IT’S THE MOST WONDERFULLLL TIME OF THE YEARRRRRR. Namely, the time when we get to discuss our Dark Horse books. This year, each of us picked six to ten debuts to read, and if you caught our H1 round-up, you’ll know we did a pretty good job of keeping up with 2020’s veritable onslaught of…
Tag: Dark Horse
Nophek Gloss – Whimsical, Prickly, And Keen
How is it already November in this forsaken year? With less than a month left before we put out our best of the year lists, our reviewers are hard at work chugging through all the books we wanted to get to before the year's end. Part of that effort involves finishing up outstanding Dark Horses,…
Continue reading ➞ Nophek Gloss – Whimsical, Prickly, And Keen
The First Sister – A Little Bit Of Everything, Not Enough Of Something
The First Sister, by Linden Lewis, is an impressively ambitious debut, and one of our dark horses of 2020. Part space opera, part social commentary, part feminist power piece, and part character-driven narrative, this book has a lot of moving pieces in a fairly small page count (350). It feels like a tiny explosion of…
Continue reading ➞ The First Sister – A Little Bit Of Everything, Not Enough Of Something
Axiom’s End – Ellis’ Beginning
Axiom’s End, by Lindsay Ellis, is less than what I expected, and more than I could have asked for. It’s a solid debut that serves as a great first step in a trilogy, offering a fun fast paced plot with thoughtful meditations on how people relate to one another and the “alien.” Part of me…
The Bone Shard Daughter – Lacking Muscle
Andrea Stewart’s debut had all the telltale signs of a bonafide winner. The Bone Shard Daughter boasts a back cover full of big-name recommendations, including Sarah J. Maas, M.R. Carey, Tasha Suri, and many more. And as I read the first few chapters, I perked up at the exciting premise and unique magic system, hoping…
Hench – It’s Good To Be Bad
I have a tenuous relationship with the concept of superheroes. Like many young boys in the U.S., I was exposed to them early and often through cartoons and memorabilia. Rarely did I read comic books, but sometimes they found their way into my hands, and on those occasions I did quite enjoy myself. Obviously, I…
Elatsoe – Magical Murder Mystery Tour
Darcie Little Badger (referred to as Little Badger for the rest of the review) has burst onto the fantasy scene with Elatsoe, a stunning debut. Little Badger deftly mixes elements from multiple genres into a cohesive and thoroughly enjoyable story that I devoured from cover to cover. Elatsoe takes place in a world remarkably like…
Architects of Memory – Unforgettable, Mostly
What’s that? It’s time for another dark horse review? Oh man, well I think I just used up that idea for an intro. Oh well, I got to it first so it’s mine now. I should be talking about a book right? Well, I’ll be honest, the first thing that leapt out to me about…
Continue reading ➞ Architects of Memory – Unforgettable, Mostly
Star Daughter – Shine Bright, Shine Far
Shveta Thakrar’s (wait for it) stellar (I had to) debut comes from our 2020 Dark Horse list. Star Daughter journeys to the cosmos, telling a celestial coming of age story. Thakrar weaves Indian mythology and folklore with resonant characters from our world. The result? A pleasant and imaginative read. Star Daughter follows Sheetal Mistry, 16-going-on-17-year-old…
The Dark Horse Initiative: January-June Wrap Up
Welcome to our Dark Horse Initiative wrap up for the first half of 2020! This year, we found a surplus of debuts we wanted to review, so we divided our Dark Horse list into two halves. January through June brought us 12 debuts. After a handful of delays, we finally knocked most of these off…
Continue reading ➞ The Dark Horse Initiative: January-June Wrap Up