This one packs a wallop in a short amount of time. I have been lucky that, even as an adult, I don’t have a lot of experience watching a loved one suffer for a long time from cancer or any other illness. In a Monster Calls thirteen year old Conor O’Malley, unfortunately, doesn’t have that blessing; his mother has been suffering from some form of cancer for an indeterminate amount of time. His grandmother comes to visit because it has been decided, since Conor’s father lives […]
Probably Don’t Start with book 5 in this series
Shadows of Self by Brandon Sanderson
Who am I kidding? If you read the first four Mistborn novels, you’re likely going to read this one. If you didn’t, well, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s not that Brandon Sanderson novels are without teeth, but he’s almost goofily squeamish about sex and sexuality. They tend to have some interesting ideas about religion and faith, have good action, a reliably interesting and intricate magic/abilities systems, and he’s good at embedding genre fiction into his genre fiction. His political writing is […]
Angels and Demons
A few years ago I tried to read this and gave up in the first 20 pages because I was just not in the mood. I’m so glad I gave this a second try because it was a delight. Once the story got going, I could not stop listening (I opted for the audiobook version). Let’s just say there were some late nights involved and I seriously considered calling in sick to work. Karou is a teenager going to art school in Prague. At least, […]
As good as a story about vermin can be
I haven’t read too many of the “gritty fairy tale reboot” genre, and I didn’t know when I started this that that’s what I was getting. China Mieville book? Sign me up! Gritty story about the Pied frakkin’ Piper? What the hell? But China didn’t let me down. The outline of the story is very familiar: protagonist gets in a scrape, finds out he’s important or chosen in some way, learns new skills and gets new allies, faces Big Bad. But it’s all told with […]
Pride and Prejudice and Practical Magic
When I first discovered historical fantasy (or mannerpunk, or whatever you want to call it), I felt the way I imagine a person does when stumbling upon a hitherto unknown sexual kink. Oh wow, I did not know this was a thing, but I LIKE it! Marissa Doyle’s debut novel, Bewitching Season, is a light and frothy confection that (if I’m being honest) wasn’t quite as good as I remember it. This book and its sequel, both published in 2009, follow the stories of the […]
Fantasy! Romance! Dragons!
4.5 Stars This book is SO good. As I was reading it I had a lot to say about it, but now that I’m actually writing it up I’m struggling. I will try to make this coherent. Disclaimer: I am not a fantasy reader. I’m not opposed to magic and other worlds in my books, but it’s not what I gravitate towards and not something I read regularly. With that said, if you read fantasy regularly maybe you won’t be as blown away by this […]