The nitty-gritty: A fascinating idea—cryonics—held my attention, but the plot was confusing at times, as the author kept his readers in the dark far too long. Deep Freeze is a sci-fi thriller about cryonics, and I enjoyed parts of it very much. Saying that, I struggled with the way the story was told, which I’ll […]
The nitty-gritty: Thrilling, romantic and charged with emotion, The Serpent & the Wings of Night is the dark vampire tale you didn’t know you needed. I hadn’t even heard of this book when I was offered a review copy, but a few glowing reviews caught my attention and I agreed to read it. And I’m […]
The nitty-gritty: Emily Wilde and friends return in this whimsical, magical sequel that succeeds on every level. “I have never felt so spent. Yet I must write what happened—for how else will it be known? Already the details drift from my mind like dandelion seeds scattered by the wind. The price of too much time […]
The nitty-gritty: Short but powerful, The Tusks of Extinction is an emotional journey through time and memory. “Damira was there again, listening to uncle Timur read to her. This was the gift of the mammoth mind, the elephant mind; to be where she was and elsewhere as well. To be in this present and yet […]
The nitty-gritty: A well-written debut with a loveable main character, Thirteen Ways To Kill Lulabelle Rock is a fresh, funny and feel-good story. “At the end of all this, there’s going to be one Lulabelle left. Who do you want it to be?” What happens when a famous actress tells her thirteenth clone to kill […]
The nitty-gritty: Scandals, secrets and lies abound in this twisty, tension-filled thriller about a dysfunctional family and the multi-million dollar inheritance they’re fighting over. “Roddy Kenmore was a drug-addled fool who I never should have married in the first place, and the only regret I felt when I watched him slip under that dark salt […]
The nitty-gritty: More portals, more angst, and more adventures (and dinosaurs!) await readers in the ninth Wayward Children book. “We ask, again and again, why the doors take kids, and I think it’s a combination of things—kids are more flexible, they adjust better to things like ‘Oh hey, I’m a mermaid now’ or ‘Oh hey, […]
The nitty-gritty: Darcy Coates takes the serial killer story and gives it a unique twist in this creepy and unsettling tale. “Doubtful, Illinois was a glue trap. People sometimes came in, but they very rarely left…The longer you spent in the town, the more you felt trapped there. As though there wasn’t any space for […]
The nitty-gritty: Ghosts, family trauma and close-knit relationships make Louisa Morgan’s latest a delightfully nuanced and layered story. Louisa Morgan always writes the most comforting stories, even though her characters face dangers and challenges, and The Ghosts of Beatrice Bird is another shining example of this. At its core, the story is about two women, […]
The nitty-gritty: The mysteries pile up in this solid sequel to The Luminaries, with even more impressive world building. “You either trust the forest or you don’t.” Please note: spoilers ahead for the first book in the series I struggled a bit with The Luminaries, but I’m happy to say I ended up enjoying The […]