Speculative Fiction Book Reviews
Book Review: Traitorborn is Mind-Blowing
For some reason, I find myself reading multiple books right now that revolve around the theme of power: mankind’s constant struggles for it, what it does to those who hold it, how it affects those who don’t. The one I most recently finished—Traitorborn by Amy Bartol—is remarkably like Dark Breaks the Dawn by Sara B. Larson…
Read MoreBook Reviews and Giveaways: Penric’s Demon and Curse of Chalion are Must-Reads
I haven’t read many novellas in my time, and when I have it’s either been by accident or because it was a filler between releases of books in series that I loved. I happened to read a novella this past week, though, by accident and it happened to become not so much a filler between…
Read MoreBook Review: The Sin-Eater’s Daughter, an Emotional But Confined Read
Writers of books are told over and over again to “show, not tell.” It’s a directive that, if implemented well, makes for a much more vivid, immersive experience for book readers because they are supplied with tactile or visual details of settings or characters’ emotions rather than told how characters feel or where they are.…
Read MoreBook Review: The Waking Land by Callie Bates – a Rousing Read
In the acknowledgements section at the end of The Waking Land by Callie Bates, she states that her book is “what happens when you read your daughter The Lord of the Rings [when she’s]…nine, then drag her into old-growth forests and nurture her desire to be a writer.” The book is a story told in…
Read MoreBook Review: Magic Bitter, Magic Sweet by Charlie Holmberg- a Magic Read
Reading a synopsis like this, what would you think? Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came…
Read MoreTwo for One: Book Reviews of The Rose & the Dagger, and A City Dreaming
Last year, I read two very interesting but opposite books. Both were written in the fantasy genre and dealt with different kinds of magic. Both will or have been published this year. One is The Rose and the Dagger by Renée Adhieh, the other The City Dreaming by Daniel Polansky. One I loved, the other…
Read MoreBook Review: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth, an Intriguing Read
I was sick a good part of this last week, and while it was not fun, I got a lot of reading and querying done. I read three books: Carve the Mark by Veronica Roth The Essential Book Blog by Ken J. Howe $2 a day by Kathryn Edin …re-read one (Smart by Scattered by…
Read MoreBook Review of Conjured by Sarah Beth Durst: a Mind-Bending Read
I actually read four books this week, but I find myself capable of only reviewing one. I reviewed one of the four–Get Out of My Life–last week here, and I can’t review two of them here due to my policy of not reviewing books here if I can’t given them more than three stars out…
Read MoreBook Review: Ever the Hunted, a Compelling Read
So, if we’re friends on Goodreads, you’ll notice that I’m again reading a plethora of books: Taking Charge of ADHD by Russell A. Barkley, Phd; A Writer’s Guide to Persistence by Jordan Rosenfeld; Without a Summer by Mary Robinette Kowal; and Get Out of my Life by Anthony Wolf. This week, I finished reading Ever…
Read MoreThree Book Reviews in One: The Winner’s Trilogy by Marie Rutkoski
This week, I give you three book reviews in one: The Winner’s Curse, The Winner’s Crime, and The Winner’s Kiss, all part of the Winner’s trilogy by Marie Rutkoski. Altogether a rousing and emotional, if somewhat ponderous, speculative fantasy series about a young woman, Kestrel, who is the daughter of a general, the owner of…
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