Every Thursday, I will post a new book review here. Check back for the latest reads.
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Mary Jane: A delightful, cozy read
In 1975 Baltimore, 14-year-old sheltered Mary Jane takes a summer nannying job in a home where the psychologist father is treating a drug-addicted rock star and his movie star wife.
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Fourth Wing (Book 1): The best of 2023 so far
Despite being untrained, dealing with chronic pain, and having a target on her back, 20-year-old Violet Sorrengail’s mother forces her to enroll in a dragon-riding military college – where the mortality rate for first-years is something like 50% or more. Now Violet has to survive not just the deadly training but the other ruthless students…
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To Shape a Dragon’s Breath: A superb cozy fantasy
Anequs, an indigenous islander in this fantasy world, is required to attend the colonizer’s school away from her people after a newly-hatched dragon chooses her to be its rider.
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Firekeeper’s Daughter: Entertaining and enlightening
After Daunis witnesses a murder, she becomes a confidential informant to the FBI. As more people in her community die, she becomes increasingly conflicted between protecting her tribe and trusting the feds to solve the crime.
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House of Earth and Blood (Crescent City 1): A spectacular series opener
A half-fae “party girl” and an enslaved angel must work together to solve a gruesome case involving murder, demon summoning, and black market drugs.
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The Duke & I (Bridgerton 1): Romanticizing toxic relationships
Simon, a duke avoiding marriage, and Daphne, a socialite looking to get engaged, pretend to court – and must avoid falling in love while they’re at it.
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The Librarianist: Hopeful and funny
Bob Comet is a retired librarian. After a chance encounter with a confused elderly woman, Bob begins volunteering at a retirement community, where he reckons with his past.
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The Beautiful Ones: A fairly standard affair
Nina is a young woman making her debut in Loisail who struggles to control her telekinetic powers — until she meets Hector, a telekinetic like her. She begins to fall for him, but Hector has a secret.
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Olga Dies Dreaming: A little slow, but compelling
Olga, a wedding planner, and her brother Prieto, a local politician, grapple with their ambitions, identities, beliefs, and their relationship with their absent mother in 2017 NYC.
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When We Were Bright and Beautiful: Twisty and engaging
A college student, Cassie, and her affluent family reel from the aftereffects of her brother’s rape charge. As the case unravels, Cassie must face the truth about the people she loves most.
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The Inheritance Games (Book 1): Fun and easy
A teenager learns that a stranger has written her into his will – and that she’s inheriting billions. But there’s a catch.
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Zodiac Academy (Book 4): Shadow Princess – DNF review
Book 4 in the Zodiac Academy series.
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The Priory of the Orange Tree: Somehow too long and too short
In this epic fantasy set in a world besieged by wyrms and dragons, we follow four characters across several countries: a servant tasked to protect the queen until she gives birth, an exiled lord struggling to survive on his quest, an ambitious dragon-rider-in-training who jeopardized her future and country, and a dishonored alchemist.
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The Antiquity Affair: An adventurous tale
In 1907, two sisters, Lila and Tess, are swept up in a scheme to uncover an ancient (and potentially powerful) Egyptian relic.
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The Foxglove King (Book 1): Fun and thought-provoking
Lore, a necromancer who can wield death magic, must spy on the crown prince in a world where such magic is a highly-priced illicit commodity. Here the church and the monarchy are dangerously interwoven, and Lore must find a way to navigate the obscenely opulent royal court.
