Book #97 of 2021: A Choir of Lies by Alexandra Rowland (A Conspiracy of Truths #2) In the final analysis I think I don’t love this spinoff sequel to A Conspiracy of Truths quite as much as the original novel, but it’s a welcome return to a land where diversity in race, gender, sexuality, disability, …
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Book #94 of 2021: The Mysterious Disappearance of Aidan S. (as told to his brother) by David Levithan I love a nice postmodern portal fantasy, and this middle-grade novel spins a premise I don’t think I’ve seen before, where the focus is not on a child who vanishes into another world, but on a sibling …
Book #91 of 2021: The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert (The Hazel Wood #1) Quite a lot in this YA portal fantasy doesn’t work for me, but I think it mostly comes down to the characters. Alice, our protagonist — yes, this is largely a riff on Alice in Wonderland — is just so angry …
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Book #89 of 2021: The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #3) This closing volume to the original Mistborn trilogy is another outstanding adventure by the standards of the epic fantasy genre at large, but I think it’s perhaps just a minor step down from the first two books. The malevolent force called Ruin …
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Book #80 of 2021: The Foundling and Other Tales of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander A fine but largely unremarkable collection of prequel tales to author Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain (which I just realized I finished reading two years ago today). It’s an early look at a few familiar characters like Fflewddur or Dallben, coupled …
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Book #78 of 2021: These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong (These Violent Delights #1) This is a very loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, pitching the star-crossed lovers as the respective heirs to two rival gang families in 1926 Shanghai. They’re also exes with complicated lingering feelings for one another rather than current sweethearts, with …
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Book #77 of 2021: The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna (Deathless #1) This fantasy novel has some interestingly eerie worldbuilding flourishes early on, but I’ve found the ensuing plot to be slow and overly predictable, which makes it hard to fully invest in the heroine’s journey, much as I always love to celebrate another dark-skinned …
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Book #76 of 2021: The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson (Mistborn #2) Another phenomenal piece of epic fantasy, juggling pulse-pounding cinematic action, endearing characters, court intrigue, worldbuilding revelations, and even a hidden traitor subplot with apparent ease. Although I miss the feeling of daringly clever heist shenanigans from the first novel, this sequel is …
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Book #74 of 2021: Bruja Born by Zoraida Córdova (Brooklyn Brujas #2) Switching protagonists for a sequel is always a dicey maneuver, as it tends to lessen the audience’s investment and risk sidelining the very elements that may have drawn them back into the tale. In this case, for instance, one of my favorite things …
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Book #70 of 2021: Winterkeep by Kristin Cashore (Graceling Realm #4) This has always been a pretty loose series, so I don’t mind that we’ve jumped forward four years for this latest sequel, or that it basically spins an entirely new story instead of picking up any existing thread. In the time since, Queen Bitterblue’s …
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