This is a post-apocalyptic ride of a novel with many a comparison to the Mad Max movies. Desert wastelands, thrilling motorcycle rides, and dinosaur-like creatures await in these pages! Jin-Lu, our main character, is a mage-bike courier, which means she has an aesthetically cool and extremely dangerous job taking messages and cargo across the wastelandsRead More
A Revolutionary Tale: The Daughters of Izdihar by Hadeer Elsbai
The Daughters of Izdihar is Hadeer Elsbai’s debut novel. It’s the first in The Alamaxa Duology, and I raced to the second book the moment I finished this one (tune in next month for that review). It’s always a thrill to read a fantasy novel that’s not set in the Western tradition, and with aRead More
Sci-Fi as Protest: Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
I don’t think I’ve ever been so pulled into a novel by the dedication, author’s note, and epigraph. (The epigraph to Part One is “i did not come to preach of peace / for that’s not the hunted’s duty.” -Danez Smith.) In the author’s note, Johnson explains the inspiration behind this book coming from her time participating in the 62-day sit in at Nashville’s Tennessee State Capitol. I found myself writing down multiple quotations, including…
Feral Eldritch Ballerinas: I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea
Laure is a ballet dancer who has devoted herself entirely to her profession. She spends every waking moment honing her skill. And she is perfect. But as she soon learns, perfect is not enough. It doesn’t matter that she’s the best, because she’s fighting to rise up in an institution that sees her working classRead More
Take a Shot on How You Get the Girl by Anita Kelly
Buy this from Bookshop.org to support local bookstores and the Lesbrary! While coaching East Nashville High’s girl’s basketball teen, Coach Julie Parker expects passionate players and quick springs, not for the star of her fantasies, ex-WNBA baller Elle Cochrane, to show up with the niece she’s fostering. Despite being all heart-eyed and tongue-tied, Julie convincesRead More
Sea Monsters and Lesbian Pirates: The Abyss Surrounds Us & The Edge of the Abyss by Emily Skrutskie
Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The Abyss Surrounds Us and The Edge of the Abyss feel like one book that’s been split in two. And I mean that in the best way possible—one of my biggest frustrations with young adult fiction is when it doesn’t take the time to slowly and properly develop its themes, characters, narrativeRead More
Vic reviews The Wicked Remain (The Grimrose Girls #2) by Laura Pohl
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link The Wicked Remain by Laura Pohl is the follow-up to last year’s The Grimrose Girls and exactly the conclusion this duology deserved, which is to say it was clever, full of hope, with a clear love of stories and rage at their prescribed endings. While I will try to avoid spoiling eitherRead More
Kelleen reviews An Absolutely Remarkable Thing and A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor by Hank Green
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link I am in the middle of THE most epic reading slump this summer. I haven’t been reading a tenth of what I usually do, and the genres and storylines that usually capture my attention just aren’t doing it for me right now. But I’ve read these books 3.5Read More
Maggie reviews This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron
Amazon Affiliate Link | Bookshop.org Affiliate Link This Wicked Fate by Kalynn Bayron is the sequel to This Poison Heart, her gothic YA fantasy filled with Black girl magic, Greek mythology, and impressive action. This book picks up directly after This Poison Heart and deals with Briseis trying to grapple with the events and betrayals of the last book. Faced withRead More