Severance by Ling Ma REVIEW

I have been saying for about a month that we are living in the prologue of a dystopian novel. Severance is that novel. It is not for the faith of heart. It points a funhouse mirror on our world and asks: how did you handle it? The year is 2011. Candace Chen is a New

The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler REVIEW

“When global climate change and economic crisis lead to social chaos in the early 2020s…” is the first clause on the back of my copy of The Parable of the Sower. When I started to look for more diverse authors in the spring of 2020, I was led down a path of black science fiction

Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West review

I saw this book’s beautiful cover on Instagram and entered a giveaway to win it. I didn’t know when it appeared on my doorstep, that it would be a sparkling debut that would burrow it’s way into my soul.  Alice King is dead. She was shot in her own doorway, leaving behind her twenty-four year

Atomic Love by Jennie Fields review

I am going to be honest and say that Atomic Love is not what I expected. I went in expecting historical drama, and what I got was historical romance.  In 1950’s Chicago, women have been asked to leave the ‘men’s’ workplaces and go back to ‘women’s work.’ Rosalind was one of these women, but for

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson REVIEW

Science fiction is slowly creeping its way to one of my favorite genres. The reason is because of stories like The Space Between Worlds. It is female driven, diverse, and full of character. The science is cool, but it doesn’t bog down the plot and character development like in classic science fiction.  To visit other

Dance of Thieves by Mary E. Pearson REVIEW

In the pages of this novel, I got two of my favorite things: unsurprising romance tropes and surprising fantasy world building. Pearson wrote a young adult fantasy that did not once make me groan over cliches or make me growl over characters’ inability to communicate. Kazi is a young thief turned Rahtan (a soldier for

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett REVIEW

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett was difficult for me to read.  Not because of quality, but I had difficulty reading because of the weight of the text.  Each character has layers upon layers of complexities.  Each scene in the thirty year span of this story is strongly selected.  This book was more than just

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen REVIEW

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are fantastic at making me confused. I’ve now read two of their books, and found myself guessing till the end! You Are Not Alone is creepy, twisty, and fun for the reader! Shay lives in New York in an apartment she shares with her friend Sean, who is in a

Ribbons of Scarlet by the #ScarletSisters Review

Ribbons of Scarlet by Stephanie Dray, E Knight, Laura Kaomie, Sophie Perinot, Heather Webb, and Kate Quinn The French Revolution is a major turning point not only in European history, but world history. Most often, men are the figures talked about in association with the revolution: King Louis, Robspiere, Lafayette. What is extraordinary about this

June 2020 Wrap Up

This month I did not read a lot of books, but every book I read was great! I have a bunch lined up for July and August that I cannot wait to get into.  But here is what I did read. Favorite end to a series: Chaos Reigning by Jessie Mihalik: If you have been