A Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews1880s / child abuse / Hawaii / martial arts / mentorship / ninjas / rape survivor / sword / unrequited-love / Victorian England / virgin11 Comments
Trigger warnings: Note: I asked Janine to join me for this review and it turns out we had Thoughts. Many, many Thoughts. So many that we’ve split this review into three parts. You can find the earlier parts of our discussion below. –Jennie PART ONE PART TWO Janine: Did the ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews1880s / child abuse / Hawaii / martial arts / mentorship / ninjas / rape survivor / sword / unrequited-love / Victorian England / virgin12 Comments
Trigger warnings: Note: Jennie asked me to collaborate on this review with her and as it turned out, we had a lot of thoughts. So many that we decided to split this review in three. This is the second part. You can find the first part of our discussion linked ... more >
A Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews1880s / child abuse / Hawaii / martial arts / mentorship / ninjas / rape survivor / sword / unrequited-love / Victorian England / virgin13 Comments
Trigger warnings: Note: I asked Janine to join me for this review and it turns out we had Thoughts. Many, many Thoughts. So many that we’ve split this review into three parts. This is Part I. –Jennie Jennie: The Shadow and the Star is a sequel of sorts to The ... more >
A Reviews / A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Reading Lists / Recommended Reads / Top Ten Lists#metoo / #ownvoices / 1870s / 1920s / 1970s / accountant / Agent/Spies/Undercover / arranged-marriage / 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 / 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 >
A- Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / family / Fantasy / Hong Kong based world / mafia / martial arts / POC / political intrigue / saga / Wuxia5 Comments
Dear Fonda Lee, Your adult fantasy novel, Jade City (the first book in your Green Bone Saga), has won both the World Fantasy and Aurora Awards for Best Novel, as well as being nominated for the Nebula and Locus Awards. Set on an island with some similarities to Hong Kong, ... more >
B- Reviews / Book Reviews5th Century / China / fairytale / Fantasy / martial arts / Mulan / strong heroine / YA historical12 Comments
Dear Ms. Thomas: I’m going to be lazy and steal the blurb: A Warrior in Disguise All her life, Mulan has trained for one purpose: to win the duel that every generation in her family must fight. If she prevails, she can reunite a pair of priceless heirloom swords separated ... more >