Synopsis: From the acclaimed author of Beating Heart Baby, an immersive novel following three estranged high schoolers who are pulled into a video game to pursue the disappearance of their friend Three years ago, Elle (the “E” in the self-proclaimed L.O.V.E. Club) disappeared from Calendula, an affluent Chinese American suburb in inland California. Soon afterward, […]
About Will Swardstrom
Review: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi
Synopsis: Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page. Rose DuBois is not your average final girl. Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement […]
Review: The Strength of the Few (Hierarchy #2) by James Islington
Synopsis: This highly anticipated follow-up to The Will of the Many—one of 2023’s most lauded and bestselling fantasy novels—follows Vis as he grapples with a dangerous secret that could change the course of history across alternate dimensions. OMNE TRIUM PERFECTUM. The Hierarchy still call me Vis Telimus. Still hail me as Catenicus. They still, as […]
Review: The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller
Synopsis: The Palace of Illusions brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century, where for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real in this enchanting and atmospheric fantasy from the author of The Fairy Bargains […]
Review: Flybot by Dennis E. Taylor (Narrated by Ray Porter)
Synopsis: Mysterious tech, a devious AI and a couple of scientists in over their heads collide in the latest sci-fi adventure from the number one best-selling author of the Bobiverse series. Physicist Philip Moray is having a good day. He’s chipping away at his big work project. The lunch in the cafeteria is at least […]
Review: Isles of the Emberdark (Secret Project #5) by Brandon Sanderson
Synopsis: All his life, Sixth of the Dusk has been a traditional trapper of Aviar—the supernatural birds his people bond with—on the deadly island of Patji. Then one fateful night he propels his people into a race to modernize before they can be conquered by the Ones Above, invaders from the stars who want to […]
Review: Death on the Caldera by Emily Paxman
Synopsis: It’s Murder on the Orient Express with witches, for fans of VE Schwab, Leigh Bardugo, Courtney Smyth, as well as Agatha Christie. A blend of fantasy and Golden Age crime, set in an unforgiving landscape that steams with sulphur and bubbles with lava. The Linde siblings—Kellen, Davina, and Morel—are anxious to return to the […]
Review: Parallax (Sentient Stars #2) by Amber Toro
Synopsis: An outlaw lost at the edge of the galaxy and an honorable commander who will have to risk everything to save her, Parallax is a heart-pounding, slow burn space opera romance packed with action, adventure, banter, and found family. The tenuous alliances of the United Tribal Axis have fractured, breaking humanity into warring factions. […]
Review: The Last Vigilant (Kingdom of Oak and Steel #1) by Mark A. Latham
Synopsis: Set in a world where magic is forgotten, monsters lurk in the dark woods, and honorable soldiers are few, this utterly gripping epic fantasy tells the story of two flawed humans, an out-of-practice wizard and a hot-headed sargent, who are thrust into the heart of a mystery that threatens to unravel their kingdom’s fragile […]
Review: Digital Extremities/Animus Paradox by Adam Bassett
Synopsis: Digital Extremities – A collection of eight stories, Digital Extremities shines a spotlight on ordinary people in a callous yet hopeful future. Set across small towns and remote islands, where neon flickers against old buildings and oaks, this collection paints a unique view of a traditionally cyberpunk setting. In 2089, a woman miscarries and […]
Review: Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel
Synopsis: Xavier Oaks doesn’t particularly want to go to the cabin with his dad and his dad’s pregnant new wife, Nia. But family obligations are family obligations, and it’s only for a short time. So he leaves his mom, his brother, and his other friends behind for a week in the woods. Only… one morning […]
Review: Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil by V.E. Schwab
Synopsis: From V. E. Schwab, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue: a new genre-defying novel about immortality and hunger. This is a story about hunger.1532. Santo Domingo de la Calzada.A young girl grows up wild and wily—her beauty is only outmatched by her dreams of escape. But […]