The nitty-gritty: Magical, exciting, emotional and full of human truths, Black Light Express takes what Philip Reeve started in Railhead, expands upon it, and makes it even better. Zen sat awkwardly watching, with Nova’s head on his lap as if it were a bag or something. He had imagined finding Nova alive, and he had […]
The nitty-gritty: A fun, fast-paced thriller about the conspiracy theories behind 9/11, this contemporary YA will give teens (and adults!) plenty to think about. I don’t usually read YA thrillers, but when Geoffrey Girard asks you to read his book, you do! I have to admit I don’t know much about conspiracy theories—although my sixteen […]
The nitty-gritty: A high-octane adventure tale in space, populated by some of the craziest characters you’ll ever meet. Well, this is probably the strangest, wackiest story I’ve ever read, and that’s saying something. Being a lover of speculative fiction, “strange” is the norm and I’ve definitely read my share. Mary Turzillo takes strange to a whole […]
The nitty-gritty: Magical and unique, this story takes the idea of dreams and nightmares to new heights, told in Laini Taylor’s trademark lilting prose. It’s always hard for me to squeeze non-review books into my reading schedule, so I was thrilled when a publicist offered me a copy of Strange the Dreamer, even though it […]
The nitty-gritty: A fast-paced adventure in space with some cool world-building ideas, but with too much of an emphasis on the romance, it lost me in the second half. Color me conflicted. I read lots of enthusiastic reviews of Shadow Run before I dove in, and based on its high ratings on Goodreads, I was […]
The nitty-gritty: More Alice in Wonderland than The Night Circus, Garber’s debut is full of atmosphere and magic, but left me confused and scratching my head as well. I was so excited when I won a copy of Caraval from Goodreads, and I was even more excited when I got my act together and read […]
The nitty-gritty: The devil, teens and wheat fields collide in Liggett’s latest terrifying story. Once again, Kim Liggett tackles the irresistible combination of teenagers and horror. In her debut Blood and Salt, she set her story in the corn fields. This time the story revolves around wheat fields (OK Kim what’s up with the crop stories??) […]
The nitty-gritty: Heart-pounding horror meets a touching story about friendship and family bonds. It’s an odd thing that I start 2017 off by reading three very similar books in a row (and those reviews will all be up in the next week or so). It wasn’t planned, it just shook out that way. If you’ve […]
The nitty-gritty: A feast for the eyes, Gemina surpasses Illuminae in both story and format. This is one science fiction series you need to be reading! According to Goodreads, I finished Gemina on December 7th, which was about three weeks ago. Due to life-stuff, I haven’t posted any reviews since then, which I feel terrible […]
The nitty-gritty: A luminous story filled with magic, friendship, love and diversity, beautifully written. The idea of being called Miss or Ms. or, worse, Mrs. The thought of being grouped in when someone called out girls or ladies. The endless, echoing use of she and her, miss and ma’am. Yes, they were words. They were […]