Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

“It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”

All of Us Murderers by KJ Charles

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I am ever so pleased with my first Aardvark book! Only my third 5-star rating of the year (although a couple have been close).  I chose this one on vibes – I was partway through Band Sinister and enjoying myself, loved the cover, and was in the mood to say yes to some gothic mystery goodness. All of Us Murderers is KJ Charles playing with all the gothic novel tropes and putting her own spin on making the queer textual in a genre where it was subtext for most of its history.  The book starts with […]

“He was an overeager puppy and she was an aloof cat, and he was bound to get his nose swiped at least once or twice.”

Let's Give 'Em Pumpkin to Talk About by Isabelle Popp

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I was reading another book and it hit a highly dramatic bit, and I was not in the mood for it. So, I pivoted to the next book on the physical pile on my end table and thus, Let’s Give ‘Em Pumpkin to Talk About became my Sunday read (and my Cannonball book). I’m glad it was because this romance featuring the human equivalents of an over-eager golden retriever and a reticent to trust black cat was exactly the wavelength I was on.   Sadie Fox agreed to come home to Pea Blossom, Indiana, to care for her father’s beloved pumpkin farm while he tends […]

“He flopped sideways, mute testament to the greatest fighting technique of all: a friend behind your enemy.”

The Devils by Joe Abercrombie

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The Devils is my first Abercrombie book. I’ve had Half a King on my TBR for over a decade, but it hadn’t made its way onto an annual list yet. But as is often the case over the past many years narfna reviewed something ecstatically which had me checking to see if it fit a reading challenge (I’m counting this as weird horror for Read Harder and Black for CBR Bingo) and then it made its way to this year’s list.  My brain is tired having finished the nearly 550 pages of this book. But the good kind of tired. The “I just […]

“Gods and goddesses above, he was dangerous, but not for the reasons she’d once feared.”

Zomromcom by Olivia Dade

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I was unsure about Olivia Dade’s Zomromcom from the moment she shared in her newsletter that this was what she was working on. I’m not, generally speaking, a big paranormal romance person and certainly a book featuring a woman beginning a relationship with a vampire during a zombie attack certainly falls into that category. But I’ve had great experiences with Dade books previously and was willing to give this one a shot; it certainly didn’t hurt that its bright, fun cover qualified for the Purple Bingo Square.  We begin the story by being dumped into action in progress, and it really hampered my ability to sink into the book initially. Honestly, […]

“Because that’s how life tends to work in all its aspects. We try things out, and make mistakes, and recover, and learn from our experiences.”

Band Sinister by KJ Charles

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Band Sinister is what happens when an author writes their own version of Georgette Heyer book by throwing absolutely every socially progressive character type into a friend group and then letting them loose on the very suspecting neighbors. I’ve read exactly one Heyer book, Venetia, back in 2016. Initially this read didn’t jump out to me as especially heavy on the Heyer, but more in line with other queer Regency historical romances I’ve read over the years from Cat Sebastian or Olivia Waite, but the parallels are there.   The story here plays with the classic tropes that Heyer […]

“Lies are as dangerous as a sword. They can cut to the bone.”

The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton

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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 […]



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