Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph

Teenage sisters unexpectedly upend everything they know to be true of their colonized homelands in this high fantasy political drama.

Sisters Effie and Vanna, three years apart, have been orphaned in the violent plundering of their village and consequential imperial rule from the Celestials. Claiming to protect them from piracy, the Celestials proclaim that their “lands are too rich to avoid unwanted attention, and your Gifts, however bountiful, will not be enough to deter those who would do you harm.”

The Celestials host an annual ceremony where villagers who have come of age and demonstrated proof of magical powers are tested for a particularly rare valuable skillset. Winners are honored with the duty to use their talents at the imperial army’s will. No one questions this or the Celestials’ intentions because the lore of the bloodshed they were saved from hangs heavy and haunting.

Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies spans years, venturing with Vanna and Effie into hidden, unfamiliar places, from alternating points of view: Effie and Vanna alone on their journeys. This is a politically intriguing and morally challenging story, a coming-of-age, a reckoning with colonialism and corruption—and it’s rooted in authentic sibling energy that anyone who grew up with a sibling just a few years apart in age will understand and feel deep to their core.

All Effie wants is to manifest powers and travel the world doing the duty she’s dreamed of for all her fifteen years of life. When Vanna manifests powers and joins the dragoons, Effie’s powers remain elusive, keeping her home. Their relationship becomes tense, especially with Effie sulking as she grows desperate to claim her destiny.

Alternating chapters provide insight into their strained sisterhood: We read Vanna’s pride in and protective heart for Effie, while we watch the sisters (both under increasing stress) verbally clash whenever they meet; Vanna’s duty takes her away for days on end, and we feel Effie’s tangled jealousy of Vanna colliding with the ache of realizing she misses her sister.

When Vanna is sent to stop rebels in another village who have “taken up arms to deny our host her tithe” she learns about the corruption and control used to enforce the Celestials’ power.

Back home, a conniving, entitled Effie lies, cheats, and demands her way into the audience of people with the power to grant her the job of her dreams. The determined sisters follow their hearts and sense of justice—Vanna’s aligned with duty to her country, army, and humanity; Effie’s led by her belief that the life granted to those with powers is her birthright.

Along the way, both teenagers are unexpectedly faced with an awakening about the reality behind the Celestial empire. Confronted with the patriarchy masquerading as servants to their Celestial queen, they begin to question their allegiance.

As an older sister, and someone who was nowhere near as bold (and frankly, daringly arrogant) a teenager as Effie, I related most to Vanna. I appreciated her compassion and capacity to recognize the enemy rebels as untrained, unskilled fighters not much older than Effie. She sees them for what they are: “children playing at soldier, armed with deadly weapons they didn’t understand.” I loved the strategic moves reflected in Vanna’s chapters and how her heart shone through even more than her very capable skills on the battlefield. Effie’s plans to claim her “rightful” place are twisted and so typical of a teenager willing to risk it all. I was thrilled and entertained by the lengths she was willing to go.

“To work the craft, you need to lie truthfully. You need to be honest and false, mysterious and bare. You need to bend in half without breaking. How many men do you know capable of containing so many contradictions?”

With a brilliantly evocative representation of imperialist tactics, Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies’ stunning setting serves as a background to the teenage girls’ feminist fueling, empowering understandings of their own power, and reckoning with the rewarding reality of rebellion. I read this book while following the proceedings at the UN General Assembly and was struck by the sharp, incisive clarity with which the author was able to mirror the struggle and strength of countless nations represented at the conference.

Author Z. Bennett Lorimer’s glittering high-fantasy world mirrors ours with remarkable emotional impact. Readers can’t help but be struck by the heartbreak and manipulation of a town left in ruins “as a reminder of all they had lost —all they might lose again without their host’s protection,” even as Effie and Vanna’s people live in peaceful gratitude to them.

“You’re balanced on a knife’s edge over bare sky…You’re going to spend the rest of your natural life falling through it. You’re going to fall and fall and fall—until your heart stops or your organs give out.” I frequently paused in awe of the author’s vivid descriptions of moments like a side character changing their beard’s style, a lavishly worded villainous threat, or an already-shocking-in-context scene turning into a truly astonishing sight, so gorgeous that anyone’s jaw would drop. Z. Bennett Lorimer has a gift for not only imagining spectacular, staggering drama, but writing these moments with searing emotion felt from each character’s specific desires.

I’d recommend this book for readers who love magical stories with real-world impact, listen to Paris Paloma songs, and prefer their revolutionary ideology served with a heaping dose of magnificent fantasy worldbuilding. More than anything, I’ll remember this book for its representation of siblinghood. I have not read so true and honest a reflection of the tangled emotions between similarly-aged siblings who aren’t on the best of terms but remain the one person on the planet who knows you deeply and (in their own complicated, questionable way) can’t help wanting the best for you.

Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies is worth recommending for Vanna and Effie’s sisterhood alone, but it’s also an expansive call for young women to follow their desires, and to listen carefully when older women impart their riotous feminist wisdom.

Plot-wise, I’m extremely stressed and enthralled about what will happen next. Luckily, the author has given us a wealth of thought-provoking, bewitching implications for each storyline Vanna and Effie find themselves in. I’ll be thinking about every possible angle—knowing that author Z. Bennett Lorimer will certainly continue to shock both his characters and his readers in unimaginable ways—while I wait for the urgently-needed, well-earned sequel.

Thank you for reading Andrea Marks-Joseph’s book review of Ardent Wings on Jealous Skies by Z. Bennett Lorimer! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Erin Britton

A haunting psychological drama that explores the rippled effects of trauma, betrayal, and accusation

Principally set during what should be a relaxing Mexican vacation, D.E. Adler’s The Rape of Elliott Roth confounds expectations by delving into the unsettling tension between public success and personal failure.

The initial tragedy belongs to someone else. A ranch hand swerves to avoid an oncoming car. He escapes the incident without physical damage, but the family in the other car is not so lucky. “He surveyed the damage and turned toward the sound of hissing steam and the smell of gasoline. A sudden explosion shattered the stillness and sent a plume of black smoke into the blue expanse.”

While a young girl is thrown from the vehicle during the accident and so avoids the explosion, the other family members are trapped inside. “After the fire died down, the cowboy saw the charred remains of the mother, father, and older brother suspended by their shoulder harnesses.” Critically injured, the girl is flown to Good Samaritan Hospital in Seattle for live-saving surgery.

It is here that Dr. Elliott Roth enters the milieu. A brilliant surgeon and a flawed human being, he is one of the few doctors with sufficient expertise to perform the brain surgery required to save the girl. “The child had a chance of surviving, but with what quality of life remained to be seen.” Deciding that the situation is too urgent to follow the time-out procedure and wait for a CT scan, Elliott begins to operate immediately.

Despite his undeniable skill, perceptions of his conduct in the operating theater will come back to haunt him.

The day after the surgery, Elliott joins best friend Jay “JDub” Walsh and a bunch of others—friends, acquaintances, and strangers—on holiday in Cabo. It’s not really his idea of a fun time, but Jay didn’t give him much choice. “It’s paradise with coral reefs, warm ocean breezes, and the freshest seafood. I’ve been after you like a honey badger. This time there’s only one answer.”

The group is certainly an eclectic one. There are hints of tension between Elliott and Jay’s wife (“Liz Walsh and I had been close for too long to let our friendship disintegrate over something that happened more than a year ago and would seem trivial five years from now.”), and the others seem to be harboring more than their fair share of secrets and lies. Will there really be the opportunity for rest and relaxation?

One thing to note about this story is that the title, The Rape of Elliott Roth, is not named for sexual assault but more in comparison with the literary tradition put forth by Alexander Pope in “The Rape of the Lock,” signaling the removal of something.

The book is narrated from the first-person perspective of Elliott, providing unfettered access to his thoughts and feelings. Saying that, D.E. Adler presents Elliott’s responses and reflections in such a way as to imbue them with a dream-like quality, with guilt and uncertainty echoing through much of what he has to say. Elliott may be convinced of the truth of his account, but others will likely be far less certain.

Elliott has low expectations regarding the trip to Cabo, but in this regard he is proven wrong by two opposing points of view. On the one hand, the holiday proves far worse than he could have imagined, providing the backdrop to his quite spectacular emotional unraveling. As the days pass and the need to return to reality looms, he has to confront the fragility of his façade and the long shadows of past events.

On the other hand, the vacation feels positive in a strange way, freeing Elliott from the mask of stability and solidity he has worn for decades. He faces up to various struggles and traumas from the past, and he finally recognizes the need to take a stand against the wrongs of those who surround him. He even manages to form a romantic/emotional connection, which though not without complications, does expand his horizons.

And Elliott is not the only holiday-maker desperate to avoid facing deep-seated damage, both their own and wounds caused to others. Beneath the illusion of camaraderie, when not occupied with swimming, snorkeling, and fine-dining, long-buried resentments simmer among the group, giving rise to a charged atmosphere of suspicion. As memory and desire collide, the boundaries of consent and accusation blur.

At both the personal level and more generally, The Rape of Elliott Roth wrestles with themes of guilt, loyalty, and the cost of remaining silent. Elliott’s moral ground becomes shaky as the accusations that surround him gather steam. Adler doesn’t offer him easy absolution; instead, there is the uncomfortable reality that some wrongs leave indelible scars and require more than apologies to heal.

Adler’s storytelling is taut and measured, echoing the surgical discipline of Elliott. Every encounter, flash of memory, or moment of silence feels deliberate, included to peel back another layer of his psyche. Adler also excels at emotional restraint. The unsettling core of Elliott’s emerges gradually through glances, half-formed admissions, and the friction between what characters reveal and what they conceal.

The setting—sun-drenched Cabo—provides a clear contrast to the darkness that unfolds. It’s an environment suggestive of escape and rejuvenation that instead becomes reflective of Elliott’s fears and failures. Rather than offering a sanctuary, the holiday becomes a trap, with the warmth of the sun and the companionship giving way to suspicion and tension. The presence of the others also means that Elliot’s private collapse becomes a public spectacle.

The Rape of Elliott Roth is an emotionally difficult story to process. It is part psychological thriller, part cautionary tale, and part moral inquiry. Much of it takes place at the messy boundaries between guilt and innocence, making it difficult to differentiate fact from fiction and determine who—if anyone—to trust.

Thank you for reading Erin Britton’s book review of The Rape of Elliott Roth by D.E. Adler! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Tomi Alo

A heart-pounding thriller about uncovering secrets behind a perfect facade

Abigail Lethican has always lived in the shadow of her family. With a grandfather and father entrenched in politics and three elder brothers ahead of her, Abby has never really felt the need, or the chance, to step into the spotlight, aside from the occasional duties every political family demands. She grew up learning to smile politely, keep disagreements behind closed doors, and constantly present the perfect image to anyone watching.

Come in Jim Hardy, the school’s star point guard. Confident, ambitious, and charismatic, Jim draws her in immediately. It doesn’t take long for her to fall in love with him and get caught up in the whirlwind of their relationship.

For six years, Abby convinces herself that she has found someone she can rely on, someone who complements the quiet life she’s always led, where she could be the caring, devoted wife she believed she was supposed to be. But when the cracks in her marriage begin to appear, the charm and confidence that once drew her in seem manipulative, controlling, and calculated.

It all shatters when Jim asks for a divorce. Just like that, the life Abby thought she had is gone, and everything she believed about him feels like a lie. The man she trusted, the guy she built years around, turns out to be far more self-serving than she ever imagined. Then, as if the heartbreak wasn’t enough, Jim ends up dead, and Abby becomes the prime suspect in his murder investigation.

As Abby digs deeper to clear her name, she is confronted with a long string of lies and betrayals carefully curated by her husband. Will she ever be able to prove her innocence before time runs out? And even if she does, will she ever find the courage to rebuild herself and trust again?

Falling On Southport is a satisfying blend of layered mystery and psychological drama. The novel throws readers right into the middle of the chaos, opening with Abby at the police station under investigation for her husband’s death. From there, author MJ Slater rewinds the story to the past, revealing Abby and Jim’s history, their marriage, and the subtle cracks that will eventually explode into catastrophe.

Jim and Abby’s relationship is fascinating precisely because of its flaws and cracks right from the start. There was no real spark, no electrifying chemistry or sweeping romance, only convenience, need, and ambition. For Jim, Abby was his ticket out of his humble background and his stepping stone to a better future; and for Abby, Jim served as a kind of shield, someone who made her feel needed and special. I loved how Slater captured this dynamic without putting too much judgment on either character, and allowing readers to quietly observe the psychological imbalance and the ways both characters unconsciously perpetuate it.

What stands out the most is the gradual unfolding of Jim’s true nature and Abby’s blindness to it all. It is both intriguing and frustrating to read. Abby’s denial and selective perception make sense psychologically, especially given her upbringing in a family where appearances and control were everything. Watching her slowly confront the reality of Jim’s manipulations adds a layer of tension that goes beyond the surface-level mystery. Her naivety and vulnerability is what makes her character arc compelling as she slowly discovers herself and grows into a strong, resilient person.

In the end, Falling On Southport is an absorbing thriller with psychological insight and some truly unexpected plot twists. And the suspense! Even after knowing it all—the killer, the secrets, the lies—there’s still that sense of danger that everything could go sideways. The media frenzy, courtroom trials, law enforcement scrutiny adds to the tension and pressure.

Fast-paced, emotionally charged, and actually twisty—Falling On Southport is quite the debut.

Thank you for reading Tomi Alo’s book review of Falling On Southport by M.J. Slater! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Eric Mayrhofer

A post-WWII story with a clear sense of history and some truly thrilling scenes

With Diane Wagner’s Byline Budapest, readers can relax, confident that they’re in the hands of a gifted storyteller. Wagner shows an authoritative knowledge of the time period without ever letting it get in the way of a pulse-pounding tale.

We follow Charlie Atkins, an American expat in Munich working for Radio Free Europe, a station broadcasting pro-democracy news stories to citizens in nearby countries who want democratic reform for their governments. In love with the organization (perhaps naively so), Charlie longs to be part of the new staff instead of a coffee girl, and when she gets an opportunity to prove herself with a story about blood donations making their way to a war-torn Hungary, she jumps at the opportunity.

While women in the newsroom may have been more uncommon in the post-WWII era, the book makes the adventure believable by couching it in a deep familiarity with the geopolitics of the time. Charlie can rattle off the current events as well as the reporters she wants to join, proving her worthiness early on (even if the editor Mr. Owens refuses to acknowledge it). The authoritativeness with which the narration handles explanations of history makes it easy to trust and emotionally invest in all the other characters and harrowing obstacles that fall in Charlie’s path.

The book also plays with format to give readers the sensory experience of a radio broadcast. Throughout the book, readers will see Charlie’s radio reporting chops in action, presented in a radio script format, and anyone who has ever heard an NPR story will immediately hear Charlie’s voice as the confident reporter turned storyteller spinning yarns around the fire. These passages evoke narration interspersed with interview soundbites. After one story, readers discover that “Charlie worked hard, learning to write for listeners rather than readers…She incorporated music and sound effects,” making the whole radio news experience complete.

Wagner does a great job of characterizing these people in short windows, vividly sketching in what readers need to know and then moving along with the plot. While learning about Charlie’s professional life and her journalistic aspirations, we meet her colleague Viktor, a man with a coveted news staff position who readers will quickly grow to loathe (and love it). We see him through Charlie’s eyes and he immediately sets readers on edge: “His blue eyes, as cold and hard as January ice, his cheekbones, as sharp as right angles, and his teeth, which were broken and jagged like rickrack.”

That ability to concisely distill a character’s essence is a powerful gift, but it occasionally threatens to go awry. When characters meet Andras Kovács, a native Hungarian in the employ of Russia’s Communist regime, we quickly learn he’s meant to be the book’s foil for Charlie. When thinking of the Communists’ deteriorating hold on Hungary, he wonders, “And what to tell Moscow? That the entire country had gone mad on his watch? Not that Kovács was surprised, of course. He sensed for months that trouble was coming, and although he warned Hungary’s deeply loathed General Secretary Mátyás Rákosi directly, no one wanted to hear that unrest was brewing.”

Kovács is just as frustrated and disregarded by his peers as Charlie; a lovely setup to propel readers ahead—will he achieve his goals and stand in her way? Will he fail? Readers don’t get the full picture as quickly and deeply with him as we do our heroine. Yes, we do come to understand that he is a survivor, always knowing where the political wind is blowing and flowing with its currents. However, it’s a little blurry where and how that deep survivalist instinct gels with his desire to be seen, respected, and included by his peers.

This never stops Byline Budapest from being a good read though. If the book ever seems like it’s entering enough of a lull for readers to ponder on these mild contradictions, it quickly and organically introduces a thrilling action scene that cements your hatred of Kovacs, makes readers re-evaluate how ready Charlie is for the challenges of a war zone, and wondering how she will get back to Munich alive, let alone into the Radio Free Europe news room. If future installments of this expected series can keep the same brisk pace and astonishing grasp on history, sign me up.

Thank you for reading Eric Mayrhofer’s book review of Byline Budapest by Diane Wagner! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Elizabeth Reiser

An inspirational memoir about a health scare that sparks major change

Ray Walker was no stranger to weight loss gimmicks and fad diets; she had tried them all. She was even featured as a success story in a magazine about weight loss. But she later settled into a sense of ambivalence.

Instead of dieting, her brain went on autopilot, and she indulged in processed foods with abandon. She gained back all the weight, plus an additional ten pounds. She came to terms with what she thought would be the rest of her life: overweight but happy, eating processed foods, and taking medications to help with any ailments. Then a health crisis changed everything.

Her kidney almost quit.

After a painful stretch followed by lifesaving surgery, Walker realized she would have to reevaluate her relationship with her health. This was not about the number on the scale or the size of her jeans; it was about listening to her body and making changes to better her well-being.

The second half of the book sees Walker fusing her personal story with self-help guidance. It’s as much a story about her as it is about you. Maybe it is time to improve your relationship with your body.

Starting with asking readers to discover their reason why, like wanting to keep up with their kids, Walker prompts readers to fill out a worksheet to uncover patterns and actionable ways to be healthier. It is a thorough worksheet, and readers who find journaling helpful to their process will like this aspect.

Walker raises compelling arguments throughout the book regarding how we sabotage ourselves on our health journeys and how we can stop. The mind as a bully is one particularly persuasive concept she focuses on, discussing examples of this and how the negative voice can be quieted. Instructions on breath-work and meditation are some of the helpful tools she provides.

In addition to including worksheets and coping tools, Walker shares her struggles with food addiction, leading her into a discussion and instruction on food detox. Her weight loss of 140 pounds is impressive, and she poses insightful questions to help readers determine their own path to a healthy lifestyle. It should be noted that Walker is not a doctor or a nutritionist, and the perspective on detoxing may cause some emotional pain to readers who are suffering from disordered eating.

Walker’s honesty and conversational writing style on this relatable topic make this memoir a well-worthy read. Anyone looking to improve their relationship with their body and their mind could use this as a guide for their journey to improvement.

Thank you for reading Elizabeth Reiser’s book review of The Awakened Body by Ray Walker! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Toni Woodruff

A friendly, uplifting children’s book about working together and looking out for each other

Peter the Pelican is having a great day. The weather is nice. The flying is good. The friends are… Wait.

Has anybody seen Kevin the Crab? Sammy the Sea Bass is wondering. So is Willie the Whale. So is Magnolia the Mermaid, Sherri the Shrimp, Octavius the Octopus, and a whole lot of other alliterative sea creatures.

In the last book, Sherri the Shrimp was the hero. A tiny friend on a brave adventure to start believing in herself. This time, it takes the whole gang to travel the ocean and save Kevin from the (kinda) scary situation. Kevin is stuck in a net, far off at the shipwreck in Pirate’s Cove. Sherri’s muscles aren’t enough this time, but lucky for all of them, they come together.

This series, just two books long, is already looking like a great addition to bedtime storytelling. The characters are fleshed out and funny to say and remember, and they carry this uplifting tone that guide the narrative. The alliterative characters all look out for each other, creating a real sense of community and friendship. Magnolia and the Gang Save the Day is a meaningful story that teaches you to work together with your friends to accomplish huge feats. It’s not Magnolia’s story exactly—it’s everyone’s.

Octavius the Octopus steals the show more than anyone in this story. He’s long and strong and wiggly and able to squeeze into tight spaces. If your kid doesn’t already love octopuses, they’re about to start. Willie the Whale is another standout. The ocean is a big place, but large creatures like whales can move across it quick enough to save the day. He’s a pretty sturdy anchor for their rescue operation too.

The illustrations of Magnolia the Mermaid… are light and buoyant and, despite the apparent danger Kevin is in, never set too scary a tone. Where book one used a purposefully scratchy, messy look, this one fits more uniformly into the illustrations on your Disney+ home screen. Nemo lovers will have a lot more friends after finding this series.

The language is smooth and playful, always easy to read. It sounds fun and playful without rhyming, acting as a good in-between pick for your kid who’s just getting out of board books. It’s a story you’ve probably heard before in multiple variations, so it’s helpful that the language is fun and the characters are easy to remember for your own storytelling.

Magnolia the Mermaid and the Gang Save the Day give you more of what you loved in the first book in the series while teaching a new lesson: work together with your friends to make the dream work. This is a great, ocean-exploring read-aloud pick for both librarians and parents.

Thank you for reading Toni Woodruff’s book review of Magnolia and the Gang Save the Day by George J. Linsenmeyer, III! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Warren Maxwell

Hilarious, warmhearted, bite-sized stories of a cult softball team from West Virginia

“There can’t be too many people in this world who had more fun than we did tonight. And we got slaughtered in two softball games.”

Since 1998, a Bad News Bears-inspired softball team has been tearing up the fields of Morgantown, West Virginia. They’ve built a reputation around losing far more games than they win and having more fun than the winners—or anybody else for that matter. Dressed in “county orange” and white uniforms—as in “When I appeared before the judge, I was in my county orange”—Chico’s Bail Bonds have made a tradition out of playing chaotic, occasionally drunk softball, celebrating wins and losses alike at the 123 Pleasant Street bar, recounting the stories together, and then creating literary records of the events.

These records are mashups of familiar yet disparate genres. There’s a dash of the tall tale, the frenzied sports announcer, and the romantic writer who can memorialize the most insignificant moments, lift up failure, laugh at it, and love it. Sometimes Orange Is Almost Gold gathers hundreds of post-game write ups, stretching from 1998 to 2025, along with photos across the decades, stats, and pop out highlights of team members past and present.

“Anybody who has seen Porterfield in a pair of shorts will know that he has only two muscles in his legs. He pulled both of them.'”

I’ve never read a book quite like this one. It has charm, wit, adventure, and a strange anthropologic intrigue. It is a record of a unique kind of community, one that centers around sports yet values friendship and joy above anything as commonplace and shallow as winning. Even without any first-hand knowledge of Chico’s Bail Bonds or the many players who’ve filled its ranks, it’s difficult not to get swept up in the mythology of this rambunctious team.

Whether describing a disastrous loss (“Chico’s were dominated, humiliated, spit on, cummed on, and overmatched against a young and rejuvenated, hard charging Mega Corp, losing 19-1 in game 1 and 18-3 in game 2, goddamn!”) or memorializing team members who’ve passed away, there’s a special beauty to this book that comes from a sheer of-the-moment authenticity.

As is abundantly clear from the photographs included, nothing is hidden in this story of a multi-decade running softball institution. Here we see men of all ages playing amateur softball, cheering one another on, drinking, getting hurt, mostly losing, and absolutely loving it.

“Weak bats, tired legs, and empty souls. Chico’s Bail Bonds, the world’s most lovable softball team, shit the bed in the most lackluster of early season performances ever.”

The book’s layout, an explosive array of photos of all shapes and sizes clustered on pages alongside ever-expanding paragraph-long game summaries, grabs the eye and invites readers to bounce from story to story without necessarily following the linear chronology. Although years are organized together and each game is given at least a few sentences of description, the book exudes a rules-be-damned attitude that emphasizes fun over any specific method for reading.

At the end of the day, this book is a record, an archive of all the games and all the stories (excluding the Lost Years of 2003-2006 that may or may not have fallen victim to faulty storage), all the Chico’s inspired memorabilia and outrageous outfits, and all the “bonds” that were formed over twenty seven years. In that respect, it far surpasses its intended purpose—this is a hyper-local book that inspires, that makes you wish you were on that softball team.

Sometimes Orange is Almost Gold tells decades of comedic, full-hearted post-game stories about an unforgettable amateur softball squad.

Thank you for reading Warren Maxwell’s book review of Sometimes Orange Is Almost Gold by Jim Antonini and Suzanne Reynolds! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Jaylynn Korrell

A fun-filled and wacky graphic novel for imaginative and silly kids

The snoodles are back! The zoodles are back! The wackadoodle team of Steven Joseph and Andy Case are back with another funny, intergalactidoodle adventure.

Escape from Zoodletraz is the third book in the Snoodles in Space series, which follows members of the Noodleham community on Earth and the inhabitants of other worlds, like the aliens on planet Zoodle. Characters like Frimpy Frumpy Froodle and Whimpy Whiny Woodle have already saved the Earth once, but Zoodlemania isn’t done yet.

Croodle the Grand Roodle, another recurring character from the series, has been noticing the buzzing music scene down in Noodleham, and he’s decided to become a music star on Earth himself. But it turns out, it’s not so easy becoming as popular as mega-superstar Swifty Swoodle.

After Croodle is booed off stage, he comes up with a plan for revenge—which includes kidnapping notable animals on Earth and placing them in Zoodletraz, a high-security prison on an island. This is the story of the inhabitants of Noodleham trying to help those animals escape and to make sure Croodle never does something like this again.

Author Steven Joseph comes with another flurry of fun with this hilarious read-aloud adventure. This guy could throw a doodle into anything, it seems. His imagination, coupled with the perfectly fitting illustrations of Andy Case, make this a goofy wonder of a read. If you’ve got silly, creative kids at home who have graduated from picture books into the world of single-story graphic novels, Escape from Zoodletraz is here to bridge that gap for you. It’s filled with silly and zany vocabulary to make reading aloud a jumbly-wumbly bubble of fun for both you and them. Even when your children start being able to read themselves, they’ll have fun peeking at the little jokes sprinkled here and there, like on the spines of books or in the headlines of a news story.

Did you know that Frimpy Frumpy and Whimpy Whiny “helped remove griddle from the Earth’s oceans, even the wet ones?”

In addition to the silly fun to be had on the page, Escape from Zoodletraz comes with an album. And it rocks? With different singers and styles on nearly every song of the 10-song album, the one constant is that it’s a blast to dance to. The production quality really stands out—these are fully developed noodle-doodle pop hits. The end of the book features a game, a maze, and a coloring page too.

The thing that stands in the book’s way is just the sheer amount of information and characters coming at us from so many directions. It’s a lot to keep track of quickly. Luckily, the illustrations bring characters to life so they become clearer in our minds, but it could still require some flipping back and forth to remember how each character is related to the story. Occasionally, the noodle-doodle language takes precedent over the plot, so some pages are more dedicated to funny-sounding backstory than the escape itself.

This series is growing along with the reader—from picture books to juvenile graphic novels—without ever losing hold of its wacky sense of humor. Joseph and Case make for one hilarious team.

Thank you for reading Jaylynn Korrell’s book review of Escape from Zoodletraz by Steven Joseph! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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Reviewed by Victoria Lilly

A multi-generational gothic saga set against the backdrop of 20th-century New England, blending psychological horror, supernatural intrigue, and family drama

The novel opens in 1946 with the harrowing story of Sofia Tarantino, a teenager impregnated under mysterious and disturbing circumstances—a harrowing episode among many in a generational curse involving a seductive, violent spirit named Daedrian. Fast forward to the present-day, 18-year-old Francesca “Fran” Tarantino is grappling with the recent death of her beloved great-aunt Aurora Ciccone, who has left her not just a considerable estate but a sprawling archive chronicling generations of women haunted by the same ghost.

As Fran begins to read Aurora’s journals and assorted historical documents—including letters, priest’s diaries, and legal testimony—she uncovers the dark legacy of the “blood witch” women in her lineage. Each was seduced and possessed by Daedrian, who seeks to perpetuate his influence by impregnating the next female heir. Fran must confront not only the supernatural presence that has haunted her since childhood but also the weight of her inheritance, her emerging identity, and the unspoken traumas of her family’s past. As she begins her new life in New York City, her autonomy, sanity, and survival hang in the balance. Can she survive his growing power without revealing her family’s secret—or will she become the next bride in his endless, blood-soaked history?

A Blood Witch is a dark and unflinching exploration of generational trauma as well as wider social evils such as domestic violence, sexism, and incest. Stone’s prose is polished and immersive, featuring historical epistolary fragments, contemporary narrative, and chilling confessions from multiple point-of-view characters. The novel is graphic in its treatment of themes and supernatural motifs and intentionally unsettling in explicit depiction of violence of varying sorts.

The strongest aspect of the novel is its ambitious structure and slowly-building suspense plot. Stone employs a patchwork of narrative techniques to weave a multi-generational story of spiritual possession and inherited suffering, organically nudging the reader to piece together its sinister history along with the protagonist Fran. The use of archival material echoes the epistolary horror tradition of Dracula or The Turn of the Screw.

Fran’s grief combined with her confusion and gradual unraveling tells a quite fascinating story. Her relations with her overbearing great-aunt Lily, darling cousin Mary Jane, and the spectral Daedrian are complex and often fraught. The supporting characters, especially Aurora and the earlier “brides” of Daedrian, are also given significant development. Aurora, in particular, is portrayed with nuance: she is at once a victim, a guardian, and an imperfect moral compass for Fran. Her letters are among the novel’s most haunting and eloquent passages.

The supernatural elements are handled with restraint, keeping the fantastical to the minimum. Daedrian is less a demonic presence or a monster like Dracula and primarily an allegory for intergenerational abuse and female disempowerment. He is seductive, manipulative, and, most terrifyingly, patient. The terror lies not in jump scares or gore but in the insidious way he violates boundaries—familial, physical, and spiritual.

Transitions between past records and present events are occasionally abrupt, and some sections—especially historical documents—can slow the momentum. Daedrian’s psychological profile, while fascinating at first glance, remains frustratingly static. Readers may wish for more from his origin and motivations.

A Blood Witch is a chilling, layered, and intelligent gothic piece that tackles the genre from a distinctly feminist angle. It interrogates themes of bodily autonomy, inherited trauma, and the haunting persistence of misogyny with a significant degree of literary sophistication. Though its graphic content and nonlinear structure can be challenging, the novel offers sophisticated explorations of themes interweaved with a suspenseful and gripping plot. This is not a comforting read—but it is a valuable one.

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Reviewed by Nick Rees Gardner

A family drama with a mythological twist, Stephen Statler’s Gods of Glenhaven transcends the humor of sex jokes to imbue everyman’s life with meaning.

Christian Orr, a high school counselor with a failed PhD, is in crisis. His wife Sloan has cheated on him, and as they discuss their impending divorce with their daughter Francesca caught in the middle, Christian begins struggling with erectile dysfunction. Everything changes, though, when a seductive woman named Ari presents Christian with her son, Maron, a high school football star who wants to start over at Glenhaven High.

Enter the Greek Gods. While Ari flirts with Christian, bringing the anxiety-ridden, weak man new confidence, Sloan begins courting her new neighbor Dee, who seems to hold some mystical, sexual power over all the women of their small town. At the same time, Francesca and Maron try to figure each other out, unsure of where to start their relationship while first the cheerleaders, then the football players and students’ mothers are driven to wild orgies in the background.

In a wise move, Stephen Statler doesn’t disguise the fact that Dee is actually Dionysus and Ari is Ariadne. He allows the reader to play along with the gods of Glenhaven as they fool and play with the weakling human characters. Of course Ariadne, the powerful Greek god, falls for Christian, the aptly named failure of a human. And of course, Maron, the son of two gods, falls for Francesca, the virgin nerd who feels awkward inside her own body.

But as Christian and Francesca miss the signs of otherworldly intervention into their lives, the plot evolves with plenty of humor at the humans’ expense. While Francesca attempts to intervene in the gods’ unhealthy relationship, Christian stumbles through his own virility.

To add to the humor, Statler inserts single panel cartoons between chapters which, aside from egging the reader on to scan the scene that the drawing references, draw laughs of their own. Images like a urologist with his hands beneath Christian’s gown or Christian flying off a balcony are not only exciting, but funny to see. Not to mention that these scenes add to the characters themselves, making them more real.

While Gods of Glenhaven is fairly predictable overall, there are some outlying scenes that add nuance, even if they are a bit disturbing. One such scene involves sexual conduct between the high school football team and the mothers of students. While much of the sexual conduct in the book is consensual and appropriate, if not at times laughable, this scene of inappropriate sexual conduct feels a bit awkward to read, stretching beyond the joke into an area that feels, frankly, icky.

Gods of Glenhaven is, without a doubt, an adult novel. An extended sex joke. But it is also the story of a weak and impotent man finding his meaning and succeeding in life. While Christian lacks strength and resolve, he endeavors to be caring and appropriate, a genuinely good guy in spite of the powerful people around him always getting what they want. To see the good guy succeed isn’t just a comedy trope in Statler’s book, but also a call to kindness. Gods of Glenhaven is a fun, fast-paced, even hilarious read, but it is also filled with heart, kindness, and model human behavior. It’s a good book that just happens to leave the reader chuckling to themself as much as rolling their eyes.

Thank you for reading Nick Rees Gardner’s book review of Gods of Glenhaven by Stephen Statler! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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