Wild Shrew Literary Review (WSLR) is Sinister Wisdom’s online book review project. To complement the longer list of suggested books available for review, each month we feature a selection of books being released that month. If you would like to write a review, or if you would like to be added to the WSLR email list to receive the monthly complete book list with book descriptions, please email the WSLR editor, Chloe Berger, at chloe at sinisterwisdom dot org.


March 2026 Featured Books:
1. Differential Diagnosis by Cavar
2. An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail by Hélène Giannecchini, translated by Anna Moschovakis
3. Witch of the Shadow Wood by Tori Anne Martin
4. Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom by Camonghne Felix
5. Mariam, It’s Arwa by Areej Gamal, translated by Addie Leak
6. The Intimacy Trials by Aja Couchois Duncan
7. The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom by Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen
8. Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewlett
9. The Citizen of Eastport by VB Ruth
10. Built to Last by Lucie Wierzynski


Book descriptions:

Differential Diagnosis by Cavar: Undoing traditional psychiatric narratives in this innovative and bold first collection

Drawing from queer, trans, disabled, and Mad poetic traditions, Differential Diagnosis introduces a deeply entangled transMad approach, investigating ways of knowing, loving, and living not legible to the normative eye. This collection challenges the architecture of institutional psychiatry and its popular “wellness” analogues, offering instead a counternarrative of forced institutionalization, disorderly embodiment, and transMad self-determination.

At once jarring and joyful, Differential Diagnosis interrogates psychiatric power and locates capacities for disabled and/or transMad resistance in the oblique, the speculative, and the “nonsensical.” Cavar’s inventive full-length debut defamiliarizes cis, sane, abled existence through linguistic play and speculative imagery, offering Madness not only as poetic content, but also as craft technique and, ultimately, as a new way of being in the normative world.

An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail by Hélène Giannecchini, translated by Anna Moschovakis: After she encounters a poem about love and friendship etched on the Homomonument in Amsterdam, Hélène Giannecchini is moved to attempt to do justice to a form of relation often subordinated to romance. A friendship is a filiation we choose, one that can reconfigure our understanding of co-existence. It holds love, laughter, dissent and solidarity; it can be a site of political struggle, of reinvention and rest. Thinking back to her own unconventional family formation, she sets out to piece together an alternative genealogy of lives excluded from normative discourses, whose traces may only remain in memory and archival fragments. In searching and sensitive prose, Giannecchini sifts the past to bring marginal existences into communion with each other, preserved through loving acts of witness and made full of meaning by friendship’s generative force. Roving from Saint-Just’s revolutionary ideal of amity to Donna Gottschalk’s photography documenting radical lesbian organizing in 1960s and ’70s New York, interspersed with unpublished images acquired magpie-like through chance and circumstance, An Army of Lovers Cannot Fail forms a slantwise account of queer life in the twentieth century, and a moving testament to the liberatory power of friendship.

Witch of the Shadow Wood by Tori Anne Martin: A feminist cozy romantasy retelling of the classic fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, complete with a sapphic love story and a revenge tale, from USA Today bestselling author Tori Anne Martin, perfect for fans of The Spellshop.

Fifteen years ago, a little girl’s father bartered her away to the old witch in the woods for some magic. Abandoned by her brother, Hans, who promised to keep her safe, Greta learns to embrace her new life as an apprentice to the witch, and starts a new life as Miria.

Two years ago, she rescued a young woman who was lost in those woods, and she fell in love.

Just now, she learned that woman was engaged–against her will–to a man who once was complicit in trading his little sister, who’d used the magic her life had bought to give her former family wealth and power beyond measure, and then forgot all about her.

Soon, the young witch will leave the woods. Stop the wedding. Save the woman she loves. Get revenge.

But beyond the woods, nothing is ever that simple.

Let the Poets Govern: A Declaration of Freedom by Camonghne Felix: In this part-memoir, part-manifesto, an acclaimed poet interprets Black radical literary traditions to reimagine freedom through refusal.

Over the past decade, Camonghne Felix has been at the center of American politics, working in strategy, communications, and as a speechwriter. Throughout it all, she has maintained her unwavering belief in language’s foundational revolutionary potential, outside of its deployment for legislative and political ends. In this groundbreaking work of nonfiction, she argues that Black radical poetic traditions model an ethical code and overcome entrenched structures of patriarchy and paternalism, inventing a new form that examines the historical and legislative, and the personal and poetic.

Felix draws on stories from her life in campaigns and the decisions she has had to make: preparing speeches for candidates, responding to harassment, recruiting staff. She recounts her moving personal history—accompanying her mother, a lawyer, to court, and her father, a participant in the Grenadian revolution of 1983, to protests—as well as her coming-of-age being schooled in a wider tradition of Black radical thinkers, from Gwendolyn Brooks to Audre Lorde.

Through rupture, rhythm, and a refusal of politics as usual, Let the Poets Govern encourages us to hold ourselves to the standards of our highest ideals and embraces our shared humanity.

Mariam, It’s Arwa by Areej Gamal, translated by Addie Leak: Finding love, comfort, and hope amid uncertainty, two young, Egyptian women reveal themselves to one another in this dreamlike and award-winning debut

It is during the 2011 Egyptian revolution that Arwa and Mariam meet in a subway station near Cairo University. Arwa has returned from Germany to join the protests, and their chance encounter is to change the course of Mariam’s sheltered existence.

They tell each other the stories of their mothers and grandmothers, the histories that have brought them to this point. Mariam was born in Saudi Arabia, and first set foot in Egypt after both her parents were killed in a car accident. Arwa’s mother also died a tragic, early death, and she, traveling in the opposite direction as Mariam, left Egypt to escape.

This is a mesmerizing and otherworldly debut novel about finding salvation and finding oneself, despite the anguish and traumas of the past. It pivots on the present moment of Arwa and Mariam’s unexpected union, and at its heart is a recognition of the women who came before them.

The Intimacy Trials by Aja Couchois Duncan: A post-apocalyptic Native poetry collection that creates possibility for repair and reconciliation by holding the simultaneity of a violent past and a hopeful future.

Aja Couchois Duncan’s third book of poetry, The Intimacy Trials, explores cycles of violence, loss, and love that arc across history. Composed of intersecting narratives, this collection follows a post-apocalyptic collective of survivors living in a state of gratitude, shame, and awe amid desecrated ecosystems. The present tense of The Intimacy Trials carries the magnitude of a historic past tense filled with land theft, genocide, settler colonialism, and the vicissitudes of romantic love. Couchois Duncan’s lyrical, concomitant stories produce a space that holds in balance the complexities of life—joy, despair, intimacy, and irreconcilable grief.

In language that is prophetic, lush, and unequivocal, The Intimacy Trials is a loving accountability letter to our past, present, and future selves, holding both our yearning for connection and the remembrance of what has driven us apart.

The Spirit of Ani: Reflections on Spirituality, Feminism, Music, and Freedom by Ani DiFranco and Lauren Coyle Rosen: Grammy-winning musician Ani DiFranco explores her creativity, spirituality, and evolving consciousness in conversation with coauthor Lauren Coyle Rosen.

The Spirit of Ani is a captivating journey of intimate reflections with Ani DiFranco, a pathbreaking, highly original artist of our time. In this powerful collaborative work, the legendary folk-rock star and feminist icon is in conversation with author, artist, and cultural anthropologist Lauren Coyle Rosen. In these exchanges, Ani is remarkably open about her creativity, spirituality, personal experiences, and evolving consciousness. She is vulnerable and unapologetic, offering an unprecedented window into her fiercely prolific journeys.

Expanding on themes from her best-selling memoir, Ani also offers fascinating reflections on contemporary popular culture―ranging from gender and queer politics, to the music industry in the virtual age, to climate change. The book includes previously unpublished photographs and journal entries, song-birth sheets, paintings, and the lyrics for some of her most treasured songs. The coauthors explore how Ani’s music and art are profoundly tied to her experiences of the interconnectedness of all consciousness and tuning in to receive creative inspiration. Ani’s striking openness produces a book that is both meditative and activating. This is a must-read for anyone intrigued by the dedication, intuition, and vision that drive Ani’s lifelong journey of creating art that not only reflects, but also empowers, transforms, and heals.

Sweetbitter Song by Rosie Hewlett: Perfect for fans of The Song of Achilles and from the award—winning author of The Witch of Colchis comes a profoundly moving story of two women on the shores of Ithaca, in the shadows of a legendary war, who must face their own battle – one of sisterhood, survival, and a forbidden love that could destroy them both.

One summer night, within the palace of Sparta, a young slave girl stumbles across a grey—eyed princess. Despite living worlds apart, Melantho and Penelope are instantly drawn to one another, and a powerful friendship blossoms. But the Spartan royals do not approve of this bond, and soon Melantho and Penelope find themselves viciously torn apart, their trust irreparably shattered.

Years later, their paths cross once again upon the rocky shores of Ithaca, where Melantho is sent to serve Princess Penelope and her new husband, Prince Odysseus. Embittered by life as a slave, Melantho is determined to keep her distance. But, once again, the two women find themselves drawn to one other, pulled by the echo of their friendship, and something far stronger they are too afraid to name.

When war blazes across Greece, Odysseus and the men of Ithaca are driven to foreign lands. In their absence, Melantho finds a new world opening up before her – one where women rule, where family can be found, and where a forbidden love is finally given the space to bloom.

A profound tale of love, identity and defiance, Sweetbitter Song tells a story forgotten by history. One of bravery and hope, celebrating two women who fought to protect their love from a world that tried to deny its very existence.

The Citizen of Eastport by VB Ruth: Schemes, secrets, and queer desire collide in this story of intrigue set in a gritty, noir-inspired future.

Vi runs a bar, and that’s all she does. Once she dreamed of fighting for justice alongside her first love, but tragedy taught her that some fights cost more than she’s willing to pay. Amid the warring gangs and power-hungry tycoons that run the city of Eastport, she can count herself lucky if she manages to keep her family safe and her employees fed.

But luck has a way of turning, especially if someone with strings to pull wants something you have. Vi doesn’t know who is targeting her livelihood or why, but if she can’t find out soon, she'll end up like most honest citizens: indentured for life to one of the bigger powers, or dead.

Kilo is not an honest citizen, but being one of the city’s finest thieves comes with its own problems. Ze’s stolen something that’s dangerous to have and dangerous to lose, and now ze has to turn zer skills to disposal instead of acquisition. Ze knows it’s a bad idea to mix business with pleasure, but zer best chance might just lie with zer latest conquest, the secretive and captivating newcomer from offworld.

Tempe is an exile, returning to Earth after many years with a forged background and a secret agenda. Her plans have been carefully made and all the pieces set in place. But when her Eastport contact disappears, the trail leads her to the last place she expects: the bar run by the childhood sweetheart who once betrayed her.

Bound together by longing, betrayal, and passionate, sometimes twisted intimacy, the three must find a way to destroy their enemies or be destroyed.

Built to Last Lucie Wierzynski: First love doesn’t always break your heart. Sometimes it becomes the shape your life grows around.

In a South Seattle house built on patience, Risha was raised to believe that if something was measured right and set true, it would hold. The daughter of immigrants from Kazakhstan, she learned the quiet discipline of her father’s trade — the steady work of leveling floors and mixing mortar. It was a reliable way to navigate the world, but it offered no blueprints for the restlessness of the heart.

In the long, rainy years of adolescence, first love arrived without instruction. Danielle was like the tile dust Risha grew up with — fine, pervasive, and impossible to fully brush off once it settled.

Set against a changing Seattle of blue-collar grit and a modern building boom, this is a story about the forces that shape us before we know their names. In a world of temporary stages and shifting horizons, it is a journey of pining and restraint — an exploration of what it takes to build a foundation that lasts.