Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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Featured Review Archive

These reviews, which were promoted in CBR social media, on our homepage, and in Pajiba Love, appear below by review publication date, not by date featured.

 

Refusing to conform to stereotypical gender norms on two different continents

My Name is Emilia del Valle by Isabel Allende

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3.5 stars Thanks to Netgalley and RandomHouse for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Emilia del Valle Claro grows up in San Francisco in the latter half of the 19th Century. Her mother, Molly, is of Irish descent and was a nun before she was seduced by an unscrupulous young Chilean aristocrat, who left her pregnant and entirely without support (she obviously had to leave the convent). She married Francisco Claro, the intelligent and kind-hearted teacher at the Aztec Pride School, and he’s the […]

A new spin on an old idea

Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno Garcia

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Moreno Garcia does an amazing job setting the right mood in this newer gothic tale. Set in Mexico in the 1950’s, you forget that the world is more modern than what Noemi Taboada experiences. Having grown up in Mexico City to an affluent family, Noemi’s life is more about finding a worthy suitor and getting married than education or developing skills to join the workforce. Despite this, Noemi is a confident, charming, smart woman who would like to study at the University. While she enjoys […]

Carrie-ish

The Weight of Blood by Tiffany D. Jackson

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I saw Spaceballs before I saw Star Wars. I saw Robin Hood, Men in Tights before I saw Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. And I read The Weight of Blood before I read Carrie. And honestly, I think I made the right choice! I can’t imagine reading a story like Carrie from the perspective of a white guy in the 1970s, no matter how many times he claps back at JKR. I had some preconceived notions about this book – mainly I thought it was […]

Confronting the Past

How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

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Bingo: Diaspora. This book about American slavery ties to the African diaspora that occurred due to the transatlantic slave trade. The history of slavery is the history of the United States. It was not peripheral to our founding; it was central to it. It is not irrelevant to our contemporary society; it created it. The history is in our soil, it is in our policies, and it must, too, be in our memories.” Clint Smith’s How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History […]

“I’m looking for something different in a partner by my side”

Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack, Stevie Lewis

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I picked this up based on the cover alone; thankfully the story and art inside make it well worth it. Prince & Knight tells the story, in rhyme, of a prince who is going to ascend the throne sometime soon, so his parents decide that it’s about time he gets married. While they’re on their round-the-world tour of eligible princesses, a dragon attacks their kingdom. Wanting to help his people (and get away from the awkwardness of this whole trip), the Prince rides home to […]

Returning Fairytales to Their Roots – Stories that are NOT for Kids

F*cked Up Fairy Tales by Liz Gotauco

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When Liz Gotauco (aka cosbrarian) announced last year that her F*cked Up Fairytales with Liz video series was coming to us in book form, I got very excited. When the arc showed up on NetGalley, I smashed the request button hard. When the e-arc showed up on my kindle, I started to read it very slowly, because in 2025, joy should be savored. F*cked Up Fairytales: Sinful Cinderellas, Prince Alarmings and Other Timeless Classics is everything I hoped it would be. F*cked Up Fairy Tales […]



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