Book Review: Among Others by Jo Walton

Star Ratings: Characters: **** (4 stars) Character Development: ***** (5 stars) Plot: *** (3 stars) Writing: **** (4 stars) Overall: **** (4 stars) Age range recommendation: This isn’t really YA, but could (and should) be read by teenagers, too. This book tripped me sideways and tossed me back into the world of vintage SciFi and

Book Review: Dark Spell by Gill Arbuthnott (Scottish Children’s Book Award Shortlist)

I was investigating the Scottish Children’s Book Awards Shortlist recently, because Scotland’s been on the brain and I only know how to deal with big issues through literature.  I read an awful lot of Scottish fiction – for children, teens, and adults – while I was living there, but have felt it rather lacking in

Mini Review: Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone

Star Ratings: Characters: *****  5 stars Character Development: **** 4 stars Plot: **** (4 stars) Writing: ***** (5 stars) Overall: ****1/2 (4/12 stars) Age range recommendation: 14 + Let me just say that after several months without reading any “grown up” Fantasy, this book reminded me how awesome it could be!  I was incredibly impressed

Book Review: Chime by Franny Billingsley

Star Ratings Characters: **** (4 stars) Character Development: **** (4 stars) Plot: ***** (5 stars) Writing : ***** (5 stars) Overall: ****1/2 (4 1/2 stars) Age range recommendation: 13 + Nancy Werlin recommended Chime to me way back in the fall when I met her at the Boston Teen Author Festival. I was one of

Book Review of The Thickety: A Path Begins by J. A. White

“Creepy kids’ book delivery!” my co-worker announced when she dropped The Thickety in front of me at the bookshop.  The intricate, foreboding cover of the advanced reader’s copy was enough to move it to the top of my reading list. I seem to have developed a reputation as She Who Reads All The Weird Children’s

Review of The Museum of Extraordinary Things by Alice Hoffman (coming in February, 2014)

I had the chance to meet Alice Hoffman two weeks ago, when she came to my bookshop and did a wonderful reading from her nonfiction book Survival Lessons. She was so interesting, kind, and beautifully honest in her talk, and she graciously let me babble at her like a drunk loon about how much I

Book Review: The Dream Thieves by Maggie Stiefvater

Star Ratings: Characters: ***** (5 stars) Character Development: ***** (5 stars) Plot: **** (4 stars) Writing: ***** (5 stars) Overall: ***** (5 stars) Age recommendation: 15+ (Plenty o’ drugs and violence, but not much sex.) Remember when I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that The Raven Boys was much more exciting and mysterious than

Anticipating Gaiman’s The Ocean At The End Of The Lane

So, like nearly every other nerd in book-land, I am having trouble containing my excitement for Neil Gaiman’s new adult novel, The Ocean At The End Of The Lane, which comes out on June 18th.  No one’s let on exactly what the plot is, but I’m happy about that because I want to dive into those pages

Review of The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson

  Star Ratings Characters: **** Character Development: *** Plot: *** Writing: *** Overall: *** Age range recommendation: 16 + I picked up The Daylight Gate to give Jeanette Winterson a second chance to impress me. When I saw that she had just published a new novel based on the Lancashire Witch Trials of 1612 I

Archived Review: Book Review: Rescue, or, Royer Goldhawk’s Remarkable Journal by Amy Leigh Strickland

Originally posted to Dark Lady Reviews on May 31, 2013.   Star Ratings Characters: ****(4 Stars) Character Development: **** (4 Stars)
 Plot: **** (4 Stars)
 Writing: ***** (5 Stars)
 Overall: ****1/2 (4 1/2 Stars)
 Age recommendation: 13 + This is the first novel I’ve ever read entirely on an e-reader, and while I was a little