Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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“Uncovered and propped on a pillow, the opening around her toes nests five half-starved, featherless birds with expensively pedicured beaks.”

An Evil Premise by T. Marie Vandelly

January 9, 2026 by narfna 8 Comments

This book tried to make Fetch happen. Fetch did not happen. January is a new record for my first one star book of the year. I made it to the end of October last year before I uno-dubbed my first book. I can’t believe I actually finished the book, but the premise (what drew me to it in the first place) was too intriguing, so I had to know how it ended. Honestly, what I found was worse than mid-book-me could have imagined. This book […]

Filed Under: Horror, Speculative Fiction, Suspense Tagged With: horror, meta, meta fiction, narfna, one star reads, Suspense, T. Marie Vandelly

narfna's CBR18 Review No:4 · Genres: Horror, Speculative Fiction, Suspense · Tags: horror, meta, meta fiction, narfna, one star reads, Suspense, T. Marie Vandelly ·
Rating:
· 8 Comments

“When a man dies from a bullet entering his chest, it’s a homicide. When a man dies from a meteorite landing on his head, it’s a Tragedy. Don’t use bullets. Use meteorites. Don’t commit a homicide. Commit a Tragedy.”

Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide by Rupert Holmes

December 23, 2023 by narfna Leave a Comment

Basically, this book is murder heists. As I finally sit down to start typing this review, I still haven’t decided if I’m going to round up or down from my 4.5 star rating, so I guess we’ll see what I talk myself into by the end of these several paragraphs. Rupert Holmes, of “Piña Colada Song” fame, has given mystery lovers a real treat. Especially if you like mysteries that play with genre and format, which this very much does. Something I didn’t know going […]

Filed Under: Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: historical fiction, historical mystery, LGBTQIA, meta, meta mystery, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, mystery, narfna, Rupert Holmes

narfna's CBR15 Review No:159 · Genres: Mystery, Suspense · Tags: historical fiction, historical mystery, LGBTQIA, meta, meta mystery, Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide, mystery, narfna, Rupert Holmes ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A meta murder mystery about writing murder mysteries.

The Woman in the Library by Sulari Gentill

October 29, 2022 by narfna 2 Comments

I had a really good time with this book. I am honestly pleased with most mysteries that I read because something about the genre makes me inherently happy, but I am always very excited when I find one that goes above and beyond the expectations of the genre, and plays around a little. This one definitely did that. It was like brain candy for me. A little treat. The book is split into two parts, the first being a rough draft of a murder mystery […]

Filed Under: Mystery, Suspense Tagged With: book within a book, Boston, meta, mystery, narfna, Sulari Gentill, Suspense, the woman in the library

narfna's CBR14 Review No:168 · Genres: Mystery, Suspense · Tags: book within a book, Boston, meta, mystery, narfna, Sulari Gentill, Suspense, the woman in the library ·
Rating:
· 2 Comments

“Do geese see God?”

A Line to Kill (Hawthorne and Horowitz, #3) by Anthony Horowitz

July 22, 2022 by narfna Leave a Comment

I didn’t realize how in the mood I was for the vibes this series gives off. I read this book so fast. There’s something so strange yet so compelling about Horowitz’s fictional detective, Hawthorne, who continues to be unlikable, baffling (to us the readers, and to his “biographer,” a fictional version of Horowitz himself), contradictory, and yet he gets the job done, thwarting both reader’s desires and the fictional character Hawthorne in the process. It’s strange, but it works. This third pairing of the duo […]

Filed Under: Mystery Tagged With: a line to kill, Anthony Horowitz, meta, mystery, narfna, the author is a character, writing about writing

narfna's CBR14 Review No:111 · Genres: Mystery · Tags: a line to kill, Anthony Horowitz, meta, mystery, narfna, the author is a character, writing about writing ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Structure over substance

Long Division by Kiese Laymon

February 15, 2022 by Mobius_Walker Leave a Comment

I’m going to be really honest with y’all. I picked this book up for cover and description of hte structure alone. But I mean, come on. That’s an intriguing and beautiful cover. And as for the structure: this novel is told in two books. Book 1 is read like a normal book, from the front to about halfway through. To read Book 2, the reader has to turn the book over to the back and read from the back cover as if it’s the front. […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Science Fiction Tagged With: kiese laymon, KKK, meta, Speculative Fiction, time travel

Mobius_Walker's CBR14 Review No:5 · Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction · Tags: kiese laymon, KKK, meta, Speculative Fiction, time travel ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Literally not what I hoped it would be.

Literally by Lucy Keating

July 26, 2021 by chelz.hawk Leave a Comment

  “Sorry,” I stutter. “It’s just that…she’s describing my life.” In response to this statement, Lucy watched me coolly, her head slightly tilted to one side. It made me uncomfortable. Annabelle likes things to be ordered. Like color coded calendar ordered. So when her parents announce that they are separating the selling the family home, Annabelle’s perfectly ordered life becomes decidedly disordered. To make matters worse, Annabelle discovers that her entire life, ordered and disordered is actually just a character plot written and controlled by […]

Filed Under: Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: Lucy Keating, meta, Romance, Young Adult

chelz.hawk's CBR13 Review No:15 · Genres: Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: Lucy Keating, meta, Romance, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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