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Tag: magical realism

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 Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman

Book Review: The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman

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The Charmed Library by Jennifer Moorman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Stella Parker had never burned a book in her life. Had never once thrown pages of text—much less handwritten love letters and poetry—into a fire. Yet there she was, purposefully setting fire to one of the most precious things in her life: words.”

That is the first paragraph of the prologue for The Charmed Library. I was immediately sold. Moorman’s writing style is simply gorgeous. And it’s beautifully suited to magical realism. The early pages of this story led me to ask myself: why don’t I read more magical realism? I really should, because it’s charming. This melding of the reality I know with the magical and fantastical I long for just such a lovely, hopeful juxtaposition when handled properly. And Moorman strikes that balance well.

“As the ashes faded into the dusk, the library listened, waiting, knowing that every story—especially the ones set free—would find its way home.”

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Book Review: The Passing of the Dragon by Ken Liu

Book Review: The Passing of the Dragon by Ken Liu

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You can read this beautiful short story for free here: https://www.tor.com/2023/09/13/the-pa…

Cover art illustrated by Mary Haasdyk

The Passing of the Dragon by Ken Liu

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Short Story

Pages: 46 pages (Kindle edition)

Ken Liu has done it again. The Passing of the Dragon is a brilliant and impactful story, I believe, should be read by every reader, reviewer, artist, and author.

“An artist craves an audience, but maybe not all audiences are crave-worthy. “

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Book Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

Book Review: The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd

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The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Cartographers is one of those books that I added to my most anticipated list as soon as the cover and blurb were released. A literary mystery revolving around maps and map-making, with a dose of magical realism to boot? That sounded so very much up my alley that I snatched it up as soon as Book of the Month announced it as a March pick, and have been very much looking forward to it. The fact that it was only in my house for a couple of months before picking up is saying something, as even highly anticipated have my massive TBR to compete with before I manage to get to them. But unfortunately, I think my experience with The Cartographers is a case of letting anticipation spoil whatever is being anticipated, because it fell quite flat for me.
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Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

Book Review: The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

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The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

“Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices… Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?”

This is the premise of The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s newest novel. I’ve never read anything by Haig before this book, but I can guarantee that this oversight will be addressed. Because The Midnight Library was wonderful. There’s incredible philosophical depth packed into relatively few pages. And for a book that begins with a suicide attempt, it ended up being surprisingly positive and uplifting. Not only is it a thoughtful novel, it inspired deep contemplation within the reader, but in a way that is comfortingly gentle for the times in which we’re living.
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Book Review: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

Book Review: The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

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I have a Booktube channel now! Subscribe here: https://www.youtube.com/petrikleo

Cover illustration by: Quentin Trollip

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Thriller, Magical Realism, Historical Fiction

Pages: 464 pages (US Hardback)

Published: 10th March 2016 by Head of Zeus (UK) & 8th March 2016 by Gallery / Saga Press (US)

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories is an intimately powerful and beautiful collection of stories that encompassed some of the most relatable themes to our society, and some stories contained in this collection felt personal and evocative to me.

“Every act of communication is a miracle of translation.”

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Book Review: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, by Ruth Emmie Lang

Book Review: Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance, by Ruth Emmie Lang

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Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance by Ruth Emmie Lang
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I can’t remember the last time I was so utterly charmed and delighted by a story. Beasts of Extraordinary Circumstance reads like a middle grade novel for adults, and I need more books like this one in my life. There is a wholesome, wonderful innocence to the story that won me over immediately. I’ve never been a fan of the word “precious,” but that term perfectly describes Lang’s debut novel. …

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Book Review: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

Book Review: Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson

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Nothing to See Here by Kevin Wilson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nothing to See Here is one of the funniest books I’ve read in a long time. The tone is just hilarious. Lillian, the perspective character, is absolutely bonkers and I adore her. She’s tough and kooky and always afraid that she’s going to mess things up, and I just want to be her friend more than anything. This book is short and breezy without being shallow, and it completely transported me into this beyond weird circumstance in the midst of normalcy.

“I wasn’t destined for greatness; I knew this. But I was figuring out how to steal it from someone stupid enough to relax their grip on it.”

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