Book Reviews#ownvoices / Arranged Marriages / California / Chef / coming-of-age / cops / m/m mystery / Missouri / Muslim / POC / POC author / police procedural / Reading lists / revenge porn / South-Asian / YA8 Comments
More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood Jayne’s review of this #ownvoices YA novel got me to pick it up and I was glad I did. Danyal Jilani is a good-looking and sweet nineteen-year-old in his senior year of high school (he was held back a year ... more >
Book Reviews / Recommended Reads / Top Ten ListsAgent/Spies/Undercover / boarding school / Cold War / disabled hero / found family / genius loci / historical romance / king / Literary fiction / loner / m/m / magic users / one day courtship / passing / Reading lists / SF / thief / twins / UF / voting / war / YA / YA fantasy14 Comments
I spent much of 2020 grateful to books and authors for giving me a way to visit other times and places while stuck at home because of Covid. Below, listed in alphabetical order by author, are my top eight favorite books of 2020. Some grades have been adjusted since my ... more >
B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads#ownvoices / activist / black MC / cat / election / grief / high-school / one day courtship / POC / POC author / romantic-elements / students / voting / YA10 Comments
Dear Brandy Colbert, I’ve been meaning to read one of your books for a long time and when The Voting Booth was published I was struck by the cleverness of the concept. This romantic YA novel takes place over the course of one day—Election Day—with Marva Sheridan, an activist eighteen-year-old ... more >
A- Reviews / B+ Reviews / Book Reviews / C- Reviewsclass differences / competition / Fantasy / friendship / joint review / magical powers / magical school / prickly heroine / prophecy / survival / YA / YA fantasy12 Comments
Jennie, Sirius and I (along with Jayne), reviewed Naomi Novik’s last book, Spinning Silver, together. Our roundtable discussion was a lot of fun and the three of us decided to reunite for Novik’s recent release, the first book in her Scholomance series, A Deadly Education. –Janine. Janine: A Deadly Education ... more >
Book Reviews / C Reviews / C- Reviews#ownvoices / abuse / Black heroine / coming-of-age / high-school / POC / POC author / rock stars / singer / YANo Comments
Trigger warnings: Dear Tiffany D. Jackson, A couple of months ago I read and reviewed your YA novel, Monday’s Not Coming, and was impressed. The book had a powerful mystery at its center, a disappearance of a teenager noticed only by her best friend. Even before I read it, I ... more >
B Reviews Category / B- Reviews / Book Reviews / C Reviews / C Reviews Category / C+ Reviews / C- Reviewscontemporary gay romance / cozy m/m mystery / Fantasy / LGBTQIA / YA9 Comments
1 A Novel Murder (MerryChurch Mysteries #3) by KC Wells This is book three in a series of cozy mysteries with sprinkles of m/m romance. I found it just as lovely and enjoyable as the first two books. There is really no personal conflict between Mike and Jonathon in this book. ... more >