Genre: Science Fiction

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: I Wish I Had a Wookie; Reckless, Glorious, Girl; My Thoughts Are Clouds; and For Every Little Thing

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 December 13, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 10 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Roxy, Cupcake, Jillian Vs. Parasite Planet, and The Only Plane in the Sky

Today, I have a YA contemporary fantasy, a YA contemp, a MG sci-fi, and an adult non-fiction book. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! The Shustermans have a knack for tackling timely social issues in a unique and thought-provoking way. This book focuses on the theme of drug addiction. The story follows a high-school-aged brother and a sister, both ensnared by substance abuse. While Ivy has been caught […]

Posted November 29, 2021 in Reviews / 14 Comments

Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan: Review & Giveaway

Amazon, Kindle, B&N Exclusive Edition, iBooks, Kobo, TBD Daughter of the Deep brings the reader on a sci-fi undersea adventure, full of danger, intrigue, and family secrets. I love that Riordan has embraced diversity in his recent books. This one features an Indian-American main character, a Black Mormon secondary character, and an autistic secondary character. I felt like the autistic rep was especially good because it showed Ester’s autistic traits in a truly positive light and […]

Posted October 28, 2021 in Giveaways (Ended), Reviews / 2 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of The Witch Haven, The Midnight Library, The Renegades Series, and The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor

Today, I have a YA historical fantasy, an adult sci-fi/paranormal fantasy?, a YA fantasy series, and a YA graphic novel! I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction! A YA historical fantasy that explores gender roles in a time when women had little power—but some of them have magic. Frances is desperate to uncover the truth of who murdered her brother, but she’s almost given up hope. No one seems […]

Posted September 9, 2021 in Reviews / 12 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

Review of LEO, Inventor Extraordinaire by Luke Cunningham

LEO re-imagines Leonardo DaVinci as a modern-day kid, incorporating many of DaVinci’s inventions and other exciting Renaissance-era details. Many elements of the story are pulled from Renaissance art or the great minds of the period and given a modern twist! I labeled the book sci-fi, but that’s just the closest I could come to a genre for it—it takes place in a world that seems like a slightly more scientifically advanced version of our own? […]

Posted May 10, 2021 in Reviews / 7 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: A Game of Fox and Squirrels, Wishes and Wellingtons, Mulrox and the Malcognitos, Cleo Porter and the Body Electric, and Another Dreadful Fairy Book

Yes, I know I’m STILL working my way through all my Cybils reviews. I just don’t want to leave any of these books out! So, even though the awards have been doled out, I still want to feature some very quick reviews of the nominees I read since there were so many good ones. I’m calling this the Long-Titles Cybils List. I hope these bite-sized reviews will be enough to feed your fiction addiction. This book […]

Posted March 23, 2021 in Cybils, Reviews / 5 Comments

Bite-Sized Reviews of Cybils Nominees: The Unexplainable Disappearance of Mars Patel, The Time of Green Magic, When You Trap a Tiger, and The Lost Wonderland Diaries

As my regular readers know, I’m a round one judge for the Cybils Awards in the Middle Grade Speculative Fiction category. Because of that, I’ve been reading LOTS of books 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 […]

Posted December 5, 2020 in Cybils, Reviews / 6 Comments

I’m a 2020 Round One Cybils Awards Judge! Plus, Quick Reviews of Last Year’s MG Speculative Fiction Finalists

I really enjoyed being a round-two judge for the Cybils Awards. The process for picking a winner was WAY harder than I expected it to be, but it was also great to have in-depth discussions about each of the finalists. I was surprised how many of the books I absolutely loved! This year, I said I’d be willing to be either a round-one or round-two judge, and I was chosen for round one for the […]

Posted September 23, 2020 in Cybils, Reviews / 8 Comments

In the Red by Christopher Swiedler: A Stunning Survival Story Set on Mars!

Get a SIGNED (can be personalized) copy of the book from Florey’s Books. You know those awesome survival books where someone gets stuck on a mountain somewhere and barely makes it out alive? Well, this is that, but on MARS! If that doesn’t sound cool to you, you’re obviously not reading it right. Go back and try again. (I was going to write a bite-sized review for this, but I just had too many things to […]

Posted March 30, 2020 in Reviews / 8 Comments