fiction

September in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 15 books last month, which is just shy of my average for this year so far but with just above my average total page count in a month. It was nice to have an average rating for the month up over 4 stars again, after a few months with a lot of low ratings.

Here are the books I read in September:

Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken (4.5 / 5)
Empire and Frontier by Samuel Marquis (3 / 5)
The Terminal List by Jack Carr (2 / 5)
Mandie and the Abandoned Mine by Lois Gladys Leppard (4 / 5)
First Degree by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Boreal Wilderland by Robert Mullen (4 / 5)
Criminal Destiny by Gordon Korman (5 / 5)
Life Is Hard. God Is Good. Let’s Dance. by Brant Hansen (5 / 5)
The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson (4 / 5)
Sketch by Ros Hill (3.5 / 5)
Hunt for Jade Dragon by Richard Paul Evans (3 / 5)
An Echo in the Darkness by Francine Rivers (4.5 / 5)
Bark Humbug by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Payback by Gordon Korman (5 / 5)
Blightfall by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson (4 / 5)

This list includes 3 ARCs and 4 re-reads. My favorite book from September was Bark Humbug. I started 1 series, continued 5 series, and finished (or caught up on) 2 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Blightfall

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Blightfall
Riftwake #1
by Brandon Sanderson & Janci Patterson

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA sci-fi

Soon after winning a decades-long war against alien oppressors, a team from the planet Detritus is sent to another planet, Blightfall, to make contact with a settlement of humans that had been isolated there during the war. But they can’t possibly guess what awaits them even before they land on Blightfall.

I have not read the series that this is an offshoot of. It wasn’t even until I was around 2/3 into the story that I realized this was a continuation of the Skyward series by Brandon Sanderson (though I suppose I should have suspected) and, more directly, a series of side novellas in the same world, written by Janci Patterson. But that means that my perspective will be as a complete newcomer, not a veteran, and as such, I did not have too many issues following the worldbuilding. Yes, I was initially lost with terms like cytonics, aliens that are given only cursory explanations, and people that clearly have backstories that I don’t know. I didn’t feel like it was any more difficult to muddle through the early chapters than any other sci-fi book with worldbuilding that hits the ground running though. By the end, I felt like I had a pretty good understanding of everything I needed an understanding of.

I was caught up in the story and the story world, especially when it became clear that there was something strange going on on Blightfall. I absolutely adored the taynix (slug-like creatures), their way of communicating, and their love of scritches and snuggles. There were a few interludes from the perspective of some of the taynix that made me really curious to know more about the world outside of what we’re shown for this story. I have no idea if any of that is part of the previous books in this world or not. Things got a little strange, though, with a couple of romances that felt awkward and unnecessary. And I really wish fiction writers could understand that having characters with they/them pronouns just makes things confusing in fiction, especially when any kind of action is going on. It was so hard to follow.

Despite the fact that I never had a desire to break into any of Sanderson’s epic fantasy/sci-fi works before, I have to admit that this has made me consider starting at the beginning of the series. As I understand it, this book was basically written by Patterson but with some input from Sanderson, which makes me all the more curious to see what his writing is like. (The only other Sanderson book I have read in the past is Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians.) I recommend the book for fans of futuristic, space-themed sci-fi, even if you haven’t read any of the books that precede it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House Children’s Books for providing me a copy of this book to review.

Find out more about Blightfall

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Sketch

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Sketch
by Ros Hill

My rating: 3.5 / 5
Genre: Fantasy

Sketch isn’t like other people. For one, he’s a superhero, at least when his powers are working. Also, he’s not really human. He’s a drawing brought to life by ancient magic imbued into a batch of ink. Sketch has been created to stop the Finger Gunman, who is trying to find all of the ink and use it for his own nefarious purposes.

This is a really creative, inventive book, from the ancient Egyptian magic that imbues the ink with the ability to bring some drawings to life to the results of some of those drawings. The story spans centuries, with 2 main stopping points: when Sketch’s creator receives the ink and brings him to life and when Sketch must find a new artist in the hopes of getting his lost superpowers back. The author had some interesting ideas for how to keep the ink, or its creations, from being overpowered. At times, I was a little confused about the limitations, because I don’t think they were conveyed very well to the reader.

The pacing of the book is a little slow at times, but most of the time I was engaged. I have to admit that the villain was a bit underwhelming, though. For one thing, his name, the Finger Gunman, is out of place in this book that is overall pretty serious in nature. It seems better suited for a middle-grade book or a parody story. But besides that, he spends a lot of the book doing very little and then suddenly becomes over-the-top evil near the end.

Overall, the book was enjoyable and unique. Fans of super hero stories and speculative fiction should definitely consider reading this book.

I received a copy of this book for free from the author in exchange for an honest review.

Find out more about Sketch

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: The Reappearance of Rachel Price

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Reappearance of Rachel Price
by Holly Jackson

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: YA thriller, mystery

Bel Price’s mom disappeared when she was 2 years old. Now, 16 years later, a British film crew is digging up the past in the hopes of making a documentary about the mystery. When Rachel suddenly reappears, it changes everything—not just for the documentary but for Bel and her family as well. Where has Rachel been for 16 years and who was behind her disappearance in the first place?

The overall plot of this book was engaging and intriguing for me. I was caught up in the question of what was going on and what the truth behind it must be. So though I did have some issues with the book, I want to say up front that I did enjoy my time spent reading. That being said, once the answers were revealed, I could see some chinks in the plot, things that I assume were included only to throw the reader off the right trail but weakened the story. It didn’t ruin the book for me, but I feel it could have been written better.

There were a couple of characters that I particularly liked, mostly members of the film crew. I didn’t care for Bel herself. Even if I can understand and somewhat sympathize with her reasons for being the way she is, she’s still fairly obnoxious. Rachel seems a bit all over the place in the book, which is part of what I mentioned above—specifically Jackson’s attempts to keep the reader guessing.

Though I really liked the first two A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder books and liked this book as well, the ending to this book, along with the 3rd book in the A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series, has led me to the decision that I probably won’t read any more Holly Jackson. She has a tendency to write characters with questionable morality, characters that we’re meant to see as the hero, which isn’t my preference. With that personal preference in mind, I do think that many who like YA thrillers will enjoy this book.

Find out more about The Reappearance of Rachel Price

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Bark Humbug

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Bark Humbug
Andy Carpenter #34
by David Rosenfelt
read by Grover Gardner

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: Mystery

Sometimes pseudo-retired defense attorney Andy Carpenter takes a case willingly, even if reluctantly, and sometimes he’s practically forced or tricked into it. The latter is the case here, as a woman who claims to be doing a magazine story on local celebrities visits Andy and then reveals her true purpose. Her brother is suspected of killing the local mayor, is innocent and prepared to turn himself in, and needs a good lawyer. Andy starts out slow, but the more he digs into the case, the more corruption he uncovers.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I enjoy the formulaic nature of this series, and I love it when the formula is turned on its head. That happens here, and even though I guessed at it way in advance, I still appreciated it and would have felt let down if it had gone a different way. The humor that I have loved all through this series made me chuckle a couple of times in this book, and it’s always great to see the different parts of Andy’s team working together on a case. Even Eddie Dowd, who I specifically mentioned in my review of the previous book seemed like he added little to the stories, was more involved this time.

With this book, I am fully caught up on this series for the first time since I started reading it 2 1/2 years ago. I’ve already started back at the beginning of the series, because I love it so much. More specifically, I love the audiobooks, because Grover Gardner brings Andy to life perfectly. If it’s not clear, I recommend this book (especially the audio) for fans of mystery, crime fiction, and courtroom dramas, but if you’re interested, you should definitely consider starting at the beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for providing me a copy of this book to review.
Publication date: October 13, 2026

Find out more about Bark Humbug

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Mandie and the Abandoned Mine

/ Kristi / 2 Comments

Mandie and the Abandoned Mine
Mandie #8
by Lois Gladys Leppard

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Children’s Christian historical fiction

I read a lot of this series when I was a kid/pre-teen, and I read some of them to my now-teen daughter when she was younger. Nostalgia definitely affects my reviews for this series, and I’m okay with that.

This book is one of the best in the season so far. Mandie does disobey once, but not nearly as much or as terribly as she does in other books. The mystery isn’t complex and twisty, but at least it isn’t super obvious this time. Mandie and some combination of her friends do tend to get kidnapped a lot, but this one turns out differently in that regard, at least. And while the “forgive those who trespass against you” aspect of Christianity is pushed to perhaps an unrealistic level in this book, I didn’t mind it too much. There was something kind of nice about the resolution in this book. These books have their ups and downs, but they can still be good for younger people to read, especially if you’re looking for something with Christian content. Though overall, I recommend discussing what’s good and bad in them with your kid(s) after/while they read it.

Find out more about Mandie and the Abandoned Mine

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: The Terminal List

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

The Terminal List
by Jack Carr
Read by Ray Porter

My rating: 2 / 5
Genre: Political/military thriller

James Reece, a Navy SEAL lieutenant commander, is on his last combat deployment when most of his team is killed in an ambush. Upon his return home, his wife and daughter are killed in a presumed home invasion. As Reece starts to follow clues, he uncovers a conspiracy that involves a lot of people and reaches into the highest levels of government.

I knew this was a revenge story going in, so I knew it wouldn’t likely be my favorite story ever. I came for Ray Porter, because as much as I love Project Hail Mary, listening to it over and over simply because Ray Porter is an outstanding narrator is a bit implausible. I’ll have to get my fix elsewhere, though, because I will definitely not be continuing this series. The narrator is the only reason I even managed to finish the book.

The main reason I disliked this book (but not the only reason, more on that later) is the sheer brutality of the revenge killings. It starts somewhat basic, maybe even cliche, but man does it go downhill quickly from there. In the book’s foreword, the Carr explains that he hoped the audience would connect with, like, and forgive James Reece. And I guess some people are able to, but if he really wanted that, maybe he shouldn’t have had his protagonist take such pleasure in some of the terrible, ridiculous ways that he tortured and killed people.

If this were the only thing about the book that bothered me, I still wouldn’t be continuing the series, but I would have rated it higher. However, Carr’s tendency to give a several-paragraph backstory to every single character when they’re first introduced or their point of view is shown made the book a bit tedious for me. I don’t need to know why conspiracy participant/victim #4 got into the public relations business or what his wife thinks about his job (just for example). Does Carr somehow think it’s better for the reader to get to know the guy that’s about to be brutally murdered? Or does he just want to pad the book?

Beyond all of that, there’s little mystery or suspense here. The conspiracy, its participants, plans to try and stop Reece, and the motivations behind it all are fed to us along the way. There is one attempt at a twist near the end of the book, which I’ll admit I didn’t specifically guess in advance. Still, it didn’t make me feel anything other than apathy, because I was already so numbed to the lack of thrills and abundance of gratuitous violence and gore in this book. I’m sure it’s clear that I don’t recommend this book to anyone, but it does have a high average rating. If you’re interested in the story and don’t mind what bothered me, please check out other reviews at the link below.

Find out more about The Terminal List

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

Book Review: Never Fade

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Never Fade
The Darkest Minds #2
by Alexandra Bracken

My rating: 4.5 / 5
Genre: YA dystopian

Spoiler notice: The following review will contain some spoilers for the previous book in the series, The Darkest Minds.

Ruby isn’t happy to be a tool of the Children’s League, though she has to admit that the training they’ve given her has been useful. When she learns about some vital information that needs to be recovered, she embarks on a mission for the League with ulterior motives. Her quest will take her across dangerous lands, into the paths of villains of all different flavors, and, ultimately, back home again.

Given the way the previous book ended, I wasn’t sure how this one was going to go or how much I would enjoy it. But I was just as engaged as I was with the first book, maybe even more so. Through 500 pages, I was caught up, surprised by revelations or small surprises, and hard-pressed to put the book down, especially in the last 1/4 or so. There are some new characters introduced here that I ended up loving, some returning characters that had new and different roles in this book, and then there’s Ruby herself. She could easily have become a character that annoyed me, continually beating herself up for the way she’s evolving, but it never got to a point of bothering me.

This is the kind of book where I find myself uncertain about who to trust, and I’m not even sure if it’s intentional or if I just wasn’t following certain aspects of the story. I also found a particular plot point (which would be a spoiler to mention) pretty unbelievable, as it relates to the previous book in the series. Overall, though, none of this was enough to make me want to lower the star rating by more than half, and I’m really looking forward to reading the final book in the trilogy.

Find out more about Never Fade

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!

August in Review

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

I read 17 books last month, another month above my average from the past few years. I guess it’s within range of my average for this year though, thanks to how much more time I have for audiobooks lately. Still a lot of re-reads, which means less reviews I have to write.

Here are the books I read in August:

Rise of the Elgen by Richard Paul Evans (4 / 5)
Al Capone Does My Homework by Gennifer Choldenko (5 / 5)
Thornbird by Elle Kennedy (2 / 5)
Mandie and the Charleston Phantom by Lois Gladys Leppard (3 / 5)
Persuasion by Jane Austen (3 / 5)
Living Unoffended by Brant Hansen (4 / 5)
Open and Shut by David Rosenfelt (5 / 5)
Asylum Murders by Michael G. Colburn (2.5 / 5)
Four Windows, One Jesus by Chad Colter (3 / 5)
The Land Beneath Us by Sarah Sundin (5 / 5)
So You Want to Be an Architect by Linda Soules (5 / 5)
The Ginghams by T.C. Kemper (2.5 / 5)
The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (4.5 / 5)
Scythe by Neal Shusterman (5 / 5)
Masterminds by Gordon Korman (5 / 5)
The Order of Time by Scott P. Southall (2 / 5)
Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (4 / 5)

This list includes 4 ARCs and 6 re-reads. My favorite book from August (that wasn’t a re-read) was Scythe. I started 3 series, continued 3 series, and finished 1 series. My ever-changing short list of to-be-reads, as well as a flag for the book I’m currently reading and an ongoing list of those I’ve read and posted about can be found here.

I’m also keeping my Goodreads page updated with a more extensive list of to-be-reads. Despite my almost too-long TBR list, I’m always looking for more to add. Feel free to offer suggestions of your favorites or just recent reads you enjoyed.

Book Review: Warm Bodies

/ Kristi / Leave a comment

Warm Bodies
by Isaac Marion
Read by Kevin Kenerly

My rating: 4 / 5
Genre: Fantasy horror (and romance, I guess)

R is a zombie with no memory of his life before he died or even how long he’s been dead. Consuming the brain of a living person allows him and his fellow zombies to experience flashes of memories of the brain’s original owner. During one particular raid on a group of the living, the memories R receives compel him to spare the life of a young woman in the group, disguise her from his fellow zombies, and take her back to the undead society where he lives, all to protect her. R is already a little different from the other zombies, but the more time he spends with Julie, the more he notices further changes.

I had a difficult time focusing my thoughts for this review and deciding how to rate the book. It’s kind of stupid in a lot of ways, and yet I enjoyed it overall. It’s a loose retelling of Romeo and Juliet, and not terribly subtle about it, but I can’t really call it romantic. R’s initial connection with Julie comes through the memories he receives from eating the brain of Perry, her long-time lover. I expected a relationship between R and Julie to develop in its own right from there, but really, he just keeps getting more from Perry somehow. I couldn’t really tell you what makes Julie so special, either to Perry or to R, as she’s fairly bland overall. I certainly don’t see why the connection between her and R is the catalyst it is for the rest of the story.

My favorite thing about the book is the worldbuilding regarding the zombies. If you’re a zombie purist and want your zombies completely mindless undead monsters with no capacity for reason or thought beyond survival instincts, caused by some kind of dystopian plague, you might not like this book. The cause for the zombiism is never explicitly stated, but it is implied, and it’s definitely not the normal cliché. Plus, R, at least, in his role as our narrator, has quite a bit of mental capacity. He has thoughts, feelings, wishes, and sentimentality. He lives in a community with other zombies, and they can even talk to each other, though in a very halting, monosyllabic way. Another way this is not your typical zombie story is that it’s far more fantasy than sci-fi. It may be set in a dystopian future, but the progression of R’s mental “interactions” with Perry and then the way the connection between R and Julie affects the rest of zombiekind are more like magic than science.

Ultimately, I was more interested in R himself and the zombie side of things (which is pretty crazy, considering my aversion to zombie fiction) than anything to do with R and Julie. Whether or not others will enjoy this book might depend a lot on their thoughts on zombie traditions and borrowed romance. I personally enjoyed listening to the book narrated by Kevin Kenerly, who did a great job with the halting zombie speech (which sounds like it must have been annoying in the text version).

Find out more about Warm Bodies

See what I’m reading next.

If you’ve read this book, or read it in the future, feel free to let me know what you think!