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Book Review: Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer

Book Review: Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer

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Again Behold the Stars by Jessie Latimer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the author. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

While YA and its many subgenres has been hit-or-miss for me in the past, I’ve read a lot of truly excellent young adult sci-fi and fantasy over the last few years. Again Behold the Stars is among the very best. The story is cleverly written, compelling, and loaded with humor and heart and heartbreak, with characters who grow and change and win you over. I was excited from the very first page, when we were introduced to our snarky, unusual narrator: the book itself. And that excitement never wavered, as Latimer never lost the plot or the structure or a solitary character. She was juggling so much, and yet she never dropped a single ball. …

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Book Review: Galahad and the Grail (Merlin’s Isle, #1) by Malcolm Guite

Book Review: Galahad and the Grail (Merlin’s Isle, #1) by Malcolm Guite

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Galahad and the Grail by Malcolm Guite
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Exquisite. Timeless. Exceptional. This is a masterpiece of the highest caliber. And it’s to be treasured in all of its formats. Reading Galahad and the Grail, Guite’s introductory volume in his four-part Merlin’s Isle, feels like uncovering a treasure lost to antiquity, one that is somehow fresh and vibrant in the light of the 21st century sun. His presentation of the search for the Holy Grail is captivating, and it left me so excited to experience the rest of his Arthuriad as he plans to release them over the next few years. Every line, every word, every syllable was chosen with such care and intention. Though this is epic poetry, a form little read in modern society, the story being told through the verse is easy to follow. This could easily be experienced as a family read aloud. It truly feels not only timeless, but ageless in its appeal. …

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Book Review: A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell

Book Review: A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell

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A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile by Angela Bell
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A Lady’s Handbook to Gadgets and Guile is an absolutely delightful story. Drawing inspiration from Little Women, Inspector Gadget, and Victorian England, it is also something uniquely and wonderfully its own. Bell’s sophomore novel is funny, heartfelt, faith-filled, and a joy from start to finish. It also delivers some wonderful disability representation that is going to provide solace and soothing affirmation to those struggling with chronic pain and severe anxiety. …

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The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer

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The Book Witch by Meg Shaffer
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“All stories are love stories if you love stories.”

The Book Witch is one of my very favorite things: a book about books that actually remains a book about books all the way through. There’s also great banter, housed in a wonderful but star-crossed romance where the romantic interest is also a charming friend, one who makes an excellent partner in crime. And there’s a multilayered mystery to be solved. But at its very heart, The Book Witch is a love letter to all stories, but especially to the ones that make us brave. …

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Book Review: Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1) by Ray Bradbury

Book Review: Dandelion Wine (Green Town, #1) by Ray Bradbury

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Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dandelion Wine is an absolutely beautiful coming-of-age story. It’s a book I’ve owned for years, one I purchased second-hand when I realized that it was part of a series that included one of my favorite books, Something Wicked This Way Comes. But for some reason, I kept putting it off, fearing that it would somehow weaken the magical grip Something Wicked has on my heart. Instead, it strengthened it. This slim book is every bit as weirdly wonderful and inexpressibly nostalgic as its counterpart, weaving that same magical grip around my heart regarding the summer as Something Wicked did with autumn. It’s exactly what I’m always craving—but rarely find—when I venture into the realm of natural realism. …

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Book Review: The Lesser Devil (The Sun Eater, 1.5) by Christopher Ruocchio

Book Review: The Lesser Devil (The Sun Eater, 1.5) by Christopher Ruocchio

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The Lesser Devil by Christopher Ruocchio
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“He had always been the lesser devil. Always in Hadrian’s shadow, or his father’s. It had taken years, decades, to realize that it was this that had made him angry as a boy. This that had made him … whatever he’d been.”

“…shadows shrink in time.”

Crispin, the “lesser devil” of House Marlowe, has always lived in Hadrian’s shadow, even close to 40 years after his older brother’s disappearance. Hadrian is constantly on Crispin’s mind. His longing for his older brother, in spite of how terribly they parted, was poignant. “I wish Hadrian was here” and “Hadrian would know what to do” were frequent refrains in his thoughts. And yet, he has within himself the potential to be a better man. …

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Book Review: Empire of Silence (the Sun Eater, #1) by Chistopher Ruocchio

Book Review: Empire of Silence (the Sun Eater, #1) by Chistopher Ruocchio

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Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

“We live in stories, and in stories, we are subject to phenomena beyond the mechanisms of space and time. Fear and love, death and wrath and wisdom—these are as much parts of our universe as light and gravity.”

The Sun Eater is one of those series that I’ve heard so many good things about that I found myself really hesitant to pick it up. But I’m glad that I finally decided to take the plunge, because I was immediately enamored by Hadrian Marlowe and held rapt by his story. Ruocchio has an immaculate way with words, and he’s drawn a dark but impeccably nuanced system of worlds that feels true, even if fictitious. This is a gigantic story, the surface of which is barely scratched in this first installment. …

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Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson

Book Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project, #5) by Brandon Sanderson

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Isles of the Emberdark by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Sometimes the only path forward is costly. We must travel it regardless.”

Isles of the Emberdark is a story I’ve been both excited and nervous to experience. Getting a new novel in Sanderson’s Cosmere is always an amazing feeling, but I always have this small sense of trepidation when approaching a new world, a fear that I might not love it as much as I’ve loved those onto which he’s already invited me. He’s never let me down so far, and Emberdark didn’t break that trend. I loved this new world, and I loved seeing how the technological development of these fantastical worlds is making the Cosmere smaller in a sense. The opening, in which a young Dragon is finally getting her draconian form, delighted me. It was a sweet, lovely, joyful way to start a story. From there, we shift to a place and people wholly different. It was interesting to see how the two disparate parts of the story interact. Starling, the young Dragon, and Sixth of the Dusk, an Eelakin trapper on the isle of Patji, on the world First of the Sun. …

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Book Review: The Restitching of Camille DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere, #2) by Lindsay A. Franklin

Book Review: The Restitching of Camille DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere, #2) by Lindsay A. Franklin

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The Restitching of Camille DuLaine by Lindsay A. Franklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the publisher, Enclave. All thoughts and opinions are entirely my own.

The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine was one of my favorite reads of 2024, so to say that my expectations for its sequel, The Restitching of Camille DuLaine, were high would be an understatement. I can happily report that every one of those expectations and hopes were met. The Restitching of Camille DuLaine is a brilliant sequel, building on the beautiful foundation laid for it by its predecessor. If you’re a lover of story, specifically the stories that have shaped and continue to shape our culture and our world, the charming portal fantasy that is the Rivenlea Sphere duology was crafted with you in mind. This is a love letter to so many of the books that I loved as a child, and to those I have come to love as an adult, while still being its own wonderful, unique story. …

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Book Review: Glass Across the Sea (Realms of Allumeria, #1) by Sara Ella

Book Review: Glass Across the Sea (Realms of Allumeria, #1) by Sara Ella

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Glass Across the Sea by Sara Ella
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Light always finds a way to break free.”

Cinderella has never been one of my favorite fairytales. But after reading Glass Across the Sea, my opinion has radically shifted. This YA fantasy reimagining of “Cinderella”—with nods to The Count of Monte Cristo mixed in—did a beautiful job of paying homage to the original tale while still being very much its own wonderful, compelling story. Ella did a brilliant job of portraying Noelle, her Cinderella, as selfless, kind, and strong in ways that retroactively improved my opinion of the literary figure who served as her inspiration. This is a truly lovely novel, one that stands strong on its own while still leaving me hungry for whatever comes next in the series. …

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