TW: abuse, rape. Debut YA thriller The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu is a portrayal of a toxic friendship, abuse cycles and the frayed, complex in-betweens. It opens with the death of Remy’s beloved boyfriend Jack. Remy is a…
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7 Rated Books
Title: Wilder Girls Author: Rory Power Genre: Horror, YA Publisher: Delacorte Press Publication Date: July 7 2019 Hardcover: 368 Pages It’s been eighteen months since the Raxter School for Girls was put under quarantine. Since the Tox hit and…
Trigger warning: rape. Touted as a feminist thriller for the #metoo era, Whisper Network by Chandler Baker is an unflinching portrayal of sexual abuse in the workplace. Featuring a narrative that alternates between its four main female characters, the…
Hello, we are over at Kirkus with our regular column. Today, Ana review Recursion by Blake Crouch which is TOTALLY an unexpected time travel book! Yay! Go over there for the full review.…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today, this time with a review of Middlegame by Seanan McGuire. An alchemical fairy tale, Middlegame is the story of not-quite-human twins–Roger and Dodger–who created in…
Title: The Luminous Dead Author: Caitlin Starling Genre: Horror Publisher: Harper Voyager Publication Date: April 2019 Hardcover: 352 Pages A thrilling, atmospheric debut with the intensive drive of The Martian and Gravity and the creeping dread of Annihilation, in which a caver on a foreign planet finds…
It’s Friday and we are over at Kirkus with a review of Atlas Alone by Emma Newman Go over to Kirkus to hear more about it.…
Title: Sherwood Author: Meagan Spooner Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult Publisher: HarperTeenPublication Date: March 2019Hardcover: 480 pages Robin of Locksley is dead. Maid Marian doesn’t know how she’ll go on, but the people of Locksley town, persecuted by the Sheriff of…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn, with a review of Sarah Beth Durst’s newest fantasy novel, The Deepest Blue. A spinoff novel set in the world of Renthia–in which elemental spirits try to kill…
5 Rated Books 7 Rated Books Book Reviews
Mini-Reviews: THE DREAMERS by Karen Thompson Walker & THE FAMILIARS by Stacey Halls
I’ve been reading quite a lot now that my commute is five hours long. Daily. I read two books recently, a mixed bag – one, a literary fiction that left me cold, the other a historical fiction that was…
7 Rated Books 8 Rated Books 9 Rated Books Book Reviews Kirkus
Over at Kirkus: All the Time Travel RIGHT NOW
It’s Friday and we are over at Kirkus! Today I am talking about all the awesome time travel I’ve been reading including The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley, Permafrost by Alastair Reynolds and the Alice Payne novellas by Kate…
7 Rated Books Book Reviews Guest Review Smuggler Army
Series Review: NINTH STEP STATION by Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Curtis C. Chen, and J Koyanagi
Today, we are giving the floor over to Charles Payseur, a member of our Smuggler Army with his regular column X Marks the Story to review Serial Box Publishing’s series Ninth Step Station by Malka Older, Fran Wilde, Curtis C.…
7 Rated Books Book Reviews
Book Review: The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray
I am still dipping my toes into the literally fiction pool, finding what works for me and what doesn’t. Books like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls by Anissa Gray are definitely my cup of tea. …
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Kiersten White’s newest: YA urban fantasy novel Slayer. Like basically every other SFF nerd of the past 20 years, Thea is…
Today we bring bring back our feature, “What She Said…” in which we both review books that the other has previously read and reviewed. This feature arose because of a very serious dilemma we faced at Casa de Smugglers:…
7 Rated Books 8 Rated Books 9 Rated Books Book Reviews Kirkus
Over at Kirkus: Round-up of Recent SciFi Reads
I am over at Kirkus today talking about three recent SciFi reads: The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi, Neverworld Wake by Marisha Pessl and Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee Go over to Kirkus to learn more.…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Furyborn by Claire Legrand. The first book in a new series from Claire Legrand, Furyborn tells the story of two different…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri. The debut novel from Tasha Suri, Empire of Sand is a historical fantasy novel inspired…
We are over at Kirkus today for our regular column! It’s Thea’s turn today with a review of Umbertouched by Livia Blackburne. The second and concluding novel in the Rosemarked duology, Umbertouched is beautifully characterized, self-contained, and full of…
It’s Monday and Ana is over at Kirkus with a review of Time Travel thriller slash murder mystery, The Psychology of Time Travel. Go over to Kirkus for the full scoop.…
It’s Tuesday and I am over at Kirkus! Halloween is nearly upon us and I started with the Horror reads already! Go over to Kirkus for the full scoop!…
7 Rated Books Book Reviews Old School Wednesdays
Old School Wednesdays: The Search for Delicious by Natalie Babbitt
Old School Wednesdays is a regular Book Smuggler feature. We came up with the idea towards the end of 2012, when both Ana and Thea were feeling exhausted from the never-ending inundation of New and Shiny (and often over-hyped)…
Old School Wednesdays is a regular Book Smuggler feature. We came up with the idea towards the end of 2012, when both Ana and Thea were feeling exhausted from the never-ending inundation of New and Shiny (and often over-hyped)…
7 Rated Books 8 Rated Books Book Reviews
Book Review Roundup: TEMPESTS AND SLAUGHTER by Tamora Pierce + THE POPPY WAR by R.F. Kuang
I’ve been reading a lot of fantasy lately, and two novels have recently struck me with their thematic similarities (though both are intended for wildly different audiences): Tempests and Slaughter by Tamora Pierce and The Poppy War by R.F.…
6 Rated Books 7 Rated Books 8 Rated Books Book Reviews
Series Review: The Queens of Renthia by Sarah Beth Durst
And now for something a little different—I’ve recently read all three books in the Queens of Renthia trilogy by Sarah Beth Durst and I have some feels. Today’s review is a roundup of all three books: The Queen of…
