A Spell for Change is everything you want in a leisurely weekend read: it is a heartfelt, intriguing, and at times eerie tale of defiant people trying to carve out space for themselves to peacefully exist true to themselves, in a world that tries to tell them they have no right to. It presents us with food for thought while also granting escapism, wonder, and supernatural phenomena that I will not spoil the exact nature of.
Historical
Review: Blood of the Kami by Baptiste Pinson Wu
Synopsis For centuries, the Yaseki have fought the corrupted souls who seek to plunge Japan into darkness. But the fragile balance is now shifting toward the forces of evil. Ren Fudō, a young Soul Hunter blessed with the blood of the kami, receives a mission from Amaterasu Ōmikami. This simple errand is a spirit-given chance […]
Review: The Sirens by Emilia Hart
Synopsis A story of sisters separated by hundreds of years but bound together in more ways than they can imagine 2019: Lucy awakens in her ex-lover’s room in the middle of the night with her hands around his throat. Horrified, she flees to her sister’s house on the coast of New South Wales hoping Jess […]
Review: Hall of Bones by Tim Hardie
Synopsis In the remote land of Laskar the seven ruling clans have vied with each other for power for over a century. The son of the Reavesburg Clan Chief, Rothgar, has been groomed all his life for a role supporting his elder brother, Jorik, in leading their kingdom when their father’s time finally comes to […]
Book Review: The Children of Gods and Fighting Men by Shauna Lawless
TL;DR Review: Irish history brought to glorious life with magic, manipulation, battles, and intrigue aplenty. Synopsis: They think they’ve killed the last of us… 981 AD. The Viking King of Dublin is dead. His young widow, Gormflaith, has ambitions for her son – and herself – but Ireland is a dangerous place and kings tend […]
Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab
Synopsis: A Life No One Will Remember. A Story You Will Never Forget. France, 1714: in a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever—and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out […]
Review: Babel by R.F. Kuang
Synopsis Traduttore, traditore: An act of translation is always an act of betrayal. 1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute […]
Review: Goodbye Dolly A Story of World War One by E.J Lake
In late 1944, the American Flying Fortress, “Dangerous Dolly”, plunges into an electrical storm to escape destruction by a Nazi jet fighter. Captain Jack Ronan and her aircrew emerge over wartime England in the year 1915. There, they make a forced landing on the estate of an outcast politician named Winston Churchill. Desperate to restore […]
Review: Combat Monsters: Untold Tales of World War II edited by Henry Herz
Synopsis Combat Monsters brings together twenty award-winning and bestselling speculative fiction authors who each bring their own spin on an alternate history of World War II. New research has uncovered deeply buried military secrets—both the Allied and Axis special operations during World War II included monsters. Did the Soviets use a dragon to win the […]
Book Review: A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
TL;DR Review: Beautifully lush writing, noble and compelling characters, and a story that takes its time to build to an emotional ending. Synopsis: From the critically-acclaimed author of The Fionavar Tapestry comes an epic fantasy novel of love, both courtly and forbidden, and two kingdoms endlessly opposed… Blaise of Gorhaut is a warrior. He fought […]
Review: This Too Shall Burn by Cat Rector
Synopsis Arden has lived in the woods near the deeply religious town of Arrothburg all her life, practicing magic and keeping balance with nature. She heals the sick, as her mother did before her. No matter how deeply the people of the village hate witches, they still arrive at Arden’s cabin in the dead of […]
Review: The Fright Before Christmas by Jeff Belanger
Synopsis Step into the dark roots of Christmas past where the Krampus punishes the bad boys and girls. Christmas time is truly the darkest and creepiest time of the year filled with devilish creatures lurking in the shadows waiting to get us. Best known is the Krampus who has been the subject of films and […]