I don’t read too much middle-grade fiction, but I do occasionally dip my toe, and The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera has been recommended by enough friends that it was high on my list to try. And with Middle Grade on this year’s Bingo board, there was no better time than the present. The… Continue reading Middle-Grade Sci-fi Novel Review: The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Ode to the Half-Broken was released on May 26, 2026. While Suzanne Palmer’s acclaimed Bot 9 stories fell into the liked-not-loved category for me, she’s written enough excellent stories for me to be intrigued… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Ode to the Half-Broken by Suzanne Palmer
This review is based on an eARC (Advance Reading Copy) provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Palaces of the Crow was released on May 19, 2026. Ray Nayler wowed me a few years back with his debut novel, The Mountain in the Sea. My last couple reads didn’t quite hit… Continue reading Historical Speculative Novel Review: Palaces of the Crow by Ray Nayler
This review is based on a ebook provided by the author for the purpose of an honest review. Sometimes a new release checks so many boxes that there’s no real question about whether I’ll pick it up, only about how long it will take me to get my hands on it. With an author I’d… Continue reading Sci-fi Novella Review: The Language of Liars by S.L. Huang
Courtney Schafer’s Underread Treasures review series has been as advertised, and it’s given me plenty of excellent TBR fodder. That includes Lorna Freeman’s Covenants, which I bought a couple years back and had spent that time languishing in the corner of my bookshelf. But the week before the new Bingo year (yes, this review is… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Covenants by Lorna Freeman
I’m not much of a romantasy reader, so when I saw that a romantasy imprint was releasing a new book with a pretty cover, I didn’t think much of it. But a couple glowing reviews prompted me to take a further look, and an author interview pushing back against the perception of the novel… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Poet Empress by Shen Tao
2025 was a bit of a light novella year for me, so I’ve kept on the lookout for intriguing options to try. A couple compelling reviews for Eden Royce’s adult debut Psychopomp and Circumstance were all the push I needed to scour my library system for a copy. Psychopomp and Circumstance is a Reconstruction Era… Continue reading Fantasy Novella Review: Psychopomp and Circumstance by Eden Royce
I’m not much for gunslinging Westerns, but I did quite enjoy M.R. Carey’s Pandominion Duology, so when I saw that he had a new standalone set in the same universe, I decided to give Outlaw Planet a try. And while it may not be my usual fare, it’s indeed a pretty fun read! Outlaw Planet… Continue reading Sci-fi Novel Review: Outlaw Planet by M.R. Carey
When I talk fantasy to someone outside my niche online groups, the most likely author to be mentioned is far and away Brandon Sanderson. I tend to have mixed feelings about his work—he has some real strengths, but some notable weaknesses as well—but Tress of the Emerald Sea is enough of a stylistic experiment that… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson
I’d only read two previous novels by Alix E. Harrow, but her prose consistently pulls me in the story, so when I started hearing hype for The Everlasting, I decided to give it a shot. The Everlasting is a time-loop story about a legendary knight and the scholar studying her, featuring lots of digging into… Continue reading Fantasy Novel Review: The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
