I’ll Fly Away – review + quotes

Author: Rudy Francisco
Publication date: December 8, 2020
Genre: poetry
My rating: 5/5 stars

Are you a fan of Amanda Garmon, looking for a poetry collection to fill that lyrical hole in your heart that you didn’t know was there before? Look no further; Rudy Francisco is your guy.

Let’s be real: spoken word is having a MOMENT right now thanks to Garmon’s wonderful performance at the inauguration ceremony last month. I think, therefore, that this is a great time to promote other spoken word poets as well, especially when they’re so stylistically similar. Plus, it’s the start of Black History Month, so it seems only fitting to start off with a review of a book by a phenomenal Black author.

Ignite the Sun – blog tour (ARC review + GIVEAWAY!!!)

Author: Hanna C. Howard
Publication date: August 18, 2020
Genre: young adult fantasy
My rating: 3/5 stars

Ignite the Sun is a quick, simple, straightforward YA fantasy that makes the whole light-versus-dark concept quite literal. Set in a world where the sun has been blocked from view by an enormous shield of darkness, the story follows a reluctant heroine on a quest to overthrow a corrupt leader and restore light to the world. Though certainly not a perfect book, and though it is a bit predictable (which isn’t quite my taste), this story is nevertheless a great choice for younger YA readers.

The Mall – blog tour (ARC review)

Author: Megan McCafferty
Publication date: July 28, 2020
Genre: young adult, (recent) historical fiction
My rating: 3.5/5 stars

The Mall is a book that, I kid you not, made me nostalgic for a time period I didn’t even live through. I was born in the mid-90’s, and this book takes place in ’91, but this fun-filled romp through teenage drama and self-discovery resonated with truths that are still relevant today, while seasoning them with a distinct 90s flair that I couldn’t help enjoying. Was it cheesy? Sure. But it was the good kind of cheesy, the sort of fluffy read that is perfect for a summer day.

Followers – ARC review

Author: Megan Angelo
Publication date: January 14, 2020
Genre: science fiction, dystopian
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

A curious blend of incisive perception, dark humor, and horrifying prediction, Followers is a worthy addition to the rapidly expanding canon of Black Mirror-esque dystopian fiction, shining a critical lens on our fascination (obsession?) with technology, social media, and how far we will go to get what we think we deserve.

“I’ve done the actual math. There are eight million people here, and all of them want something as bad as I want what I want, as bad as you want what you want. We’re not all going to get it. It’s just not possible, that all these people could have their dreams come true in the same time, same place. It’s not enough to be talented, it’s not enough to work hard. You need to be disciplined, and you need to he ruthless. You have to do anything, everything, and you need to forget about doing the right thing…Leave that shit to people in the Midwest.”

Nameless Queen – ARC review

Author: Rebecca McLaughlin
Publication date: January 7, 2020
Genre: young adult, fantasy
My rating: 2.5/5 stars

When broken down to its fundamental components, Nameless Queen has a lot of things that tend to make me automatically love a book: a protagonist who is a thief, hidden royalty, and commentary on classism and rigid social structures. But when taken as a whole, the novel failed to breathe much life or originality into those tropes. The result was a lukewarm story–not bad, but wholly unremarkable.

This Is Going to Hurt – ARC review

Author: Adam Kay
Publication date: December 3, 2019
Genre: nonfiction, humor
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

This book was…laugh-out-loud hilarious? Painfully sad? Excellent validation that I made the right choice in not becoming a doctor? Honestly, all of the above. With candor and a never-ending stream of (often dark) humor, this collection of journal entries by a former medical resident paints a vivid picture of all parts of the medical profession: the funny, the bizarre, the awful, the heartwarming, the disgusting, the personal.

Serpent & Dove – ARC review

Author: Shelby Mahurin
Publication Date: September 3, 2019 (yes, I’m aware that that was two months ago, but I received this ARC less than a week before the book came out, as part of a thank-you from Epic Reads, and it’s been hard to fit into my schedule…)
Genre: YA fantasy, romance
My rating: 3.5/5 stars

I really, really wanted to love this book. It sounded like my kind of story–witches! enemies-to-lovers! morally gray characters!–but the reality was disappointing in its execution.

Fireborne – ARC review

Author: Rosaria Munda
Publication date: October 15, 2019
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy
My rating: 4.5/5 stars

Until I started reading this book, I had forgotten a) how much I love books with dragons, and b) how long it had been since I had read one. With a fantastic blend of politics, questions of personal allegiance, dragon fights, ethical quandaries, and a dash of romance, Fireborne ended up being everything I hoped it would be.

Resurrection Girls – ARC review

Author: Ava Morgyn
Publication date: October 1, 2019
Genre: YA contemporary/drama, magical realism
My rating: 4/5 stars

What a weird, yet beautiful, little book. I went in expecting something a little creepy, a little sad, a little quirky, but I closed the book (er, Kindle) with the sense that (a) I had just read a painfully real look at grief and loss, and (b) I just observed one of the most bizarre endings I had ever read. No, that isn’t a spoiler; trust me when I say it is not one you couldn’t predict even if you tried.

The World That We Knew – ARC review

Author: Alice Hoffman
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Genre: historical fiction, magical realism, fantasy
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This is a book that I’m sure many people will love. It’s a WWII story, an era which is always popular with the historical fiction crowd. The writing is quite lovely in its simplicity. The main characters are predominantly strong women, and one of the novel’s biggest themes is the strength of a mother’s love. And of course, it has a slight fantasy twist, drawing from Jewish mythology to further explore ideas about family, loyalty, and promises. But for me, the elements didn’t gel together quite as nicely as I would have liked.