Stain by A.G. Howard
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Stain is one of AG Howards fairytale retellings. Unlike her Alice series, it's meant to be a standalone. It's a long book and I sometimes felt like I wanted to skip some parts in order to get to the point quicker. This one is going to get super spoilery, so if you actually want to read this one…stop now.

Stain is our MC and is also Princess Lyra. Born into the sun realm, she is unable to go outside or her skin will literally blister and burn. She is fated to marry the Prince of the Night Realm, Vesper. Their joining will unite and save the two kingdoms from certain (and never really fully explained destruction).

Keeping them apart is Stain/Lyra's evil stepmother and her daughters. And also Lyra has no voice. Oh, and also there's some kind of sleeping curse and cursed brambles. Howard has created a world of too many fairy tales mashed together. There are elements of Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel, Cinderella, and Sleeping Beauty (the one I thought I was getting myself into).

Lyra's Aunt Griselda, instead of you know…loving her and being a mother figure, decides to kill Lyra and throw her in a bog. OK. Cool cool. Then there's some ancient witches, and a shapeshifter, and trolls, and a Pegasus. Which…side note here, the Pegasus twist was pretty good.

Don't get me wrong, Howard's writing is wonderful. Her world building capabilities are damn near epic in scope. Sometimes though I feel like she suffers from too many details and trying to cram too many things into a single story. One of the things that I love about her writing is that she doesn't shy away from being gory or violent if the story calls for it. A lot of YA authors glaze over the darker elements of these sorts of things.

If you're already a fan of Howard's work, then you're probably going to like this one. It was sort of just OK for me.

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Shadow of the Fox by Julie Kagawa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I originally received this book as a free download from Netgalley months ago but I never got around to reading it. I know, I know…but I have so many things I want to read. I'm a mood reader and I go where the wind takes me.

It finally took me here this week. This book was really good. I'm so glad that I pick it up in time for the second book to come out.

Shadow of the Fox follows Yumeko as she attempts to save the last piece of the Dragon scroll from evil forces conspiring against her. Along her journey he acquires three traveling companions prior to reaching her destination.

I have to say, the author got me. Wrapping up the Wizard of Oz in a Japanese folklore package? Genius. I didn't even make the connection until Yumeko ended up with her third companion on her journey. The story is dropping in the typical fantasy elements. Monsters and demons and magic; OH MY!

Yumeko's optimism and logic stand out in stark contrast to literally everything around her. While I won't go so far as to call her a Mary Sure, she does (at times) seem to be able to just talk her way out of any situation she comes across…and everyone just agrees with her. It's a bit odd, but in keeping with the plot it tends to make sense. The battles are epic and the details described are nothing short of vibrant. It's a world I'd like to spend a lot more time in and luckily for me, there are more books on the way (as of this writing, book two was just released)

The only thing that I wished I had known at the initial reading of this book…was what some of the Japanese words and titles meant. There IS a Glossary in the back of the book, but I didn't know that since I didn't want to ruin anything for myself. That would have been helpful for the first go around, but it'll definitely come in handy for the second. This book made me want to know more about Japanese culture and folklore in general and is a great addition to my fantasy novel collection.


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Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman by Lindy West
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Before the TV show Shrill appeared on Hulu, I had never heard of Lindy West. I had never considered a lot of things about being overweight until this show. But this isn't about the show Shrill, it's about the book.

Lindy West is a writer and comedy aficionado. She's also overweight. Shrill is a series of thoughts and essays about being all these things and being a woman on top of them. She covers everything from being the only fat girl in the room, to rape culture, to comedy, to growing up big.

You may or may not know that I am overweight. It's a thing…but I've been struggling with trying to connect with the feeling that's been tugging at me lately in which I don't feel less than…but everyone else seems super committed to making me healthy or weigh less. Or, the most fun, ignoring my existence altogether. So when I saw Shrill the TV show, I felt like I finally found someone who GOT IT. Obviously I needed more.

I started with Roxanne Gay's Hunger…that one was a big emotional mess for me and I'm still not prepared to write a review of it. So Lindy's book Shrill was a welcome respite. It's filled with incredibly humorous takes on life as a bigger woman.

I've always found it hard to put into words what it feels like to be a human with feelings in this skin. Lindy (and Roxanne as well) have found a way to do so that connects with you and nails exactly the feelings you're feeling.

This book made me feel a little less alone in all this…even if it's just a book by someone I'll never meet. But that's the point of books right? To connect us with others?

I may have gone off the rails here. Read Shrill, Watch Shrill, read Hunger by Roxanne Gay. It'll make you feel a little better.


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Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Senlin Ascends is one of those random finds that I probably wouldn't have touched on my own if it weren't for the recommendation of someone whose taste I trust. I follow an artist, Ian Leinto, and his work. He does the convention circuit often and I've had the pleasure of talking to him and his partner a few times. He recommended Senlin Ascends partially because he was responsible for the gorgeous cover art, but also because he's a friend of the author and a fan of the work.

Thomas Senlin and his wife Mayra are on their honeymoon in the famous Tower of Babel. They get separated almost immediately and Thomas loses his wife in the crowds. After a few weeks of trying to stay around the area that they got separated, he finally decides to strike out on his own in order to find her.

Thomas learns very quickly that he can trust no one but himself. The Tower is sectioned into multiple levels, all with their own laws and idiosyncrasies. Each level is described to be the size of a large city on their own. The grand scale of this world is incredibly described and the characters our MC comes into contact with are vibrantly detailed in their own personalities and motivations.

Tom is robbed and must find a way to survive without funds and armed only with his mind as he continues his journey to find his wife.

It's hard to tell you about this novel without giving too much of the plot away. Tom goes on multiple journeys throughout the book. He gets involved in a pantomime play, espionage, robbery, a bordello, an art heist…

This book has something for everyone and questions everything. It's a sweeping fantasy novel with so many rich layers that you'll be unpacking it for days.

Luckily, it's part of a series so you don't have to stop with book one. If you're looking for a fantasy novel that's light on magic and long on world building, you might just like this one. I will say that there were times where I felt like the story was dragging, but the author takes the time to explain each side character's motivation in a way that helps the story along…so that when that character does something later, you fully understand the ramifications of it. You'll see double crosses coming before Tom does but that's OK. The first thing you're told when you enter the Tower is to trust no one.

Take a chance on this one. You can trust ME, right?

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The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've started this review before I finish the book. I've been wanting to get into this one for a while. Ally Condie is one of my favorite authors in general in or outside of the YA world. Her Matched trilogy is every bit as good, if not better than Hunger games.

I said what I said.

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe starts out with our heroine sailing on a ship that is dredging gold out of the river. The vessel is boarded by raiders and tragedy strikes. Poe spends the next two years coming up with an armor that will kill any raider who attempts to board the vessel again.

She is sent on a dredging expedition and talks her way into becoming the Captain of the ship. Things do not go smoothly, they rarely do…otherwise there would be no book!

What follows is an extraordinary personal journey. On the surface you have a girl who is the Captain of her ship, sailing down the river in order to find gold for the Admiral. Underneath the basic plot, you have a story of self-discovery and healing.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this novel is that there is a vast world history that is hinted at in a way that leaves you wanting more. Why is there an Outpost? What caused the world and society to break into these new factions? If they are out in the middle of nowhere, where did all the supplies come from? While I have all these questions and would love to have them answered, they are all secondary to the main plot.

I would have loved for this book to be longer. I wouldn't even mind a sequel just because I want to know more about the world in which Poe lived. That being said, it's well rounded on its own and I don't actually feel like anything is missing.

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The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I've started this review before I finish the book. I've been wanting to get into this one for a while. Ally Condie is one of my favorite authors in general in or outside of the YA world. Her Matched trilogy is every bit as good, if not better than Hunger games.

I said what I said.

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe starts out with our heroine sailing on a ship that is dredging gold out of the river. The vessel is boarded by raiders and tragedy strikes. Poe spends the next two years coming up with an armor that will kill any raider who attempts to board the vessel again.

She is sent on a dredging expedition and talks her way into becoming the Captain of the ship. Things do not go smoothly, they rarely do…otherwise there would be no book!

What follows is an extraordinary personal journey. On the surface you have a girl who is the Captain of her ship, sailing down the river in order to find gold for the Admiral. Underneath the basic plot, you have a story of self-discovery and healing.

One of the things that I really enjoyed about this novel is that there is a vast world history that is hinted at in a way that leaves you wanting more. Why is there an Outpost? What caused the world and society to break into these new factions? If they are out in the middle of nowhere, where did all the supplies come from? While I have all these questions and would love to have them answered, they are all secondary to the main plot.

I would have loved for this book to be longer. I wouldn't even mind a sequel just because I want to know more about the world in which Poe lived. That being said, it's well rounded on its own and I don't actually feel like anything is missing.

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Wicked Saints by Emily A. Duncan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This one came to me not just as the OwlCrate exclusive, but also as a digital ARC. It must be something special if it's everywhere, right?

I loved the premise of this novel. Nadya is living in a monastery, she has the power of multiple Gods and Goddesses within her. She may or may not be the chosen one, sort of depends on what she believes at the time. She's going about her life…dreaming about the great wide world…until one day the enemy raids the monastery and burns it down, killing everyone in their path.

Nadya escapes and goes on the run and decides that she's going to take the fight to the enemy. She's going to use the power of the Gods to destroy them.

What follows is a more or less typical adventure story for this type of novel. I have to admit that I didn't love this one as much as I wanted to. Every time the author started to go deeper, it felt like she pulled back. Nadya doesn't even really get into the full potential of her gift…or the Gods gifts. For a girl who carries the power of a dozen gods, she sure is helpless a lot.

I expected a lot more from this one and I found it to be just OK. In going through other reviews on Goodreads I found a lot of very polarizing reviews. Most people seemed to either love it or loathe it. I just found it to be sort of a "whatever" read. I'd be willing to give book two a chance when it comes around, but if it ends up being like book one, I don't think I'll go much farther than that.

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Slayer by Kiersten White
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love all things Buffy. Just. Love. I've read the comics and seen the show multiple times. I never got into the novelizations of the show before but that was mostly for monetary reasons (i.e. I was broke and books get expensive after a while). Now, there's just too much catch up to do in that area so instead I go forward.

I was really excited to see Slayer was coming out and even more excited to read it. I really appreciate when someone loves a thing so much that they end up inspired by it.

Slayer starts out after the near end of the world in which Buffy has saved us yet again, but there is no more magic. While she does appear occasionally and is referenced from time to time, our girl is not the main character of this tale.

We're given the Watcher's Council. Now pretty much defunct, they are intent on maintaining the old ways and old studies. Nina is a teenage legacy Watcher as is her twin sister. Her twin is considered the strong one, yet it turns out that Nina becomes a Slayer.

This novel covers all the basic teenage novel tropes; embarrassing crush, my Mom hates me, struggles with feelings of inadequacy, learning to trust your instincts, etc. Even though it was a little predictable in places (OK, maybe a lot of places), the author does such a great job at rebuilding this world that I already knew and loved with all these new characters. I barely even noticed the predictability of it.

What I read was a love letter to the Buffy universe. I can't wait to see what comes next.

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The Princess and the Fangirl by Ashley Poston


I don't want to start by telling you about how much I dug Geekrella (except that I do, but I'll send you to my review of that here.

Princess and the FanGirl is a continuation of that Con universe and was inspired by the Prince and the Pauper. A Hollywood starlet trades places with Imogen, a fan who is running a petition to save Jessica's character in the latest installment of her favorite series.

Ridiculousness ensues from there and it follows some basic plot structures for a goofy teen romance set at a comic convention. Imogen starts to fall for Jessica's assistant even though they are incredibly mean and frustrated with each other the entire time. I've lived that trope, I don't much care to read about it. Jessica falls for Imogen's friend but doesn't tell her that they've switched places.

All of the typical things happen from there.

While I'm just cynical enough to get frustrated by romance tropes, I did love some things about this book. I love the world of the conventions that the author describes. In this book specifically she takes us to ExcelsiCon but very specifically describes the DragonCon set up and surrounding hotels. DragonCon is one of my favorite cons so it was nice to dive into it even if it's a fictional world.

I also really liked the general idea of the two lead characters switching places. The Parent Trap/Prince and the Pauper aspect was a good one for me.

The only thing I flat out hated about this book? Multiple nicknames. I dislike this practice in general for writers. If you want me to know your character, I can't gave three different names for them. Imogen was listed as Mo, Monster…and then when she's pretending to be Jessica she's Jessica and the character name of the show. It's too much for such a short book.

Overall, listen…it's cutesy and con-y and still worth a read. Old characters are there from Geekerella and serve in a limited capacity. And if you liked the first one, you'll probably like this one. But if you're like me…you won't like it quite as much.

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Tiger Queen by Annie Sullivan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A little about how I came to discover Tiger Queen. Prior to BookCon, I started following some of my fellow book lovers in the Facebook Group for the convention. Among them was Annie Sullivan who was promoting her new book Tiger Queen. I feel like I had been vaguely aware of her previous novel Touch of Gold, but I hadn't read it.

Over on Annie's Instagram, she read a few lines from chapter one and I decided that I would see if I could get the ARC (Advanced Reader's Copy) while at BookCon. The story was pretty fresh in the YA world from what I could tell and I'm glad to say that I was not disappointed. While I didn't get a chance to meet Annie or get the ARC at BookCon, I was able to get a digital copy from another ARC source online.

The novel follows Kateri as she battles for the right to rule the kingdom that is meant to fall to her. Set in the desert after a lengthy drought, there are water rations keeping the population thirsty and hungry. There aren't a ton of YA novels set in the desert in general. The only other one that I've come across that I can remember right now are the stories that make up Assassin's Blade; most everyone else goes with a forest or a seaside town. The desert proves to be its own character throughout the story as it helps to layer the plot with additional sources of fodder for the storytelling.

I enjoyed the fact that Kateri was strong and willing to train. She didn't have a doe-eyed entitlement or a "god given talent". She just seemed like a regular ol' princess fighting her way through the evil that was consuming everyone's lives. She wasn't the best trained assassin in the world, but she was willing to learn to be as good as she could be

One of the other things I really loved about the novel was that romance, while nice, was not the main character's sole goal. She's trying to save her kingdom. She barely even notices another person in a romantic light until maybe half way through the book, and even then she doesn't sit around obsessing over it. Maybe I've just been burned by YA before to where I can't stand that trope (I'm looking at you Dorothy must die and Alice in Zombieland).

Tiger Queen is a great adventure tale with enough twists and turns to keep you intrigued and interested as to where the story is going to take you. My only real complaint is that it wasn't long enough! Definitely would recommend that you pick this one up if you get the chance.


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Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid


*************Update******************
I can't remember who told me I should listen to this one as an audiobook, but whoever did…THANK YOU! The performance of this book is what was missing the entire time.

Previously I mentioned that it reads like a TV documentary. Hearing this played out loud definitely added to it. Plus the cast was pretty stellar. With different voices for the characters in my head, it was infinitely easier to imagine the situations they described.

Bottom line is that I went from a four star review to a five star review because the audiobook was better than in print.

I can't wait to see what the TV show they are making is going to be.

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A good portion of the online book clubs picked this book this month and I felt like I wanted to see what all the fuss is about.


Daisy Jones and the Six is about a fictional 70s rock band and the drama surrounding the making of their album and the tour that they go on. The story is about what you expect. Sex, drugs, and rock & roll are on full display in this novel. Almost all the characters that we are presented with are fully fleshed out and have their own unique voices.

The thing that makes this novel the most interesting, in my opinion, is that it reads like a documentary transcript. All events are being described to you as though you would see them on a screen. Having grown up in the era of Behind the Music on VH1, I could completely visualize this documentary. I could see in my head the various performances, recording studios, hotels, etc.; that they were describing to me.

Unlike other novels that involve characters who are addicted to drugs and alcohol, this one tends to stay on the surface of addiction. The various consumptions of illicit substances are relayed to the reader in the way of hindsight. There's no depth or grit to it. I'd say this is probably the most disappointing thing about the story. While I do think the story works without such details, I don't think it goes as deep as it could have.

I will say that I cried a little at the end. The story isn't just about a rock band and their journey, it's also about personal journeys. There's a quote from the poem Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez that's been used in various formats over the years that I think is the main theme of this book. "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return". Each of the characters is looking to be loved and learning to love others and themselves.

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