Genre: Retellings

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Many Misfortunes of Eugenia Wang, The Memory Spinner, The Dark Times of Nimble Nottingham, Nordlys, and Dracula’s Brunch Club

Today I’m featuring a few of the recent books from Middle Grade Escapades, plus a review of a fantasy YA graphic novel and another MG graphic novel debut that I recently read. Hope these bite-sized reviews are enough to feed your fiction addiction! This inventive graphic novel has a little bit of everything–an MC trying to follow her passions, a supportive friendship, strained family dynamics, a touch of a crush, and a mysterious supernatural element […]

Posted October 8, 2025 in Reviews / 4 Comments

#IMWAYR & #MMGM: Bite-Sized Reviews of Ollie In Between, Ghost Scout’s Honor, River of Spirits, Story Spinners, and Werewolf Hamlet

I’ve joined up with the IT’S MONDAY! WHAT ARE YOU READING? kid-lit edition, hosted by Unleashing Readers and MARVELOUS MIDDLE GRADE MONDAY hosted by Always in the Middle… I realized that I haven’t shared reviews on the blog of all the Middle Grade Escapades books that have released so far! So, today I’m catching up! This book was written as an homage to Are You There God, It’s Me Margaret, and it encapsulates […]

Posted June 2, 2025 in Reviews / 8 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Good Different, The Last Mapmaker, Answers in the Pages, Momo Arashimo Steals the Sword of the Wind, How Do Meerkats Order Pizza? and Welcome to Monsterville

Today, I’m reviewing six MG reads. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Good Different is a poignant novel in verse about a girl who learns to advocate for herself and finally let go of her quest to be “normal.” Selah has always felt different than her peers. She realizes that she doesn’t experience the world the same way they do, and she has created a list of rules […]

Posted March 23, 2023 in Reviews / 2 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone, The Girl in White, A Long Way from Home, and Little Thieves

Today, I’m reviewing three MG reads and one YA. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Jennifer Chan Is Not Alone explores the intricacies and complexities of subtle bullying and how it can snowball into something so much worse. On its surface, the book is about a girl who believes in aliens and then disappears mysteriously. The question of whether or not the aliens in the story may be […]

Posted February 17, 2023 in Reviews / 4 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Bloody Fool for Love, Onyeka and the Academy of the Sun, Bravely, Aru Shah and the End of Time: the Graphic Novel, & Ultimate Book of the Future

Today, I’m reviewing two YA historical fantasies, a MG fantasy, a MG fantasy graphic novel, and a MG historical verse novel! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! Bloody Fool for Love is a historical fantasy prequel to Buffy the Vampire Slayer that focuses on Spike, the vampire we all know and love! Spike has always been my favorite character from the Buffy franchise, so I’m pretty much automatically […]

Posted August 9, 2022 in Reviews / 6 Comments

Girl Giant and the Monkey King by Van Hoang: A Dual Review with Danielle Hammelef

(No actual dueling—or even arm-twisting—was involved. Don’t worry, this is a dual review, not a duel review. Sorry if you’re disappointed.) It’s been so long since I’ve done a dual review. I was excited to be able to buddy read this newest book with Danielle Hammelef, the latest winner of my Monthly Wrap-Up Round-Up “Make Me Read It” giveaway. Danielle chose to make me read Girl Giant and the Monkey King by Van Hoang. I read the […]

Posted March 9, 2022 in Dual Reviews, Reviews / 5 Comments

Tiger Honor by Yoon Ha Lee: Review & Giveaway

Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD Tiger Honor is a mythological sci-fi adventure that explores the bounds of loyalty and the complications of competing interests. The main character Sebin has to decide if their oaths to their family outweigh their dedication to the Space Force. They want to do what’s right, but the real trick is figuring out what the right thing even is. This is a follow-up to Dragon Pearl, and while you don’t necessarily need […]

Posted January 20, 2022 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 4 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: The Seventh Raven, Chlorine Sky, Me (Moth), and Ice! Poems About Polar Life

As my regular readers know, I’m a round-one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Poetry category. Because of that, I’ve been reading tons of verse lately! I’m not allowed to share any details about our process for choosing the finalists, but I am allowed (and encouraged) to review the books as I read, so I figured I’d share four of them with you today. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed […]

Posted November 11, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 13 Comments

Tristan Strong Keeps Punching by Kwame Mbalia: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, Audible, B&N, iBooks, Kobo, TBD Tristan Strong Keeps Punching is the thrilling finale fans of this series have been waiting for! This book brings the mythical characters of Alke into our world and explores the ways in which history is intertwined with these legends’ stories. Children, both Alkean and human, are disappearing and Tristan can’t help but notice how the world goes on and ignores the lost souls. He is determined to save them, but […]

Posted October 23, 2021 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 5 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Last Fallen Star, Phoebe and Her Unicorn in the Magic Storm, Long Distance, and Heart of Iron

Today, I have a MG fantasy, a MG sci fi graphic novel, an audiobook of a MG fantasy graphic novel, and a YA sci fi novel! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! This is one of my favorite Rick Riordan Presents books, which is saying a lot because I absolutely love this imprint! The book explores Korean folklore and features an adopted main character who struggles to reconcile […]

Posted July 14, 2021 in Reviews / 12 Comments