Book Tour Stop! Review: ‘Misrule’ (‘Malice’, #2) by Heather Walter

Green and goldGold and greenA power which we've yet to seeAh, but ne'er will come the dayWhen called a force unknown to Fae. Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: High fantasy, retelling (Sleeping Beauty); LGBTQ+Publication: 10 May 2022Pages: 480 (hardback) Synopsis: The Dark Grace is dead. Feared and despised for the sinister power in her veins, …

Review: ‘Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head: Poems’ by Warsan Shire

...At each and every checkpoint the refugee is askedare you human?The refugee is sure it's still human but worries that overnight,while it slept, there may have been a change in classification.(Excerpt from the poem 'Assimilation'.) Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: Poetry anthology; contemporaryPublication: 10th March 2022Pages: 96 (hardcover) Synopsis: With her first full-length poetry collection, …

Dreams For the Future

dream / I will be with thee in thy birth and the end of thy lifedream / mayest thou be treated generously wherever thy seat may bedream / mayest thou after the end of tribulations finally be in full bloomdream / mayest the end be grand, even though the beginning may be weak('So Far Away' …

Review: ‘The Last Firefox’ by Lee Newbery (illust. Laura Catalan)

...I turn slowly.The head of the Grendilock is peering back through the curtain of ivy. I can see myself reflected in the empty blackness of its insect eyes.I look afraid. Rating: 4.8/5 paper planes Genre: Children's/Middle-Grade Fantasy; Contemporary Fantasy; Adventure; LGBTQ+; AnimalsPublication: 3 March 2022Pages: 304 (paperback) Synopsis: Between bullies at school and changes at …

Happy Birthday j-hope! 🌻

[ID: Coloured pencil drawing on black paper, of a smiling young Korean man wearing a beige hat with sunflowers, bees, clouds and leaves on it; a green in-ear monitor; a white t-shirt; a thin necklace with a BTS logo pendant; and a beaded necklace with green pieces spelling out H-O-P-E in gold. A blue and …

Review: ‘Ace of Spades’ by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Growing up, I realized quite quickly that people hate being called racist more than they hate racism itself. Rating: 4.8/5 paper planes Genre: YA mystery-thrillerPublication: 10 June 2021 (UK)Pages: 470 (paperback) Synopsis: Welcome to Niveus Private Academy, where money paves the hallways, and the students are never less than perfect. Until now. Because anonymous texter, …

Review: ‘Six Crimson Cranes’ (‘Six Crimson Cranes’, #1) by Elizabeth Lim

The crane was a constellation of seven stars northeast of the moon...Father had named those seven stars after us seven children... "No matter where life takes you," he would say, "you will be like those stars - connected by the light you shine together."All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change …

Happy birthday Taehyung!

[ID: Colourful marker drawing of a boy wearing a red life vest sitting in a boat on a reflective lake, looking out at a vivid sunset with green mountains behind him.] Today (Dec 30) is V's (from BTS) birthday and let's all wish this very special human a happy birthday and coming year! [ID: gif …

Review: ‘The Last Graduate’ (‘The Scholomance’, #2) by Naomi Novik

"[I]t was the miracle all over again, the miracle I still couldn't quite believe in: I wasn't alone anymore. They were saving me, and I was going to save them. It felt more like magic than magic. As though it could make everything all right. As if the whole world had become a different place.But …

Review: ‘If This Gets Out’ by Sophie Gonzales and Cale Dietrich (happy publication week!)

[E]veryone wants the world to see them as they are. The truth isn't the problem. The problem is that the world doesn't always make the truth safe for us to share.All quotes are from the ARC (advance reader copy), subject to change in the final edition. Rating: 4/5 paper planes Genre: YA (older) contemporary; LGBTQ+; …