Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“One should not make a pet out of a wild beast.”

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold

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cbrbingo11 – Cannonballer says! In the kingdom of Harding, heir to the throne Emory must go through the ritual every king has had to take on before being granted the crown: slay a dragon, rescue the damsel captive there, and make her your queen.  Emory conquers this task as he conquers all of his conquests, and the young woman he takes back to his kingdom is like the ones who came before: no memory of her past or her time in the dragon’s lair, nameless, […]

“That’s what comes of hungering for something; you forget to check if it’s rotten before you gobble it down”

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

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When Jude and Taryn were children, a strange man showed up at their home, claimed their mother was his wife and their older sister Vivienne was his daughter. For the betrayal, the man murdered their parents and took them away to his home: the High Court of Faerie. As daughters of the High King’s top general, Jude and Taryn have been raised very well as part of the gentry, despite their mortal status. This means that while they wear the best clothes, enjoy an education, […]

Switching it up to Faerie Tale Gothic

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  Just last week, I reviewed one of the books in Seanan McGuire’s October Daye series, which is steeped in faerie folklore and mythology. There’s nothing like a good fairytale retelling – folklore characters are in the public domain and are fair game for any author who wants to write their own interpretation of them. It can be fascinating to see what direction different people decide to take. For example, the Cait Sith (or Cait Sidhe) of the October Daye universe are wildly different to […]

Complicated Speculative Fiction. And Complicated Book Feelings

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I finished this trilogy a while ago, but I’ve found myself dragging my feet when it came to writing up the reviews I had some mixed feelings about this series and it was giving me a serious case of writer’s block. I liked these books. Overall, I liked the series. But I’ve had some trouble writing about the flaws without being too negative. I eventually decided that rather than do a separate review for each book, I’d just review the series as a whole. This has […]

You remember Alice? It’s a song about Alice…

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  Alice hated being interesting. (a couple of times throughout the book but p. 287 is where I recorded it.) I didn’t love it. I didn’t hate it. I’ll probably seek out the follow-up books, but I already know that the thing I think needs to happen–Alice becoming the Queen of Hearts–won’t.

A shapeshifter tale of violence & confusion over the ages

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Unfortunately, life happened, so it’s been a while since my last review. It took me an extra month to finish the last 60 pages of The Devourers! I did participate in our Cannonball Read book club discussion on time. Better late to review than never, I say. 😉  The Devourers was on several 2016 year end lists. I hadn’t read much contemporary fantasy, so was very intrigued to read it. I also love stories about shape-shifters (and most supernatural creatures). While reading the Kate Daniels’ series by Ilona Andrews, […]



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