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  

And did I mention, I really hated the ending? 

When We Ride by Rex Ogle

February 26, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

I hate the ending of When We Ride by Rex Ogle. I cannot believe that Rex Ogle is the same Rex Ogle that wrote the graphic novels Four Eyes and Pizza Face. Or Swan Lake: Quest for the Kingdoms or the Doña Quixote series (as Rey Tercoero).  Have I mentioned I hated the ending of Ogle’s book? I understand why it had to be this way, but still, I hated the ending. Anyway, up to that point (so guess a decent track record, at the […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Health, Poetry, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: diversity, drug dealers, drugs, family, friendship, prejudice, Racism, Rex Ogle, Social Themes, urban life, violence

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:70 · Genres: Fiction, Health, Poetry, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: diversity, drug dealers, drugs, family, friendship, prejudice, Racism, Rex Ogle, Social Themes, urban life, violence ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Quirky is the World

qualo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa: A Graphic Novel Volume 1 by Kara Bodegón-Hikino

February 9, 2026 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Quirky is the first word that comes to mind about Squalo & Mage vs. the Rage of the Bakunawa: A Graphic Novel by Kara Bodegón-Hikino. And then maybe silly, odd, not necessarily original but not derivative (okay, that’s a phrase). And maybe it is not the smoothest read, but it was a fun read nonetheless. It did its job by entertaining and (for me) was an easy read to give myself a break from all the difficult things I was reading. Yet there is enough […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Mystery Tagged With: Asia, diversity, Fairy Tales, family, Filipino folklore, friendship, Kara Bodegón-Hikino, Squalo and Mage

BlackRaven's CBR18 Review No:41 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, History, Mystery · Tags: Asia, diversity, Fairy Tales, family, Filipino folklore, friendship, Kara Bodegón-Hikino, Squalo and Mage ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

The first person we lie to is always ourselves

Yellow Face by R F Kuang

February 1, 2026 by matt_thac Leave a Comment

I use Storygraph to keep track of my book reading to de-Amazon my life. Reviews work a little differently, and you’re asked “Did you find the characters loveable?” For this book the answer is a big NO. Personally, narratives that engage me with unlikeable characters either end with them getting their karmic payback or learning to be better, if that happens here, we’re not sure. The book is written in the from Juniper’s view, whether she has pragmatic, real-world crash to earth and/or has had […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Chinese-Americans, diversity, R.F. Kuang, Satire, white feminism

matt_thac's CBR18 Review No:18 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Chinese-Americans, diversity, R.F. Kuang, Satire, white feminism ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

They are Irumaiyimai இருமை (Irumai)

Bad Queer by Gayathiri Kamalakanthan

December 24, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Disclaimer: I hope I got the title correct, if not blame Google! The book Bad Queer will make you think. Author, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, makes a lot of things happen all at once. On one level things are familiar as this is nothing more than a coming of age story. This is a story where we all can relate to such issues as situations with family, friendships and possible lovers.  But there is more to things on top of that. It is also a queer person’s […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Poetry, Romance Tagged With: art, coming-of-age, diversity, family, friendship, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, genderqueer, LGBTQ, nonbinary, Nonbinary & Genderqueer, parents, Social Themes, theater

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:562 · Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Romance · Tags: art, coming-of-age, diversity, family, friendship, Gayathiri Kamalakanthan, genderqueer, LGBTQ, nonbinary, Nonbinary & Genderqueer, parents, Social Themes, theater ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

You can’t solve every problem by throwing money at it

Along Came Amor by Alexis Daria

July 2, 2025 by Malin 2 Comments

4.5 stars CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge: Diversity   Thank you to Netgalley and Avon for this ARC. My opinions are my own. Ava is nursing her hurt feelings over the dissolution of her marriage in a hotel bar, when a handsome man approaches and offers to make her a better drink than the one she currently has (she made a face when sipping it). The man clearly has bartending experience, and after a brief conversation, Ava discovers that the charming man in fact owns the […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Romance Tagged With: Alexis Daria, Along Came Amor, ARC, cbr17, CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge, Contemporary Romance, diversity, emotional abuse, family, friendship, Latinx, Malin, NetGalley, Primas of Power

Malin's CBR17 Review No:30 · Genres: Fiction, Romance · Tags: Alexis Daria, Along Came Amor, ARC, cbr17, CBR17 Pie Chart Challenge, Contemporary Romance, diversity, emotional abuse, family, friendship, Latinx, Malin, NetGalley, Primas of Power ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

Hello and welcome to the Galactic Peacekeepers Society…… We come in peace

Ami Moon and the Galactic Peacekeepers: Book One Volume 1 by Frances Lee

May 22, 2025 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

The powers that be do not want me to write a review for Ami Moon and the Galactic Peacekeepers: Book One Volume 1 by Frances Lee. I had a long review typed out,  when I went to post, I hit something and the entire thing was erased. I then tried multiple times to restart it and it kept screwing up. I finally got it into a document and then couldn’t remember what I wanted to say/what I had said!. Wracking my brain, I came up […]

Filed Under: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: diversity, Frances Lee, friendship, Social Themes

BlackRaven's CBR17 Review No:282 · Genres: Children's Books, Comedy/Humor, Cooking/Food, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: diversity, Frances Lee, friendship, Social Themes ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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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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