Cannonball Read 14

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Search This Site

Registration Is Open! Sign Up Today
> FAQ Home
> Tag: magic school

The Magicless Hero who Muscles His Way Through, and we’ve seen it all before

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, vols. 1-2 by Hajime Komoto

by Leave a Comment

I think I saw an excerpt of Mashle: Magic and Muscles somewhere and decided it looked dumb. Then I decided to give it another chance when I was shelf-surfing in the library which turned out to have volumes 1-2. The premise of this manga series and most of the key characters so far are pretty recognizable. The hero Mash is a magicless idiot with only ridiculous strength to get by in a world where magic defines your status and prospects. To get his dad out […]

“It’s not because–they don’t want me. They want someone who’s going to cast death spells on their enemies. And if I gave them that, I wouldn’t be me anymore, so I might as well not go live with a bag of dicks.”

The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik

by 3 Comments

Picking up immediately after the end of A Deadly Education, The Last Graduate is a gripping read that starts with El holding the cryptic note from her Mum and ends on a terrific cliffhanger.  At one of Novik’s events for the book release she did apologize for both books one and two ending on a cliffhanger.  When she set out to write A Deadly Education she envisioned it ending where The Last Graduate does.  Novik is a writes as she goes author, not a big outliner/planner.  While […]

CBR Bingo: A new Series and a recommendation!

Stealing from Wizards Volume 1: Pickpocketing by R.A.Consell

Stealing From Wizards Volume 2: Burglary by R.A Consell

by Leave a Comment

I thought this would be one of the hardest categories for me to meet for bingo- but this series was first published in November 2019, so New series it is. I picked this up on the recommendation of Epbot- and am very glad i did. It is about Kuro, a young boy living on the fringes of magical society in Canada. He primarily lives in a magic city that connects with different real world places. He serves a dark magician who has fallen on very […]

It’s kind of like if Harry Potter was destined to destroy the world, crossed with the Hunger Games, and Hogwarts was actively trying to kill you

Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

by 4 Comments

Naomi Novik burst on the scene with her Temeraire series but around book 4 or 5 I lost interest.  Then last year I finally read Spinning Silver and was reminded what a good author she is and was excited to find out that a new book was forth coming in the Fall, Deadly Education.  Attending one of her virtual release events whetted my appetite and I have been eagerly waiting for Deadly Education to rise to the top of the TBR, I’m happy to report it lived […]

A really good premise ruined by casual racism and poor characterization

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

by 4 Comments

The Scholomance is not your typical school. And not just because it’s a school for magic. No, this school is not your average school because it will straight up try to kill you. Students have to stay alert constantly and travel in packs everywhere lest one of the evil creatures, or malefecaria, who live in the school try to kill them. Galadriel, or El, is a student at the Scholomance determined to survive all the way through graduation and do so on her own terms. […]

Hogwarts, but even MORE racist!

The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes, D.J. Kirkland

by Leave a Comment

I was intrigued when I saw this book come up on NetGalley, so I picked it up, but then forgot to read it, and then I was sad.  And I met the author and illustrator at the New York Comic Con, and they were really nice!  And then the library I work at got a copy, so I was the first one to check it out! Anyway…   On first glance, this looks like Harry Potter, but if Harry Potter was the only black kid.  […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo