"Romance isn’t gratuitous bodice ripping. It can be, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but in the end, romance isn’t about the fantasy of being wealthy or beautiful or even being tied to the bed.” More laughter, but I have their attention now. “It’s about elevating stories of joy above stories of pain. It is... Continue Reading →
Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour
She'd thought her life was on the verge of changing, but it wasn't. Thought she was a complete person, discovered she was mistaken. The incompletness lingered and expanded until she could barely open her eyes."Yerba Buena by Nina LaCour Yerba Buena is the first novel I've read by Nina LaCour, and it's also her debut... Continue Reading →
The Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik
"She says it's too easy to call people evil instead of their choices and that lets people justify making evil choices. Because they convince themselves that it's okay because they're still good people overall inside their own heads. And yes, fine. But I think that after a certain number of evil choices, it's reasonable shorthand... Continue Reading →
Goldilocks by L.R. Lam
"It hadn’t happened in a moment, but a series of moments, as slow and insidious as the melting of the ice caps. Women had been ushered out of the workplace, so subtly that few noticed until it was too late. There had been no grand lowering of an iron curtain, with passports voided and bank... Continue Reading →
The Blighted Stars by Megan E. O’Keefe
"Everyone remembered firsts. Your first love, first kiss, the birth of your first child, or the sight of your first snowfall. A life was built on the backs of firsts. Shining moments, pins in the timeline, holding who you were together. Acaelus could remember the first time he'd died, a boltgun through the head. It'd... Continue Reading →
The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
"I led her up Supal, which hadn't changed much since Mossa and I were students: the typically curlicued lanterns; the tea shops designed for every taste from quiet to rowdy, basic to exclusive; the prayer booths in a range of denominations; the quaint bookshops in every specialization. Shops offered very need of the scholar, from magnifying eyewear... Continue Reading →