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Summer Sons – Sweltering Haunts

It’s officially time to kick off the spooky season, and I do declare that Summer Sons by Lee Mandelo should be your first pick. The book is part southern gothic, part paranormal mystery, and part dark academia set against the backdrop of prestigious Vanderbilt University and rural Tennessee. It’s hot and humid and confusing as…

No Gods, No Monsters – But Werewolves and Metaphors

Cadwell Turnbull’s sophomore book, and opening novel in the Convergence Saga defies expectation and easy definition. Turnbull’s first book, The Lesson, was one of my favorite books of 2019, so this next one was saddled with high expectations. In a lot of ways, those expectations were met, but I also experienced a lot of confusion…

Blood Of The Chosen – Predictably Perfect

I don’t like using gifs in my reviews, but I almost made an exception for this one; I nearly made a loop of Wexler just knocking a ball out of the park. Wexler has a few projects ongoing currently, but the one I am most interested in is his Burningblade and Silvereye trilogy. The first…

Things I Learned From Mario’s Butt – Booty Hootenanny

At The Quill To Live, we’re no strangers to butts. Or buts. So it’s only fitting that I supported video game critic Laura Kate Dale’s Things I Learned From Mario’s Butt. The book is an exquisite fit for coffee tables, and if you’re a gamer or butt enthusiast, it makes for a fun read.  Things…

The Bands Of Mourning – Nothing To Grieve About

So here we are. Like an Allomancer burning Atium and exhausting all her metals, I’ve siphoned all my reading power and finished every currently-released core Mistborn book. Brandon Sanderson continues to craft an epic, sweeping tale, and I adore this series beyond measure. Unless, of course, you count my review scores as a measure, which…

The All-Consuming World – A Veritable Buffet of Good Times

Cassandra Khaw is a name that has lurked in the back of my mind for a long while now, even though I have never read  her other works. A review of one of her previous works exists on the site, and though I didn’t get to those stories (yet), those words ring true about her…

Light From Uncommon Stars – Rare Brilliance

Light from Uncommon Stars, by Ryka Aoki, is a very strange book in the best way possible. It’s a story about music, trans individuals, aliens, loneliness, video games, Faustian bargains, San Gabriel Valley, donut shops, and more. It is wholly its own thing, despite the blurb on the back saying it’s Good Omens meets The…