The Twistical Nature of Spoons by Patti Grayson My rating: 2 of 5 stars The marketing blurb for Patti Grayson’s fourth novel reads: Blisse has guarded the family secret for her entire childhood. No one can know the origin of her unconventional birthday gifts. Her mother, Ina, has insisted that Blisse never tell a soul – believing it’s the only way to keep her daughter safe from a dire fate. Together, mother and daughter must…
The Bittlemores by Jann Arden My rating: 4 of 5 stars The marketing blurb for Jann Arden’s debut novel reads: On mean Harp Bittlemore’s blighted farm, hidden away in the Backhills, nothing has gone right for a very long time. Crops don’t grow, the pigs and chickens stay skinny and the three aged dairy cows, Berle, Crilla and Dally, are so desperate they are plotting an escape. The one thing holding them back is the…
Flower and Thorn by Rati Mehrotra You know how you feel after a really good meal? That feeling of satisfaction? Everything was perfect, or near to. Yeah, that’s how I felt after reading Rati Mehrotra’s new YA novel, Flower and Thorn. Now in order to understand the depth of that reaction, it’s also important to know I’m a really hard-to-please reader. I’m forever questioning research, analyzing character, world and plot development. In other words, I…
Bounty by Jason Pchajek My rating: 3 of 5 stars The promotional blurb for Jason Pchajek’s new cybercrime novel reads: Nikos Wulf is at the top of his game. Within the sublevels of 2120 Winnipeg, he is the undisputed king of bounty hunters, working for the elite Bounty Commission Eco-Terror Taskforce. The job: maintain the delicate ecological balance in a city holding back climate collapse. But when a series of bounties go wrong, Nikos finds…
A Dream Wants Waking by Lydia Kwa My rating: 2 of 5 stars A Dream Wants Waking is a speculative fiction novel set in the ancient city of Luoyang, China, ostensibly in the year 2219 CE. This is a complicated story, with a considerable cast of characters, and a mythology woven around genetic AI beings and modifications. There’s a lot going on here. You’d better stay sharp when reading. This isn’t a story written for…