Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time


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“There’s a whole universe in her and I would be so lucky to live in it, explore it. Over and over.”

Honey & Spice by Bolu Babalola

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The voice in this was fantastic. Also terrific? The plotting, the emotional arcs of these characters, the way she develops the main characters’ relationship with scene after scene of conversation. Not to mention the great side characters, the effortless queer rep, the handling of black culture on an overwhelmingly white liberal arts college in England, the radio element, and the female friendships. Honey & Spice follows Kiki Banjo (amazing name), a sophomore at a university in England and host of her own radio show, Brown Sugar. […]

It could be (at least somewhat) my own fault this one isn’t my favorite

A Power Unbound by Freya Marske

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It has been a long while since I read the first two books in Freya Marske’s Last Binding Trilogy, which may account for some of my complaints about A Power Unbound. I remember Adelaide being a part of the first but not the second story, and when she comes back in the third, I couldn’t remember much about her personality or backstory-wise. As a result, her parts (small but in one or two spots, important) felt underdeveloped and like I was missing something. She’s a […]

The Heart Trumps the Head

Never Wager with a Wallflower by Virginia Heath

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Venus and Galahad have never really gotten along, but when he buys the buildings next to the orphanage she works at intending to turn them into a gambling hall, their sparring begins to look a lot more like attraction and respect. This is the third book in the Merriwell Sisters, which follows a trio of sisters who must make their own way in the world after being abandoned by their ne’er-do-well father. I haven’t read the first two books, but this worked well as a […]

Janet Just Won’t Quit

The Kadin by Bernice Small

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This book charts the colorful life of Janet Leslie from birth to death. Born in Scotland, she ended up one of the chief wives of an Ottoman prince and comes to play an important part in his reign. Firstly, this is not a romance. We do not see much of the relationship between Janet/Cyra and either of her love interests. Instead, we get a lot of political intrigue, historical facts, and some lovable gal palling between Cyra and Selim’s other wives. It’s not serious historical […]

Lovers to Enemies to Lovers

Not Your Ex’s Hexes by April Asher

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This is an adorable little supernatural romantic comedy in which two people have a one night stand and then part ways never to see each other again but remember the other fondly… Just kidding, this one also goes exactly as you’d expect. Rose Maxwell had been training all her life to represent the witches on the Supernatural Council. As her sister Violet discovered her magic in the last book and now has to take her rightful spot as the Prima, Rose has been a bit […]

Sweet, Ghibli-esque cottage core fantasy

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

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What: Catherine Bakewell’s Flowerheart is a lovely coming into one’s power tale with Studio Ghibli vibes and a charmingly rustic setting,  It’s also a fairytale with wild magic, curses, witches and wizards.  Running through is the rebuilding of a childhood friendship that turns to romance. Who: Clara Lucas is a witch in training, about to turn sixteen, and afraid of her power.  Her magic surges in wild, and sometimes destructive, ways and is affected by her mood.  On the benign side flowers will spontaneously bloom in her […]



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