Review

Fourth Wing — Rebecca Yaros I really, really enjoyed Fourth Wing. For the longest time, it had been marketed as “all the spice,” which isn’t my …

Blood Over Bright Haven — M.L. Wang Blood Over Bright Haven immediately sucked me in and I had to know, desperately, how the story continued. I …

A Cup of Tea at the Mouth of Hell — Luke Tarzian A Cup of Tea at the Mouth of Hell is chaos in a pot …

Petition — Delilah Waan I’m coming out of a long reading slump, and the books I’ve picked up lately are absolutely killing it. I felt like kicking …

The Combat Codes — Alexander Darwin THE COMBAT CODES takes place in a world without war, where conflicts between nations are instead determined in one-to-one …

The Inheritance Games — Jennifer Lynn Barnes “You were an escape room game master Kerstin! You would love this book!” “You love Knives Out!, Kerstin! You …

The Girl Who Fell Beaneath the Sea — Axie Oh The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea reads like Spirited Away in book form but inspired by Korean …

A Natural History of Dragons — Marie Brennan A Natural History of Dragons is a memoir of world-renowned dragon naturalist, Lady Trent, and much of the …

The Last Gifts of the Universe — Rory August “It’s strange what hindsight does. Takes all the layers of emotions and flattens them, turns them …

Heavy — J.J. Thorn Heavy was just the quick, fun entertainment I needed. After the first few pages, I thought “Hm, I dunno about this…” (having …

The Fall is All There is — C.M. Caplan I buddy-read this with The Best Adam, and a good 80% of it involved us screaming …

The Alchemy of Sorrow ✨  “I can truthfully say that this book touched my heart, bringing with it (…) work that was truly touching, imaginative and in …

The Queens Gambit — Walter Tevis The Queen’s Gambit was a delight! I’d seen the Netflix series beforehand and am glad the book was equally delightful, …

Persona 5 Official Setting Design Workds — Famitsu This was a fantastic artbook to one of my favorite games, Persona 5. This book could have taught an art …

Teach me how to Kill you — Sharoh Hantan Well, THIS was an unexpected twist in my TBR. It all started with Manga Day 2022. …

A Venom Dark and Sweet — Judy I Lin A Venom Dark and Sweet is the second book in The Book of Tea duology, one I would recommend …

Nona the Ninth — Tamsyn Muir Nona the Ninth is, compared to HtN, more linear in terms of timeline and in-book events, which (in that sense only) …

Danganronpa the Animation Volume 1 — Takashi Tsukimi I’ve played all three main games (and Ultimate Despair Girls) before reading the manga, so I was already …

Arthur Spiderwick’s Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around you — Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black I’m so enamored with this book, and I had …

A Star Named Vega — Benjamin J Roberts A Star Named Vega was a finalist in the SPSFC, and it’s easy to see why. The writing …

Expanded Companion Guide — L.L. McNeil Gorgeous illustrations, vast histories, and layered characters breathe life into the Expanded Companion Guide, World of Linaria. From dragons, ancient …

She Who Became the Sun — Shelley Parker-Chan The first thing I noticed about She Who Became the Sun, aside from the fierce title and cover, …

A Magic Steeped in Poison — Judy I. Lin A Magic Steeped in Poison admittedly started out as a cover buy (I spend an absurd amount …

The Theft of Sunlight — Intisar Khanani In anticipation of A Darkness at the Door, I eagerly grabbed a copy of The Theft of Sunlight and absolutely flew …

Monstrous Tales — Sija Hong I am basing my rating purely on the art, or on this book as an art book, for reasons I will describe …

Gearbreakers — Zoe Hana Mikuta Gearbreakers has a lot of wild energy. I like that. I love angry books. There’s something appealing about screaming into the …

The Sword of Kaigen — M.L. Wang The Sword of Kaigen has easily become one of my favorite books. I was instantly captivated from the opening …

Wolfeater — Anthony Mitchell My absolute favorite part of SPFBO is finding hidden gems in the SFF community, and Wolfeater is absolutely one of them! The heart …

Norylska Groans — Michael R. Fletcher & Clayton W. Snyder Tee-hee, so lesser known fact about me: one of my favorite genres of film is …

Legacy of the Brightwash — Krystle Matar Sometimes, when I don’t know how to start a review, I clear my head, think of reading it, …

They Both Die at the End — Adam Silvera They Both Die at the End is a story of two teenagers, Mateo and Rufus, who discover—via …

Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon — James Hibberd I loved Game of Thrones, both the book and TV series. To be perfectly transparent going into this …

Escape Room — Maren Stoffels Escape Room felt like a B-teen horror movie in book form. Fortunately, I love B-movies, especially teen horror movies (the worse, …

Hall of Bones — Tim Hardie Full transparency: I had never read Norse-inspired fantasy before. TV-wise, I haven’t even seen Vikings; the closest I’ve come would …

Iron Widow — Xiran Jay Zhao I went through Iron Widow in two days. I haven’t had that in a while. For me, I can pin it …

Shadows of Ivory Shadows of Ivory is a fun, light-hearted read with clever writing and action-packed pacing. It feels like going on a grand adventure with …

How We Fall Apart promises many guilty pleasures. It is Pretty Little Liars meets Hana Yori Dango, but in a setting I found familiar, having also attended a predominantly Asian …

I am a fan of high-stakes fantasy. To be perfectly transparent, I write high-stakes fantasy, so I never expected Legends & Lattes to fill my cold, black …

A Deadly Education was an interesting reading experience. I was immediately drawn to the concept of a magic school that is openly dangerous to its students, …

Vicious grabbed me from the first page and spat me out, broken and twitching, on the last. It felt like a roller coaster without a safety …

A Field Guide to Goblins is a delightful little sketchbook of goblins inspired by Labyrinth, but it can be enjoyed without knowing anything about the film. If …

League of Legends: Realms of Runeterra is not quite a concept art book, but it has concept art for the lore behind the game, League of …

All Systems Red is the first book in the Murderbot Diaries series, and it absolutely SLAYED me. It’s about a security robot—whose specialty is understandably murder—that hacks its …

The Iron Crown is a high-fantasy SPFBO finalist that that hits all the nostalgic notes while telling a fresh story with dragon spirits—some mischievous, some vengeful, …

In the Jaded Grove is a fantastical tale with pixies, fairies, and trolls rooted in very relatable, very human ordeals. It is told from two POVs—Jessa …

“Drawing, for me, is more a process of editing out than attempting to delineate something that already exists as an image in my mind.” (Alan …

They took his daughter, so Micah comes to take their kingdom. Fifty thousand gun-toting paladins march behind him, all baptized in angel blood, thirsty to …

Seasons of Albadone is a short book made of short stories, each a bleak but thought-provoking character portrait of a villager living in Albadone. The characterizations …

Reign & Ruin is a slow-burn fantasy romance set in a Sultanate inspired by the historical Middle East, with intricate worldbuilding, political intrigue, and elemental mages. …

We Men of Ash and Shadow is a great example of gas lamp grimdark fantasy, a genre I didn’t even know I liked. I really enjoyed …

Cemetery Boys is a queer MG/YA fantasy with a lot of heart, sass, and spirit… literally. The character dynamics were diverse, not only weaving together romantic …

I have died. Died. In a manner absolutely fitting to the themes of the book. The Loving Reaper is a series of short, bittersweet comics, each illustrating how …

The Dragon Ark immediately caught my eye at the Frankfurt Book Fair. I was drawn to the illustrations and loved the concept of Curatoria Draconis, a …