Book #226 of 2019: Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić This is one of the strangest books I’ve ever encountered, and I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about it — or if I would have reached the end if it hadn’t been selected for me to read and review by one of …
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Book #225 of 2019: Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza (Empress of a Thousand Skies #1) This YA space opera unfortunately doesn’t work for me. The setting feels nowhere near as expansive as that great title implies, and the character relations aren’t built up enough for any of the plot twists to land …
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Book #224 of 2019: Supernova by Marissa Meyer (Renegades #3) This is overall a competent conclusion to a decent YA trilogy, but I’m still pretty flummoxed that author Marissa Meyer never delves deeper into the issue of what makes someone a hero or a villain. If anything, a late reveal cements the villainous side as …
Book #223 of 2019: Kingdom of Souls by Rena Barron (Kingdom of Souls #1) The fantasy worldbuilding in this YA debut gets a bit off the rails in the end, but as a cliffhanger setup for the next book in the trilogy, it just about works. And the whole novel beforehand is definitely strong enough …
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Book #222 of 2019: It’s a Whole Spiel: Love, Latkes, and Other Jewish Stories edited by Katherine Locke and Laura Silverman This 2019 YA volume presents over a dozen brand-new short stories from Jewish writers about contemporary Jewish teens. The characters vary in their specific denominations and levels of religiosity, with some of the plots …
Book #221 of 2019: Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly This is a really lovely middle-grade novel about a twelve-year-old deaf girl trying to help a lonely whale — ostracized for singing at an unusual frequency — and I think a younger audience would enjoy it even more than I have. Author Lynne Kelly’s …
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Book #220 of 2019: The Whisper Man by Alex North There’s a definite Stephen King / Joe Hill vibe to this 2019 British thriller about a serial child murderer and a boy who talks to people that others can’t see. It’s creepy verging on terrifying throughout, even though the expected abduction doesn’t happen until fairly …
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Book #219 of 2019: House of Salt and Sorrows by Erin A. Craig I was initially on board for this Poe-inflected retelling of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, but the middle is a bit of a generic YA slog and the ending really goes off the rails with unearned revelations about the setting’s mythology. (It’s fine …
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Book #218 of 2019: The Deep by Rivers Solomon with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes There’s a lot going on with this novella, and although I think its ambition surpasses its short length, it contains a worthwhile consideration of generational trauma as a source of both suffering and strength. Author Rivers Solomon has …
Book #217 of 2019: A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth I love the magic in this standalone regency fantasy novel, which concerns a temperamental living house that grows flowering vines to caress its caretaker, yet floods her veins with deadly mortar when she channels its power to protect the local countryside. It’s simultaneously …
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