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Review: Sensational by Jodie Lynn Zdrok

Welcome to day 1 of the Sensational blog tour! I was so excited to be a part of this blog tour, because I absolutely adored Jodie Lynn Zdrok’s first installment in this series, Spectacle. In fact, Spectacle was the first book I ever reviewed on this blog, so it holds a really special place for me. This duology is so much fun, and its full of really great characters and friendships. And it’s set in 1880s Paris, so what more could you want! It’s macabre and mysterious and full of delicious preternatural twists and turns, and it’s one of my favorite YA series in recent years.

Review: Dust by J.R. Devoe

Dust is the first installment in a new YA post-apocalyptic fairy-tale series by J.R. Devoe. I really love genre-bending stories, and this is one of the better YA versions that I’ve read. It’s fantasy and dystopian and science fiction all wrapped up with a lovely fairy-tale bow.

Review: A Gift for a Ghost by Borja Gonzalez

To say I was excited for A Gift for a Ghost would be an understatement. This graphic novel is pitched as a story with time travel, ghosts, black holes, and an all-girl punk band, and I am completely here for all those things. I was so excited to read it that it actually made my Spring 2020 top-ten TBR, and after finishing the book I can say that I was 100000% not disappointed. Not only is the artwork absolutely stunning, but A Gift for a Ghost has such a lovely story told with equal parts strength and whimsy.

Review: Double Blind by Sara Winokur

I don’t read a lot of mysteries or thrillers, but I was really excited to pick up Double Blind by Sara Winokur. Double Blind sounded like exactly the kind of mystery-thriller that I like to read, and it certainly delivered on its premise. It’s a contemporary story, but it’s filled with history and science and intrigue. A lot of the story deals with genetics and DNA research, but it explores these sciences in really approachable ways. I loved the main characters, the family dynamics, and all of the twists and turns. I also really enjoyed how much of the story focused on Iceland’s history, it’s culture, and politics. It was a really great read, and I definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a scientific thriller.

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Review: The Companions by Katie M. Flynn

The Companions is a sweeping near-future dystopian that spans many years and explores the connections between many characters, creating a beautifully earnest vision of a future that feels all too real right now. This story hit me in a way that I haven’t experienced since I read Station Eleven, and I love this slow, deliberate style of story-telling. What Station Eleven did with the post-apocalyptic genre, The Companions does for science fiction, melding and mixing literary fiction with the speculative genre in a very sincere and realistic way.

Book Blitz: Kill or Cure by Pixie Britton [Free for a limited Time!!]

I have great news YA fans! If you’re looking to add a thrilling series to your “social distancing” TBR, start with Kill or Cure by Pixie Britton, which is FREE for the rest of the month!!! Make sure to grab yourself a copy today!

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TEN FREE SFF BOOKS TO GET YOU THROUGH SELF-ISOLATION

This has been a tough week for everyone. So much of the world is in quarantine, self-isolation, or participating in intense social distancing. Like a lot of people, I’m choosing to isolate myself while COVID-19 is so active. Lucky for us, there are some awesome authors in the science fiction/fantasy book community who are making some of their works free for all of us to enjoy. This list includes these free works from a lot of prolific writers, and also some other free SFF reads to enjoy right now.

The Sunday Post – March 22, 2020

I’m participating in the The Sunday Post again today, a blog meme link-up hosted by The Caffeinated Reviewer.

Well, it has certainly been a week.

I haven’t left my house in over a week (hardcore social distancing), and I’m starting to get a little stir crazy. My immune system is less than great, so I’m just not risking going out right now. I’m super thankful that Animal Crossing released on the Nintendo Switch this past week. My husband and I have been playing a LOT of it this weekend!

The Hunger Games Reread and Analysis – Intro

I had great intentions to post this when I woke up this morning. Alas, Animal Crossing: New Horizons released and took away most of my day. However, I really wanted to write this and tell you guys what I have up my sleeve for the upcoming few weeks.

The Hunger Games was a pretty foundational series for me early on in my reading journey. It was my first experience with speculative/dystopian literature, and was the first YA series that I read and enjoyed as an adult. I absolutely devoured this series, and I annotated every book. Best of all, the series still holds up so well! With the new prequel to the series, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, coming out on May 19th, I’m gearing up to dive back into the series head-first.

Review of The Walking Dead: Typhoon by Wesley Chu

Given my love for speculative fiction, it shouldn’t come at any surprise that I am a fan of zombie stories. Even though zombie stories aren’t my favorite flavor of the Post-Apocolyptic subgenre, I still usually really enjoy them. When I heard that Wesley Chu wrote a story bringing the world of The Walking Dead to China, I was absolutely interested.

And, yeah, that’s pretty much the summary for The Walking Dead: Typhoon- it’s zombies in China. And I really liked it! My favorite thing about this book is how lived in the world feels. You can feel how much grime and gunk and dirt is in this world, and it really sets the stage for a good zombie story.