Review: 10 Hours to Go

10 Hours to Go by Keely Parrack
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for gifting me an advanced copy. Below is my honest review.

This YA suspense is an intense look into the flames of friendships and the sparks of old grudges. As these three girls start their ten hour journey home, old issues between them come cropping back up, but what starts as a potential prank is quickly swapped for a situation much more dangerous when local wildfires threaten not only their path home, but their very ability to make to through the night.

While I enjoyed the writing and think the author did a great job pushing the girls through the dangers of the night, I didn't love this one. It felt like there was a lot of hemming and hawing about past grudges, but then when it came down to it, the reveal was just meh. And while the fires definitely added a lot of tension and some great situational drama, but there was some wasted potential with the dropping of the "other people are dangerous" storyline. We got this whole situation with the scary guy and the disappearing people, but then it just got dropped completely.

All in all, if you enjoy some good character tension and environmental suspense with a YA spin, then you'll really enjoy this one. I think the author is great and will definitely try their next novel to see their growth.

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Review: The Tainted Cup

The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and RHPG Ballantine Del Rey for gifting me an advanced copy. Below is my honest review.

Robert Jackson Bennett is an expert at creating interesting new worlds, and The Tainted Cup is no exception. I loved that Bennett stepped into a new genre - murder mystery - with his own unique spin on it.

I was going through a bit of a reading slump when I started this one, so it took me a bit to get into it, but as my reading mojo slowly returned, it got harder and harder to put this one down, and I tore through the pages like dappleglass bursting out of the victim's torsos in this one!

Definitely will be picking up book two when it releases. This one really left me wanting a sequel and to see more of Din and Ana.

Did I mention the alphabet representation? Yep. I loved it!

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Review: Your Shadow Half Remains

Your Shadow Half Remains by Sunny Moraine
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Nightfire for gifting me an early copy. Below is my honest review.

This short novel is quite powerful. What happens to us when we can't look others in the face? When we lose all true connection and contact with people? How do we define ourselves when we can't even figure out if we're sane anymore? What happens when complete isolation is the new normal? Or, even more importantly, when someone decides to break that isolation without giving you a choice?

If you're a fan of Malerman's Bird Box or Saramago's Blindness (or their visual adaptations), this book will hit you hard. Just be prepared that you might not like what you see when you have to look at yourself as deeply as Riley does.

Definitely recommended for fans of psychological thrillers/suspense/almost horror.

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Review: Infinity Alchemist

Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor Teen for the pre-release copy of this novel. Below you'll find my honest review.

This novel had a bunch of good things:

It knocks representation out of the park - trans, non-binary, polyamory, etc are all well represented in this novel in a respectful, teen-friendly way.

It has an interesting magic system and House hierarchy.

It also had some serious downsides:

The non-binary representation gets a little confusing as the pronouns change randomly from chapter to chapter. It pulled me out of the story a bit as I would have to figure out which "he" was being referenced at the time. So it's less a problem with the non-binary and more a problem with clarity from the author.

The whole point of the novel was to chase the Book, but then the Book wasn't even a real important thing at the end, and the story's conclusion was a bit of a mess. And honestly, the magic system didn't have rules or structure enough to really understand how it all actually worked.

Overall, lots of potential, but lacking in some of the execution.

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Review: The House of Last Resort

The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me an early copy of The House of Last Resort. Below you'll find my honest review.

I'm actually really disappointed at this one. The first 90% of the book was amazing: slow burn, perfect pace of reveals, lingering questions, horror elements building up over the course of the book. The last 10% though? I just wasn't satisfied. I can't really say much because I want to avoid spoilers, but the ending fell flat for me. All that build-up, all that emotional carnage, and the payoff just wasn't there for me.

Like I said, I did love most of the book, so I'll only take away a star for not nailing the ending (in my opinion - others might really like it). And I'm definitely interested in reading more of Christopher Golden's works.

Four stars, recommended for fans of horror.

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Review: Mislaid in Parts Half-Known

Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Special thanks to Netgalley and Tor for gifting me an early copy of this book. Below you'll find my honest review.

This is one of those series that, even though each book is actually pretty dang short at around 200 pages, still hits hard with emotional depth. We continue the story of Antsy, girl from the store that holds the lost things and main character of the last book, Lost in the Moment and Found. She has found her way to Eleanor's school, and has started to settle in... so of course, people find out about her gift of being able to find almost anything, and some want to take advantage of it and use her to find their Doors. Hi-jinks ensue and it's a fantastic tale, hopping through multiple worlds, and with a twist at the end that makes me both happy *and* sad.

All in all, yet another fantastic entry into this series, that you should definitely read... but start at the beginning, please. Highly recommended for fairy tale lovers, YA lovers, and adventure lovers, and of course, for all fans of McGuire's works.

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Review: The Heiress

The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Huge thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley who gave me an early copy of this novel. Much appreciated! Below you'll find my honest review.

I love a good mystery twisted into a story about a rich family, mysterious deaths and inheritances, and old houses passed down through the generations. I love a story about an underdog. I love a story with unreliable narrators, or at least ones that take their time revealing everything even when they're being truthful.

I absolutely loved this book. The characters were developed and realistic and easy to picture. The family history was well presented and in a manner that really held attention. The slow build to "what's going to happen, because this powder keg will have to explode at some point," from tension to denouement, was precision.

Highly recommended read.

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