Full reviews on Goodreads at the links! Thank you for reading!
2 Stars – A Compilation of Side Stories by Saruuh Kelsey
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Very disappointing. I’d been looking forward to reading this series for some time, and usually start with short stories – sadly, I can’t say I’ll be reading anything more. First of all, actual writing/tone aside, this is advertised as a LGBT series, but each romance here is m/f, with zero implication of queerness present. Since this is why I gravitated toward the book in the first place, that’s not a good look.
4 Stars – The Traitor’s Tunnel by C. M. Spivey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
“It was not time to go back. Neither of them could go back, either Bridget to her independence or him to his naivety, his myopia. It was time to move forward.”
* * *
I did what I usually do here with new series – see if there are short stories, and start there. It seems to usually work fine, and definitely does here. You don’t need to have read the main series (I haven’t, but want to now!) to thoroughly enjoy this brief-ish peek into its world.
5 Stars – Knit One, Girl Two by Shira Glassman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“If I’m stuck on my planet,” Danielle pointed out, “I’m gonna plant flowers there.”
* * *
So good. So adorable. So honest and at times raw. So healing.
This is a short-but-Very-sweet novelette about precious, creative, clever girls growing closer and bonding over art, yarn nerdery, and healing past traumas. So, like, everything I love in a book, even if I don’t know the first thing about yarn or yarn accessories – but the writer clearly does/has done the research. And the romance is so good that even the yarn-uninitiated like me can get a lot of enjoyment out of it.
5 Stars – In Memoriam by Nathan Burgoine
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
“That isn’t funny, James.” His exasperation was music to my ears. I felt them wheeling me away, lights passing overhead, bursts of white against my eyes.
“I’m laughing anyway.”
* * *
…I usually begin a book review (if I liked it!) with a favorite quote. With this one, another one popped into my head. Like the story itself, it’s hard to get out of my head.
“If life ain’t just a joke, then why are we laughing?” – My Chemical Romance, “Dead!”
That sure is the question, and IN MEMORIAM might be as good an answer as I’ve found yet.
5 Stars – Timekeeper by Tara Sim
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
A peculiar ripple traveled up his spine, and the hairs on his body stood on end. It was much like touching the time fibers, brushing a finger across them to feel the yawning of time open and swallow him whole. He was scattered across the cosmos and deep within the earth, within himself and outside of himself. A minuscule star in the infinite sky. A tiny speck of life in the flow of time.
* * *
Sometimes you read a book and love it so much, in so many brilliant and beautiful ways, that when the time (ha) comes to write a review, or even discuss it with a friend, you can’t think of a single thing to say, because nothing will even come close.
5 Stars -Shadows Of Ourselves by Apollo Blake
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Maybe I deserved some magik in my life, for once. Some strength.
I am the sky; watch me rage with storms.
* * *
You may notice I stuck this one in my “gems” shelf. That’s because this is one of those terribly underappreciated and unsung books you want to catch on like wildfire. I mean it when I say it’s one of my favorites I’ve read in a long time, and first of all I highly recommend picking up this hidden treasure. (Hopefully, it and books like it won’t be hidden for long!)