Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

One of my favorite fantasies

The Oleander Sword by Tasha Suri

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The Oleander Sword fulfills the “green” square on CBR17 Bingo. I read and reviewed this book for the first time back in 2022 and it still has me absolutely devastated and sitting here filled with feelings. Luckily this time around I have The Lotus Empire at hand and don’t have to wait to find out what happens next for Priya and Malini! The Oleander Sword takes place a year after The Jasmine Throne and is a story full of the ripple effects of war and […]

It’s a nope from me, dawg.

Can't Spell Treason Without Tea (Tomes & Tea, #1) by Rebecca Thorne

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I’m so sad rn, but this was so dull. Cozy fantasy should still have emotional stakes. I’m actually writing this review straightly upon finishing because I just want to be done with it (barring my May YouTube wrap-up, but talking is easier than writing). Like many, I have been really, really into this cozy fantasy thing since Legends and Lattes first did its thing, and unfortunately, I think this author learned the wrong lessons from that book, which she tells us in the afterword was a huge […]

“Power doesn’t have to be the way the regent and your rebels make it be . . . Power can be looking after people. Keeping them safe, instead of putting them into danger.”

The Jasmine Throne (The Burning Kingdoms, #1) by Tasha Suri

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 I actually really ended up liking this and I’m going to need to use of one of my ten cheat books to pick up the sequel (I’m on a book buying ban for the whole of 2024 — I’ve already used three cheats 😬). It’s always lovely when as a lifelong fantasy reader you come across something that feels fresh and unique, and this book gave me that feeling the whole way through. The underlying story—about a society oppressed by an empire led by a […]

The meter of the poem fired his blood until he was a molten core. The hammer’s song was a charm for living, a way to keep singing himself into existence.

The Winter Knight by Jes Battis

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The word eôel meant home turf. People trust home. Through years of investigation, her grandmother had learned that what people told you depended on where you talked to them. Lies for every space, but occasionally a truth snuck its way in.” ― Jes Battis, The Winter Knight When she had interviewed him, she’d traced a discreet rune on his phone case. It was sketchy magic, but it should have given her access to the phone’s GPS. The problem was that it wasn’t working. His location […]

Fantastic Jewish mythology middle grade!

The Ring of Solomon by Aden Polydoros

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I love Aden Polydoros’ books and when I saw he had a middle grade I was so excited. His books hit a very special place for me, and Ring of Solomon continues that trend. Zach and his younger sister, Naomi, find an old ring at the flea market and plan to get it for their mom for her birthday as she collects Judaica, but when they realize they can use the ring to communicate with animals, Zach decides to keep it for himself. He’s been […]

“A werewolf is courting me with a dead rabbit. There’s nothing subtle here.”

Wolfsong (Green Creek, #1) by T.J. Klune

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So I’ve had this book on my TBR for a while, even before Klune got a traditional publishing deal and the The House in the Cerulean Sea broke out, but I didn’t bite the bullet and actually decide to read it until I saw that this gorgeous edition was being released in September 2022. I did end up ordering the Waterstones edition with the gorgeous sprayed edges, and I have no regrets (except for when my copy arrived completely ruined from water damage, but they […]



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