Book Reviews
Explore thoughtfully curated book reviews that help you discover your next favorite read.
Frik’s Needle: Book I of The Freehilt Chronicles, by GL Charlebois | Book Review
Frik’s Needle (Book one of the Freehilt Chronicles) by GL Charlebois immediately announces itself as a fantasy novel with ambitions. Opening with a world map, a foreword and an epigraph from Plotinus declaring that, “Mankind is poised midway between the gods and…
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Thessari: The Burden of Continuation, by Radu Caplea | Book Review
Before diving into Radu Caplea’s ambitious debut, it’s worth noting that this is a thinking reader’s science fiction novel. It’s the kind that feels heavily inspired by Ursula K. Le Guin, asking difficult moral questions without offering easy answers. Rather than presenting…
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Retribution: Chronicles of Reaper (Book 2), by J.R. Lightfoot | Book Review
Going into Retribution: Chronicles of Reaper Book II by J.R. Lightfoot, I felt slightly at a disadvantage not having read the first book, simply titled Reaper. Nonetheless, this second installment can technically work as a standalone, and I quickly found myself getting…
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Easter at The Three Coins Inn, by Kimberly Sullivan | Book Review
If The White Lotus and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel had a literary cousin, it would be Kimberly Sullivan’s Easter at The Three Coins Inn. This is the kind of book that belongs to that popular hotel-set genre. Think Four Seasons on…
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The Next Goldlighter, by Rob Cozander | Book Review
Despite being about as clueless about MMA as one can possibly get, there was something undeniably interesting to me about the idea of a book that promises to blend MMA fighting with epic fantasy. Wizards shooting spells are well and good, but…
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The Elysian Hegemony, by Michael Byrne | Book Review
“Don’t judge a book by its cover”—wise words, universally ignored. The cover of The Elysian Hegemony features a gun-wielding Chris Pratt-looking figure standing before an ominous pyramid, with a character like Samus from the Halo franchise hovering beside him. The Amazon blurb…
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The Stillness of Murder (Take it to the Limit, Book Four), by Linda Opdyke | Book Review
The fourth installment in the Take it to the Limit series, The Stillness of Murder by Linda Opdyke is a classic, no-holds-barred thriller. The books follow Nashville husband and wife P.I.’s Ethan and Michele Jenks as they ignite a pulse-pounding showdown against…
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In Sekhmet’s Wake, by J. D. Rhodes | Book Review
The second book in the Not All Heroes series, In Sekhmet’s Wake is 454 pages of post-superhero chaos set in 2061. The opening line sets the tone, “It had taken one-hundred and eighty-four years, seven months, and eleven days to create the…
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The Black-Banded Envelope, by G.S. Boarman | Book Review
Starting this book, I have to admit I felt a bit intimidated. At 352 pages and as the fourth installment in a series, The Black-Banded Envelope throws new readers directly into the deep end. The author doesn’t provide much background for newcomers,…
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Automatic Weight Loss Method, by Christine Sutherland | Book Review
I’ve been eating way too much lately. Living in a foreign country with limited vegetarian options has led me down the fast-food rabbit hole, and I know I need to make a change. As someone who has experienced both borderline obesity and…
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