Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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“Lies are as dangerous as a sword. They can cut to the bone.”

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

October 27, 2025 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

I am so torn about the rating of The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton. Part of me was won over by the interesting world Clayton created where people are born alike, with red eyes and grey skin, and hair the texture of straw. What is considered “beauty” – a variety of skin tones, hair colors and types, and body shapes – does not come naturally unless they are a Belle. The Belles have the ability through their arcana (think natural magic ability) to change people’s appearances, but not their own. All varieties are considered various degrees of beautiful, but of course like […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: cbr17bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, magic, read harder challenge, Review, The Belles, we need diverse books

faintingviolet's CBR17 Review No:48 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: cbr17bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, magic, read harder challenge, Review, The Belles, we need diverse books ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
A phone displaying the audio book, "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton is standing next to a partially complete book bingo card.

A truly international and diverse magical school

The Marvellers by Dhonielle Clayton

October 13, 2023 by Dome'Loki Leave a Comment

CBR15 Bingo: Edibles – Dhonielle Clayton ramped up the concept of magical food to an almost absurd level, many sound down right hard to eat. Things like Jamaican patties that sing reggae when you cut them open and hummingbird cakes that fly around are two that stick out in my memory. A few years ago I discovered Clayton through her YA Belles duology, The Belles and The Everlasting Rose, which I thought were both 4 star reads. The Marvellers came to my attention due to the […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction Tagged With: #fantasy, CBR15, cbr15bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, diverse characters, Dome'Loki, Fiction, magic, magical food, middle grade, Racism

Dome'Loki's CBR15 Review No:11 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction · Tags: #fantasy, CBR15, cbr15bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, diverse characters, Dome'Loki, Fiction, magic, magical food, middle grade, Racism ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Whiteout

Whiteout by Dhonielle Clayton

October 31, 2022 by Classic Leave a Comment

Please note that I received this book via NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. This sadly was not as good as Blackout was. Probably because the main couple we follow in this one didn’t read as romantic to me at all. They (Sola and Stevie) read as very immature and honestly I got really tired of Stevie mighty quick. I didn’t find that whole dinner party thing realistic at all because Stevie is supposed to be really smart, but takes something that […]

Filed Under: Romance Tagged With: Dhonielle Clayton

Classic's CBR14 Review No:234 · Genres: Romance · Tags: Dhonielle Clayton ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

A Wonder of a Woman

Nubia: Real One by L. L. McKinney

August 19, 2022 by BlackRaven Leave a Comment

Overall, Nubia: Real One is a modern telling of the superhero genre with concerns for today. While the art was not a hundred percent “my thing” it is clever and fits the tone of the story. Robyn Smith created illustrations that are classical graphic novel with comic overtones and works as both a blanket to hold the text and characters and be independent of it. I am not sure if they have reinvented the story of Nubia (outside of probably giving her two moms and […]

Filed Under: Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: coming-of-age, DC Comics, Dhonielle Clayton, friendship, glbtq, identity, L. L. McKinney, Robyn Smith, Romance, Social Themes, superheroes, Wonder Woman

BlackRaven's CBR14 Review No:450 · Genres: Comedy/Humor, Fantasy, Fiction, Graphic Novels/Comic Books, Health, Romance, Young Adult · Tags: coming-of-age, DC Comics, Dhonielle Clayton, friendship, glbtq, identity, L. L. McKinney, Robyn Smith, Romance, Social Themes, superheroes, Wonder Woman ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments

Blackout

Blackout by Dhonielle Clayton

April 20, 2022 by Classic 5 Comments

What a great collection. I loved the idea of authors getting together to have characters set in the same place/time/date with them all spinning their individual stories. This was honestly lovely and I had no problem with any of the storylines. To have a young adult romance book starring mostly Black characters was wonderful to read. I started wishing for this to get turned into a miniseries. I miss really good romantic movies/tv shows. It feels like they have gotten out of vogue the past […]

Filed Under: Romance, Young Adult Tagged With: Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Dhonielle Clayton, LGBT fiction, LGBT Romance, nic stone, nicola yoon, Tiffany D. Jackson

Classic's CBR14 Review No:90 · Genres: Romance, Young Adult · Tags: Angie Thomas, Ashley Woodfolk, Dhonielle Clayton, LGBT fiction, LGBT Romance, nic stone, nicola yoon, Tiffany D. Jackson ·
Rating:
· 5 Comments

“In the clear and steady gleam of electric lights, superstition turns to foolishness; in the crucible of the combustion engine, false beliefs are burned away.” (Bingos #9 & 10)

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite by Zoraida Cordova & Natalie Parker (editors)

October 24, 2021 by faintingviolet Leave a Comment

My Halloween read this year is this collection of new vampire tales edited by the team of Zoraida Cordova and Natalie Parker. I enjoy vampire stores because they offer so many different views onto the human condition, if you go looking for them. In Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bite Cordova and Parker, along with the assembled authors, take the time to dig in and explore these angles – with postscripts by Cordova and Parker after each story. Let’s handle individual stories in […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Young Adult Tagged With: Anthology, cbr13bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, halloween, Heidi Heilig, julie murphy, Kayla Whaley, laura ruby, mark oshiro, mythic, Natalie Parker, read harder challenge, read women, Rebecca Roanhorse, Samira Ahmed, short story collection, Tessa Gratton, vampires, Vampires Never Get Old, VE Schwab, we need diverse books, Zoraida Cordova, Zoraida Cordova & Natalie Parker (editors)

faintingviolet's CBR13 Review No:50 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Horror, Short Stories, Young Adult · Tags: Anthology, cbr13bingo, Dhonielle Clayton, halloween, Heidi Heilig, julie murphy, Kayla Whaley, laura ruby, mark oshiro, mythic, Natalie Parker, read harder challenge, read women, Rebecca Roanhorse, Samira Ahmed, short story collection, Tessa Gratton, vampires, Vampires Never Get Old, VE Schwab, we need diverse books, Zoraida Cordova, Zoraida Cordova & Natalie Parker (editors) ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments
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