Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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Join the Yay for YA Discussion About YA Books Now  

“She was a half-wild thing of ink and grass and sea breezes, raised by books and rabbits and fairy lore, and that was all she cared to be.”

The Magician's Daughter by H. G. Parry

May 10, 2026 by Malin Leave a Comment

Biddy lives on a small, magically isolated island off the coast of Ireland with her guardian/foster father, Rowan, and his familiar, the rabbit Hutchincroft. No one who doesn’t know that it’s there can find it. While Biddy has no magic of her own, she has grown up with it all around her. Yet magic is fading in the outside world, and far too often, Rowan has to leave Biddy to go to the mainland in bird form to find some small reserves of it. She […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery Tagged With: alternate history, cbr18, edwardian, family, h.g. parry, historical fantasy, magic, narfna, shapeshifters, The Magician's Daughter

Malin's CBR18 Review No:26 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, History, Mystery · Tags: alternate history, cbr18, edwardian, family, h.g. parry, historical fantasy, magic, narfna, shapeshifters, The Magician's Daughter ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

“I have everything I ever wanted–and it tastes just as delicious as I always imagined.”

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

May 10, 2026 by KimMiE" 1 Comment

I love an unreliable narrator. Whether they are divorced from reality à la Montresor of “The Cask of Amontillado,” deceiving themselves as a defense against trauma, like Pi in Life of Pi, or intentionally deceiving the reader, as in many mysteries I won’t name to avoid spoilers. . .I just can’t get enough of them. What intrigues me about June Hayward (aka Juniper Song) in Yellowface is I’m never certain how much of her own press she buys into. She definitely believes she’s been screwed […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Asian American authors, cbr18, KimMiE", publishing, R.F. Kuang, Satire

KimMiE"'s CBR18 Review No:12 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Asian American authors, cbr18, KimMiE", publishing, R.F. Kuang, Satire ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

A lovely choice for Mother’s Day but get your hankies out

Foster by Claire Keegan

May 10, 2026 by ElCicco 2 Comments

This novel, which is barely 100 pages long, packs an emotional wallop. Set in rural coastal Ireland, Foster is the story of an unnamed girl, age unknown (I’m guessing 7 or 8-ish), who abruptly finds herself living with an aunt and uncle one summer. In these few pages, Claire Keegan beautifully reveals the pain and longing of this child and of her relatives, and the roots of each. The novel opens with this girl and her father getting in the car on a Sunday morning […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: cbr18, Claire Keegan, ElCicco, Fiction, Foster

ElCicco's CBR18 Review No:24 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: cbr18, Claire Keegan, ElCicco, Fiction, Foster ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

“Emotion check: Having someone else support your bad decisions feels kind of good”

Platform Decay: Murderbot Diaries Book 8 by Martha Wells

May 9, 2026 by ElCicco 3 Comments

This latest Murderbot installment is short (150 pages) but full of the snark and excitement one has come to expect from the series. It is missing the usual cast of characters (including my favorite ART) but it introduces some new ones and of course focuses on everyone’s favorite SecUnit. The action of Platform Decay occurs on a torus, that is, a space station ring surrounding a decaying planet. The torus is man-made and contains a variety of biomes, mining and farming zones, habitation areas and […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Science Fiction Tagged With: #Science Fiction, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, martha wells, Murderbot Diaries, Platform Decay

ElCicco's CBR18 Review No:23 · Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction · Tags: #Science Fiction, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, martha wells, Murderbot Diaries, Platform Decay ·
Rating:
· 3 Comments

A brilliant (but bloody) blend of history and fantasy

He Who Drowned the World: The Radiant Emperor Duology Book 2 by Shelley Parker-Chan

May 7, 2026 by ElCicco Leave a Comment

This finale to Shelley Parker-Chan’s The Radiant Emperor Duology was outstanding. As with the first book (She Who Became the Sun), Parker-Chan focuses on the political and military machinations of a handful of ambitious individuals, each desperate for power and/or revenge. Parker-Chan has created complex characters who, despite their violent and frequently perverse proclivities, can also occasionally inspire pity. The court intrigues and double crossings had me on the edge of my seat, and the battles — sometimes featuring very hungry ghosts — were harrowing. […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: #fantasy, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan, The Radiant Emperor Duology

ElCicco's CBR18 Review No:22 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: #fantasy, cbr18, ElCicco, Fiction, He Who Drowned the World, Shelley Parker-Chan, The Radiant Emperor Duology ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Breaking up is hard to do

Change of Plans by Sarah Dessen

May 4, 2026 by Malin 1 Comment

Thank you to Simon and Schuster and Netgalley for this ARC. My opinions are my own. This book is out on May 5th, 2026. Finley is graduating from high school, and is worried about several weeks away from her charismatic boyfriend, Colin, their friend group and her entire social circle. Most of all, she would have wanted to join Colin and his family on a Disney cruise, but her distant mother, Catherine (her father has custody and she only sees her Mum a few times […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: ARC, cancer, cbr18, Change of Plans, contemporary fiction, family, friendship, heartbreak, LGBTQIA, Malin, NetGalley, Sarah Dessen, secrets, small town life, Young Adult

Malin's CBR18 Review No:25 · Genres: Fiction, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: ARC, cancer, cbr18, Change of Plans, contemporary fiction, family, friendship, heartbreak, LGBTQIA, Malin, NetGalley, Sarah Dessen, secrets, small town life, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment
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Recent Comments

  • Malin
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    In my book club, when we have pretty much come to the agreement that if the protagonists are still teenagers...
  • katie71483
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Like so many others here, I'm a sucker for Tamora Pierce. Is Robin McKinley YA? Because I love her books,...
  • Tracy
    on Interesting From an Intellectual Standpoint
    I didn’t find it funny, and I’m not sure if my sense of humor doesn’t mesh with his or if...
  • Jen K
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Oh, see I definitely read it as, “give your teens this magic school book instead.” Maybe because I remember The...
  • wicherwill
    on CBR Diversion – YAY for YA – Genre Discussion
    Interesting with Scholomance, I very much read it as the adult book for former YA magic school book readers
See More Recent Comments »

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