Welcome to our Saturday Spotlight feature where we at Read Indie Fantasy will be hosting a new spotlight every Saturday to showcase the incredible talent of self-published fantasy authors!
Please welcome Alex Harvey-Rivas and A Sharper, More Lasting Pain, described as a claustrophobically tense sapphic fantasy dark academia novel for fans of Ninth House, and An Education in Malice crossed with Strixhaven.

After their girlfriendโs best friend is wounded in a monster attack, Simone Allard stumbles across a plot much deeper than they anticipated. As they work to find a cure to their own forming illness and find out the truth, one question remains: how was Nadia involved in this?
Nadia DuPont doesnโt know how much time she has or even what is ailing her, but it all gets more complex after meeting Simone on a field trip. As they both work to find a cure to her ailment, all Nadia is certain of is she’s on the path to ruin.
A Sharper, More Lasting Pain by Alex Harvey-Rivas is a queer dark academic fantasy with dangerous magic. Find out more and view content warnings.
About the Author

Alex is a nonbinary dark fantasy author and mountain of indescribable goo living in the PNW. When they arenโt gluing pieces of metal together, theyโre reading from their arsenal of books, being a general menace, or playing video games. You can contact them via email at authoralexharvey@gmail.com, or by howling into the woods when youโre alone at night.
- Website
- Author Linktree
- Bluesky: @authoralexharvey.bsky.socialโฌ
- Instagram: @authoralexharvey




