I don’t normally pick up contemporary fiction, especially not these days when all I want is an escape. But then, a funny thing happened…I actually got tired of reading escapist fluff. Can you imagine? Yeah, neither could I. Maybe I finally could stomach a little bit of reality—even if that reality was about a devoted … Continue reading The Promise of Stardust, by Priscille Sibley →

Maybe I’m getting too old for some YA authors. Maybe I’ve grown out of some YA characters. Either way, I read through a lot of Robin Palmer’s Geek Charming with clenched teeth. I first read Robin Palmer’s work when I was fifteen or sixteen. It was around this age that I really started (mentally) critiquing … Continue reading Geek Charming, by Robin Palmer →

It’s been a hot minute since I last read Meg Cabot, but she, like Sarah Dessen, was a staple of my teen years. I remember sitting against the fence surrounding my junior high school track field, doing homework and reading the Princess Diaries between events. I even took up journaling every day just so I … Continue reading No Offense, by Meg Cabot →

It’s probably clear by now that many fantasy books have shaped my reading tastes. Indeed, my bookshelf is still chock-full of fantastic works about fantastic worlds. But A Mango-Shaped Space, a piece of realistic fiction, is different—it’s special. A Mango-Shaped Space was the first book that I remember made me cry. And I don’t just … Continue reading A Mango-Shaped Space, by Wendy Mass →

So here we are: another YA fairy book from the post-Twilight years when hidden destinies were found inside of love triangles and magical melodrama. I remember Wings being almost as polarizing as its vampire predecessor when it came out in 2009, which makes it sound like it’s cut from the same problematic young adult fantasy … Continue reading Wings, by Aprilynne Pike →

Is it seriously any surprise that I’ve turned to yet another fluff book? I know the pandemic is six months old at this point, but sometimes, anxiety turns on a dime and literary escapism is not a bad thing. I’ve actually read Head in the Clouds before. It was a fluffy summer read that I … Continue reading Head in the Clouds, by Karen Witemeyer →

A funny thing happened to me the other day at the bookstore: I picked up a book called The Girl of Fire and Thorns by Rae Carson, and after reading the summary, I decided I was in for a comfortable and familiar fantasy adventure.  I took it home, and quickly discovered the summary lied to … Continue reading The Girl of Fire and Thorns, by Rae Carson →

Low fantasy, you might be surprised to hear, has just as much a place in my heart as high fantasy.  I love elves and swords and high stakes, don’t get me wrong, but a story about modern characters faced with magic in the real world takes me away just as easily.  Probably because that stuff … Continue reading Fairy Tale, by Cyn Balog →

Fan fiction is one of those things that people either gobble up like a Thanksgiving dinner, or they think is tasteless and disgraceful.  I fall somewhere in the middle; I wrote lots of it when I was in high school, and, from time to time, I go back and find new stories to enjoy.  However, … Continue reading So This Is Love: A Twisted Tale, by Elizabeth Lim →

The saddest part of this pandemic, aside from the whole physical distancing thing, is missing out on comic conventions.  It’s no secret by now how much I love them, and for what reasons, so I shan’t reiterate.  But what I haven’t iterated enough at this point is how much I freaking love Ashley Poston’s work!  … Continue reading Bookish and the Beast, by Ashley Poston →