Genre: Fiction

An incredibly meta and satirical novel, Lincoln Michel’s Metallic Realms is an ambitiously written story that defies conventional genre classifications. Featuring a collection of scifi-based short stories within a larger memoir-esque story, Metallic Realms recaps the highs and lows of the Orb4 writing collective group on their real and grounded struggles in creating cosmic literary art. Full of real-world metaphors, social commentary, and sharp jabs at the publishing and online communities, this book is an incredible experience written for hardcore SFF geeks and struggling millennials.   Note: For greater clarity for those who have not read this book, I will be referring to the author by his first name “Lincoln” instead of my usual review format where I would use his last name instead. When I drafted this review, I felt it might be confusing and too easy to misread the character Michael and Michel back-to-back.  Before I get into why I found this book so incredible, I feel the need to address some of the confusion about this book and offer some respectful advice for those potentially interested in it. First and foremost, Metallic Realms is a book full of satire, far-reaching scifi and fantasy references (and by that, I mean affectionately dragging fantasy), and general…

This review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by St. Martin’s Press. Love, guilt, judgement, and paranoia, all within the four walls that may or may not be alive and angry, You Did Nothing Wrong is psychological thriller and explores Elodie’s twisted descent into madness. C.G. Drews’s adult novel debut, rather than simply serving as a straightforward haunted house narrative, this book instead is a horror story of an entirely different monster. Compared to Drews’s past books that had a more paranormal and fantasy angle to their stories, You Did Nothing Wrong instead plays off the monsters in our head and the horrifying ways love and devotion can spiral into something dark and unrecognizable. While featuring Drews’s signature macabre metaphors and stylistic prose, this book is very different from past YA books for those that enjoyed their past books. Marketed as a pulse-pounding and clever take on the haunted house novel, I went into this book expecting something along the lines of Drews’s past books that mixed elements of paranormal horror with fantasy flair. As a strong cautionary disclaimer upfront, You Did Nothing Wrong is very different and was not at all what I was expecting. While…

Sometimes sweet, sometimes sour, but most often bitter-sweet and remorseful, Daria Lavelle’s debut novel Aftertaste is a heartfelt and unique speculative fiction novel featuring an amazing premise. Haunted by the aftertaste flavors of strangers’ loved ones and their associated memories, Kostya’s lasting grief and its close association with food is a concept that’s not only relatable but also a genius with endless potential. While primarily a speculative fiction and magical realism fantasy novel on paper, Aftertaste’s ambitious story crossovers into a variety of other genres such as a romance story, literary fiction with the Soviet immigration experience, and surprisingly a supernatural thriller; there’s something for everyone. But as expected for a novel focusing on the dearly departed and their loved one’s memories, Aftertaste is at its best during the quiet, poignant moments heightened by wonderful and touching introspective reflections. “Food could do that. It could tell stories. Not just cuisines or component parts, but histories-of the people who’d prepared the dishes, the way they evolved them over time, the way they made them theirs. Leaving behind a recipe was a way to be remembered and savored and loved even after you were gone. A way to live forever.” Emotions and…

The following review is based on a complimentary Advanced Reader Copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review. In the year 2263, Jason’s world and home under New Toronto is a world unlike any other. Under a dome protecting the city from raging toxic storms, New Toronto and its inhabitants are at war against an Imperial Invasion from across the Solar System while simultaneously fighting a separate battle within against a nanophage epidemic infecting humans, robots, and cyborgs alike. Haunted by strange visions and a voice in his head, Jason’s life in a hidden underground enclave is thrown into chaos when latent psychic abilities start to threaten both himself and everyone else around him. As the United Federation of Earth combats the Imperial forces in space, with the help of his brother David and friend Sam, Jason hears the calls of the mythical and extraterrestrial obelisk Abaddon that promises salvation from his uncontrollable powers, as well as information about his mysterious past. Serving as the first entry in the Abaddon Cycle series and Colin Searle’s debut novel, The Call of Abaddon is an ambitious sci-fi epic that mixes cyberpunk elements (bio and nanopunk flavors specifically) with the…

Comforting and heartfelt, like Miles states to Lenny, Cara Bastone’s Promise Me Sunshine promises the reader that there will always be sunshine after a gloomy day if you keep your head up and know where to look. Featuring a compelling premise via a reverse twist of a buckets list, this novel tells a story about two people broken down by grief and loss, helping each other in the areas they know best. Despite tackling difficult topics like loss of loved ones, terminal illness, depression and the importance of family, the story is delivered full of warmth and gentle comfort, making it highly accessible and mass appealing, albeit at the cost of more ambitious developments and deeper self-reflections. While pleasant and fine, I constantly found myself a bit underwhelmed with Promise Me Sunshine, frequently wishing it would go further with its great ideas. Struggling to get by and jumping between short-term, non-committal babysitting gigs, Lenny is not doing well following the recent death of her best friend and other half Lou. Upon arriving at her next weekend job, she meets single-mother Reece, her daughter Ainsley, and Ainsley’s grumpy uncle Miles. Constantly out of town on the job, Lenny is hired to…