A Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#metoo / #ownvoices / 1870s / 1920s / 1970s / accountant / Agent/Spies/Undercover / arranged-marriage / Asian heroine / Asperger's / audiobook / book editor / California / class differences / Contemporary / custody battle / dragons / enemies to lovers / epistolary / f/f / Fairyland / fake relationship / family / Fantasy / farming / friends-to-lovers / gods / heroine in disguise / high-school / historical romance / Hong Kong based world / illegitimate-child / LGBTQ / Literary fiction / London / look alikes / mafia / magical powers / Malaysia / martial arts / Mexico / nobleman / Northern Ireland / nurse / POC / POC author / political intrigue / quest / Reading lists / reformed hero / Regency-based world / romantic-elements / roommates / saga / single dad / streetwise heroine / Time-Travel / Vietnam / waitress / war19 Comments
I was tempted to make a list of my favorites among the 2019-published books I read this year. In the end I decided to focus on my favorite 2019 reads (first time reads; I didn’t include books I had read / reviewed in prior years) without regard to their year ... more >
C- ReviewsAsian heroine / ghosts / horror / Japan / Japanese culture / SourceBooks / Young-AdultComments Off on REVIEW: The Girl from the Well by Rin Chupeco
Dear Ms. Chupeco, Maybe because fall is fast approaching (where did the year go?), I find myself in the mood for a horror novel. Something like Anna Dressed in Blood or The Waking Dark. When I saw your debut, The Girl from the Well, I was excited. Horror influenced by ... more >
C ReviewsAsian heroine / Love-Triangle / Simon & Schuster / steampunk / Young-Adult8 Comments
Dear Ms. Fine, When it comes to YA speculative fiction, I’ve been looking for something different. I’m meh about urban fantasy and paranormals. I’m just about done with dystopians. And many a science fiction title has earned my side eye, because they were dystopians in disguise! But when I read ... more >
B ReviewsAsian heroine / Dragon / ghosts / Historical Fantasy / Malaysia / Paranormal / William Morrow11 Comments
Dear Ms. Choo, I’m very much a genre reader. It’s not that I have anything against the more literary-minded novels. It’s just that they’re not my thing, the way westerns and soulbonded lifemates aren’t my thing. But the premise of your debut intrigued me. A paranormal novel set in late ... more >
B- Reviews / Book Reviews1920s / Asian heroine / China / immigration / multicultural / Young-Adult2 Comments
“Jade Moon is a Fire Horse — the worst sign in the Chinese zodiac for girls, said to make them stubborn, reckless, and far too headstrong. While her family despairs of marrying her off, she dreams of traveling far beyond her tiny village, living out a story as big as ... more >
C- ReviewsAsian heroine / Fantasy / Harper-Teen / prophecy / Young-Adult12 Comments
Dear Ellen Oh: I’m on an endless quest to find traditional fantasies featuring worldbuilding not based on Western culture. This desire is not without its pitfalls, of course. Sometimes it’s led me horribly awry. But I keep trying because I’m hopeful (and stubborn). My first exposure to your writing was ... more >