Goodreads, not reviewing them, and not posting them on social media. Yes, even Tumblr. To learn more about this boycott, check out Readers for Accountability on Instagram, or this article by Prism Reports.

Participation:

Participating in the St. Martin's Press boycott can be as simple as no longer promoting books from St. Martin's Press or related imprints on your social media, websites, and review spaces. Participants are asked to withhold ALL reviews of these books until demands are met, including on Goodreads and NetGalley. Additionally, we are asking that participants avoid promoting these books in any way during this time. This includes master lists, reading recaps, and other similar posts. However, readers can still purchase and read these books in order to reduce harm done to the authors.

Additionally, participants are encouraged to share posts about the boycott, make their own posts, and utilize the templates and graphics we have provided you to keep the momentum going.

Research a book's publisher before you post about it, even here on Tumblr. If it is published by St. Martin's Press or one of its imprints (Wednesday Books, Castle Point Books, St. Martin's Essential, Minotaur Books, and St. Martin's Griffin), do not platform it.

Check out @/readersforaccountability on Instagram for more information. All text here aside from the final indented paragraph comes from their toolkit, which includes more information and more ways you can help the people of Palestine.

[hayleyreadssapphicbooks]

If I Told You, I'd Have to Kill You by Mae Marvel

I found out before reading that Mae Marvel is a pen name for Ruthie Knox and Annie Mare. I recently read their book “Big Name Fan” so I was surprised to see this book coming out so near to that one! I will say I wasn’t that enamored with “Big Name Fan” so when I found out this book has the same writers, I went into it with lowered expectations. That being said, this book was such a delightful surprise!

The romance and chemistry between Yardley and KC is delicious and I was rooting so hard for them. Usually, romance books have two characters meet and fall in love throughout the book. But in this one they are already in love, just having issues, and have recently broken up. Working their issues out meant that instead of realizing their feelings for the first time they fall deeper and deeper in love. I enjoyed watching their beautiful connection grow and strengthen. I love that this book didn’t have the typical third-act breakup that other romance novels have. Plus, the book takes a typical spy premise (along the lines of Mr. And Mrs. Smith) and makes it queer. The two of them being in the same field and not knowing it is such a fun way for us to meet the characters. The build-up and payoff of the heist are entertaining and pulled me in! I said up until 4am to finish reading because I needed to know what happened.

If you already like Ruthie Knox or Annie Mare you will enjoy this! If you were skeptical about their work before, give this a chance! If you like romance, especially with the extra flair of espionage, this is a great read!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the digital ARC!

POV: third person, past tense, two POVs

Spice: 🔥/3

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

[aroaessidhe]

Readers For Accountability have made a new comprehensive website with details about the SMP boycott.

There is a day of action organised for March 11, where we are being encouraged to post about the boycott, email the publisher, and sign the petition if you haven't already.

I'm still seeing a lot of people on here reblogging stuff about books from wednesday books especially, and I know tumblr isn't the forefront of the book community, but it's not that hard to refrain from posting about a couple books! We all know reading is political. If you've ever talked about the importance of diverse books (and I know yall love to do that on here), you should understand that an imprint promoting itself as championing diversity that lets systemic racism run unchecked in their company is bad, actually, and we should be demanding better from them!

[thelattechronicles]

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

Disclaimer: this is an unsponsored review of an eARC provided by NetGalley.

Red string of fate. Reincarnation. Two souls deeply and passionately in love, yearning for each other throughout time and history.

I've always appreciated a story of reincarnation where a person retains their memories from their previous and past lives, and this is no exception.

Without spoiling the story, Our Infinite Fates follows the tale of star-crossed lovers Evelyn and Arden. As they are reborn and meet in new bodies, with different names, genders, and circumstances throughout history, readers are treated to not just one, but many love stories within a single book.

Although the plot becomes a bit predictable after the initial setup—due to the repetition of the same ultimate ending befalling our two lovers—I still love the idea of two souls being fated in every universe, every life, year after year, millennium after millennium. I particularly appreciated (potential spoiler alert!) that we see Evelyn and Arden in different loving relationships, each free from the limits of gender and sexual orientation. There is something incredibly romantic about knowing that some souls belong so wholly to each other that they find their way back no matter what.

However, I was a bit thrown off by the fantastical world-building. There were some holes that, for me personally, didn’t quite logically work or explain how certain events unfolded. Particularly toward the end of the book, the storytelling felt a bit rushed. Nonetheless, the build-up of tension and longing ultimately wins out for me.

Lovers of Ann Brashares’s My Name is Memory may find this a new favorite! This book was engaging that I started and finished it in one sitting.

★★★★

J