The concept of Wildblood takes the stories of ye olde expeditions of the Victorian era and flips them right on their pith-helmeted heads, but its intricate scaffolding is hidden behind a romance as subtle as one of those giant stuffed bears holding a glittering heart between its paws.
Category Archives: Reviews
‘Reaper’ Brings More Gore to ‘Chainsaw’ World
Don’t Fear the Reaper is like an increasingly passionate correspondence with a long-distance lover. Also, the ink is blood and the paper is made from crushed-up bones.
‘Nickel Boys’ is Brutal but Necessary Reading
Though difficult, The Nickel Boys sheds light on an issue that may be in the past but whose roots still survive—and thrive—today.
‘Kaiju’ Highlights Fun in Scalzi’s Latest
Literature can be so many things, and The Kaiju Preservation Society reminds us in the best way that one of those things is entertainment.
‘One Day’ a Multifaceted View of Ordinary Things
The thing about someone having the worst day of their life is that at that very moment someone else is having the best day of their life. There are enough people and enough days and enough experiences to account for the polarity of best and worse and everything in between. Those stories existing is oneContinue reading “‘One Day’ a Multifaceted View of Ordinary Things”
‘Kissing Bug’ An Education in a Lesser-Known Creepy-Crawly
Part memoir and part journalistic explainer, The Kissing Bug is all terrifying—and unexpectedly tender.
‘All My Rage’ Mends Heartbreak with Hope
I loved all four of Sabaa Tahir’s volumes in her Ember in the Ashes series, a YA fantasy following a pair of unlikely teens to an eventual revolution against the cruel and oppressive regime inspired by the Roman Empire. But I was also always fascinated by her bio at the back and the fact thatContinue reading “‘All My Rage’ Mends Heartbreak with Hope”
‘LaserWriter II’ Probably Perfect for Someone Else
Growing up, my grandparents’ basement was a wonderland of old Macintosh computers. My grandpa taught computers at the junior high school, which meant he had to be up on the best and latest tech. In his opinion, this meant Macintoshes. He retired in the early 90s, though, so the computers stopped at the Macintosh SE.Continue reading “‘LaserWriter II’ Probably Perfect for Someone Else”
A Different Kind of Chosen One in ‘Grace’
The Chosen One is a staple of the fantasy genre, especially in YA, but it’s the attempts to contort or subvert it that I tend to find the most compelling. Emily Thiede stretches the trope like silly putty in her debut, This Vicious Grace. Alessa was chosen by Dea to be this generation’s bearer ofContinue reading “A Different Kind of Chosen One in ‘Grace’”
‘Wolf and the Watchman’ Grim but Compelling
Look, I know Scandinavian literature has a reputation of being dark and brooding, but I have to admit I was not ready for just how dark and brooding eighteenth-century Sweden is in Niklas Natt och Dag’s The Wolf and the Watchman. I was also not expecting how thoroughly I would be riveted by it. BodiesContinue reading “‘Wolf and the Watchman’ Grim but Compelling”
Ring Reads 