Book #218 of 2018: It Devours! by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor (Welcome to Night Vale #2) Even more so than the first Welcome to Night Vale novel, I can’t imagine this book appealing much to any readers who are not already fans of the original podcast. The plot is brand-new, but it relies heavily …
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Book #217 of 2018: The Girl with the Red Balloon by Katherine Locke (The Balloonmakers #1) I have a hard time investing in this novel’s central romance, which consists of two frequently blushing and stammering teens who basically fall for one another at first sight. I also sometimes want more from the prose, which doesn’t …
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Book #216 of 2018: Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Dread Nation #1) This novel offers a great character voice and an intriguing world: a version of Reconstruction-era America in which the Civil War has ended prematurely due to a sudden zombie uprising. Unfortunately, the plot is fairly uneven, and the tone is all over the …
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Book #215 of 2018: The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch (Gentleman Bastard #3) I have such mixed feelings about this book and what it portends for the rest of its series. In part that’s because it’s trying to do three very different things, and I think it accomplishes them with varying degrees of success. …
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TV #48 of 2018: Marvel’s Daredevil, season 3 I have some issues with how all-knowing Kingpin becomes in the back half of this season, and I’m not sure Matt’s no-killing policy really holds up under scrutiny, but overall this is a triumphant return to form for Daredevil. Clear and compelling character arcs, complex villains, great …
Book #214 of 2018: Caliban’s War by James S. A. Corey (The Expanse #2) This second novel in the Expanse series has some of the same issues as the first — like exoticizing and sexualizing the characters who aren’t white men — and a very similar plot, right down to the girl kidnapped by a …
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Book #213 of 2018: Lethal White by Robert Galbraith (Cormoran Strike #4) I love the characters in J. K. Rowling’s pseudonymous detective novels, but I’m often disappointed by their plots, and this one feels particularly aimless. The investigation shifts from a cryptic remark about a disturbed man’s childhood memory to a case of political blackmail …
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Book #212 of 2018: Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (Thursday Next #2) Two books in, I think I have to conclude that this series is just not working for me. There are plenty of clever ideas, but they’re delivered in such a scattershot manner that none of it really coheres together. I’m …
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Book 210 of 2018: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter #4) This middle volume marks a major shift in the Harry Potter series in a number of ways. It’s much longer than the previous novels, but it’s also significantly darker and more mature. The title wizard and his …
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Book #211 of 2018: Wildcard by Marie Lu (Warcross #2) One of the best things about author Marie Lu’s novel Warcross is its surprise ending, which pulls the rug out from underneath characters and readers alike and dramatically raises the stakes of the series. Accordingly, it’s the failure to adequately deliver on that promise that …
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