Book Review: Summer at East End: Double Eclipse by Melissa de la Cruz

Summer at East End: Double Eclipse by Melissa de la Cruz G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers, 2016 ISBN-13: 978-0399173561 Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition Double Eclipse is the second book in Summer at East End,  a YA spinoff series of Melissa de la Cruz’s adult urban fantasy series Witches of East End, which was about three sisters who […]

Book Review: The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan Disney-Hyperion, 2016 ISBN-13: 978-1484732748 Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, Audible   The Hidden Oracle is the first book in a new series in the world of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, The Trials of Apollo. This book takes place six months after the war with Gaea and the giants’ […]

Book Review: Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia Thomas Dunne Books, 2016 ISBN-13: 978-1250099082 Available: Hardcover, Kindle edition, Audible Certain Dark Things is an excellent example of what a vampire novel can be. The characters are strong, the writing is fast-paced, and it paints a vision of a world we have not seen before. There is a ton of […]

Book Review: The Black Pearl by Scott O’Dell

The Black Pearl by Scott O’Dell HMH Editions for Young Readers, 2010 (reprint) ISBN-13: 978-0547334004 Available: Paperback, Audible, Kindle edition   Scott O’Dell is best known as a writer of historical fiction for children, particularly for novels set  in California or Mexico. He is most well-known for his middle-grade survival story and Newbery Award-winning novel Island of […]

Book Review: The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg

The Fifth Doll by Charlie N. Holmberg 47North, 2017 ISBN-13:978-1477806104 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition, Audible, MP3 CD   The Fifth Doll is an excellent fantasy novel for pre-teens and young adults.  Charlie N. Holmberg has written several novels about young heroines who face the trials and tribulations of life and magic.  The current novel gives readers not […]

Book Review: Pretty Deadly

Pretty Deadly, Volume 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue Deconnick, art by Emma Rios Image Comics, 2014 ISBN: 9781607069621 Available: Paperback, Kindle & comixology ebook The story begins with the skeletal Bunny and Butterfly introducing us to an unusual little girl named Sissy the Vulture Girl, and her guardian, old man Fox. Sissy and Fox travel […]

Book List: Breaking Cliches in Zombie Fiction

I was reading a blog post on realism in zombie fiction by Brian Parker, a writer of zombie fiction. Somewhere in the middle of it, he addressed the problem of the Mary Sue in zombie novels: If you’re like me, you likely roll your eyes at the stereotypical protagonist in zombie fiction. You know the type, it’s […]

Book List: 6 Great YA Dystopian Novels

Book List: 6 Great YA Dystopian Novels Posted on June 8, 2016  by Kirsten Posted in Uncategorized Even though the media-generated excitement over teen dystopias like the ones in The Hunger Games and (to a lesser degree) Divergent, has died down a bit, anyone living through the past year can see that dystopian fiction is still terrifyingly relevant. Some days it really doesn’t […]