Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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About Jen K

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I’ve been around off and on since the first year of CBR, and it and books have been a constant in my life through multiple moves and a major career change. I live with 3 cats, Dany, Jace and Jorah. Fantasy, specific types of sci-fi, historical fiction (especially mysteries) and romance tend to be my go to genres now a days. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: Jen K's Quick Questions interview.)

Jen K's Reviews:

“And Now I’m Covered in the Colors”

Silver & Blood by Jessie Mihalik

February 17, 2026 by Jen K 1 Comment

As far as I am aware, this is Jessie Mihalik’s first full length fantasy novel but given how much I enjoyed her sci-fi romance novels, I was of course going to read this one. Well, to be clear I didn’t actually finish the third novel of Starlight’s Shadow because the couple was annoying me but the first one in that trilogy was so good! And the Consortium Rebellion is also very much worth checking out. And this book was just fun! Riela has lived in […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance Tagged With: beauty and the beast, duology, fae, Jessie Mihalik, Silver & Blood

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:15 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Romance · Tags: beauty and the beast, duology, fae, Jessie Mihalik, Silver & Blood ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

The Devil’s Attempt at Playing Guardian Angel

The Devil Three Times by Rickey Fayne

February 16, 2026 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I picked this one up because I thought the premise of the Devil interacting with a woman and all her descendants was an interesting way to frame an intergenerational family story. While this is follows eight generations, it’s also more a story told in vignettes. It doesn’t necessarily wrap up one person’s story and then move on to the next. Instead each member of the family has a one chapter focused on them and within that chapter, the reader might get foreshadowing about another character’s […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: American South, Black History, generational story, magic realism, Rickey Fayne

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:14 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: American South, Black History, generational story, magic realism, Rickey Fayne ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

US history in one family of women

The Seven Daughters of Dupree by Nikesha Elise Williams

February 16, 2026 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I wanted to like this novel more than I did. I had the opportunity to attend an author talk before I read this and I really appreciated getting the author’s perspective on the story she told, how she structured it and other choices that she made. So that did help me appreciate some parts but in other ways, I wonder if reading it before the event might have been better. This isn’t really the kind of novel you spoil, especially when the blurb shares small […]

Filed Under: Fiction, History Tagged With: Black History, generational trauma, magic realism, Nikesha Elise Williams, US History

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:13 · Genres: Fiction, History · Tags: Black History, generational trauma, magic realism, Nikesha Elise Williams, US History ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Some doors shouldn’t be opened

The House Saphir by Marissa Meyer

February 16, 2026 by Jen K Leave a Comment

I was so excited when I saw that Marissa Meyer had a Bluebeard retelling (I enjoyed her recent Rumpelstiltskin inspired duology though I think it might have worked better as a stand alone) and there wasn’t anything wrong with this story at all, I just felt like it could have done more. I don’t think I heard of the Bluebeard story until my teens or early 20s (my introduction to it might have even involved Margaret Atwood) but it’s always interesting to see what people […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: bluebeard, fairy tale retelling, Marissa Meyer

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:12 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: bluebeard, fairy tale retelling, Marissa Meyer ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

You can’t break the ties that bind

A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James

February 16, 2026 by Jen K 1 Comment

This is the most I have enjoyed a Simone St. James novel in a while. She is always a dependable author and storyteller but some of her novels go beyond that. For me those have been The Broken Girls and The Sun Down Motel. We can now add this one to the list for me. It’s also dedicated to Stephen King, and it feels especially fitting for this novel to be the ones dedicated to King. Not only does she return to the setting of […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: ghost story, paranormal, Simone St. James

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:11 · Genres: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Suspense · Tags: ghost story, paranormal, Simone St. James ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

You have to get the words right

Thornhedge by T. Kingfisher

February 16, 2026 by Jen K Leave a Comment

This was a reread for me but it was a book club choice and it had been long enough since I read that I was a little fuzzy on the details (also, I’m not sure if I simply read them around the same time or if the authors approached their descriptions in similar ways but the changeling in this novella strongly reminds me of the possessed kid or changelings child in the Emily Wilde novel). This is an alternate version of Sleeping Beauty where Sleeping […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: fairy tale retelling, novella, sleeping beauty, t kingfisher

Jen K's CBR18 Review No:10 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: fairy tale retelling, novella, sleeping beauty, t kingfisher ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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