Book #20 of 2019: Circe by Madeline Miller I’m not well-versed enough in Greek mythology to recognize everywhere this novel diverts from the traditional versions of the title character’s story, but it’s nevertheless clear that this presentation of her life on her own terms is something special. Much like Wicked, it’s a feminist reclamation of …
Tag Archives: fantasy
Book Review: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Book #12 of 2019: Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orïsha #1) Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A small band of commoners discover a secret that could bring down their evil empire and restore the old order, but when their home is attacked, they are forced to flee, …
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Book Review: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas
Book #8 of 2019: A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas (A Court of Thorns and Roses #1) I’m pretty underwhelmed by this retelling of Beauty and the Beast by way of Twilight, which somehow captures some of the worst impulses of both those narratives. There’s no real build-up to the heroine’s …
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Book Review: Archenemies by Marissa Meyer
Book #4 of 2019: Archenemies by Marissa Meyer (Renegades #2) I like this superhero spy sequel much more than its predecessor, but I’m still struggling with some of the basic concepts of this series. Nova’s hatred of the Renegades — which continues to be a bizarre name for an official government peacekeeping force — has …
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Book Review: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
Book #251 of 2018: Princess Academy by Shannon Hale (Princess Academy #1) Situated right on the boundary between middle-grade and young adult fiction, this little book is pretty delightful. It’s more grounded — and more feminist — than the fairy tale it at first resembles, and is filled with strong female friendships and the struggles …
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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling
Book #249 of 2018: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter #7) And so my Harry Potter reread comes to an end with what I consider the weakest volume of the series (not counting oddities like the Cursed Child screenplay or the flimsy textbook tie-ins). The major problem in this …
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Book Review: The Book of Magic edited by Gardner Dozois
Book #248 of 2018: The Book of Magic edited by Gardner Dozois Gardner Dozois was a prolific editor of speculative fiction, and this is most likely his final project, having come to publication soon after his death in 2018. It’s a series of stories about sorcery — the companion to last year’s Dozois fantasy collection …
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Book Review: How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin
Book #244 of 2018: How Long ’til Black Future Month? by N. K. Jemisin A few of these short stories miss the mark for me, and the ones I like best seem front-loaded in the first half of the collection, giving the book at large an uneven feel. Still, author N. K. Jemisin’s imagination is …
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Book Review: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee
Book #241 of 2018: The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee (Montague Siblings #1) Overall, I adore this historical fiction novel about queer teens on their grand tour of eighteenth-century continental Europe. It’s phenomenal representation in a genre that often starves for any diversity at all, and the action of the story …
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Book Review: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling
Book #236 of 2018: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling (Harry Potter #6) I love plenty of individual moments in this penultimate Harry Potter book, but if I’m being truly objective, its flashback-heavy narrative arc is a bit of a step down for the series. As usual author J. K. Rowling …
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The Lesser Joke: book reviews and more 