Sarah O'Connor

Book Review: Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid

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February 18, 2026

“Fuck. This was really gay,” (Reid).

Shane Hollander’s whole life is hockey. He is famous for his skill, dedicated to the sport, and now that he’s the captain of the Montreal Voyageurs he’ll make sure not to jeopardize that, especially not by the captain of the Boston Bears, Ilya Rosanov. Ilya is just as talented and can’t be beat, except by Shane. The two have made a career out of their rivalry for each other, but once the last goal has been scored and the skates are off the two find themselves secretly hooking up. But they can’t let anyone know, coming out would ruin both of their careers, and none of what they’re doing is serious anyways. Until they start to develop feelings for each other which only makes things more complicated. Continue reading

Book Review: Be Not Afraid by Jude Ellison S. Doyle

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February 16, 2026

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

“A family is made of people who love each other. So it is said. But far more families are made of people who are alone with each other,” (Doyle).

Cora Reims was a teenager when she was visited by an angel of the Lord who left her with her son, Jordy. Despite his angelic appearance and birthright, Jordy brings nothing but evil wherever he goes. After tormenting his mother and the town of Enoch for seventeen years, on the eve of his birthday Cora is visited by a different angel who demands that she kill Jordy. But will Cora actually be able to kill her son?

Book Review: The Queen of Katwe by Tim Crothers

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February 14, 2026

“Phiona is lucky to be here. the Ugandan women’s team has never participated in a Chess Olympiad before because Uganda could never afford it. But this year the president of FIDE, the world’s governing body of chess, has arranged funding for the entire Ugandan team to travel to the Olympiad in the hope of garnering the country’s vote in his reelection campaign. Phiona needs breaks like that,” (Crothers 4).

Phiona Mutesi’s life changes one day when she follows her older brother looking for food but finds a group of children her age playing chess. Seeing promise in her, Robert Katende helps teach Phiona the game where she shows great promise for the game that changes her life forever.

Book Review: Veal by Mackenzie Nolan

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February 12, 2026

“Which one of us will outlive the others, who will become the face of this tragedy? It was always the youngest, the pretties, the whitest. There was no tragedy in being plain, no attention spared to girls who had it coming,” (Nolan).

Delores “Lawrence” Franklin and her best friend Anastasia “Stasia” Lanes runaway to Mistaken Point to start fresh in a smalltown known for two things: it’s university which Stasia and Lawrence are now enrolled in, and a series of gruesome murders that targeted young women. But the killer was caught and the town is returning to normal, even though some older men mumble inappropriate things to Stasia and Lawrence when they walk around town together, or graze them when they walk too close. Lawrence gets a job at a local arcade and meets her boss Franky Delores who believes that a monster was responsible for the murders and is determined to catch it. Despite the warnings of her friend Pippa, Lawrence and Stasia join Franky in a monster hunt, not fully believing Franky’s claims until everything they thought they knew changes.

Book Review: Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy

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February 5, 2026

“Maybe wanting things is what makes me a lot. If I could just want less, I’d be the right amount of person. The amount I’m supposed to be. The not-a-lot amount. The easy-to-love amount,” (McCurdy 6).

Seventeen-year-old Waldo is in love with her middle-aged Creative Writing teacher Mr. Korgy and she doesn’t know why. Is it his passion for writing? His honesty about where life has taken him? Or does he just see Waldo when no one else does? Not her mother, not her best friend Frannie, not any of the boys her age that she sleeps with, but him. And Waldo will do anything to get his attention. Continue reading

Book Review: The Green Mile by Stephen King

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February 3, 2026

“We each owe a death, there are no exceptions, I know that, but sometimes, oh God, the Green Mile is so long,” (King 422).

Former Prison Guard Paul Edgecomb recalls his time working on the Green Mile, a block in Cold Mountain Penitentiary for inmates on death row. Paul has met a lot of people during his time working at Cold Mountain, but none so memorable as John Coffey, a man accused of committing a disturbing and brutal crime but who is much more than he seems. Continue reading

Book Review: The School of Mirrors by Eva Stachniak

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January 26, 2026

“Some calculations are simple. Sons trump daughters. Three children trump one. Deep in my heart, I had already decided that nothing could be worse than the life I had,” (Stachniak 10).

During King Louis XV reign, scouted teenager girls were sent to live in a nondescript villa in Versailles before being sent to the plaza to please him. Young Veronique is one of these girls and quickly becomes a favourite of the King before becoming pregnant and being sent away to give birth to her daughter in secret. Many years later Marie-Louise wonders about who her parents were but finds a passion for science, becoming a midwife during King Louis XVI reign as the revolution is underway and life as she knows it will dramatically change. Continue reading

Book Review: Ajar by Margo LaPierre

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January 20, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“When I saw forward into my death and welcomed its yawn, I haunted me,” (LaPierre 4).

In her newest poetry collection, Margo LaPierre gives a powerful and real look at psychosis, mania, and bipolar disorder. Not looking to romanticize her mental illness, LaPierre humanizes it and gives readers a more intimate understanding of her struggles and recovery while also touching on topics of infertility, gendered violence, and the ways one can heal and grow from trauma. Continue reading

Book Review: Black Creek by Susan Grundy

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January 18, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“Why did it scare her so? She was a fighter, an independent woman with a successful profession, not house bound like her mother had been, and all the female generations before. And yet, the Stong family lineage held her captive,” (Grundy 163).

Right before Kate Stong Smythe’s mother dies, she calls out five women’s names. Shaken, Kate discovers that the five names belong to her own ancestors of the Stong family, in particular the women and reminds her of an incident from her childhood when these women haunted her dreams and the pictures she drew. Eager to know more, Kate travels from Montreal to Toronto where she finds an abandoned farmhouse from her family and begins learning more about her family’s past that has been unknowingly repressing her. Continue reading

Book Review: A Town With No Noise by Karen Smythe

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January 16, 2026

I received this book from River Street Writing in exchange for an honest review.

“Fear is what makes people behave badly,” (Smythe 198).

Samara and J. have only started their relationship when they go off to visit J.’s hometown of Upton Bay, a smalltown where tourists visit and the wealthy live. Sam has been hired to write a piece promoting the tourist industry of Upton Bay while she and J. stay with J.’s grandfather Otto, a once prominent businessman who is now elderly and unwell. As Sam explores Upton Bay she sees the ugliness under the tourist attractions, particularly against it’s migrant workers. Sam can’t help but see the hypocrisy of how these workers are treated and how former migrants like Otto can look down on these people. Sam starts to suspect that Otto fled Germany for more nefarious reasons compared to the reasons her own mother and grandmother fled Norway during the second World War. That is until a family secret of Sam’s comes to light, and Sam starts to question everything. Continue reading