Book Reviews
Explore thoughtfully curated book reviews that help you discover your next favorite read.
Cracks: Book One in the Saga of the Spheres, by L.A. Prendergast | Book Review
What if a man’s drowning breath was not an ending, but a doorway to another type of existence? This is the electrifying premise of Cracks, Houston-based writer L.A. Prendergast’s ambitious debut novel, a fantasy novel that largely trades sword-and-sorcery spectacle for something…
Read More
Blood Tide, by Daniel Douglas | Book Review
There’s something satisfying about a noir that knows exactly what it is. Daniel P. Douglas’s new novelette, the pen name of identical twins Phil and Paul Garver, Blood Tide doesn’t apologize for its cigarette smoke and rain-slicked streets, doesn’t try to subvert the…
Read More
All You Need Is Love, by Meg Macy | Book Review
All You Need Is Love is a new contemporary romance novel set in Ann Arbor from Meg Macy, author of the Shamelessly Adorable Teddy Bear series. Clearly a genre pivot for the author, at its centre is Jack Riley, a former actor…
Read More
Captain Spaghetti & The Well-behaved Princess: The Mozzarella Heist, by Karyn Wills | Book Review
In her new children’s book, Karyn Wills has crafted a delightfully absurd children’s adventure that reads like a cross between Roald Dahl’s mischievous humor and the zany cartoon logic of Captain Underpants. The Mozzarella Heist is the kind of book that will…
Read More
The Seer’s Curse, by A. K. Nikole | Book Review
The Seer’s Curse is the debut book from A.K. Nikole, a YA fantasy novel that weaves together multiple timelines in a fantasy romance that will have younger readers glued to their books. The novel operates on two primary plot threads: Rune’s contemporary…
Read More
Vampire so Virtuous, by Margot Arden | Book Review
Margot Arden’s Vampire so Virtuous operates on a deceptively simple premise: what happens when predators develop moral codes? The question drives this dual narrative thriller which follows Cally, a Boston taekwondo instructor navigating terrible dates and inexplicable nightmares, and Antoine, a centuries-old…
Read More
Hear Me, by Lynn Crandall | Book Review
“Hear Me” is a new paranormal romance thriller that manages to sneak deeper themes past readers who came for the sexy supernatural love story. Set in the small town of Auralia, this second installment of the Dark Sides series follows Ainsley Durham…
Read More
The Bird Who Was Afraid to Fly, by Aubrey Hunt | Book Review
Harker Jones has crafted something special with “The Bird Who Was Afraid to Fly,” a picture book for children that manages to tackle the universal experience of fear while charming adults too with its beautiful illustrations. This isn’t your typical “face your…
Read More
Wild Oz, by Geoff Clodd—Book Review
Geoff Clodd’s “Wild Oz” occupies an interesting niche in contemporary travel writing, being neither the polished wanderlust of Elizabeth Gilbert nor the calculated outrageousness of Tucker Max, but something more genuine. This memoir of backpacking through Australia (with detours through Las Vegas…
Read More
The Last Analog Teenagers, by Abigail Myers—Book Review
There’s something achingly relatable about the world Abigail E. Myers creates in “The Last Analog Teenagers”, even if you’ve never shoplifted cucumber melon lotion or waited by a landline for someone to call. Myers’s debut collection manages to capture that specific loneliness…
Read More