In preparation for the Netflix show, Thea is re-immersing herself in Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse and rereading the Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows books! Today, she tackles the second full-length novel in the original trilogy: Siege and Storm.…
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7 Rated Books
Veronica Roth is back with an adult(ish) SFF offering, taking the Chosen One trope to the next level. Title: Chosen Ones Author: Veronica Roth Genre: Speculative Fiction/Science Fiction Publisher: John Joseph Adams / Houghton Mifflin HarcourtPublication Date: April 2020Hardcover: 432…
Title: Scavenge the Stars Author: Tara Sim Genre: YA Fantasy Publisher: Disney Publication date: January 7 2020Hardcover: 336 pages When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on…
Two more short reviews of two horror reads this Halloween season. Between NOW and THEN: the same family, the same home, different ghosts. Back in 1976, Loo and Bee are the two closest sisters in a family of five…
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Halloween Reads: Bad Institutes for Gifted Children (THE INSTITUTE by Stephen King, INSPECTION by Josh Malerman)
It’s officially Halloween season, which means I’ve been diving deep into the horror canon–this spooky season, I found myself drawn to two different novels about gifted children and the adults experimenting on them: Josh Malerman’s Inspection and Stephen King’s…
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Two Books: Jelly by Clare Rees and The Black Coats by Colleen Oakes
These books could not have been more different from one another but you know I like some variety in my book diet. First up, Jelly by Clare Rees has the most ridiculous premise imaginable and I loved it for…
Title: The Swallows Author: Lisa Lutz Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Mystery Publisher: Ballantine BooksPublication date: August 13 2019Hardcover: 368 pages What do you love? What do you hate? What do you want? It starts with this simple writing prompt from…
I’ve been busy this summer, reading thrillers – most of them, I am happy to report, fantastic! I’ve listened to the audiobook of Something in the Water, written and narrated by Catherine Steadman and right off the bat, I…
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YA Round-up: The Best Lies, The Kingdom and Girls with Sharp Sticks.
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…
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…
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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…
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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…
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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:…
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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…