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Book Review: A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo

A Long and Speaking Silence by Nghi Vo is the seventh novella in The Singing Hill Cycle. I’ve been a fan of all the other books in this series and this one is no different! I really enjoyed this story! We’re stepping back in time a bit in this book and visiting some of Chih and Almost Brilliant’s early years. The pair have not been working together for that long at this point. Their relationship does feel different from other books where they are more established as solid partners. I like seeing how their relationship has grown throughout the series. In this novella, Chih has run into a bit of trouble when they had their moneypurse stolen and so now is working as a waiter in a restaurant. They are of course still a cleric of Singing Hills Abbey so they still try to collect stories as much as they can. Some of the towns’ inhabitants are more reluctant to talk to Chih than others are, and Chih sometimes struggles with getting stories from people. We get to see a more doubtful and unsure ...

Book Review: The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher

I was in a bit of a reading slump when I started reading this book, but The Unmagical Life of Briar Jones by Lex Croucher has definitely cured my slump! This is the first time in a long time I've stayed up late into the night to finish a book. I couldn't put it down once I started reading. Briar Jones, a nonbinary teenager, is hired to work at a mysterious boarding school for the summer. The school is attended by a number of rich, privileged people, one of whom is Briar's former best friend Sebastian Wolfe. The two have not been in contact since Sebastian started attending the school seven years ago. While working there, Briar has to contend with what happened between them. Luckily, they also make some friends with some of the students while they are working there. I absolutely loved the character of Briar. They are so relatable, and felt so real to me! Their relationship with Sebastian is also complex and interesting. It kept me intrigued throughout the book. I think th...

Book Review: First to Finish by Rebecca J. Caffery

First to Finish is the second book in the Pole Position series by Rebecca J. Caffery. This is a queer sports romance series based on Formula 1 racing. I read the first book in the series and thought it was a very fun read and this second book follows in the footsteps of that one! It’s a quick and sometimes spicy read! In First to Finish, we follow driver Johannes Muller and his race engineer Caleb Hughes as a budding romance starts between them. I really liked the chemistry between these two! We also get to see some other characters from the first book, primarily Kian and Harper, which I liked! It was nice to have follow up on their story. As a Formula 1 fan, I would say the racing descriptions seem pretty accurate (although of course dramatized at points for the sake of the story!) I’ve had trouble consuming some fictionalized F1 media in the past because of inaccuracies but there was nothing glaring here that took me away from the story! I also don’t usually read sports romance but h...

Book Review: Dogs, Boys and Other Things I've Cried About Book by Isabel Klee

I absolutely loved this book! I don’t read a ton of memoirs, but I’m a big fan of Isabel’s from her TikTok videos, so when I saw she was writing a book I was very interested in reading it. I first saw Isabel‘s TikTok videos when she was fostering the dog Tiki, so I was excited to see his story included! This memoir focuses mostly on Isabel‘s life in New York City. We jump back to her childhood a few times to provide context for different things she discusses, but primarily we read about her young adult/adult life. Isabel discusses her romantic relationships, and how they each shaped her life. She has a clarity about her past relationships that I think many people would envy. She talks about them in this raw way that seems very vulnerable. I admire her for that. Isabel’s writing makes her feel very relatable. I felt like I was one of her friends that she was telling about all her relationship woes. I was invested in the story the whole time. And of course, there is a lot of focus on the...

Book Review: Prince Material (Prince Pact #2) by Nora Phoenix

Prince Material is the second book in the Prince Pact series by Nora Phoenix. I enjoyed reading the first book in the series, so I was excited to get to read the second one as an eARC. I didn’t enjoy this one quite as much though. In this book, we follow Floris, a Dutch prince and Orson, an engineering student from New Orleans. They are roommates at a college in Massachusetts. We get both of their POVS throughout the book, which I liked. The book starts off a bit slow and there isn’t that much happening for the first 50% of the book. It was a bit of a struggle to get through the beginning of the book, but the second half definitely picks up the pace. I don’t think I connected with these two characters as much as I did with the ones in the first book. I thought they were a bit lackluster and I found their dialogue a little bit unbelievable at points. It felt cheesy sometimes, like not something people in real life would say. I still plan to read the other books in this series when they ...

Book Review: A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo

A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo is a continuation of the Singing Hills Cycle. This short novella follows Cleric Chih of the Singing Hills abbey and their birdlike companion Almost Brilliant as they travel to a new place to record stories to bring back to the abbey. In this particular story the pair travel to Baolin, a place famous for it's pork and it's legendary famine. While in the town, Chih is forced to stay at the town magistrate’s home where they discover something strange taking place. I’m a huge fan of this series and I loved this new chapter of the Singing Hills Cycle. It’s definitely the creepiest of the novellas so far, I could feel myself getting tense while reading certain parts! Chih is such a likable character that I love reading about all their adventures and the stories they gather. I also love when Almost Brilliant is included, the back and forth between the two is always fun! Available in the US starting October 7, 2025. I received this book from NetGalley as a...