Tag: book review
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Graceling Realm Book Announcement and Graphic Novel Review
When I got a notification on Twitter that Kristin Cashore’s ready to announce her next book, complete with the cover reveal and release date, I cannot express how utterly surprised and unprepared I was. A new book?? So soon after Winterkeep? I would be lying if I said her previous book lived up to my…
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A Deadly Education: A Case Study in Pacing
It is always pleasant to be taken by surprise with a novel, and, a few cultural missteps notwithstanding, A Deadly Education provided just that. (For the concerned reader, I do plan on delving into this in my book review, but this post is already long enough as it is.) The author, Naomi Novik, uses world-building…
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RBR: Firekeeper’s Daughter, Kings of the Wyld, etc.
Alright, friends, I’ve read a handful of books in the past two weeks and it’s time for another rapid book review. There’s actually a pretty nice variety in the books–a historic YA fantasy, a YA thriller, an adult epic fantasy, a play, and a YA epic fantasy. So there’s probably something for just about everyone…
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Setting Study: Monsters of Verity and the Fringes of Genre
Victoria Schwab’s Monsters of Verity duology is one that walks two tracks: it follows some unwritten rules of genre writing while carving out a completely new niche in the specific subgenre of Fantasy. In today’s post, I’m going to attempt to extrapolate what, exactly, might make a book feel more of a genre book rather…
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RBR: The Fires of Vengeance, Wings of Ebony, Our Dark Duet, etc.
I’m excited to say that, after half a year of waiting, I’ve finally finished the second books of two series that had me hyped last year. Those being: The Fires of Vengeance by Evan Winter, part of a four-book series called the Burning; and Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab, the conclusion to the Monsters…
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Setting Study: Wings of Ebony and Hidden Worlds
To many fantasy readers, there is something alluring about the idea of a magical world hidden from view, the possibility that it could be ours to use if we just know how to pierce that veil of secrecy. You see it in the likes of Harry Potter, Three Dark Crowns (although that is actually high…
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RBR: Tell The Truth and Shame the Devil, Malice, Call Down the Hawk, The Gilded Ones, The Magician King
Welcome to another rapid book review. It’s been about a month since I’ve done one of these so I have several books to get through. The first one was an audiobook. The rest were physical copies. All but the audiobook were fantasy novels, so if you’re looking for some fantasy recommendations, you’re in luck. We…
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Goodbye, Goodreads. Hello, StoryGraph?
Everyone loves to hate on Goodreads, and for good reason. Amazon bought the website several years ago, and ever since then, there haven’t been any substantial updates to how the site looks or operates. It just feels old. That, plus all the ads, the Book Awards amounting to nothing more than a popularity contest, and…
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Book Review: To Sleep in a Sea of Stars
Christopher Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle was one of those formative fantasy series that really began my obsession for the genre. I remember seeing that blue dragon on the cover way back in middle school, and it drew me in the same way that the bow and arrow drew me in for Kristin Cashore’s work. Like Cashore’s…
Katie Bachelder 