Reviews

The Silence That Binds Us — Joanna Ho The Silence That Binds Us is a YA contemporary novel about a Chinese Taiwanese American teenager whose family … Read more

The Sword in the Street — C.M. Caplan The Sword in the Street is a fun debut with characters who, regardless of how you feel about … Read more

Rogue Protocol — Martha Wells My previous read was She Who Became the Sun, which I absolutely loved, but I needed to follow it up with some … Read more

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, … Read more

The Skin — J.E. Hannaford The Skin caught my eye during the first round of SPFBO8. I’d heard wonderful things about it, and while the title should have … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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, … Read more

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 … Read more

“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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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. … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more

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 … Read more