Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

All right, I was a witch. Does it matter?

Circe by Madeline Miller

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The witch, Circe, turns up in the Odyssey, famous for turning half of Odysseus’ men into pigs, before changing them back again and giving Odysseus aid in his ever longer journey home from Troy. Circe, her island, and her interactions with Odysseus take up a single chapter of the Odyssey, and from this Miller weaves a much more satisfying tale in this 2018 novel. Circe is the eldest and least-regarded of four children of the Titan Helios and sea nymph Perse. She grows up as […]

I didn’t think I liked romance novels

Dress Up In You by MsKingBean89

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The last book I reviewed for CBR13 was a work of Harry Potter fanfic called All the Young Dudes (ATYD). I had submitted my “best/worst of CBR13” list before finishing ATYD, which is a shame because if I had waited, All the Young Dudes would have absolutely been one of my best of the year. I loved MsKingBean89’s imaginative, romantic and tragic story of Remus Lupin and his relationship with Sirius Black, and during the holidays I went back in to AO3 to see if […]

Emotions are Difficult, an Alternative Title to this SamBucky Fanfic Series

Questionable Communication Skills series by Abhorsenbranwen

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I have kept up with the fanfic habit I gained in 2020, although I have slowed down a bit, partly because my ability to focus on traditionally published books has increased, and partly because I have not been keeping up with one of the television shows that fed most of my 2020 consumption. But one of the wonderful things about fanfic is there is so bloody much of it that whatever small thought might be scratching at the back of your mind, or story thread […]

The Biography of Remus J. Lupin

All the Young Dudes by MsKingBean89

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All the Young Dudes is a work of Harry Potter inspired fanfic that focuses on the relationship between Remus Lupin and Sirius Black, making it what is known as a “Wolfstar” story. Apparently, it is the #1 download on Archive of Our Own (AO3). I first heard about it a couple of weeks ago in this Slate piece, which raved about it. At 188 chapters (and some half a million pages) it is, they say, half as long as all 7 HP novels, and readers, […]

The HP fandom has evolved in such lovely ways since I’ve been involved

Grounds for Divorce by Tepre

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I have been meaning to read this for ages. I actually told my friend over whatsapp that I was going to read this sometime late 2020, and then proceeded to…not. Pardon the digression, but: one of the biggest personal fallouts from the whole “JKR is an unrepentant transphobe” issue is that I’ve felt weird and icky reading fanfic. Which is sad, and doesn’t make sense! Sort of like transphobia! The vast, vast majority of fanfic writers, and certainly all the ones that I’ve avidly followed, […]

finally felt like getting back into some fanfic!

A path to broken stars by stellardarlings

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Hmm I didn’t even realize it until I started writing reviews but this is, actually, the third Beauty and the Beast retelling I read in a row. What can I say? It is clearly my favorite type of fairy tale, imprinted upon me due to my youthful love of the Disney classic. When your other choices are “sleeps for the best parts (x2),” “wears a shoe,” “gives up her entire world for the dude,” it’s not surprising that Belle “I read and yell back and […]



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