Category Archives: book reviews

REVIEW: Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you’d made different choices? Gone to a different college, made a different friend, worked a different job. Now, try thinking even smaller. How would your life be different if you’d gone left instead of right a hike in woods? Chosen a different route toContinue reading “REVIEW: Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore”

ARC REVIEW: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

The Wolf and the Woodsman is a perfect book for winter, a delicious blend of The Bear and the Nightingale and The Witcher . It follows a twenty-five year old “wolf-girl” named Évike, a motherless girl who lives within a matriarchal tribe of warriors, magicians, and seers. However, their way of live has been deemed “pagan” by the devoutContinue reading “ARC REVIEW: The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid”

Review: When The Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo

I could read a hundred of these gorgeous little novellas. When the Tiger Came Down the Mountain is a loose successor to Nghi Vo’s lovely novella Empress of Salt and Fortune. It picks up with our protagonist Chih continuing their travels as a monk of the Singing Hills, collecting and recording stories. The themes of this book, similarContinue reading “Review: When The Tiger Came Down the Mountain by Nghi Vo”

Review: (D) A Tale of Two Worlds by Michel Faber

(D): A Tale of Two Worlds was a delightfully weird, middle-grade portal fantasy in the tradition of Narnia and the The Phantom Tollbooth, but I couldn’t help wanting more from it than I got. It follows a young girl named Dhikilo, who was adopted from the country of Somaliand when she was a baby and relocated to theContinue reading “Review: (D) A Tale of Two Worlds by Michel Faber”

Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma Review

Others have said it better, but this probably is not objectively a bad book. It was just a bad book for me to read. Things I hate in novels (a brief non-encompassing list): animal death, women treated poorly, children being abused, endings that feel sudden and unfinished. Things this novella contained: all of the above.Continue reading “Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma Review”

All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater Review

Oh, I wanted to like this book more than I did. All of Steifvater’s non-Raven Cycle books end up falling into a rut for me, simply because while her style of writing lends itself very well to the type of story and atmosphere she’s building in Henrietta, it feels a little overdone elsewhere. Also, IContinue reading “All The Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater Review”

These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy Review

These Feathered Flames was a richly imagined, character intensive novel that fell somewhat short of my expectations. If there existed a spectrum for books where on the right was “plot-driven” and on the left was “character-driven”, this book would lean VERY heavily to the left, and I’m not sure if that’s quite my personal preference.Continue reading “These Feathered Flames by Alexandra Overy Review”

In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard

This fantastic novella surprised me, delighted me, and checked all my boxes. Utterly original beauty and the beast vibes? Check. A gorgeous f/f relationship? Check. A brilliantly imagined post-apocalyptic fantasy society with a Vietnamese cast? Check. Heart-wrenching parent/child dynamics? Check. The world created here pushes up against the boundaries of my imagination, generating a beguilingContinue reading “In the Vanisher’s Palace by Aliette de Bodard”