M.A. Kropp: Writer, Blogger, GeekGirl. My Life. My Words. My Way.
My rating: 4 of 5 starsIn this third installment of Carriger's paranormal steampunk series, Alexia has been kicked out by her werewolf husband because she's pregnant and werewolves are known to be sterile. She has returned to her family, but things have never been overly familial there, and when the news of her "predicament" becomes … Continue reading Friday Review: Blameless (Parasol Protectorate #3) by Gail Carriger
My rating: 4 of 5 starsThis is the fifth book in the Madison Cruz Mystery series and is just as fun to read as the others. In this one, Madison is doing her usual stint of side gigs between acting jobs, including dressing up as a slice of pizza. Then she runs into her high … Continue reading Friday Review: Standing O (Madison Cruz Mysteries #5) by Lucy Carol
My rating: 4 of 5 starsIn this cozy urban fantasy mystery, Mara (a practicing witch) is having a bad year. She's been evicted from her apartment, fired from her job, and she is persona non grata in Beverly Hills. And now, her Tarot cards are predicting her death. She decides to use a little magic … Continue reading Friday Review: Somebody Tell Aunt Tillie She’s Dead (Toadwitch #1) by Christiana Miller
My rating: 4 of 5 starsIn this entertaining steampunk story set in 1900s Seattle, Karen Memery is an orphaned young woman making her living working in a high-class bordello. The girls are a tight-knit group, always looking out for each other in what is not an easy lifestyle. When a badly injured girl appears on … Continue reading Friday Review: Karen Memery by Elizabeth Bear
My rating: 3 of 5 starsThis is the second in the Legends of Shannara duology, following directly from the events of Bearer of the Black Staff. As Sider Ament, the last known Knight of the Word lay dying after his battle with and defeat of a powerful demon, he passes possession of his black staff … Continue reading Friday Review: The Measure of the Magic (Legends of Shannara #2) by Terry Brooks
My rating: 3 of 5 starsPublished in 1993, Parable of the Sower is set in the 2020s in a society ravaged by climate change, corporate greed, and inequality of wealth. Lauren Olamina lives in a gated community outside Los Angeles with her father, stepmother, and brothers. Lauren is a hyperempath, which means she is able … Continue reading Friday Review: Parable of the Sower (Earthseed #1) by Octavia E. Butler
My rating: 4 of 5 starsFive independent hackers are given a choice by the government: serve as white hat hackers completing assignments given them or face prison for their past cyber crimes. Faced with that choice, they decide to take the offer. They are sent to an isolated compound where they and the other teams … Continue reading Friday Review: Zer0es by Chuck Wendig
My rating: 4 of 5 starsThis is the third in the Custard Protocol series by Gail Carriger. The series follows the crew of the dirigible The Spotted Custard as they travel the globe, investigating, uncovering, and aiding supernatural events and beings. Oh, and there are hats, proper gowns, and tea time, of course. In this … Continue reading Friday Review: Competence (Custard Protocol #3) by Gail Carriger
My rating: 3 of 5 starsTen-year-old Kya Clark is left alone in a rundown shack in the backwoods marsh of North Carolina as every member of her family gradually leaves her on her own. Her mother and siblings were driven away one by one by their PTSD-suffering abusive drunken husband and father. The father ignores … Continue reading Friday Review: Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
My rating: 3 of 5 stars This alternate history story starts when a meteorite strikes the ocean off the southern coast of the United States and immediately causes wide-scale destruction of much of the eastern part of the country, including Washington, DC. The aftereffects of the meteor will cause global climate change on a disastrous … Continue reading Friday Review: The Calculating Stars (Lady Astronaut #1) by Mary Robinette Kowal
