Category: Fiction

Categories
Fiction

Bookshops & Bonedust

by Travis Baldree, Review 14 of 2023

If you liked Legends & Lattes, you’ll like this. If you don’t have any idea what that is, you’ll still probably like this. Bookshops & Bonedust is the prequel to Legends & Lattes and manages to be just as cute despite the extremely high bar. Viv, a young orc injured in battle, must use her time in recovery to engage in a journey of self discovery despite her determination to be out proving herself. Nonetheless, trouble finds its way to her. If you’re looking for something funny, comforting and low stakes, this is it. 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Fantasy

Content Warning: Swearing, Mythical creatures engaging in violence 

Categories
Fiction

Sex Ed

By Kristen Bailey, review 12 of 2023

I love a sex-positive laugh out loud romance. Sex Ed follows Mia and Ed, close friends and colleagues, as they take their relationship into uncharted territory in an attempt to prepare Ed, a 28-year-old virgin, to pursue a new love interest with confidence. I loved the awkwardness and found the honest communication about sex refreshing. Added bonuses include: supporting characters with depth and non-traditional gender roles. 

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Categories: Fiction, Romance, Contemporary

Content Warnings: Cheating, Abusive relationship

Categories
Blog Fiction

Something Quite Beautiful

by Amanda Prowse, Book 87 of 2022

This collection of short stories was healing for my bruised heart. Funny, smart, thought-provoking. This book is such a treat, life affirming without being too sweet. This would make a great Christmas or holiday gift for the readers in your life. Bonus, the narration of the audiobook was excellent.

Categories
Blog Fiction

Dinosaurs

by Lydia Millet, book 85 of 2022

This book is subtle, its’ depth builds up while reading chapter after chapter of mundane interactions between Gil, the protagonist, and his network of seemingly average acquaintances. This is NOT like the author’s previous book, A Children’s Bible, Millet makes a much gentler case for being a good person here. While not the most impactful work I’ve read this year, Millet achieved something notable, she made me care deeply about an extremely average independently wealthy white man.

Categories
Blog Fiction

Bliss Montage: Stories

by Ling Ma, Book 73 of 2022

Does anyone else find it hard to review collections of short stories? Some of the stories include magical realism and those I found to be the most engaging, while others fell a little flat. One about a dysfunctional childhood friendship carried into adulthood, was life affirming in a bizarre way. Others I’m still trying to wrap my head around. The tone is ominous and yet somehow playful? Overall, worth reading!

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Drug Use, Domestic Violence, Racism, Abandonment, Body Horror (kind of??) involving Pregnancy

Categories: Fiction, Short Stories

Categories
Blog Fiction

In the Shadow Garden

by Liz Parker, book 72 of 2022

Gilmore Girls meets Charmed meets Once Upon a Time in this magical mystery story centered on a big matriarchal southern family. I won’t spoil it, but this is a great spooky season read for anyone who likes autumn more cozy than scary. Bonus: the audiobook narrators were lovely and added to the depth of the story.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Alcohol, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Murder

Categories: Fiction, Mystery, Multiple narrators 

Categories
Blog Fiction

The Make-up Test

by Jenny L. Howe, book 65 of 2022

This second chance romance focuses on Allison Avery, a dedicated PhD Candidate in Medieval Literature who’s just begun studying under her academic hero. Her hard work is paying off and everything is falling into place… until she discovers that her ex-boyfriend and ex-rival from college is back and causing more trouble than ever. She doesn’t have time to deal with him, especially while managing a difficult relationship with her father and feeling estranged from her best friend. While I found it a bit difficult to really get invested in the plot there were some things I loved: a plus sized protagonist, so many lit references, and real talk about challenging familial issues. 

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Body shaming, Death of a parent, Grief, Emotional abuse

Categories: Fiction, Romance, Comedy

Categories
Blog Fiction

The Monsters We Defy

By Leslye Penelope, book 56 of 2022

This is a fun and spooky heist story set in the 1920’s. Clara Johnson, a young black woman with the power to commune with spirits, joins up with a group of talented friends to save their community from a mysterious force that causes folks to disappear. I don’t want to give away anything but I found the layers of this story to be really engaging and fun to uncover. It had high enough stakes to keep me interested but low enough not to be too stressful. A budding romance, feisty best friend, and a little magic, what’s not to like? 

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings:  Racism, Police Violence, Slavery, Classism, Colorism, Abduction

Categories
Blog Fiction

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy

by Megan Bannen, book 54 of 2022

This is an enemies to lovers romantic comedy focusing on death and featuring zombies. Hart is a lonely demigod warden tasked with overseeing the safety of humans facing a growing drudge problem (drudges are essentially zombies). Mercy is the oldest daughter in a long line of undertakers struggling to keep the family business intact despite growing problems both inside her family and from her competitors. Hart and Mercy hate each other… or do they? This book has a somewhat convoluted premise but a very sweet and spicy execution. Seriously there’s a lot going on here (multiple gods, demigods, magical creatures, souls, abstract geography, etc). Despite having to do more mental work than I desire for a light romantic comedy read, I loved so much of this book. I laughed, I cried, and I loved these characters. 

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Death, Violence, Something that’s basically a zombie, lots of death.

Categories: Fiction, LGBTQ, Multiple Narrators

Categories
Blog Fiction

Big Girl

by Mecca Jamilah Sullivan, book 51 of 2022

Cover of the book Big Girl, bright teal background with large gold block lettering with purple accents. Images of Harlem's street scape in the letters.

The heart of this book is Malaya, a funny and resilient young girl growing up in Harlem in the 1990’s. While the book covers hip hop, race, gentrification, and Malaya’s sexual awakening, the vast majority is about Malaya’s relationships with her parents, grandmother, friends and most of all food. This book was moving and wonderfully descriptive, but extremely stress inducing for me.

Warning, if you have any kind of eating, dietary, or body image issues, this book could be very triggering. I found myself disturbed by the way Malaya’s mother and grandmother talked about food, their bodies, and women’s bodies in general, though nothing surprised me considering the way society scrutinizes women’s appearance and choices. I will say the writing was great and the end was very moving and hopeful but it was a real challenge to enjoy the ride.

Thank you to the publisher, author and NetGalley for this ALC!

Content Warnings: Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Addiction, Death of a family member, Statutory Rape