Book Reviews / Top Ten Lists#ownvoices / angels / Best of 2021 / best of list / bonded-mates / class differences / enemies to lovers / f/f / Fantasy / Fantasy Romance / forbidden-love / friends-to-lovers / historical romance / horror elements / India-based world / Indian characters / LGBTQIA+ / m/f / m/m / magical school / military hero / missing persons / noir mystery / Opera Singer / paranormal romance / POC / POC author / redemption / reframing / teens / Urban-Fantasy / village / werewolves / widow / YA23 Comments
It’s a cliché to comment on how quickly a year has passed and in the Covid era the months sometimes pass slowly. 2021 wasn’t an easy year so I’m glad I found some great books to make it feel a little lighter. There weren’t an entire ten but I’ve had ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / African American / Art / class differences / Contemporary / dance / friendship / missing persons / POC / school / Suspense / YA2 Comments
Dear Tiffany D. Jackson, I checked your YA novel, Monday’s Not Coming, out of the library after reading this blog post by Kristin Cashore, author of a couple of YA fantasy novels I hold as favorites. Cashore wrote about how the book (not fantastical but set in the real world) ... more >
C- Reviewsfemale friendship / Harper Collins / infidelity / LGBTQIA+ / missing persons / Suicide / Young-Adult1 Comments
Dear Ms. Cooper, There are books whose endings leave you breathless with their brilliance. There are books whose endings make you nod and say that was decent. And then there are books whose endings make you wonder what the heck did you just read. I’m sorry to say Vanished belongs ... more >
B- Reviewsalcoholism / friends-to-lovers / high-school / missing persons / supernatural / Young-Adult2 Comments
Dear Ms. Derting, I greatly enjoyed your debut YA, The Body Finder, about Violet Ambrose, a girl who can sense the presence of corpses. Her story, her supportive relationship with her family, and her blossoming romance with her best friend, Jay, combined to make for an enjoyable read. While your ... more >
C Reviewsdreams / Fae / missing persons / Urban-Fantasy8 Comments
Dear Ms. Pang, I’m a recovering burned-out reader of adult urban fantasy. These days it’s so difficult for me to pick up a novel in the subgenre and read it from beginning to end. But that doesn’t stop me from trying because the perpetual optimist in me still hopes to ... more >
B- Reviewsfriends-to-lovers / high-school / missing persons / Serial-Killer / supernatural / Young-Adult2 Comments
Dear Ms. Derting, Your debut initially piqued my interest when I read the premise: a teenage girl with the ability to sense death gets tangled up with a serial killer. For all my purported weariness with the urban fantasy genre and its related subsets, I can’t seem to stay away ... more >