Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** There is something about approaching a debut novel by an author that is very awe-inspiring to me. It may sound incredibly hokey, but I feel like it is akin to unwrapping a writer for the very first...
Justin Bowers
Eight years ago I picked up this book with book with one of the most interesting premises I’d run across: a criminal who steals thoughts and information from peoples’ minds, and operates under an oppressive regime where people with her sorts of gifts are imprisoned and executed. Little did I...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** Oh poor Galadriel Higgins. El’s affinity for super destructive magic, her desire to be semi-anti-social, and her torn feelings for one Orion Lake really put her in an interesting spot coming into her...
Justin Bowers
I’ve been mulling over how to approach a review for this amazing piece of fiction. Ms. Steifvater’s work is often very transcendent, but Mister Impossible just takes the cake. The Dreamer Trilogy, follow up series to the wildly popular Raven Cycle, is focused on seminal “bad boy” Ronan Lynch...
Justin Bowers
I feel like I was well into my adult years before truly appreciating the warmth and familiarity of fables, fairy tales and folklore. I find this funny because in my life and studies as a young man, I was very much entrenched in several very rich cultural traditions of story telling and lore....
Justin Bowers
I’m not really sure why I never got around to reading this wrap-up of the Archived duology. Two years ago I read book one and then flitted off to something else before picking up number two. Boy was that dumb. The Unbound continues the story set up after the hyper-dramatic end of The...
Justin Bowers
I cannot get over this book. I picked it up because Ms. Anders has some serious Sci-Fi chops, the premise sounded interesting, and, duhhh, it’s YA Space Opera. What I got, however, was unlike anything I have ever read. The basic story is that our protagonist, Tina Mains, is not just the...
Justin Bowers
I guess the best way to describe this book is “attack of the Grishaverse all-stars!” Ms. Bardugo really went all out with this effort and really delivered on the setup she prepared with King of Scars two years ago (how has it been two years?!?!?!). Basically stated, Ravka is in a pickle and...
Justin Bowers
Short fiction, like a well-executed amuse-bouche, is very hard to pull off satisfyingly. Due to the nature of the back-lying mechanics of it, there is just so much opportunity to lean on one pillar of the story structure while not paying enough attention to one of the others. Miss Hyatt...
Justin Bowers
Space Opera is a genre that has been around for almost one-hundred years. In this century of epic space battles and the triumph over good and evil — of which I read a lot — I have finally found a story that had a super-unique approach, and that is the total gem that is Ms. Leicht’s Persephone...
Justin Bowers
Mr. Kristoff has an uncanny ability to suck readers into his elaborate world and then leave them hanging on every word until the series is complete. He has done it — again — masterfully in TRUEL1F3, the conclusion of the LIFEL1K3 series. One thing I have absolutely loved about this series is how...
Justin Bowers
It’s no secret that Ms. Schwab is one of my absolute favorite authors. One thing that I’m super jealous about is her ability to pivot her mindset to better address her audience. It’s practically a superpower. Bridge of Souls is the third book in the Cassidy Blake series about young Cassidy...
Justin Bowers
*** This book was provided to me by the author for a fair and honest review *** Ray Salvatore is an out of work Marine who is about to lose his house in the midst of the Greatest Depression. Ray is completely screwed and very desperate about his lack of control over his situation. Out of...
Justin Bowers
For many years this book has been put in front of me as a “You loved ‘X,’ have you read Heroes Die?” In typical me fashion, I avoided it because there was just an aspect to this book that didn’t appeal to me. This past month, I sucked it up and forced myself to overlook the things that seemed...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** It’s no secret that I have a severe love for YA Fantasy novels. I was already excited about taking on In the Ravenous Dark just from the synopsis, and, let me tell you, it is pure gold. Hell, this book...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I am a D&D nerd. I also am a big fan of urban fantasy, and appreciate a little bit of the gumshoe schlock of the classic Raymond Chandler school of pulp fiction. Sirgrus Blackmane Demihuman...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** Once again, dropped right in the middle of a well-established series. The Horror of Supervillainy, however, really worked out incorporating new readers. Designed as a complete homage to the comic...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** There are books that I read that absolutely hit all of the right buttons for me. The Dead and the Dark is definitely that kind of book. Logan Ortiz-Woodley is a recent high school graduate living...
Justin Bowers
Imagine a story of the inner workings of Parisian criminal guilds wrapped up in a loose homage to Les Misérables and Jungle Book. That is exactly what Ms. Grant has pulled off with The Court of Miracles. Our main character, Eponine (Nina for short), is a super-talented member of the Thieves...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** Sorrowland opens with our protagonist, Vern Fields, out in the woods giving birth to twins all by her lonesome. Yeah, that’s an opening that will grab your attention. If that were not enough, there...
Justin Bowers
I’ve been hearing about this novella through various outlets for a few months, and it sat on my stack longer than I would have preferred for a “short” piece of fiction. Normally, I take breaks from “big” story undertakings to cleanse my palette with something easy to consume. Ring Shout is far...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I’ve been thinking a bit about how to approach reviewing this novel. Let me be very clear, I absolutely loved it, and I really enjoyed the very raw and emotional struggles and triumphs Mr. Henderson...
Justin Bowers
*** This book was provided to me by the author for a fair and honest review *** I’ll tell you one thing, The Psychic’s Memoirs jumps right into it as a detective drama. Above all, I think that’s what it is at it’s genre-jumping core. Ted Kaza and Lydia Jackson are LAPD detectives who...
Justin Bowers
I learned from reading The Once and Future Witches that Ms. Harrow is an excellent storyteller; a writer capable of weaving delicate wisps of plot and story that intertwine innocently until they don’t. I was hesitant, however to pick up The Ten Thousand Doors of January because it was her first...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** It’s very hard to start in on a review of something as magical as The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry because it just has so many facets and layers. At first glance we get the feeling that one Miss...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** It’s been a wee bit since I delved in the world of urban dystopian fare, but Orange City delivers it in spades. Imagine Man in the High Tower (with a Stalin slant) mixed with Terry Gilliam’s Brazil and...
Justin Bowers
This is the story of Elsie Camden, a young woman who was born with the ability to unmake spells much like unraveling a sweater. Set in a semi-Victorian England, Spellbreaker tells the story of young Elsie and her search for stability in her life. Orphaned by her family, Elsie is rescued from...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** One reading peeve of mine is being dropped into the middle of a multi-book series without having read the previous books. I tend to read a lot of series, so I approach each one with a “will this stand...
Justin Bowers
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** First and foremost, this is a book you have to pay attention to. Yes, it’s a casual read, but the subtext is almost its own character in this one. No Gods, No Monsters is the kind of book that almost...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review To say that Jane Yolen is a legend is putting it lightly. Ms. Yolen has won just about every Science Fiction award available, and has such a prolific body of work that it is almost too daunting. When I...
Justin Bowers
I’m not even sure where to start with this one. There are certain books that I have read that just resonate and sink in almost immediately. Piranesi is this type of book. What we learn in the beginning is that Piranesi lives in a house with infinite corridors and rooms, a lot with ornate marble...
Justin Bowers
First off, thank you so much to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to peruse these first few chapters of Star Wars: The High Republic lit. It is a tad hard to describe my fandom with Star Wars other than omnivorish. Over the last few decades, I have consumed any and all Star Wars novels,...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review The Doomsday Book of Fairy Tales is the story of a boy and his talking dog in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by the effects of humanity on the climate. Sounds quaint, right? The bigger aspect of the well-woven...
Justin Bowers
I read a lot of fantasy books (hell, I just read a lot), and there is one key element that really drags me in and makes me seriously invested in a novel: worldbuilding. In sixty painfully short pages, Mr. Hopkins has built such a robust world that it seems like all that is left for the...
Justin Bowers
I have to preface this review by saying that I really really really enjoyed the intrigue, high tension, pop culture nerdery and all the oodles of easter eggs that Mr. Cline dropped into the first book. That was some prime world and character building. This effort, however, just doesn’t get out...
Justin Bowers
I was about ninety percent done with this book when I realized that it was written by the same author of the Evermen Saga: James Maxwell. Boy, didn’t I feel stupid. Much like the amazing worldbuilding in the Evermen Saga, A Girl From Nowhere sets us up in a vast landscape that feels very well...
Justin Bowers
Imagine Harry Potter meets Battle Royale. Throw in a dash of The Cabin in the Woods and that is pretty much the core plot for A Deadly Education. This novel follows the story of Galadriel, or El for short, and her experience at The Scholomance as an outcast and loner. The long and the short of...
Justin Bowers
I will start this review by saying that if you read only one book this entire year, please make it this one. Victoria Schwab is an absolute powerhouse author who has built some pretty damn incredible worlds in her novels. It is by the grace of the gods that she is amazingly prolific, so there...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review So this one fell in my lap, and it sounded like a very interesting premise. I had no idea it was book 7 in a series, or I would not have requested it. I absolutely hate jumping into a series mid-stream, but I went ahead...
Justin Bowers
OK, first things first. If you have not read Peace Talks (Dresden Files #16), then stop reading right here and go read that. Slight spoilers are absolutely inevitable. OK, on to Battle Ground. I love this book, and I hate this book. On top of that, I love that I hate it, and hate that I...
Adam Faliq
In the book Lean Startup, Eric Ries advocates entrepreneurs to build products that people love. However, entrepreneurs often find it difficult to know what people want. Most people do not know what they want, and entrepreneurs waste a lot of resources building something that no one buys....
Justin Bowers
Almost twenty years ago I picked up a book on a whim because the blurb described the story of a wizard for hire in Chicago. That book was Mr. Butcher’s first Harry Dresden novel — Storm Front — and I’ve not looked back since. To say that I devour Dresden content is an understatement. I...
Justin Bowers
Lore is something that keeps me totally invested in a book. Give me a well thought out world where there is far much more going on than is in just the setting of the primary story, and we’ve got something. I’m not talking about the insane heights of world building like J.R.R. Tolkien or George...
Justin Bowers
Every so often I come across a book that is both incredibly enjoyable, and masterfully constructed. The Starless Sea is definitely one of those books. I really enjoyed Ms. Morgenstern’s first book, The Night Circus, so I figured I’d give this one a go after it sat in my “to be read” pile for a...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review Imagine Stranger Things crossed with Back to the Future all tied together with teen angst and the guilt of loss and secrecy. That’s pretty much the premise of Down World. This is the story of Marina, a girl who lost...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review I’m a huge fan of magic/mystery books, an even greater fan of YA; and Four Tombstones hits all the right buttons in what I look for in a book. The story of Josie Jameson, a Seattle-area teenager who lost her mother to...
Justin Bowers
While I do not want to address the television adaptation of this novel, it is definitely the elephant in the room, and I will be honest that I picked up this book because the show trailer looked so fascinating (and I had ignored the recommendation last year from a dear friend). OK, elephant...
Justin Bowers
There are stories one reads that one hopes will never end; then there are stories that absolutely cannot end. Harrow the Ninth falls firmly in the second category. I absolutely fell in love with the wit and language of Gideon the Ninth and the story of Lyctor and last necromancer of the Ninth...
Justin Bowers
This book was provided to me by NetGalley in return for a fair review This book was an absolute wonder; a tale of women who tried, and women who dared. Women who took the rules and norms of an uncertain time in their hands and used the ways, the words, and definitely the will to attempt...
Justin Bowers
I went on a binge of this series and thought I would review the entire story arc here in the “final” book (though I should probably have done this in the first book).With an incredibly envy-inducing talent for worldbuilding, Ms. Aveyard perfectly sets the scene for these novels (and novellas!)....