The nitty-gritty: Fascinating world building and interesting characters make The Bone Shard Daughter a solid debut fantasy. Book hype can be a double edged sword. On one hand, it can call attention to a debut author who might not otherwise get noticed, but it also sets up high expectations for the reader. The Bone Shard […]
The nitty-gritty: Emily Tesh revisits the strange world of Greenhollow in this atmospheric and otherworldly sequel. There was no one. Black earth and a pink sky; an apple tree all poisonous bright; the stench of rotten meat; and in every direction flat empty land, broken up only by scattered upright stones arranged in discomfiting patterns […]
The nitty-gritty: An exciting, multilayered sci-fi crime thriller with action, intrigue and emotional depth. Thank you to the publisher for inviting me to post a review during the blog tour for Blood World. I had so much fun with this book! If you love sci-fi thrillers that lean more towards crime fiction than sci-fi, then […]
The nitty-gritty: A sprawling, epic fantasy with plenty of exciting action, high stakes, and sparkling characters, Ashes of the Sun is a fantastic start to a new series. A race to find a powerful magical artifact, heists, deals, doublecrossing characters and much much more, I had a blast with Ashes of the Sun. This is […]
The nitty-gritty: An unsettling and suspenseful ghost story with subtle horror elements. I’m so glad I had the chance to read Wonderland, a slow burn horror story that turned out to be a nice change of pace. I heard lots of buzz about Zoje Stage’s Baby Teeth when it came out last year, but I […]
The nitty-gritty: A fast and furious sci-fi adventure/romance with plenty of action and even some emotional character development. Who can resist a cover with a bad-ass female mercenary standing on a pile of books while the world falls to pieces behind her? Certainly not me, which is one reason I was excited to pick up […]
The nitty-gritty: Dark and unsettling, The Year of the Witching is perfect for fans of horror-tinged, dystopian fantasy. You know me, when I see a book with the word “witch” in the title, I’m all over it! So of course I couldn’t wait to read The Year of the Witching, a debut that really impressed […]
The nitty-gritty: A perfect mix of history and mystery, Opium and Absinthe was both engaging and informative. I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, so I was delighted to discover that I loved reading about New York City in 1899. Kang builds her fascinating, multilayered story around several historical events: first, the publication of […]
The nitty-gritty: Calvin Demmer offers up a tasty but bloody chocolate box of horrific tales that revolve around holidays. I had seen Calvin Demmer’s collection The Sea Was a Fair Master around, and so when he contacted me to see if I’d be interested in reading his latest short story collection, I immediately agreed. Demmer’s […]
The nitty-gritty: A creeping dread infuses this atmospheric Gothic tale of diabolical family secrets. “The walls speak to me. They tell me secrets. Don’t listen to them, press your hands against your ears, Noemí. There are ghosts. They’re real. You’ll see them eventually.” One of Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s strengths is her ability to create an atmospheric […]