Review: The Night Has Claws

The Night Has Claws by Kat Kruger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It took me too many years before I finally got around to reading the second book of Kat Kruger's Lycan Code series, in part because when I finished Book 1 on Wattpad and immediately moved ahead to Book 2, Kruger only had a tiny little sampler available to entice readers to buy the books in full. At the time, I couldn't really afford to do so, but now I'm finding my way to completing this trilogy and putting it in my collection for the first time. It's a bit of a come down for me in this one, a minor Sophomore Slump, but that mostly owes to this book (as action-packed and tense as it is) being a pretty clear bridge between the first and last books of the trilogy. The ending? Ohhhhhhh does it end on one of the nastiest cliffhangers you'll ever see - and I'm very glad my copy of Book 3 arrived in my mailbox today, so I'll be able to conclude the trilogy soon enough...

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Review: In the Wild Light

In the Wild Light by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is, by far, the best book by Jeff Zentner that I've read since his auspicious debut in The Serpent King - not only because of how much it gets all the feels in all its pages, but also because of how many references to Zentner's previous novels this book has, confirming that all of them are set in the same 'verse. Lydia's an NPR host now, Midnite Matinee is a bigger hit show than ever, even the concept of Goodbye Days is brought up (as much as I rather disliked that novel compared to Zentner's others, it's still a good concept to bring in.)

Review: Livingston Girls

Livingston Girls by Briana Morgan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third season of American Horror Story may have had a certain iconic Coven, but it's Briana Morgan who brings us a better one in a better school, one with more than a few shades of Dead Poets Society (the frequent quoting of Walt Whitman and Robert Herrick helps), but also a lot more queer (this book boasts a pretty good f/f pairing, I'd say.) But also, it's a pretty timely and punchy little book, short but full of strong social commentary about a group of witches still facing those who would burn them, and it's the same kind of enemy all witches have faced since the days of Salem. Not the first book by Briana I've read (I believe my first was Blood & Water back when I once found it on Wattpad), and absolutely not the last!

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Review: The Bands of Mourning

The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

As much as I rather like the characters of Wax and Wayne, I do feel like Sanderson kinda dropped the ball on this particular novel of theirs - which makes a tad bit of sense when I look back at the release dates for this one and its predecessor, not even a year apart. And then the fourth and final novel of this particular cycle of Mistborn...well, Sanderson did say it would come along after Oathbringer and that's still true, but there's been a whole other Stormlight novel since then, and I still have no idea where Sanderson intends to bring this series to its conclusion. But hopefully it won't be long before we the readers find out, because then Sanderson can start working on the cyberpunk-themed third Mistborn cycle for which I've been especially waiting all this time...

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Review: The Taking of Jake Livingston

The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a little sad that this book, a debut that I feel like it's been pushed off for at least two years again and again, is starting with a shockingly low GR rating. On the one hand, I can kinda see why at times, since Douglass doesn't shy away from imbuing his characters with flaws and messiness enough that I could see a lot of YA readers running for the hills. The fact that half the book is in a surprisingly sympathetic villain POV, a gay boy who turned school shooter and then ghost, doesn't really help - but then again, he's still undeniably the antagonist to Jake himself, also gay, but also Black and forced to put up with racism on top of that (witness the scene where he actually stabs a white classmate for making a slave joke to his face in class), and there's a certain element of Greater Scope Evil to it all in this short, punchy book. Maybe the subject matter turns a lot of people off...or maybe they're also under the sway of certain influencers who've no doubt been running whisper campaigns against Douglass ever since he wrote that HuffPost article criticizing activists in YA for being largely privileged and white themselves (to this day Douglass still throws frequent shade at the clique ringleaders online, and I don't blame him one bit, especially since a few of those who've taken potshots at him have been criticized or even cancelled themselves. Looking at you, Shaun David Hutchinson...but I digress.) For sure, though, if I was still working my bookstore job, I'd be giving this one as many customer eyeballs as I can muster.

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