Cannonball Read 11

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“The colonizer writes the history, winning twice: A theft of land. A theft of witness.”

Before the Devil Breaks You by Libba Bray

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In this third installment of Bray’s fantastic Diviners series, Libba Bray finally pulls together many moving pieces and lays down the major themes of the series with gusto. If I could sum it up in one phrase, I’d call this book “Ghosts are scary, but not as scary as evangelism” Or “Ghosts are scary, but it’s your fault.” The Diviners are a diverse group of supernaturally talented young people in 1920s NYC (who aren’t officially called “The Diviners” but simply “diviners” at this point).  In previous volumes, they have tracked down a paranormal serial killer and solved the crisis of […]

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Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/30/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:24 |

Still has exciting steampunk aerial combat but doesn’t recapture the joy of the first book

Arabella the Traitor of Mars: The Adventures of Arabella Ashby by David D. Levine

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“The Adventures of Arabella Ashby” series starts off with a bang in Arabella of Mars. The second book, Arabella and the Battle of Venus, was not as ‘romantic and dashing’ as the first.  The third, Arabella the Traitor of Mars, is a good conclusion to Arabella’s story but it doesn’t have the spark of the first book. I mentally groaned when the book started with Arabella and Captain Singh on Earth but then Arabella, once again, needs to race to the other side of the solar system, in as short a time as possible.  This time it’s not for her brother, or the love […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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3/1/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:9 |

“I want a man who stays out of my way.”

Waistcoats & Weaponry (Finishing School, #3) by Gail Carriger

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All right, I liked this one quite a bit. I’m invested in the series now. But I’m still only giving this 3.5 stars, rounded up, because it shouldn’t take you two books to be emotionally invested. I should have been in like Flynn after book one. Anyway, I finished this book in a frenzy and immediately wanted the next one (which I’m not getting to until next month, sadface), so that’s a great sign. Sophronia and Co. are halfway through their second year at Madame Geraldine’s Finishing School. Sidheag receives notice that something is wrong with her pack (werewolf) and leaves school […]

Help Support Cannonball Read

Buy the following on Amazon and help our mission to stick it to cancer, one book at a time:

We pay for our website first, and then all proceeds above and beyond those fees are donated to the American Cancer Society in AlabamaPink's name. Find out how else you can help support our mission.

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2/11/2019 | 's CBR11 Review No:20 |

A novel of peculiar incidents and unruly dissidents.

Competence by Gail Carriger

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Book three of  Carriger’s Custard Protocol series does not disappoint. I know that this author is much discussed in the CBRosphere, so no doubt some of you are already reading this or have it waiting in the wings. For those of you who have not discovered her books yet,  immediately begin with these.  I read  my first of her books during CBR3 and described them as “If Jane Austen lived in Victorian England and was getting properly shagged on a regular basis, this is what she would have written.” I stand by that but should probably amend it to “If Jane […]

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8/6/2018 's CBR10 Review No:39 |

An Engineer is no match for a Historian with his dander up!

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve

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This is a book that has lurked on the edges of my “I should add this to my TBR pile” mental list but somehow never made it on. I saw the trailer for the upcoming film version of it and knew it was something that my kid and I would both like, so I took the plunge. In terms of world building, it’s a unique one in the vast landscape of dystopian, steampunk, young adult fare. Hundreds of years in the future, we have somehow ruined our planet in a cataclysmic war, and now cities are mobile and will travel. Imagine […]

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7/20/2018 's CBR10 Review No:37 |

Murder with Political Consequences in Steampunky World Equals Cutest Romance Story Ever

Witchmark by C.L. Polk

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I don’t like romance novels; they’re just not my thing. Unless the love story is mixed in with something else. In the case of Witchmark, that something else is a rather steam-punk/gas-lamp setting medical/political mystery. It’s Edwardian England sort of, and post some kind of nasty war effort that the protagonist Dr. Miles Singer had some role in. Because of his war experience he decided to work as a psychiatrist at a local hospital where he apparently specializes in treating veterans. The hospital is being forced to push patients out to make room for the newly arrived home, funding is […]

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7/17/2018 's CBR10 Review No:43 |

I don’t want to review this book, Part 2: The Remix

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

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My appetite for Nisi Shawl’s Everfair has gone up and down since I first heard of it. It came highly recommended by multiple sources and ticked off so many intriguing boxes: a speculative, steampunk alternative history of an African nation by a woman of color. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. After I bought it earlier this spring, I noticed the Goodreads collective rating was on the low-ish side, and I’m not always as immune to popular opinion as I like to think I am. It sat on my shelf for two months, until after I finally watched Black Panther, and then […]

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7/11/2018 's CBR10 Review No:36 |

Humans could manage knots easily, and cats could do everything else.

The Aeronaut's Windlass by Jim Butcher

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The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher is the start to a new fantasy series. No other books in this series are out yet, but I’m sure there’s gonna be at least a couple more. This was super fun, but highly forgettable steampunk. I’ll probably pick up the next book when it comes out, but I don’t need it right away. It’s a pretty typical Butcher fantasy, I was very heavily reminded of his Codex Alera books, right down to the insect-ine enemy. The book is set in an alternate world where humanity has taken to living in towers, because something […]

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4/9/2018 's CBR10 Review No:15 |


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