Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“When one enters a door, one must be brave enough to see the other side.”

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E Harrow

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Poetic, fantasy forward portal type science fiction. Plot: January’s father is a travelling archeologist, working with the financial backing of the wealthy Mr. Locke. Indeed, his generosity extends to taking January on as a ward while her father travels the world. Unfortunately, growing up a mixed-race girl in the house of a wealthy white man with no parenting skills is a mixed bag. January grows up a deeply isolated girl, surrounded by myths of portals to other worlds. Only it turns out they aren’t myths, […]

The Hellmouth May/May Not Be Located in Kentucky Thanks to Miner Barons

Starling House by Alix E. Harrow

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Let’s get it out of the way for the CBR Bingo this is row 2, column 1: Dwelling. My rating on Storygraph is 3.5 and we don’t have have decimals and fraction ratings here, but this isn’t something I’d rate a 4. In that case, I’m CBR rating it a 3. I tagged Starling House #StrangerThings and I also tagged it #GothicRomance and #MiningCountry and, in sum, that’s how I’d describe the genre and even plot of this book. This is one I wasn’t sure I’d stick […]

“Books are Doors and I wanted out.”

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

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*Audiobook Review* I have no idea how I am going to review this book. It is indescribable. To me, it was a perfect book. I have read all of Harrow’s other novels. The Once and Future Witches was my favorite book I read last year, and this will probably end up being my favorite of this year. January Scalla is a mixed-race 19-year-old girl who has practically been raised by her father’s wealthy, white employer, Mr. Locke. It is set in the early 20th Century, […]

Into Shadow Series Review

The Garden by Tomi Adeyemi

Persephone by Lev Grossman

The Six Deaths of the Saint by Alix E. Harrow

Undercover by Tamsyn Muir

What the Dead Know by Nghi Vo

The Candles Are Burning by Veronica G. Henry

Out of the Mirror, Darkness by Garth Nix

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Wow. I really wish this series of short stories had been released around Halloween, some of the stories are very good and the horror/fantasy elements are great. There are at least two stories I wish had been longer novels (The Six Deaths of the Saint and Undercover) because of how good they were and how much I didn’t want the stories to be over when I got to the end. “The Garden” by Tomi Adeyemi (2 stars)-This one compared to the other books in the […]

“You have to make the best of whatever story you were born into, and if your story happens to suck ass, well, maybe you can do some good before you go.”

A Mirror Mended (Fractured Fables, #2) by Alix E. Harrow

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So is this the last one of these then? It was a really good ending, if so. It’s been five years since we last saw Zinnia Gray, and she’s spent that time hopping from world to world, fixing fairytales, and helping princesses, sometimes realizing they don’t need help at all. But Zinnia is beginning to realize she’s running from her own life. She hasn’t spoken to Charm or Prim (who are now married) in six months. She’s avoidance denialing. That’s when she’s pulled through a […]

it’s a good thing when your biggest complaint is that you wanted more book

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

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The thought that sticks with me: I really, really wish that Harrow would combine these books into one proper sit down novel that includes the interstitial bits which we only hear about in passing. We meet Zinnia Grey, formerly ‘dying girl’ turned into intrepid multiverse Sleeping Beauty saver. She’s made a job (of sorts) out of jumping from one Sleeping Beauty story to another, trying to help each Aurora escape whatever evil they’re trapped within. In one passage, Harrow does what probably cost the MCU […]



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