friendship

Audiobook: Red City

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by Marie Lu
Read by André Santana, Eunice Wong, Natalie Naudus & Sid Sagar
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of violence, much of it graphic. There is also sexual assault, on-page sex, and lots of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Growing up the child of a strict single mother, Sam wanted more for her life. She is smart – she has a perfect memory – and she had a promising future. That is, until her mom was in an accidental fire at the restaurant she worked at. Then, Sam turned to the syndicates – the organizations that control the drug Sand, and the magic in this alternate reality. She learns to be an alchemist and falls deep into this dangerous world.

Ari, on the other hand, was brought to Angel City from his home in India, recruited because of the strength of his charisma, his soul, to be a part of Luminos, one of the syndicates. He’s taught and trained since he was 10 to be a bioalchemist, someone who can persuade pretty much anyone of anything.

Ari and Sam were friends growing up, unaware of their involvement in rival syndicates, until they re-meet as adults, on the opposite side of a brewing war.

I didn’t know what to expect going in, but I really enjoyed this one. I was talking to K about the book and describing how they used alchemy as the magic system, and she was like “Oh, like Full Metal Alchemist”? And yes, exactly like that. Except mashed with the Godfather, and you have a good sense of this. But I liked the characters, I appreciated the way Lu developed the world that she set the story in, and I didn’t even mind the ending – there is still an opening for another book (hopefully, only a duology) but the story of this one is wrapped up. I loved the audio version; the narrators were amazing, capturing the emotion of the book as well as the action. I probably would have liked reading this, but I really enjoyed it on audio. Perhaps I’m being overly generous to this because I was listening to it while reading Spark of the Everflame, and it was just refreshing to have good worldbuilding and a unique, fully developed magic system.

I’ll definitely be on the lookout for the sequel to this one.

Angelica and the Bear Prince

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by Trun Le Nguyen
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There is racism toward Asian people and bad boyfriends. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Angelica was an overachiever. She did everything, and was super good at it all. That is, until she burned out her junior year. She’s spent a while recovering and is slowly trying to get back into participating. She got an internship at the local children’s theater. Where they’re doing a production of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with the classic Bear Prince costume. With whom Angelica has been DMing on Instagram and may like. Gable – who was Angelica’s best friend in childhood – is the bear prince but is concerned that Angelica won’t like him in his new trans identity. It’s full of ups and downs, nice adults and lame boyfriends, and is a perfect snapshot of a moment in the life of a couple of high school students.

Nguyen wrote The Magic Fish, which I adored, and his art and storytelling are just as strong here, even if the subject matter is lighter. I like the way he wove the fairy tale through these books as well. It’s a sweet little graphic novel, one that is bound to make readers smile.

Winging It

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by Megan Wagner Lloyd and Michelle Mee Nutter
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Release date: October 21, 2025
Content: There is talk of dead parents and some awkward situations. It will be in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section.

Luna’s mom died when she was a baby, but she and her dad have always gotten along fine. Except now, her dad’s decided that they need to move across the country from LA to Washington DC to live with her (white) mother’s mother, someone that Luna barely knows and doesn’t have a great opinion of. But, in the months that they are there, Luna not only learns to understand her grandmother, but learns to appreciate her dead mother’s love of nature.

This one was…. nice. I like knowing that there are books out there about change and growing – especially moving and making new friends, which is hard – but I wasn’t really drawn in by Luna and her quest to find a luna moth and understand her mother. Perhaps it’s because it took place over a huge chunk of time – an entire year – but it just didn’t resonate with me.

That doesn’t mean that kids won’t love it.

Dream On

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by Shannon Hale, illustrated by Marcela Cespedes
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: There is some bullying and depictions of panic attacks. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Cassie is a pretty happy kid. She has a best friend, she likes playing imagination games, she loves her 4th grade teacher, and even though her family is big and they don’t have much money, she’s pretty content. But then things start to change: a third girl comes in between Cassie and her friend, and she tries too hard to keep the friendship together. She discovers a sweepstakes letter that says she’s won the Grand Prize – a trip, or furniture, or money! – and she sends in some magazine subscriptions to get it (ah, that’s a throwback!). She doesn’t like it when her mom tells others that Cassie is “too sensitive”. What seemed good now seems to be falling apart.

The thing I like best about Shannon Hale is that she just gets the Big Emotions that young kids can have. This is a book about Cassie and her Feelings, and I just felt the empathy Hale has for her character. She’s able to validate these emotions, to make them seem more substantive, to make the kids who have them feel seen. It’s remarkable.

I did enjoy the story, and choosing to place it in a time where there wasn’t cell phones or internet is a good choice (though how many kids today will know about those silly sweepstakes junk mailers?). I liked the art well enough, but found myself wishing for LeUyen Pham’s drawings instead (I don’t know why; maybe it’s because Hale and Pham make a great team?). In all, though, it’s a good graphic novel for the younger elementary reader.

The Raven Boys: The Graphic Novel

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by Maggie Stiefvater, Stephanie Williams, Sas Milledge
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Content: Much like the source material, there is some mild swearing and references to teenage drinking. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

I’m not going to rehash the plot here because I read the audiobook earlier this year. My thoughts on this can be boiled down to this: I loved the art, but I missed the words. Milledge did an excellent job of capturing the boys and Blue. She was able to portray their personalities in the art (though I’d always pictured Gansey as a blonde, but oh well), and I loved seeing her interpretations of the locations in the book. The art is, in fact, quite lovely.

But I don’t read Stiefvater for the plots. (Unusual for me, but there it is.) I missed her words. The book -because it’s a graphic novel – it boiled down to the plot and honestly, there’s not much there there. Which means I didn’t get the soaring descriptions, the lovely turns of phrase, the things that make me truly love these books. It was…. just okay.

That’s not to say I’m not going to collect these for the art. It’s just not as good a read as the original is.

Brigands & Breadknives

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by Travis Baldree
First sentence: “‘Fuck!’ creid Fern, ducking back inside the carriage a whisker before a clawed and scaled hand sailed past.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: November 11, 2025.
Others in the series: Legends & Lattes, Bookshops & Bonedust
Review copy pilfered off the ARC shelves at work.
Content: It is very sweary. Like VERY sweary. (I like a book that tells you what it is with the first word.) And there’s some fantasy violence. It will be in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Fern (the bookshop owner from the last book) has decided to relocate, after 20 years, to Thune, where the orc Viv is. Mostly to be near her friend, but also because Fern has lost the love of bookselling and needs a Change. Once in Thune, though, she realizes that she just can’t sell books anymore, and on a drunken whim, climbs into the carriage of the famous (legendary, even) one-eared Elf, Astryx. She doesn’t quite know what she’s thinking, but when Astryx finally discovers her, it’s too far for Fern to walk back. So, she stays. And she and Astryx – and a weird little (hilarious) goblin named Zyll, that Astryx is nominally returning for bounty – go on a journey.

Like Baldree’s other books, the premise is super simple. The joy, however, is in all the little things. It was Fern learning how to be on the road, growing into her own over the journey. (It was also Fern’s creative swearing.) It was the “diminished Elder Blade” knife that was just silly. It was the growing friendship and respect between Astryx and Fern. It was all their silly little side quests.

I listened to the other two on audio (Baldree is a fantastic narrator), and I wondered if this would hold up in print. It absolutely does. I loved being back in this world, I really enjoyed Fern as a main character, and I’d be happy to follow them all on any more silly adventures that Baldree dreams up.

The House with No Keyes

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by Lindsay Currie
First sentence: “West holds his end of the banner up against the wall and laughs.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 30, 2025
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Others in the series: The Mystery of Locked Rooms
Content: There are some intense moments. It will be in the Middle Grade (ages 8-12) section of the bookstore.

It’s a few months since the Deltas – Wes, Hannah, and Sarah – have solved the mystery, won the treasure, and opened up (with help) the Delta Game escape house. They’re mostly happy – there is some small friendship issues- with the way things are. But, then they get an invitation to try a new escape house: The Mystery Mansion. The personal invite says that if that can beat the house in under two hours, they will win $10,000. And it turns out that the kids – individually, not collectively – need the money. But, as they get into the house, there is definitely something suspicious going on.

I’m not sure this sequel needed to exist, but honestly, it was fun being back in an escape room with the Deltas. Currie has a gift for creating fun rooms (I wish they existed, even though I’d be crap at doing them), and it’s interesting to see how the kids figure out how to solve the rooms.

It was a fun read, and I’m sure fans of the first book will be glad to have another one to read.

Audiobook: Lady’s Knight

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by Amie Kaufman and Meagan Spooner
Read by Helen Keeley & Barbara Rosenblat
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is some violence – jousting and dragon-killing and the like; and two f-bombs. It’s in the YA Fantasy section of the bookstore.

Gwen has dreams. She is the blacksmith’s daughter, and is running the forge herself pretty much these days, but she has designed her own armor, and wants to try her hand at jousting. And one day, she earns enough money and enters the qualifying rounds of the tournament… and wins. She thinks it’s a one-off, but then Lady Isobelle finds her and convinces her to continue. It seems that Lady Isobelle is the prize for winning the tournament, and she doesn’t really want to marry any of the other knights. She convinces Gwen to be her champion in the tournament.

Gwen reluctantly agrees, follows Isobelle to the castle, where she pretends to be “Sir Gawain’s” sister, and… well, falls in love with Isobelle. There’s more to the plot – including terribly chauvinistic knights and a lady’s maid who might be an assassin – but that’s the basic premise.

Oh, this one was a delight. The back blurb (do audiobooks have a back blurb?) mentioned The Knight’s Tale as a comp, and I think that’s spot on. It’s Knight’s Tale but with lesbian girls, and I couldn’t have enjoyed myself more. It’s laugh-aloud funny at parts (LOVE the narrator who breaks the fourth wall), and yet had me ugly crying and the show of unity among women at the end. It’s fierce, it’s sweet, it’s a joy to read (and to listen to!). I can’t recommend this silly, sweet, fun book enough.

Audiobook: Food Person

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by Adam Roberts
Read by Mia Hutchinson-Shaw
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and drug use. It’s in the Adult Fiction section of the bookstore.

All Isabella wants to be is a food writer. Except in this age of viral stories and influencers, someone who just wants to focus on the food (and not be on camera) is going to have a hard time of it. So when, after she loses her job at a foody-influencer e-zine, she’s offered to ghost write a cookbook for a once-beloved-but-now-down-and-out celebrity, Molly. It’s somewhat of her dream job: she would love to write a cookbook. Just not one where the other person is vastly uninterested in helping.

There are a lot of ups and downs in this one; both Isabell and Molly have big egos and are mostly unwilling to compromise – Molly wanting something that reflects “her” (or at least her public persona); Isabella wanting something that’s actually good, and something she wants to be proud of. There are hilariously awkward and weird situations (the whole deal with Isabella’s mother is a LOT), and the climax is definitely crazy.

I did like this one though. Hutchinson-Shaw is an excellent narrator, and kept me engaged in this. And Roberts isn’t bad when writing women. He was a former food-writer, so those parts were pretty amazing, and I have to admit that’s why I was there. I adore foody books, and this one absolutely hit the spot.

It was a lot of fun.

Audiobook: Return to Sender

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by Vera Brosgol
Read by Michelle H. Lee
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some intense moments and it begins with a dead parent. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Oliver has moved a lot in the past year after his dad passed away. He has desperately wanted two things: his own bedroom and to grow up and follow his dad’s dream by opening a restaurant. He gets his first wish when his mom’s great-aunt passes away and leaves the apartment to her. Except there’s something weird in the apartment: A mail slot in the wall that goes nowhere. But, when Oliver slips in an accidental “wish” (for pizza!) and it comes true, he realizes what he’s got: his own personal wish-fulfiller. But, as his wishes get more and more grand, he starts realizing that the consequences of his actions are bigger and bigger.

I’ve enjoyed Brosgol’s graphic novels in the past, and I know she’s a good storyteller, but I didn’t know what to expect out of a prose novel from her. I didn’t need to worry (I didn’t, really): she’s an excellent writer, and this has everything that a middle grade novel needs. It reaches the kids where they are at, it’s funny and fast-paced, and it’s got a huge heart. I loved that at its heart it’s about the butterfly effect – how our actions have consequences, for good or ill – and about the disparity between rich and poor, and how unfair it is that rich people don’t often see the consequences of their actions. There’s a silly villain, there’s action and tension, and it’s just a lot of fun.

This one is good whatever way you read it: in the print version, Brosgol has included illustrations; in the audio version, Lee is an excellent narrator who makes the story that propels the story forward.

I hope many kids find this one, because it’s fantastic.