Browsed by
Tag: novella

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Book Review: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Cover art illustrated by Dave McKean

Coraline by Neil Gaiman

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, Horror

Pages: 201 pages (Lyra’s Books Hardcover edition)

Word Count: 31,000 words

Published: 2nd July 2002 by Harper Collins


Coraline is the best book by Neil Gaiman that I’ve read. And maybe, all this time, I might have picked the wrong Neil Gaiman books to read.

“Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

Read More Read More

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

The Lesser Devil by Christopher Ruocchio

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Series: The Sun Eater (Book #1.5 of 7)

Genre: Sci-fi, Space Opera, Science Fantasy

Pages: 205 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 14th April 2020 (Self-Published)


The Lesser Devil is an action-packed spin-off novel that offers readers the chance for a more extensive dive into the mind of Crispin Marlowe.

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Ice (The Bound and the Broken, #3.5) by Ryan Cahill

Book Review: The Ice (The Bound and the Broken, #3.5) by Ryan Cahill

ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

The Ice by Ryan Cahill

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: The Bound and the Broken (Book #3.5 of 5)

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy, Epic Fantasy

Pages: 200 pages (Kindle edition)

Publish date: 23rd of September 2023 by Ryan Cahill (Self-published)


The Ice has the element to freeze and kill. That is not the trajectory of Cahill’s rapid-fire career. With another incredible novella under his belt, Cahill’s rise to fame in the fantasy landscape is unstoppable.

“All hope ever does is convince us to do things we know we shouldn’t. It isn’t worth dying for.”
“It’s one of the few things that is worth dying for, Ihvon.”

Read More Read More

Book Review: Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

Book Review: Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

ARC provided by the publisher—Tordotcom—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: Jaime Jones


Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee

My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

Series: Standalone

Genre: Fantasy, High Fantasy

Pages: 160 pages (Hardcover edition)

Published: 11st April 2023 by Tordotcom


Judging this by my novella standards, Untethered Sky is one of the best standalone novellas I’ve read.

“We cannot know the price others pay for their good fortune.”

Read More Read More

Book Review: Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children, #8) by Seanan McGuire

Book Review: Lost in the Moment and Found (Wayward Children, #8) by Seanan McGuire


Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Tordotcom, in exchange for an honest review.

One of my personal holiday traditions has become reading the newest Wayward Children novella on or right after Christmas. Tordotcom has been kind enough to facilitate that tradition for the past 6 years by sending me a galley copy of each installment before its publication, usually in January. It’s always one of my most exciting pieces of book mail of the year. Some installments have been more successful (for me) than others, but this year’s release, Where the Drowned Girls Go, brought me back to the magic of the first book. There we were introduced to the dark sister school of Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, but we also begin to see various storylines from previous novellas finally tying themselves together. Because of this, my hopes for this newest installment, Lost in the Moment and Found, were very high, and I was expecting even more of the series to come together.

Lost in the Moment and Found is nothing like I expected while still being everything I hoped it would be.

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Battle that was Lost (Ringlander, #0.5) by Michael S. Jackson

Book Review: The Battle that was Lost (Ringlander, #0.5) by Michael S. Jackson

ARC was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: John Anthony di Giovanni

The Battle that was Lost by Michael S. Jackson

My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars

Series: Ringlander (Book #0.5)

Genre: Fantasy

Pages: 104 pages (Kindle edition)

Published: 13th October 2022 (Self-published)


An action-packed one-sitting read, The Battle that was Lost is an introductory novella to the Ringlander that shows glimpses of Jackson’s skill at writing actions and a fast-paced story.

Read More Read More

Book Review: Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks

Book Review: Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks


Prey Without Ceasing by Andrew Franks
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I became friends with Andrew Franks on TikTok before I realized he was an author, because I enjoyed his taste and his content. When he reached out offering a code to the audiobook for Prey Without Ceasing, I was both excited and nervous. I tend to shy away from reading books written by people I’ve developed any kind of relationship with, because I try to be as (kindly) honest as I can be about every book I read, and this has cost me relationships in the past. But the synopsis of this book called to me so strongly that I accepted his offer and also purchased the Kindle book so I could tandem read and make notes. I made the right decision. This was definitely a book worth reading, and I related to portions of it so deeply that it was painful.

Read More Read More

Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

Book Review: The Jade Setter of Janloon (The Green Bone Saga, #0.5) by Fonda Lee

ARC was provided by the publisher—Subterranean Press—in exchange for an honest review.

Cover art illustrated by: Charis Loke

The Jade Setter of Janloon by Fonda Lee

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Series: The Green Bone Saga (Book #0.5 of 3)

Genre: Fantasy, Urban Epic Fantasy, Urban Fantasy

Pages: 144 pages (Hardback edition)

Published: 30th April 2022 by Subterranean Press


The Jade Setter of Janloon is an exhilarating and heartfelt appetizer or dessert to The Green Bone Saga, depending on when you start this novella.

Read More Read More

Book Review: A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables, #1) by Alix E. Harrow

Book Review: A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables, #1) by Alix E. Harrow

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“..Even among the other nerds who majored in folklore, Sleeping Beauty is nobody’s favorite. The romantic girls like Beauty and the Beast; basic girls like Cinderella; goth girls like Snow White. Only the dying girls like Sleeping Beauty.”

A Spindle Splintered is a spitfire of a novella. Here we are introduced to Zinnia Gray, a dying girl who is doomed to expire young. Because of this, Zinnia has been obsessed with the story of Sleeping Beauty since she was a small child, and has basically made that fairy tale her entire personality. On the eve of her twenty-first birthday, as she begins to feel her time running out, Zinnia finds herself thrust into a fantastical, impossible situation. Is she the damsel in this situation, or does she finally get to become the hero?

Read More Read More

Book Review: Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children, #7) by Seanan McGuire

Book Review: Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children, #7) by Seanan McGuire


Where the Drowned Girls Go by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance copy of this novella from the publisher, Tordotcom, in exchange for an honest review.

“There are worlds where death itself is malleable, where anything can be rewritten, be undone, if the right approach is taken. Worlds where the air bleeds words and lightning can rewrite the past.”

Reading McGuire’s newest Wayward Children novella has become something of a Christmas tradition for me over the past few years. While my reading experience has varied book to book, it’s always cozy and enjoyable and transportive. I request very few ARCs, but this series is top among them and I’m always elated to receive the next installment. I was cautiously excited about Where the Drowned Girls Go, as it’s a pretty direct followup to my least favorite novella in the series, Beneath the Sugar Sky. However, this newest novella was absolutely fantastic; so much so, in fact, that it made me want to go back and reread Beneath the Sugar Sky to see if my opinion of it had changed. Where the Drowned Girls Go was a thoughtful, different addition to the series, and builds on and links every single one of its predecessors.

Read More Read More