Cannonball Read 9

Sticking it to Cancer One Book at a Time

Magic! Paper Dogs!

The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg

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Reading an incredibly disappointing novel, for me, makes me long for something simple and easy. Luckily, the book I’d chosen from all the ones waiting on my Kindle was perfect for that. Charlie Holmberg’s The Paper Magician is the first in a series of fantasy novels about a young apprentice magician, Ceony Twill. Ceony has just finished her studies at the Tagis Praff School for the Magically Inclined; much to her chagrin she has been assigned an apprenticeship with a paper magician. Ceony had always wanted to work with metal, and once you’re bonded to a material that is the […]

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10/17/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:25 |

More Gorgeous Prose

The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

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I have decided to take the plunge and read the whole Raven Cycle series since I haven’t done a good submersion into a series in a while. Stiefvater’s beautiful prose does not disappoint in volume 2, The Dream Thieves. I am absolutely in love with this woman’s craft. Her brilliant syntax and poetic descriptions are at times so perfect and poignant, it hurts. It literally makes me think about her book whenever I’m not reading it. I blew through this volume in about 2 days because I didn’t want to stop reading her gorgeous prose. I also love the constant push-pull she […]

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10/17/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:25 |

Too Dangerous For Adults

The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart

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The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart (2007) – I never really understood the YA (Young Adult) and MG (Middle Grade) labels on books until I read this.  With Harry Potter and the young heroes in Andre Norton’s books, the protagonist is a kid (and kids love to read them); however, they are not strictly YA or MG.  The reason is the writing style.  Trenton Lee Stewart shares an exciting adventure of four unique heroes, but the writing is simple and straightforward.  No complex sentence structure, no big words.  It’s about kids, and it’s written in the style a […]

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10/15/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:36 |

Winter’s Champion and the Outcast Outcast

Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo

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The Beasts of Tabat by Cat Rambo (2017) – This fantasy tale is a nice, comfortable story with some great world-building and a shared billing with two heroes.  The world, northerly and cold, consists of Humans, Beasts, and Shifters.  Humans rule the land and Beasts, mythical creatures such as minotaurs, griffins, and mermaids, are slaves to the humans.  Shifters are shape-shifters and hunted by Humans and Beasts. Teo, our first hero, is a Shifter in a small village to the far north where his people pretend to be Humans.  It’s not too difficult for Teo because he’s a Shifter who […]

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10/15/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:35 |

Is a Western fantasy set in a Middle Eastern environment an Eastern?

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

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Amani Al-Hiza is poor orphan, raised by uncaring relatives in a small desert town where most inhabitants work in the local mine. She knows that if she doesn’t collect enough money to get out soon, she’ll end up as third wife to her unpleasant uncle, a fate she would rather die than accept. One night, she disguises herself as a boy and enters a shooting competition at the local watering hole, trying to win enough money to finally leave. She’s an excellent shot, and sure that she will win, until she meets the mysterious Jin and things escalate out of […]

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10/15/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:88 |

Playing catch up (plus I want to complain about All the Missing Girls)

The Maid's Version + 14 more by Daniel Woodrell + 14 more

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The Maid’s Version by Daniel Woodrell (3 stars) This is a very well-written but ultimately not very good story. By that, I mean that Woodrell’s writing is gorgeous — his descriptions of small town Missouri, his flashbacks to the 1920s — but the central mystery (who caused an explosion at a dance hall in 1929) doesn’t do much to grip the reader. I picked this up solely because I loved Winter’s Bone, but it definitely did not live up to my expectations. Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (2 stars) This was some sappy shit, y’all. Zevin’s The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry was […]

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10/13/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:174 |

“I am as blank as a piece of white paper in a world with no pencils.”

Still Life with Tornado by A.S. King

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Did I miss something? Did I read a different version of Still Life With Tornado than everyone else? Because I hated this book. I hated Sarah. I hated Umbrella. I didn’t like the magical realism aspect of having multiple Sarahs that everyone could see despite every other aspect of the book being set in a realistic world. The Art Club/ Miss Smith story line had nothing to do with the big reveal! Was it even really resolved, or just there? The “pay off” at the end was not enough to put up with the constant repeating that “nothing is original” and that “everything is […]

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10/11/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:109 |

More Please.

Wildfire by Ilona Andrews

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I started a review of this a week or so ago, but I couldn’t think of much to say. I find it harder to review books that are further along in a series, especially a series I don’t think a whole lot of people are reading. Reviews are often a conversation with other readers, even if the other readers aren’t reading my review. Anyway, I didn’t know how to approach my review of Wildfire. One difficulty was that this was the last book in the series, but it felt unfinished. I messaged with Malin for a bit and she told […]

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10/7/2017 | 's CBR9 Review No:96 |


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