Review: Snake-Eater

It was profoundly absurd that being the assistant manager at a deli would prepare you to fight a god.

Snake-Eater by T. Kingfisher is a wonderfully earnest story about finding community, and it’s my favorite book of 2025.

Selena moves to Quartz Creek to escape her emotionally abusive boyfriend and reconnect with her aunt Amelia, but upon her arrival she discovers Amelia died some time ago. Selena is all but penniless and despairs at her fate, but the small community rallies around her, moving her into her aunt’s old house, setting her up with food and work, and teaching her how to maintain her own garden.

As Selena settles in, she encounters a belligerent roadrunner—they’re a lot scarier than the Looney Tunes character—and learns that her aunt was entwined with a desert god called Snake-Eater… and now Snake-Eater has his sights set on Selena.

This is ostensibly a story about fighting a pissed-off roadrunner god, but it’s really a story about finding community, and it’s the perfect antidote to our present cultural moment of distrust and isolation. It’s inspiring seeing the community of Quartz Creek step up to support Selena, not because she’s special, but because she’s a person, and it’s wonderful to see Selena grow into herself as she learns to accept, and reciprocate, those connections. I have no particular desire to live in the desert, but this story made me pine for Quartz Creek.

At Shiraki Press, we look for hopepunk vibes with an emphasis on collective power over individual heroics; that usually leads us toward stories that embody The Heroine’s Journey. Snake-Eater is a perfect example of both. It’s such a perfect example, in fact, that it’s become our new North Star, and my personal favorite book of 2025.