I never know what I’m going to get next from Mary McCoy, which is one of the things that keeps drawing me back to her work. From her pen I’ve read a retelling of cutthroat ancient Roman politics set in the world of high school student councils (I, Claudia), a quirky, genre-bending summer camp adventureRead More
A Charming Underdog Sports Story: Bea Mullins Takes a Shot by Emily Deibert
Bea Mullins is not good at sports. That’s just a fact she’s accepted after a lifetime of athletic humiliation. But when her middle school’s gym floods and she’s forced to join an after-school sport to compensate for PE class, she’s persuaded to join the Glenwood Geese, her school’s new all-girls hockey team. As it turnsRead More
An Innovative Reincarnation Romance: The Isle in the Silver Sea by Tasha Suri
Once upon a time, there was a witch and a knight. They loved each other, and that love led to their deaths. But that death was not permanent, because they were born again, loved again, and died again. And again. And again. And again. Because on the isle, stories are as real and as repetitiveRead More
Poignant and Precise: Spinning by Tillie Walden
Every four years, the Winter Olympics rolls around and, like clockwork, I become temporarily obsessed with figure skating. This time, however, I’ve found my obsession sticking around a little longer, so I decided to reread Tillie Walden’s graphic novel Spinning, a memoir that explores the author’s years as a competitive figure skater and her decisionRead More
Tender and Terrifying: Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjulia Datta
Do you ever know that you’re going to enjoy a book so much that you just keep putting off reading it? That was me with Feast While You Can by Mikaella Clements and Onjuli Datta. I’m a big fan of the married co-authors’s previous work, the celebrity romance The View Was Exhausting, and the promise of their secondRead More
Shakespeare, Study Hall, and Secrets Worth Killing Over: This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki and Nicole Goux
Wilberton Academy takes its theater seriously. Members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society are revered by the student body, and beautiful, talented Elizabeth Woodward is a shining star among them. The whole school is abuzz over the production of Romeo and Juliet that Elizabeth is starring in as the tragic leading lady—until she’s found dead the morningRead More
An Aching and Cathartic Coming of Age Story: Come Home to My Heart by Riley Redgate
Come Home to My Heart by Riley Redgate is one of those books I absolutely ached over. Having written some of my favorite young adult contemporary novels–Final Draft and Look No Further–Riley Redgate is an auto-read author for me and I was thrilled to see she had a new novel coming out. (With a cover by Tillie Walden, one ofRead More
A Sizzling Sports Romance: Set Point by Meg Jones
While I’m not usually much of a sports romance person, recent pop culture events have gotten me a little more intrigued by the genre. In the very specific mood to read romance complicated by the high stakes and rivalries of professional athletics, I downloaded an eARC of Meg Jones’s upcoming tennis romance novel Set Point on aRead More
Wrangling Chaos and Grief: Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders Review
Recently, I was complaining to my sister about one of my pet peeves in fiction: stories featuring an academic or student that is vague about that character’s area of interest or research. Get specific about it! Include some nerdy tangents! Don’t just have a character vaguely be described as an art historian or a classicistRead More
An Absorbing Fantasy Series Opener: To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
Dragons seem to be having a pop culture moment once again, whether it’s on your TV or on your bookshelf, as alluring shapeshifters or war steeds. In a crowded field, Moniquill Blackgoose’s To Shape a Dragon’s Breath holds its own as a unique take on classic fantasy tropes. Set in an alternate version of 1800s Massachusetts, theRead More