

Review of Come and Get It by Kiley Reid
Come and Get It is the story of an RA and the consequences of her actions related to privacy and safety; the book dabbles in issues of...
Jan 31, 2024


Review of The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
I loved the 1700s wintry Maine setting and the convictions of the historical fiction novel's strong midwife character, based upon a...
Jan 30, 2024


Review of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
The Heiress is set on a North Carolina estate that's always felt claustrophobic to Cam. But his adoptive mother Ruby, an infamous...
Jan 23, 2024


Review of Dowry of Blood by S. T. Gibson
Dowry of Blood is a shadowy, spooky, sultry story imagining Dracula's wife Constanta and their relationship, in which he exerts control...
Jan 9, 2024


Review of The Stolen Heir (Stolen Heir #1) by Holly Black
In this return to the world of Elfhame (Folk of the Air trilogy), Holly Black takes us deeper into the story of characters Wren and Oak...
Jan 4, 2024


Review of Land of Milk and Honey by C. Pam Zhang
In the dystopian food desert of the future, a desperate chef is enlisted to create elaborate dishes for the wealthiest elite on a lush...
Jan 3, 2024


Review of Madame Restell by Jennifer Wright
Madame Restell is compelling nonfiction about an ambitious feminist in pre-Gilded Age New York and her profession as a surgeon offering...
Dec 6, 2023


Review of Iron Flame (Empyrian #2) by Rebecca Yarros
Yarros's experience as a romance author remains showcased in book two through teen-angst-dramaaatic, romaaantic dialogue. My favorite...
Nov 29, 2023


Review of Woke Up Like This by Amy Lea
I loved the premise of a teen who wakes up as a thirty-year-old, engaged to her high school nemesis. Some of the small moments didn't...
Nov 28, 2023


Review of They Called Us Exceptional: And Other Lies that Raised Us by Prachi Gupta
In her memoir, Gupta explores the stressful, tragic disconnect between the "perfect minority" image her father demanded of the family and...
Nov 8, 2023


Review of Evil Eye by Etaf Rum
In Evil Eye, Etaf Rum (author of A Woman Is No Man) considers a small-town North Carolina artist, mother, and wife struggling with the...
Oct 19, 2023


Review of The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber
"Success here means knowing how the system works and who pays what and why. It is about figuring out what is worth paying extra for--and...
Oct 11, 2023


Review of A Winter in New York by Josie Silver
Despite the many outlandish details of Iris's situation and ongoing secrets, I was taken with the sweet family relationships and the...
Oct 3, 2023


Review of Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison
The slim novel Blue Hour explores ambivalence about motherhood, unflinching details of the experience of miscarriage, relationship...
Sep 26, 2023


Review of One of Us Is Back (One of Us Is Lying #3) by Karen M. McManus
This third book in McManus's young-adult mystery series keeps the surprises coming, ties new twists into early events from the series,...
Sep 7, 2023


Review of Only Pretty Damned by Niall Howard
Niall Howard's debut is a noir story about the underbelly of life in a post-World-War-II circus, with a disgruntled clown, formerly a...
Sep 6, 2023


Review of The Seven Year Slip by Ashley Poston
I loved the aunt-niece bond, the peeks into the NYC worlds of publishing and restaurants, and the playing with time. I was irritated by...
Sep 5, 2023


Review of This House Is Not a Home by Katlia
Katlia's story is based on actual events, detailing the displacement of Indigenous people and the devastating consequences of greed, the...
Aug 24, 2023


Review of Fourth Wing (The Empyrean #1) by Rebecca Yarros
The first in this dragon rider series by Yarros is full of dramaaaaatic teen angst, a cutthroat path to becoming a warrior, bucking...
Aug 16, 2023


Review of Those We Thought We Knew by David Joy
David Joy's mystery, Those We Thought We Knew, set in the North Carolina mountains, explores issues of racism, corruption, generational...
Aug 10, 2023