Book Review: The Spells We Cast

Title: The Spells We CastAuthor:  Jason JuneGenre: Queer YA FantasyRating: 3.25 stars Nigel Barrett lives on a ranch with his grandma and dad, and he can also do magic. When he is old enough to do the “Culling” – a competition that will determine if he can keep his magic – he meets an unlikely

Book Review: Curious Tides

Title: Curious TidesAuthor: Pascale LascelleGenre: YA fantasyPublication date: October 3, 2023Publisher: Simon & SchusterRating: 5 stars Emory Ainsleaf is a student at Aldryn college, a magical school where she is a healer. Last year her best friend Romie drowned alongside seven other students in a freak accident. Emory, along with Romie’s brother, Baz, tries to

Book Review: The Jasad Heir

Title: The Jasad HeirAuthor: Sara HashemGenre: FantasyPublication date: July 2023Publisher: Orbit BooksRating: 4.25 stars Jasad is a country that has been decimated and the royal family destroyed – or that’s what everyone thinks, but the daughter of the Malik and Malika (King and Queen) survived and ends up a lowly orphan in Omal. When Arin,

Book Review: A Girl Called Echo Omnibus

Title: A Girl Called EchoAuthor: katherena vermetteGenre: YA Graphic NovelPublication date: 2023Publisher: Highwater PressRating: 5 stars Echo is a Métis teenager in Winnipeg who is learning about the history of Métis in school. She has interactive dreams about cultural ancestors at pivotal times in Métis history and learns more and more about where she comes

Book Review: Blood Betrayal

Title: Blood BetrayalAuthor: Ausma Zehanat KhanGenre: MysteryPublication date: November 7, 2023Publisher: Minotaur BooksRating: 4 stars Blood Betrayal is the sequel to Blackwater Falls. Blackwater Falls is a town in the USA flush with racist townspeople. Inaya Rahman, a Muslim detective, works with her Community Response Unit on the separate deaths of two racialized people in

Book Review: The Mystery Guest

Title: The Mystery GuestAuthor: Nita ProseGenre: MysteryPublication date: November 28, 2023Publisher: Penguin Random House Canada, VikingRating: 5 stars Molly the Maid is now Head Maid at the Regency hotel. When a famous author drops dead at an event at the hotel, Molly is once again suspected of having something to do with the crime. How

Book Review: The Nigerwife

Title: The NigerwifeAuthor: Vanessa WaltersGenre: ThrillerPublication date: May 2, 2023Publisher: Simon & SchusterRating: 4 stars Nicole, a British woman of Jamaican descent, lives in Nigeria with her husband Tonye and their two kids. She is a part of the Nigerwives, an association for foreign women married to Nigerian men, but when Nicole goes missing, her

Book Review: Throwback

Title: ThrowbackAuthor: Maurene GooGenre: YA contemporaryPublication date: April 2023Publisher: Zando Young ReadersRating: 4.25 stars Samantha Kang is a Korean American who believes she doesn’t live up to her overachieving parents’ expectations. When her Halmoni (grandma) goes into a coma and she has a big fight with her mom, she is thrown back in time –

Book Review: Nic Blake and the Remarkables

Title: Nic Blake and the Remarkables – The Manifestor ProphecyAuthor: Angie ThomasGenre: Middle grade fantasyPublication date: April 4, 2023Publisher: Frenzy BooksRating: 5 stars Nic Blake wants to be a Manifestor like her dad – a Remarkable person in an Unremarkable world. When she discovers that people think her dad stole a special artifact and he

Book Review: The Isles of the Gods

Title: The Isles of the GodsAuthor: Amie KaufmanGenre: YA fantasyPublication date: May 31, 2023Publisher: Penguin TeenRating: 4.5 stars Selly, a sailor, is hoping to catch a ride on a ship that’s headed towards her father. Her plans change, however, when her captain allows Prince Leander to join their ship in order to escape an enemy’s