Review: ‘A Day of Fallen Night’ (‘The Roots of Chaos’, #0) by Samantha Shannon

...to hold the risen fire at bay until the night descends... Rating: 4/5 paper planes Genre: High Fantasy; Dragons; LGBTQIA+Publication: 28 February 2023Pages: 880 (hardcover) Synopsis: Tunuva Melim is a sister of the Priory. For fifty years, she has trained to slay wyrms – but none have appeared since the Nameless One, and the younger …

Review: ‘Never Ever Getting Back Together’ by Sophie Gonzales

The opposite of love isn't hate. Not by a long shot. Hate and love are cousins. Possibly even siblings. So many ballads are sung about the power of love. Not nearly enough time is devoted to the passionate fulfilment only a perfectly matched enemy can bring. Rating: 3/5 paper planes Genre: YA Contemporary; LGBTQ+; Romance; …

Review: ‘The Golden Enclaves’ (‘The Scholomance’, #3) by Naomi Novik

If the garden above was a fairy tale, there was another story being told in this place, one where the children never came home, and smiling wizards drank a soup of bones. Rating: 4.5/5 paper planes Genre: (Upper) YA Fantasy; Magical Boarding SchoolPublication: 27 Sep 2022Pages: 416 (hardcover) Synopsis: (Mild spoilers for the first two …

Review: ‘Under the Whispering Door’ by TJ Klune

"It's life, Wallace. Even when you're dead, it's still life. You exist. You're real. You're strong and brave, and I'm so happy to know you."[All quotes are from the ARC, which may differ to the final version.] Rating: 4.75/5 paper planes Genre: Speculative fiction; contemporary fantasy; paranormal; LGBTQ+Publication: 28 Oct 2021 (United Kingdom)Pages: 373 (hardcover) …

Review: ‘Iron Widow’ (‘Iron Widow’, #1) by Xiran Jay Zhao

He should be the Iron King, and I should be the Iron Queen.Yet Iron Demon and Iron Widow is all they'll let us be.This will not do. I will not let this power go. Rating: 4.75/5 paper planes Genre: YA (I'd say upper range) sci-fi fantasy; mecha; Chinese historical retellingPublication: 7 Oct 2021 (UK)Pages: 394 …

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, …

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 …

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 …