Justin Bowers
Mr. Chapman abhors normalcy, and this is a very very good thing. Over the past few years he’s managed make me terrified of crabs, be very wary of mushrooms, and have some serious PTSD from the Satanic Panic insanity. What he does in Shiny Happy People appears to be, on the surface, just a...
Justin Bowers
Been on a bit of a mythology kick lately, and this title was recommended to me, so I took a swing. Lore Perseous is the last of her line. Her parents and sisters were brutally murdered by a rival line at the tail end of the Agon: a “tournament” of sorts that happens every seven years wherein...
Justin Bowers
Apparently, I’ve been very drawn to witchy historical fiction over the past couple of years, and The Witch Haven has been an absolute treat to read. Set in 1911 New York City, this is the tale of Frances Hollowell; a young girl mourning the recent loss of her brother while trying to scrape by a...
Justin Bowers
Ms. Kaufman and Mr. Kristoff are deities at creating perfect YA science fiction trilogies. The Illuminae Files was just an incredible experience of whirlwind storytelling piled on with some crazy space action, and The Aurora Cycle follows suit without even being the least bit derivative. It’s...
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
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
** 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
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
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
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
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
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!)....