Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“A curtain was drawn back in every man’s inner theater and their storytelling minds got to work.”

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

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First things first, this book is a slow burn. I wish I would have known that going in, I would have started it sooner and read it over a longer time frame. The first half meanders along and nothing seems to be connected, and getting to know the main players is not a quick process. If you’re prepared for that going in, you will probably end up liking this book. And about halfway through, it picks up quite a bit, and keeps getting stronger until […]

Once Upon a Time…

Once Upon a River by Diane Setterfield

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Yes! My soul needed a good magical realism book. It was crying out for it you guys. “Once Upon a River” delves into many characters but manages to thread the needle with keeping an eye on the main plot from beginning to end of this book. I absolutely loved “The 13th Tale” so I was looking forward to see what Setterfield did with this. She weaves stories, fairy-tales, and myths together to tie around the Thames River and the people who live alongside it. “Once […]

Way Too Light on World Building and Character Development

A Slice of Magic by A.G. Mayes

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  Please note this book will be released on January 25, 2019. Also note that I received this ARC from NetGalley. This did not affect my rating or review. Well I was up for some magical realism because I definitely needed the distraction. Too bad that the story itself was pretty lackluster. You can’t promise me a magical pie shop and then not really show anything that magical. This book also seems to be trying for a cozy mystery theme which didn’t work at all. […]

Magically Delightful

Sorcerer to the Crown by Zen Cho

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It took me a while to find my feet in this one, but once I did, it was a delightful romp through a fantastical Regency England. In Cho’s world, magic is in the air….or it would be if the Fairy Courts hadn’t plugged up the hole allowing their magic to trickle into England. But someone’s pissed off the Fairy Queen, and it becomes quite the kerfuffle for our titular Sorcerer Royal, Zacharias. On top of Fairy feelings, Zacharais is also fighting deep seated racism since […]

Fairy tale update with a Latinx spin

Blanca & Roja by Anna-Marie McLemore

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Technically it’s a misleading to say this is an update of a fairy tale. Really, this is a reimagining of several, woven together with a Latinx flair and a contemporary openness to LGBTQIA sensibilities. If that sounds like a lot to pack into 375 pages, you aren’t wrong, but I think it’s a decent effort. Blanca & Roja tells the story of the del Cisne sisters, one of whom is destined by a family curse to become a swan. Told from four perspectives, this book […]

Mirrors that don’t reflect reality

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I received Boy, Snow, Bird from an earlier CBR book exchange, but it had been collecting dust for a few years. I finally had a reason to pick it back up when my Mocha Girls Read book club selected it for a fairytale’s retold theme. Helen Oyeyemi’s novel is a VERY loose version of Snow White set in the 1950s. Boy Novak runs away to a small town to escape her abusive father. She meets a man named Arturo who isn’t quite a prince, but he […]



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