A Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / captain / corporation / disability / diversity / epistolary / found family / LGBTQIA+ / loss / mother and son / music / Mysterious powers / POC / queer characters / single mother / spaceship5 Comments
Dear Simon Jimenez, This beautiful standalone science fiction novel was one of the novels on my “Best of 2020” list. I read it in December of 2020 and have put off reviewing for over a year because I felt hard put to do it justice. I’m finally taking the plunge ... more >
B Reviews / Book Reviews#ownvoices / anxiety / Bangladeshi-American / being true to oneself / Contemporary / diversity / epistolary novel / expectations / fake relationship / high-school / immigrants / multicultural romance / music / Muslim / parents / poetry / South-Asian / star-crossed lovers / YA5 Comments
Dear Tashie Bhuiyan, I picked up your romantic contemporary YA novel, Counting Down with You, after it was nominated for the Goodreads Awards in the Young Adult Fiction category. It didn’t win but I am glad it was nominated because I wouldn’t have found it otherwise. Karina Ahmed is a ... more >
Conversationsauthor discovery / Best of 2021 / comfort reading / Covid / diversity / DNF / enemies to lovers / genre critique / grumpy vs sunshine / LGBTQIA+ / low-angst / statistics / tropes / year in review59 Comments
Janine: I’ve noticed that my reading habits change a little from year to year. Some years I read more or fewer books than usual. Some years I discover new favorite authors. At times a genre shifts in a direction that isn’t as likely to engage me while another becomes more ... more >
A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Readsboarding school / British Indian main character / class differences / competition / diversity / Fantasy / friendship / high school sweethearts / joint review / magical powers / magical school / Naomi-Novik / POC / prickly heroine / prophecy / students / survival / YA / YA fantasy30 Comments
Jennie: Janine, Sirius, and I reviewed the first book in the Scholomance series (originally slated as two books; now a trilogy). Sirius gave it a C- and said she wouldn’t be reading this sequel, but Janine and I, though we had some reservations, ended up liking A Deadly Education quite ... more >
Book Reviews / C- Reviewsclergy / diversity / elves / Fantasy / funeral / goblins / grief / investigation / LGBTQIA+ / loner / murder / mystery / opera / queer characters / steampunk / traumatic-past16 Comments
Dear Katherine Addison, I am a huge fan of your 2014 steampunk fantasy novel The Goblin Emperor. It was my favorite of all the books I read that year and I’ve read it three more times since. When the novel was nominated for a Hugo, I was thrilled; when it ... more >
B Reviews / Book ReviewsAsian characters / diversity / dysfunctional family / family relationships / gender-based violence / Ghost / god / homophobia / immigrant / lesbian / LGBTQIA+ / Malaysia / Paranormal / POC / POC author / prejudice / revenge / ViolenceNo Comments
A reluctant medium discovers the ties that bind can unleash a dangerous power in this compelling Malaysian-set contemporary fantasy. When Jessamyn Teoh starts hearing a voice in her head, she chalks it up to stress. Closeted, broke and jobless, she’s moving back to Malaysia with her parents – a country ... more >