Content warnings: This series is straight-forward history-geek action adventure, and I am all here for it. This is the second book in a series, and I wouldn’t recommend reading it before the first. Still grieving the deaths of his friends in the last battle, Cade and the other teens on the planet Acies have been given even worse news. Cade’s been…
As part of my reread of the Earthsinger Chronicles, I’m reading the novellas for the first time. This one is ostenibly set two weeks after the events of the first book. The framing is that Jack is telling a story about when he first became High Commander of the Army to encourage a frustrated Jasminda, now being called “Once Wretched,…
Trigger warnings: OK, first, can we just take a moment and squee over that gorgeous cover? I first read this book back when it came out with a traditional big publisher in 2018 and liked it, and I’m rereading the series in preparation for the third book. It’s interesting to revisit this book, especially knowing more than I did then.…
Content warnings: Yes, this book does live up to the gorgeous murdery vibes of Florence + The Machine’s “Seven Devils.” These women are, in fact, here to burn your kingdom down, and there’s a lot of grappling around “evil hearts” and “evil souls.” It definitely gave me Rogue One and Guardians of the Galaxy vibes, in the sense of an unlikely…
Content warnings: I like house party mysteries, heroines who are disadvantaged but plucky, and fantasy matriarchal societies, so I should’ve liked this book. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me, largely due to the amount of content warnings. “It was odd to be the strong one here. Mages have the power, not mundanes. Odd to be the one giving help…
Did I maybe forget that June was a month? Yes, yes, I did. In my defense, after seven months of having my husband and kids in the house with me ALL THE TIME I’m not really sure what month it is any more. What I do know, though, is that I’m forever grateful for the wonderful friends I’ve made in…
I’ve been reading Kit Rocha’s books for a long time, and there’s certain things I expect from them: amazing found families, strong and fierce heroines, and a nail-bitingly good plot. So it’s no surprise that their first traditionally published book has all that, plus the sunshine/grumpy trope, a post-apocalyptic road trip, and multiple discussions of whether various characters are psycho…
Content warnings: Come for the teased hair and Cabbage Patch Dolls, stay for the sweet coming-of-age story as a teen spends the summer before college working at the local mall, scouring the mall as part of a treasure hunt and navigating her derailed plans for love and her future. Like the rest of her life, Cassie has her summer all…
Content warnings: I was absolutely blown away by the first book in the series and its angry, hurting characters, and expected more of the same from this book. Instead, I got an achingly sweet second-chance romance with kindhearted characters surrounded by a whole lot of awfulness, and it’s certainly one of the best books I’ll read this year. It takes a…
Content warnings: While at first glance the cover is cute (is that the chocolate bundt cake?), I’m going to point out that since this is an illustrated cover, there is zero excuse for whitewashing the two Korean main characters. I previously read Jayci Lee’s Harlequin debut, Temporary Wife Temptation, and loved it, so I was very excited for this book.…