A love spell is not a bouquet of flowers but a boot in your face, grinding its muddy heel. The nitty-gritty: A worthy follow-up to The Girl With Ghost Eyes, Boroson’s latest shines with magical imagery, sparkling and downright funny dialog, complex characters and an immensely satisfying plot, all framed by the rich history of […]
The nitty-gritty: Another winner from Sharon Lynn Fisher, The Absinthe Earl is a delightful historical romance, meticulously researched and full to the brim with unexpected fantasy elements and a fast moving plot. I stared wide-eyed and then dropped into a drunkard’s curtsy, blushing like a lovesick maiden. “Your Majesty,” I murmured. I closed my eyes, […]
The nitty-gritty: A short but powerful tale of the dark emotional lives of a family, Ormeshadow is an exceptional novella with the promise of magic just around the corner. I had no idea what to expect when I started Ormeshadow, but I have to say this was a surprise of the best kind. Priya Sharma […]
The nitty-gritty: Sarah Pinsker’s love of music shines through in this wonderful debut, where two women might just have enough moxie between them to change the world. I suppose you could call A Song for a New Day dystopian fiction, but it’s unlike any dystopian I’ve ever read. This story is full of hope, and […]
The nitty-gritty: A delightful adventure filled with mystery, danger, romance and a dog named Bad. Oh, and lots of Doors. She accumulated the dust of other worlds on her skin like ten thousand perfumes, and left constellations of wistful men and impossible tales in her wake. I’ve been reading glowing reviews of this book for […]
The nitty-gritty: A powerful and realistic portrayal of a near future civil war, Our War is a harrowing, emotional and ultimately uplifting story about the nature of war. “After we win this war, we can put away the guns for good.” Last year I was blown away by Craig DiLouie’s One of Us, a grim, […]
I’m thrilled to be helping Apex Books promote their Back Catalog Blog Tour! I’ve been reading and reviewing Apex books for years now, and their quality has just gotten better and better. I can’t stress enough that if you are looking for cutting edge, original and high quality speculative fiction, you just won’t find another […]
The nitty-gritty: Weird, shocking, bloody and did I mention weird? Reading Gideon the Ninth was an experience. Gideon the Ninth was weird. I can honestly say I’ve never read anything quite like Tamsyn Muir’s debut, so if you’re looking for that elusive, completely original story, then Gideon might just be the book for you. And […]
The nitty-gritty: A sinister, blood-soaked story steeped in myth and darkness. Monster, Monster, Monster, Johann said to himself, the first half a kiss, the second a hiss. I wanted to squeeze in one more review this month, so I decided to grab one of my September novellas in order to make that happen. And wow, […]
The nitty-gritty: A thrilling, fast-paced beginning lost steam for me near the end, but up until about the three-quarter mark I really had a lot of fun with this book. I enjoyed the hell out of this book—up to a point. And then things really started to go wrong for me. It’s almost as if […]