THE FOX WIFE rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. The term “immersive” gets thrown around a lot, but I rarely get truly immersed in books. Yangsze Choo‘s fantasy novel THE FOX WIFE (Henry Holt/Macmillan, February 13, 2024) had me in its grip from page one. I was there in 1908 Manchuria. The novel is as stunning as […]
WHAT FEASTS AT NIGHT rating: 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Chilling! It wasn’t real horses as I predicted from the cover, but dream horses that were scary in WHAT FEASTS AT NIGHT, the second novella in the Sworn Solider horror series by T. Kingfisher (Tor/Macmillan, February 13, 2024). However, distinguishing dreams from reality is iffy in this
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BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST rating: 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐. Audiobook will bump it to 5. This honest, big-hearted orc knows what’s good. Wherever Viv is planted, she blooms. BOOKSHOPS & BONEDUST by Travis Baldree (Tor/Macmillan, November 7, 2023) is a prequel to LEGENDS & LATTES (Tor/Macmillan, November 8, 2022), which proved that the Tiktok kids are sometimes
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IN THE LIVES OF PUPPETS rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. We’re awash in cynicism. We’re drowning in snark. You know what is missing? Goodness. Pure, unadulterated goodness. When I think of literary goodness, I think of Bishop Myriel, even though I never got all the way through LES MISERABLES, being defeated at Waterloo. And I think
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STARLING HOUSE rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. Like Alix E. Harrow‘s other heroines, orphan Opal is a savvy, strong-willed girl. She’s a Kentuckian, so she’s also willing to bend (or break) rules or face down any danger in order to fight for her kin. STARLING HOUSE (Tor/Macmillan, October 3, 2023) is a flipped fairy tale like
LUCKY RED rating: 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. If you ask about my favorite genre, Western will likely be the last thing on the list, but some westerns I revere. LONESOME DOVE (1985). THE SISTERS BROTHERS (2011). But, feminist westerns. Hello. As with the circus, the frontier is a place where fictional women can explore identities and
Three very good books were released yesterday, March 7, 2023. My rating for all three is 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐ . Disclaimer: Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan for sending me a copy of Weyward; Edelweiss Plus and Macmillan for sending me a copy of Birnam Wood; and Netgalley and Hachette for sending me a copy of
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