Mini Reviews (and a Reading Woe): The Shadows by Alex North & Red Heir by Lisa Henry

How does one...read a book? If anyone has suggestions, please feel free to mail out a note to my brain detailing step-by-step instructions, as the poor thing has clearly forgotten. Which, turns out, is a bit of an inconvenience when you're trying to run a book blog. It's not that I don't have the time …

Review: Burn by Patrick Ness – Dragons, Prophecies, and the Cycle of Violence

Title: Burn Author: Patrick Ness Publisher: Quill Tree Books Genre(s): YA Fantasy, Historical Fiction Subject(s)/Themes(s): War, Discrimination, Dragons Representation: Biracial MC, Gay MC Release Date: June 2nd, 2020 Page Count: 384 (hardback) Rating: 8.0/10   On a cold Sunday evening in early 1957, Sarah Dewhurst waited with her father in the parking lot of the …

Review: Docile – Important and Poignant Enough to Write a Poem For (Which I Did)

Title: Docile Author: K.M. Szpara Publisher: Tor Books Genre(s): Speculative Fiction Subject(s): Consent, BDSM, LGBTQ+ (main and secondary) Release Date: March 3rd, 2020 Page Count: 464 (hardback) Rating: 9.0/10       To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a …

Review: The Unspoken Name – A Saga of Badass Lesbian Orc and Wonder Bread Boy

Title: The Unspoken Name Author: A.K. Larkwood Publisher: Tor Books Genre(s): Epic Fantasy, Portal Fantasy Subject(s): Gods, Coming-of-Age, LGBTQ+ (main and secondary) Release Date: Feb 11th, 2020 Page Count: 464 (hardback) Rating: 6.0/10         What if you knew how and when you will die? Csorwe does. She will climb the mountain, enter …

Review: The Infinite Noise – Fine with a Dash of Soft & Sweet and a Landing that Doesn’t Stick

Title: The Infinite Noise Author: Lauren Shippen Publisher: TorTeen Release Date: September 24th 2019 Genre(s): YA Sci-Fi Subjects and Themes: LGBTQIAP+, Mental Health, Superpowers Page Count: 336 (hardback) Rating: 6.0/10         Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing …

Diversity Spotlight Thursday: SFF Music Mania

Hmm? What's that noise, you ask? Well, that's the sound of a dead meme rising from the ashes. Diversity Spotlight Thursday is back, baby. So this is a weekly meme that was created by Aimal from Bookshelves & Paperbacks (though she's not hosting it anymore), and the idea is that each week you come up …

DNF Review: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep – Wrong Character as the Narrator

Title: The Unlikely Escape of Uriah Heep Author: H.G. Parry Publisher: Redhook Release Date: July 23rd, 2019 Genre(s): Contemporary Fantasy Subjects and Themes: Stories about Stories, Siblings Page Count: 465 (hardback) Rating: DNF @ ~40%       For his entire life, Charley Sutherland has concealed a magical ability he can't quite control: he can …

Monday Chatter: Why Plagiarizing Reviews is Bad (Because Apparently it Needs to Be Said)

Happy Monday, everyone! Originally I wasn't going to write an entire post about this because I don't like voluntarily courting drama (unless it involves someone coming after a person I care about. Then I start sharpening knives), but the more I thought about it, the more irritated I got. So I'm just gonna get it …

Five Reasons Why You Need to Read Desdemona and the Deep

Title: Desdemona and the Deep Author: C.S.E. Cooney Publisher: Tor.com Release Date: July 23rd, 2019 Genre(s): Fantasy Subjects and Themes: Fae, LGBTQIAP+ (lesbian mc, trans side character) Page Count: 224 (ebook) Rating: 9.5/10         In Desdemona and the Deep, the spoiled daughter of a rich mining family must retrieve the tithe of …

Blog Tour Review: Rotherweird – Plenty of Weird, Not a Lot of Enjoyment

Title: Rotherweird Author: Andrew Caldecott Publisher: Quercus (US) Release Date: June 9th, 2019 Genre(s): Historical Fiction, Fantasy Subjects and Themes: Alternate History Page Count: 456 (hardback) Rating: DNF @ ~50%         1558: Twelve children, gifted far beyond their years, are banished by their Tudor queen to the town of Rotherweird. Some say …