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Book Review: The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere, #1) by Lindsay A. Franklin

Book Review: The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine (The Rivenlea Sphere, #1) by Lindsay A. Franklin


The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine by Lindsay A. Franklin
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received an advance digital copy of this novel from the author in exchange for an honest review.

When I first saw the cover for The Unraveling of Emlyn DuLaine, I was intrigued. When I read the synopsis, I was instantly charmed, and had a feeling that this could end up being a lifetime favorite. And I was absolutely correct. From the premise to the setting, from the characters to the references to classic works of fiction, from the voice to the profound musings on the power of story and why stories matter, I was captivated by every page of this book. I dove deep into this story, reading it slowly because I didn’t want it to end. I wish Franklin would write a dozen more books in this series. I would eat up every single one.

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Book Review: The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers

Book Review: The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers


The City of Stardust by Georgia Summers
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars

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

The description for The City of Stardust captivated me as soon as I read it. Here’s what hooked me: “A young woman descends into a seductive magical underworld of power-hungry scholars, fickle gods and monsters bent on revenge to break her family’s curse in this spellbinding contemporary fantasy debut.” There are so many things that grab me in that little synopsis. A “seductive, magical underworld?” Sign me up. “Power-hungry scholars?” Forever and always. Fickle gods and family curses? Yes, please. While I did get all of those things, the story itself didn’t land quite as solidly for me as I had hoped it would.

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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.

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Book Review: The Choice (Dragon Heart Legacy, #3) by Nora Roberts

Book Review: The Choice (Dragon Heart Legacy, #3) by Nora Roberts


The Choice by Nora Roberts
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars

The Choice is the epic conclusion of Nora Roberts’ Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy. Here we have portals to other worlds, mythical creatures, magic light and dark, and battles between good and evil on both large scale and small. There is a charming, diverse cast of characters, a couple of lovely romances, and a wonderful emphasis on family, whether bound by blood or chosen by heart. In this trilogy and her last, Chronicles of the One, Nora has made a radical departure from the cozy and comfortable storytelling I fell in love with as a teen. I can see where some lifelong fans of her writing might be disappointed in the shift, but I really respect it. This trilogy, and the one published before it, are stories that I would have no qualms recommending to fantasy fans who have never had much interest in Nora’s work.

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Book Review: Fairy Tale by Stephen King

Book Review: Fairy Tale by Stephen King


Fairy Tale by Stephen King
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“That much is true about songs (and many stories) even in my own world. They speak mind to mind, but only if you listen.”

Fairy Tale has been one of my most anticipated reads of the 2022 since it was announced. I preordered it in February, the day it first became available. So to say my expectations were sky-high would be an understatement. Reading anything you’ve been looking forward to for that long with your hopes for it residing somewhere in the clouds is always a tenuous undertaking. While Fairy Tale didn’t disappoint, it couldn’t quite live up to the hype in my head.

“it’s the stories of our childhood that make the deepest impressions and last the longest.”

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Book Review: The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning

Book Review: The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning


The Shadow Glass by Josh Winning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Shadow Glass is a love letter to kitschy fantasy movies from the 80s. If you’re a lover of movies like Willow, The Never-Ending Story, Labyrinth, and especially The Dark Crystal, then you need to get your hands on this book. Its pages are populated with puppets come to life, a quest to save a dying fantasy realm, and a ton of pop culture references. While I loved the idea behind it, the actual execution of this story left me a bit unsatisfied, but it’s a book that I think is going to make a lot of my fellow nerdy 80s babies extremely happy.

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Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2021)

Petrik’s Top 20 Books of the Year (2021)

This list is also available on my Booktube Channel if that’s what you preferred: https://youtu.be/wZY-JG9HUgQ

Click here if you want to see the list of all the books I’ve read so far this year: Petrik’s Year in Books (2021)

It’s that time of the year again, y’all. 2021 is ending in a week. This year, I managed to read 130 books. This number includes 72 traditionally published books, 21 self-published/indie books, 37 manga volumes (I’ve read so many more manga volumes but I’ve decided to only include 37 here.)

In comparison to the previous years, whether it’s by pages count or the number of books, this is my lowest reading performance so far. There are details behind this reason, but really when it comes down to it, it’s because this is the first full year I became a Booktuber. In addition to reading and writing reviews, now I also record, edit, and upload videos to my YouTube Channel. My reading “performance” definitely suffers because of it, but not going to lie, I’m happy to make that sacrifice. As for the quality of the books I read, this is another incredible reading year, so let’s get to it immediately. As usual, I will be applying a few rules into this list:

Please read this first. There will be three rules I set in this list in order for me to give appreciation to more authors rather than having only a few authors hoarding this list. These rules allow me to highlight more authors, and at the same time, I’ll also be able to include both new and older books (many of them still need attention) that I read within this year.

  • Rereads aren’t included.
  • One book per author.
  • The books listed here are not all exclusively published this year; the list consists of the top books I read for the first time within this year. Non-2021 published books on this list will have their first date of publication included.

Do note that although there’s a rank to this list, I HIGHLY recommend every book/series listed below because I loved all of them immensely, and they received a rating of 4.5 or 5 out of 5 stars from me. Without further ado, here are the top 20 books I’ve read in 2021! (All full reviews of the books listed can be found on Novel Notions and my Goodreads page

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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.

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Book Review: The Becoming (The Dragon Heart Legacy, #2) by Nora Roberts

Book Review: The Becoming (The Dragon Heart Legacy, #2) by Nora Roberts


The Becoming by Nora Roberts
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nora never disappoints. There are so many trilogies and series where reading the second book is something of a doldrums experience; it’s giving you a lot of background and filler to get you to the main event in the third book. I’ve read a bunch of these, some of them in series that I consider to be favorites, especially in the fantasy genre. But that’s not at all what I got in The Becoming, book 2 of Nora’s The Dragon Heart Legacy trilogy. This book was impactful and engaging from first page to last, while still providing the setup needed for the final installment. I thoroughly enjoyed every single scene in The Becoming, and I will absolutely be rereading it and its predecessor before the aforementioned final installment, The Choice, is published in November of 2022. I’m incredibly thankful for Nora’s schedule and work ethic, because I would hate to have to wait any longer to get the end of this story.

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Book Review: Black House (The Talisman, #2) by Stephen King and Peter Straub

Book Review: Black House (The Talisman, #2) by Stephen King and Peter Straub


Black House by Stephen King and Peter Straub
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

For some reason, I wasn’t expecting much from Black House. While I really enjoyed The Talisman, the first novel in this duology, I feel like I’ve heard a good bit of negative commentary about this particular book in the past. Can I actually pinpoint any of said comments? Nope. Not a one. Maybe I was thinking about a different book. Because Black House was everything I should have expected: scary, moving, and vital to the Dark Tower.

“I must not be so bad if I have a friend like that.”

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