Book Reviews Fandom Support
It s 2038, and the industrial South Texas town of Three Rivers is a dystopian wasteland. The mayor, who also controls the Big Tex Fish Cannery rules with an iron fist: outlawing reading and forcing the town s mothers into indentured servitude at the cannery. In the middle of this, Prosperina and Neftalí try to scrape out ... Read more The post Brother Brontë by Fernando A. Flores first appeared on…
** This book was provided to me by Random House Worlds in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I m just going to cut to the chase, right off the bat, and say that this was a hard one to read that I almost DNF d about a dozen times. The premise was plenty intriguing. ... Read more The post Strixhaven: Omens of Chaos (Magic: The Gathering) by Seanan McGuire first appeared on 23rd Legion .
** This book was provided to me by St. Martin s Press in exchange for a fair and honest review ** When I got the opportunity to read Lightfall after reading the very intriguing synopsis, I was pretty happy. What I didn t know was what a whirlwind adventure Mr. Crocker was going to be taking me ... Read more The post Moonfall (The Everlands Trilogy #2) by Ed Crocker first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Where to even start with this roller coaster. Arthur Oakes is trapped in a situation where he is being forced to steal rare books from the library at Rackham College, where he works and is a student, by a local drug dealer and her partner in order to protect the life of Arthur s mother, who ... Read more The post King Sorrow by Joe Hill first appeared on 23rd Legion .
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I m always fascinated to pick up an author s first novel. Of course, I applaud any individual who undertakes the huge undertaking of creating a world(s) and then nakedly sharing it with people who can, quite honestly, be ... Read more The post The Geomagician by Jennifer Mandula first appeared on 23rd Legion .
So this is it. The end of the saga of Gabriel de León and Dior Lachance. This series has had be utterly captivated for the past four years, and I just knew that the conclusion was going to smack me in the face. What I wasn t expecting, however, was how damn hard it hit me ... Read more The post Empire of the Dawn (Empire of the Vampire #3) by Jay Kristoff first appeared on 23rd Legion .
So I get this email from a rep at Tor saying Hey, we are about to release this novella from an author you like, and we d really like you to give it a read. Seeing that it was Dr. Jones, I knew it would be a bit twisty, and very enjoyable. What the hell did ... Read more The post Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones first appeared on 23rd Legion .
The future is now! Denizens of near future Los Angeles now have automations and robots helping with all aspects of public life. So, when Dr. Deidra Cranston steps into to her fully automated Hum Around ride, mind heavy with questions of the future, she doesn t think twice about seeing where she was actually going. Needless ... Read more The post The Harvest by Ryan Hyatt first appeared on 23rd…
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 classic ... Read more The post Shiny Happy People by Clay McLeod Chapman first appeared on 23rd Legion .
I have a favorite Halloween song, and it s pretty atypical. Back in 2003, Austin band Li l Cap n Travis put out a single called To All the Trick-Or-Treaters (you can listen to it here). Perhaps, unknowingly (though it would be fantastic if he was familiar with the track), Mr. Golden has, basically, fleshed out a lot ... Read more The post All Hallows by Christopher Golden first appeared on 23rd…
It is the Summer of 1970, and, in St. Augustine, Florida, exists the Wellwood House, a home for wayward girls to be tucked away from public view so they can have their babies and then return to a normal life. Run by the very very stern Miss Wellwood, each girl is stripped of her identity ... Read more The post Witchcraft for Wayward Girls by Grady Hendrix first appeared on 23rd Legion .
I m a big fan of short fiction. Short horror, even better. I remember, as a child, devouring Stephen King s Skeleton Crew, Night Shift and Nightmares Dreamscapes. There is just something about an author s ability to convey a sense of terror in just a handful of pages that is magical. Mr. Stahl has this magical ... Read more The post Show Me Where It Hurts by Robert E. Stahl first appeared on 23rd…
The year is 1942 and June Hoss Hudson is the general manager of the luxurious Avallon Hotel Spa: playground of the most aristocratic of families in West Virginia. June, a very unlikely candidate for the role she holds runs the Avallon like a well oiled machine is suddenly met with the biggest of challenges: ... Read more The post The Listeners by Maggie Stiefvater first appeared on 23rd Legion .
It s been a very good time for new creative slants on vampire novels, recently, and The Buffalo Hunter Hunter is a prime example. The setup is pretty atypical for a horror read. In 2012, a diary written by a Lutheran pastor back in 1912 is discovered in the walls of Montana church. The majority of ... Read more The post The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones first appeared on 23rd…
I adore Ms. Schwab s writing, and she has proven to surprise me again and again with her ability to shift gears, and styles, with each release. Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil is no different. Queer vampire stories are definitely not new, but Ms. Schwab introduces some new twists that make this novel incredibly ... Read more The post Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab first…
It s taken me quite a while to sit down and put my thoughts to electrons on this one. Yeah, I liked it a lot, but Big Swiss is a very very heavy book to digest. Greta, I guess we will call her the protagonist of this novel, is a quintessential fuckup living with her similarly ... Read more The post Big Swiss by Jen Beagin first appeared on 23rd Legion .
If you have been reading my reviews, you know that I absolutely love this series, and book three doesn t disappoint. The Emily Wilde series isn t my normal fare. Yes, it s about the Fae, and yes, it does have some degree of mayhem and danger, but it falls dangerously close to historical fiction, and even more ... Read more The post Emily Wilde’s Compendium of Lost Tales (Emily Wilde #3) by Heather…
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** It s the end of the year, and I m looking for something amusing and Fantasy to pick up to get me into the first bit of 2025. I was perusing synopses, and one caught my eye: pirate goblin ... Read more The post Echoes of the Imperium (Tales of the Iron Rose #1) by Nicholas & Olivia Atwater first appeared on…
I m just going to cut straight to the meat of this. I loved this book, and think it s the best, so far, of The Empyrean series. I know there are a lot of hot sports opinions out there about this book, but that does nothing to diminish the collective impact this story, and this series, ... Read more The post Onyx Storm (The Empyrean #3) by Rebecca Yarros first appeared on 23rd Legion .
One of the most enjoyable things about picking up the new offering from Mr. Chapman is that you never know what you are going to get. Ghost Eaters put a lot of folks off fungi, Whisper Down the Lane brought back a whole lot of PTSD surrounding the Satanic Panic, and I m not even going ... Read more The post Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Imagine eating a book, map, magazine, etc. and being able to retain the information in it? Imagine also that you are part of a not quite human society ruled by rather draconian patriarchs, and daughters are basically passed off to other bookeater families to ensure their lines continue. Oh, but there s a twist. Not all ... Read more The post The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean first appeared on 23rd…
** This book was provided to me by the author in exchange for a fair and honest review ** This book tackles a lot, and it starts out pretty innocuous. Myles Harper is a recent high school graduate, and he has no idea what he wants to do with his life. It s 2036, the earth ... Read more The post The Initiates by Ryan Hyatt first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Well, this was the one that broke the camel s back. I m done with this series taking up any more of my time, and I have no earthly idea why this series got popular. I was really hoping, by book three, that some sort of writing improvement might have started to develop. No dice. Ms. Peckham ... Read more The post The Reckoning (Zodiac Academy #3) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti first appeared…
My god, why do I keep reading these books. I was really hoping for a bit of an improvement from the first book, but that just didn t happen. If anything, the ridiculous extremes from the first book magnified here. The heirs are still dicks, only now they are just that much more dickish! The poor ... Read more The post Ruthless Fae (Zodiac Academy #2) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti first…
** This book was provided to me by St. Martin s Press NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** Lightfall is a book about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers. In fact, it might be the most innovative novel about vampires, werewolves and sorcerers that I ve read in decades, and I do not say ... Read more The post Lightfall (The Everlands Trilogy #1) by Ed Crocker first appeared on 23rd…
I am reading this series because a very dear friend of mine suggested I check them out. She warned me that they would probably make me angry she was correct but I m going to get through this drivel if it kills me. Darcy and Tory Vega are twins who were apparently swapped with ... Read more The post The Awakening (Zodiac Academy #1) by Caroline Peckham & Susanne Valenti first appeared on 23rd…
All stories are ghost stories. I ve sat on reviewing this book for a couple of weeks. This isn t because I didn t like the book (I loved it), it s because words about this book need to be thought out. House of Bone and Rain is wonderful horror writing, but it s far more than that. Mr. Iglesias ... Read more The post House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Oh how I wanted to fall in love with this one. It had all the right elements of multi-generational weirdness and it seemed to be hitting all the right buttons. Heathers meets The Craft in a polished Stepford Wives wrapper tied together with some gentle hints of depression, anxiety, and smattering of substance abuse and ... Read more The post Bunny by Mona Awad first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Typically I kick off my book reviews with a quick synopsis of the plot, the major characters, and a teaser into what to expect. This book, much like the others that Ms. Chambers has written, is different. As someone who reads a whole hell of a lot of hard sci-fi as well as (probably) too ... Read more The post The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers first appeared on…
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I m not sure what it is about Ms. Fawcett s Emily Wilde books that just make me stop everything else and rabidly consume them, but she is two for two, so far, in getting my full attention. Emily ... Read more The post Emily Wilde’s Map of the Otherlands (Emily Wilde #2) by Heather Fawcett first appeared on…
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 ... Read more The post Lore by Alexandra Bracken first appeared on 23rd Legion .
A warning before I get going: this book is profound but incredibly brutal. In a world where all meat (and all animals) have become poisonous to humans thanks to a virus, humans are now bred to be the primary source of meat. Special meat if you will. Marcos, the primary character, has not had the ... Read more The post Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica first appeared on 23rd Legion .
One of my favorite creators has a new piece of short fiction in the comic horror genre (his words), and it definitely delivers. Lot Lizards starts out with a couple of cops checking out a used car lot where a call has come in from an outside party that some shenanigans have taken place. Per ... Read more The post Lot Lizards by Ryan Hyatt first appeared on 23rd Legion .
I really really don t know what to think of this one. On one hand, the way this, highly anticipated, series-ender wraps up is annoying as all hell, but on the other hand, it is probably one of the most realistic resolutions to such a fantastic series of untenable situations I have read in a very ... Read more The post The Atlas Complex (The Atlas #3) by Olivie Blake first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Well, I finally caved in and read the dragon book everyone has been raving about for the past year. I fought picking it up because I find a large portion of what is pitched as romantasy just awful to read. This book was so hyped by my reader friends who fawn over Sarah J. Maas ... Read more The post Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros first appeared on 23rd Legion .
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I ve been waiting for this book for a long while. No Gods, No Monsters took up a lot of my headspace, and I really needed Mr. Turnbull to move some of these characters along for the sake ... Read more The post We Are the Crisis (Convergence Saga #2) by Cadwell Turnbull first appeared on 23rd Legion .
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I wanted to love this book so much. The City of Dusk was an amazing read that really set the scene and executed superbly. The Midnight Kingdom, though, not so much. The world building continued to be ... Read more The post The Midnight Kingdom (The Dark Gods #2) by Tara Sim first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Our favorite mercenary orc is back! In this prequel to Legends Lattes we find Viv fighting for Rackam s Ravens and hunting a powerful necromancer. When she is injured, Rackam leaves Viv in Murk to recuperate. Naturally, Viv gets bored, and finds a good diversion in the form of a local bookshop. There we meet ... Read more The post Bookshops & Bonedust (Legends & Lattes #0) by Travis Baldree first…
Holy crap, it s a new book in the A Darker Shade of Magic universe! To say that I had great expectations for this novel is an understatement. There was definitely the expectation that we would encounter Lila, Kell, Rhy, and Alucard; but what new shenanigans would be introduced to keep us captivated by another ADSOM ... Read more The post The Fragile Threads of Power (Threads of Power #1) by V.E.…
It s very rare that I read a book that I know absolutely nothing about and turns out to be so incredibly life changing. This is one of those books. I cannot say enough about the worldbuilding that Ms. Chambers spins into this incredibly wholesome tale. Dex is a monk unhappy with their role in the ... Read more The post A Psalm for the Wild-Built (Monk and Robot #1) by Becky Chambers first appeared…
Howler #1 (Mr. Brown) is a sadistic psychopath, an emotional puppet master, and a genius storyteller. Once again we have been thrown into the tumultuous world of the Society and, boy oh boy, this is one hell of a ride. If you haven t read the previous five books, don t even think about starting with this ... Read more The post Light Bringer (Red Rising Saga #6) by Pierce Brown first appeared on…
I ve said it before, and I ll say it again right here: folks don t read enough short fiction. There is something so fulfilling about being able to knock out a great little tidbit in less than a half an hour that has me coming back for more and more. Enhanced: A Hollywood Murder Mystery is just ... Read more The post Enhanced: A Hollywood Murder Mystery by Ryan Hyatt first appeared on 23rd Legion .
For those who have read my reviews previously, it s no secret that I am a big fan of Mr. Chapman s work. There is a certain way he approaches a story that evolves the absolute normal aspects of everyday life into a spiral of fascinating terror, and What Kind of Mother does exactly this. Deeply entrenched ... Read more The post What Kind of Mother by Clay McLeod Chapman first appeared on 23rd…
Traveling the infamous Kolyma Highway in the coldest parts of Siberia, Felix Teiglund and his friend Jack Prentiss hope to be able to pull together a documentary film or television series about life in the coldest town on Earth. When they finally arrive the town appears to be uninhabited aside from a mostly catatonic little ... Read more The post Road of Bones by Christopher Golden first appeared…
Here s the setup: in the far future of Earth, two factions battle each other for supreme control of the world, the timeline, and, well, everything. Two factions Commandment and Garden have their elite agents working clandestine operations throughout the various time threads. Our two characters, Blue and Red are fighting against each other ... Read more The post This is How You Lose the Time War by…
Since it came on the scene, I have been an unapologetic shoegaze fan. When I discovered Lush in 1990, I knew I had a band that could very easily soundtrack my life. Through the years, I watched the band thrive, break up, deal with crisis, and then excel at other projects. At the core of ... Read more The post Fingers Crossed: How Music Saved Me From Success by Miki Berenyi first appeared on 23rd…
Ahhh carefree and fun books just for the sake of having something original to read. Minimum Wage Magic has some heavy themes, but, at the end of the day, it s just a very fun romp through an awesome world of magic and vice. The basic gist is the that the Detroit Free Zone is a ... Read more The post Minimum Wage Magic (DFZ #1) by Rachel Aaron first appeared on 23rd Legion .
Erin is haunted, and it is by choice. If that seems rather innocuous to you, then you have yet to dive into Clay McLeod Chapman s latest gem: Ghost Eaters. Stripping the romanticism and fantastical glamour out of the concept of interactions with the supernatural, and, instead, diving right into every worst part of addition, loss, ... Read more The post Ghost Eaters by Clay McLeod Chapman first…
After three books and much experimentation, I believe I have figured out the secret to full comprehension of The Locked Tomb series: just let it flow over you. Enjoy the ride and do be sure to keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times. OK, here we go with the story of ... Read more The post Nona the Ninth (The Locked Tomb #3) by Tamsyn Muir first appeared on 23rd Legion .
** This book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review ** I feel like I have to preface this review by saying that I really really really liked this book, and cannot wait for it to get into other peoples hands. I m worried this review might sound more ... Read more The post Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries (Emily Wilde #1) by Heather Fawcett first appeared on…