B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C+ Reviews#ownvoices / dreams / Emperor / experimental novel / Fantasy / goddess / LGBTQIA+ / m/m / POC / POC author / quest / resistance/oppression / second-person POV4 Comments
Dear Simon Jimenez, Your debut novel, The Vanished Birds (2020), is one of my favorite science fiction novels of recent years. It earned an A from me when I reviewed it and made my Best of 2020 list. I’ve been waiting with bated breath for the release of The Spear ... more >
Book Reviews / C+ Reviews#ownvoices / Army / Burning Kingdoms series / enemies to lovers / f/f / Fantasy / gods / India-based world / LGBTQIA+ / POC / POC author / princess / religion / war10 Comments
Dear Tasha Suri, It pains me to write this review of The Oleander Sword (book two in the Burning Kingdoms series, which began with The Jasmine Throne), because while this isn’t a terrible book, The Jasmine Throne was my favorite book of 2021, as well as the most romantic and ... more >
B- Reviews / Book Reviews#ownvoices / Artist / bisexual heroine / Chef / Contemporary / fiction with strong romantic elements / grief / LGBTQIA+ / love triangles / New York City / POC / POC author / tropical island / Womens-Fiction10 Comments
Dear Awaeke Emezi, I’ve been meaning to try one of your books for years, ever since I read Ana Grilo’s review of Pet for Kirkus. The book sounded really good and really different, but somehow, I never got around to reading it. However, when
Book Reviews / DNF Reviews#ownvoices / Bangladeshi-American / Contemporary / depression / diversity / emotional abuse / high-school / Muslim / parents / South-Asian / Tashie Bhuiyan / YA2 Comments
Dear Tashie Bhuiyan, Last year I enjoyed your debut, Counting Down with You, a YA contemporary about a Bangladeshi-American high school student’s struggle with anxiety, demanding and controlling parents, and falling in love with a white boy. I liked it enough to request an ARC of your second book, A ... more >
Book Reviews / C+ Reviews#ownvoices / Anglo-Asian / Asian characters / Asian-American / Contemporary / England / family relationships / First-Person / macabre comedy / mafia / POC / POC author / sisters / weddingComments Off on REVIEW: Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q Sutanto
The aunties are back, fiercer than ever and ready to handle any catastrophe—even the mafia—in this delightful and hilarious sequel by Jesse Q. Sutanto, author of Dial A for Aunties. Meddy Chan has been to countless weddings, but she never imagined how her own would turn out. Now the day ... more >
B Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / C+ Reviews#ownvoices / Asian Americans / California / death / Fantasy / grief / Japan / joint review / Literary Fabulism / near-future / Novel-in-Stories / Pandemic / POC / POC author / Speculative-Fiction12 Comments
Content warnings: Jennie: When Janine suggested we review this book together, I hadn’t heard of it. But the blurb told me it was dystopian, and I have a weakness for dystopian novels even though they don’t always end up working for me. Though it’s billed as a novel, How High ... more >