Category: Uncategorized
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A House With Good Bones (2023) by T. Kingfisher
A House with Good Bones (2023) by T. Kingfisher takes a light approach to some heavy questions: Can you escape generational abuse? Can you repudiate the racism of your ancestors without rejecting their entire legacy? Can you stop a ghost from bullying your mom? The result is an uneven mix of interesting themes and undeveloped…
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The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A. J. West
Spoiler Alert: OK, not a true spoiler–it doesn’t give away the ending. Still, this review may tell you more about the book than you want to know. No big deal. Read it anyway. A fictional account of real people and events, The Spirit Engineer (2021) by A.J. West tells the story of Professor William Jackson…
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Mind of Winter (2013) by Laura Kasischke
Some of the best novels bring several ideas into relationship without fully resolving their connections. Instead of the stolid sureness of a single clear note, they have the haunting musicality of a wind chime. Laura Kasischke’s Mind of Winter (2013) is a wind chime. Rather than a linear narrative with a predictably unfolding plot, it…
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Joplin’s Ghost (2005) by Tananarive Due
Joplin’s Ghost (2005) by Tananarive Due participates in multiple genres–horror, biography and romance–to tell the story of Phoenix Smalls, a fictional contemporary character, and Scott Joplin, the historical “King of Ragtime.” Collapsing the past and the present, Due operates in multiple modes to weave a poignant, frightening, and utterly immersive story that explores how love…
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Gothic (2022) by Philip Fracassi
Gothic (2022) by Philip Fracassi is a love letter to Stephen King and a tribute to the horror trope of possessed authors. But while King’s Jack Torrence is complicated, funny, and ultimately terrifying, Fricassi’s Tyson Parks lacks the psychological nuance that would make his descent into madness sad or scary. Has-been horror novelist, Tyson Parks…