Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

It’s Important to Have the Occasional Existential Crisis About Trust. Probably.

A Trial of Sorcerers by Elise Kova

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On it’s face, Trial of Sorcerers is basically just about what happens when you send the various elemental benders from Avatar: The Last Airbender through the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Which is fun! But actually a vehicle for a VERY different story. Because inside of the framing plot device, Trial of Sorcerers is fundamentally a story about trust. Our core is this: Years ago, a disastrous Carrie-style incident caused our heroine to lose control of her magic and kill someone. It was an accident. It was still manslaughter. […]

A fairytale in all but name

Nettle and Bone by T. Kingfisher

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CBR15 Bingo: Using my Getaway key to replace History with Nostalgia and make bingo #2! Diagonal, History to Sex.  I used Nettle and Bone for nostalgia because fairytales always make me feel nostalgic for my childhood reading.  Note: It has been awhile since I listened to this book and I have forgotten names.  Also, I don’t know how names are spelled so please forgive any transgressions. It feels like a few weeks ago (but the reality is it was probably several months ago because time is […]

I could really use some money, if like a billionaire is listening or something . . .

The Inheritance Games (The Inheritance Games, #1) by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 3 Book 14/30 This was fun! I love puzzle books. Not that I even tried to solve any of the puzzles in here; as previously related in many reviews (one just last week, I believe), I am a more passive reader and not super great at puzzles or riddles, so I just sit back and let the characters do all the work for me, presenting me with mysteries and then serving up the answers. This particular puzzle book is […]

“In a conquered land, the only way to win was to survive.”

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Song of the Last Kingdom, #1) by Amélie Wen Zhao

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30 Books in 30 Days, Vol. 3 Book 13/30 This one surprised me! There has really been a lot of authors the past several years who have rescued YA fantasy for me, and Amélie Wen Zhao is now one of them. This book was very well-written, had intense and interesting worldbuilding, a strong main arc and a strong conflict to guide it, and the characters often made decisions that while sometimes frustrating on a personal level for me, always made the story more interesting. There […]

Power Moves

I Feed Her To the Beast and the Beast Is Me by Jamison Shea

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It has been nearly a month since I finished this book and I’ve been attempting to write this in a back corner of my mind since then. I still don’t know how to say exactly what I want to say, but I must say something so here goes. THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING MIND BLOWING STARTLINGLY ORIGINAL AND TOUCHING AND NOW YOU SHOULD READ IT. Damn, that word count isn’t enough. Let’s do better. I Feed Her… came to my attention through social media, an author […]

Horror Month 2023: #4

My Best Friend's Exorcism by Grady Hendrix

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The other Grady Hendrix book was the one I really wanted to like. The Southern Book Club’s Guide to Slaying Vampires had its moments and its subtext was a clever metaphorical look at societal exploitation. But I couldn’t connect with the characters the way Hendrix wanted  me to and I felt like he got too caught up in the concept to execute well. That’s not the case here. While both are 4-star reads in their own ways, this felt like a more realized book. Because while the […]



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