Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“Both history and future are fictions. Only the present is real.”

Her Majesty's Royal Coven by Juno Dawson

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From the official plot description: At the dawn of their adolescence, on the eve of the summer solstice, four young girls–Helena, Leonie, Niamh, and Elle–took the oath to join Her Majesty’s Royal Coven, established by Queen Elizabeth I as a covert government department. Now, decades later, the witch community is still reeling from a civil war and Helena is now the reigning High Priestess of the organization. Yet Helena is the only one of her friend group still enmeshed in the stale bureaucracy of HMRC. […]

A novella and a bridging book

The Archduke by Elisabeth Wheatley

Daindreth's Outlaw by Elisabeth Wheatley

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The Archduke is a short novella, that can be found free on Elisabeth Wheatley’s website. It tells the first few chapters of Daindreth’s Assassin from the point of view of Daindreth, from his first meeting with Amira, when she tries to kill him and ends up fighting the demon inside him, to the negotiations with her father to change the marriage contract. Since the entirety of the first novel is from Amira’s POV, I liked the idea of getting to see how Daindreth experienced the […]

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 […]

“In her spare time, she looked to books or the stars for company”

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

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Caseopea Tun is basically treated as a servant by her grandfather, cousin, and extended family because her mother ran away and made an ill-advised marriage. Caseopea suffers the indignities mainly because her tyrannical grandfather has promised to leave her some money once he dies. However, during another turbulent row with her spoiled cousin Martín, he reveals that their grandfather has no intention of leaving anything to Caseopea. She feels furious and rebellious, which leads to her opening the forbidden chest at the bottom of her […]

A promising start to a fun fantasy series

Daindreth's Assassin by Elisabeth Wheatley

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Amira was once a princess, but after her mother’s clan of sorceresses were branded as traitors and banished, she was removed from the line of succession and now, thanks to a curse that forces her to obey her father’s every command, she works for him as an assassin. Amira’s sister is betrothed to the archduke, the next emperor, who is on his way to finalise the marriage agreement. Despite knowing that what she has to do amounts to high treason, Amira has no choice when […]

The night parade is about to begin . . .

Tokyo Night Parade by J. P. Takahashi

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I am not really sure how I feel about the picture book, Tokyo Night Parade. After read I noticed there were several layers and the art needed its own reading. Taken on the surface, it is a sweet story about a young girl who wants to spend time with old friends from Japan, ones she has not seen since moving to New York. These friends are a bit different though, as they are the demons of Japanese folklore. And our young hero cannot see them […]



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