Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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Good evening, everyone. I'm Leslie Monster, and this is Nightline. (Learn more about this Cannonballer: narfna's Quick Questions interview.)

narfna's Reviews:

“There is nothing wrong with being a monster.”

The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw

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?????? It’s been weeks now and I still don’t know what to make of this one. A very dark and weird take on The Little Mermaid story, with a cheeky little nod to Hans Christian Andersen even; mostly this was an exercise in imagery and I didn’t connect to the characters, but I can’t deny it has style. The mermaid here was essentially stolen from the sea, forced to marry a prince, had her tongue cut out, and then gave birth to daughters who then […]

Triple Cannonballing with fugitive Blanche, here to solve your murder mysteries and nose around until all your secrets are exposed.

Blanche on the Lam (Blanche White, #1) by Barbara Neely

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This was published in 1992 so it should have SO MANY more ratings on Goodreads than it does. It was very good! Mystery/crime junkies, consider this your notice. A fun series is waiting for you. There are only four books in it, and this is the first. And if you have KU or Audible, it’s free! I highly enjoyed the audiobook experience, if you are an audiobook person. The book opens with Blanche—who I now love with all my heart—sitting in court waiting to hear […]

An unsettling tale of true friendship and demons, literal and metaphorical.

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

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I don’t know exactly why I’m having such a hard time writing a review for this book. It’s pretty straightforward! (if weird). Best friends in the 1980s (get ready for some Reagan-era skewering) persevere through the power of friendship over evil. Plus lots of 80s nostalgia (including some contemporary language usage that was definitely common then but isn’t accepted now, so be warned if that might bother you). The thing about Grady Hendrix is that he knows how to write characters who are realistic and […]

Hi, it’s me, the worst book of the year.

Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

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I’m not mad just disappointed. Just kidding, I’m pretty mad. I’m going to say what many reviewers have said before me: This is not a book about a man who is swallowed by a whale and has to use science to get out alive. This is a book about a man (a teenager, actually, but more on that below) who has daddy issues real bad, and he happens to be swallowed by a whale also. The parts with the whale are few and far between—it […]

A trippy, atmospheric sci-fi haunted house.

Rose/House by Arkady Martine

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“I am Rose House, entire, and have never been anything else. I am not lonely. I do not wish to be a companion of elsewheres.” This was so atmospheric and a pleasure to read, even though I’m pretty sure I didn’t understand half of what was going on. The main conceit here is that this is a sci-fi take on a haunted house, where the haunt is an A.I. that IS the house, not that inhabits the house or was installed there, but is in […]

“A romance is a belief in the impossible: that anything ends happily.”

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

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This was really good but I can’t give it a full five stars for one reason. More on that reason below. But first! I enjoyed this so much! I said this in a status update while reading, but it was such a relief to have a YA book tackle what this book is trying to tackle* and have it SUCCEED instead of falling down on its face. Ava Reid, like her or not, is really talented. There are of course going to be people that […]



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