In seventh grade, Shannon—one of the popular girls—told a story about buying a fish at Petco with a friend and immediately dumping it onto the pavement. She and her friend felt bad for the fish after doing this, so they filled cups of water and splashed the fish occasionally to extend its miserable final moments…
The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon wants to be a love story, but it doesn’t feel like one. By the end of the book, very little romantic progress has been made and the character development is alarmingly static. No one seemed to gain any ground for so long that the story felt like a storm…
Boy, do I have a tasty box of treats for you today. Under My Skin, by K.J. Parker, is a collection of novellas and novelettes all taking place in the same collective universe and focusing on the subject of people who are not what they seem. Parker is a master of short stories and even…
It’s your first day on the job. The building has a familiar feeling to it, despite its incongruity. Your co-workers defer to you on all matters, though you are completely new to the scene. A crisis has erupted, and though everyone seems to know what they are doing, you are the last puzzle piece that…
Continue reading ➞ There Is No Antimemetics Division – You Never Read This Review
Until I started reading The Exorcist, my knowledge of possession was strictly limited to the “Ghost Realtor” segment from Comedy Central’s Nathan For You. Now, I have a much better handle on the concept thanks to William Peter Blatty’s seminal book, which the front cover dubs “the most terrifying novel ever written.”A bold claim, and…
Gangsters can be monstrous, but what if there was an actual monster hunting the gangsters themselves? In These Violent Delights, author Chloe Gong places us in the middle of 1920s Shanghai when gang tensions are high and a monster is wreaking havoc. If you’re looking for a fast-paced story with a lot of action and…
Mammoth at the Gates, a Singing Hills novella by Nghi Vo, continues Vo’s tradition of absolutely killing it. Considering this is the fourth entry in my favorite novella series, no one should be surprised at this point. Vo has once again paved the way and led by example on what a novella series should look…
I’ve only recently begun to dabble in the world of comics, graphic novels, and manga. I’ve dipped my toe in a few times in the past, never fully committing to anything other than a few issues or volumes of the weirder stuff. My only real exposure to graphic novels prior to 2016 was Watchmen, a…
Continue reading ➞ East of West – Have You Heard The Message?
Brandon Sanderson’s Defending Elysium treats readers to a short, fast-paced story set in the Cytoverse (Skyward). The story moves at the velocity of a spaceship; you’ll be able to finish it at lightspeed. Fans of the Cytoverse should consider this required reading for further context, while those who haven’t read Skyward can still appreciate the…
A Fairy King, a rising sea, and predatory men make up the fetid water in A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. It’s not something you would want to swim in, but it is a story you will want to read. Reid blends real life with a foreboding fairytale to showcase the difficulties women face…
