Sarah O'Connor

Book Review: Among the Burning Flowers by Samantha Shannon

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January 9, 2026

“For me, change is difficult. It is paralyzing. It makes me feel vulnerable…I love in fear of making the wrong choice, because I have seen how badly that can go,” (Shannon 122).

Marosa Vetalda awaits the day of her wedding to her betrothal Abrecht Lievelyn, of Mentendon, as she is a prisoner in her own home by her distant father who may or may not have had something to do with her mother’s death. While Aubrecht awaits for his wedding to Marosa, he rules over the kingdom of Mentendon in every way but name as he watches his great uncle fail to help his people in ways he know he can. Estina Melaugo hunts the sleeping dragons, dreaming of a different life with her lover. But now the great beast Fyrdel has awoken, and the world is in danger. Continue reading

Book Review: The Discovery of Flight by Susan Glickman

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January 7, 2026

“She appreciates morbid humour, but most people don’t. They don’t get that life can be funny AND tragic at the same time, like in those old Road Runner cartoons my dad loves, where an anvil falls on Wile E. Coyote’s head and you’re supposed to laugh even though obviously it’s not funny for Wile E. Coyote,” (Glickman 95).

Twelve-year-old Sophie is writing a journal for class in which she tells her teacher all about her likes, dislikes, her upcoming Bat Mitzvah, and her great love for her sixteen-year-old sister Libby who has cerebral palsy. In alternating chapters, Libby writes a story for Sophie’s upcoming thirteen birthday that she is determined to finish though her health is declining. Continue reading

Book Review: Scarlet Morning by N.D. Stevenson

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January 5, 2026

“Truly lucky people have a lot of bad things happen to them along with the good…and yet, even the worst of them always seem to lead somewhere worth going,” (Stevenson 338).

Viola and Wilmur have been waiting for their parents to return to them, but after fifteen years of waiting it seems less and less likely that that will happen. Nobody ever ventures out to the desolate town of Caveat, that is until one night Captain Cadence Chase breaks down their doors looking for a mysterious book that is in Viola and Wilmur’s possession. The three make a deal: Chase can have the book, but only if she takes them along with her. While Viola and Wilmur are excited to leave dreary Caveat, they have no idea what awaits for them on the dangerous Dickerson’s Sea. Continue reading

Book Review: Is This a Cry For Help? by Emily Austin

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December 30, 2025

I received this book from Simon and Schuster Canada in exchange for an honest review.

“I’d rather be me now, than me any age prior. But there is this heaviness to aging. Who I am was built on the shoulders of the person I was last year, and the year before, and before, and before. I’m not just thirty-three; I’m twenty-seven. I’m eighteen. I’m nine. I was just born. And I have to carry all of those versions of myself, the feelings they have, and the mistakes they’ve made, everywhere I go,” (Austin).

Thirty-two year old Darcy is living a better life than she ever thought she would: she’s a librarian at her local library branch, her wife Joy runs a book binding business outside of their house, and they have two great cats. She has also just returned back to work after a mental health leave after learning that her ex-boyfriend Ben has died. As Darcy navigates her own mental health and speaks to a therapist to help her understand her relationship with Ben, the library branch she works at is dealing with protests about censorship and book banning, juggling the struggles in her personal and work life hoping for some ease somewhere. Continue reading

Book Review: Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders

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December 15, 2025

“No matter what, you will always be loved. You cannot mess up so badly that you will not be loved,” (Anders 161)

Twenty-something Jamie is working on her PhD dissertation, in a strong relationship with their partner Ro, processing their generational trauma, and is a practicing witch. She has a fraught relationship with her mother, Serena, who has isolated herself from the world after the death of her wife and blowing up her career. Jamie tries to help her mother by teaching her magic, but one working together leads to a domino effect neither of them will see coming. Continue reading

Book Review: Revelator by Daryl Gregory

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December 11, 2025

“Stella Wallace met her family’s god when she was nine years old. Later, she couldn’t figure out why she didn’t run when she saw it. It wasn’t fear that pinned her to the spot, staring up at it, or even shock. It was something else. Awe, maybe. Wonder so deep it was almost adoration,” (Gregory 1).

At nine-years old Stella is sent to live with her grandmother, Motty, in Tennessee. When wandering into a nearby cavern, she meets her family’s god and learns of the special role she has in her family and their church. Year later, after fleeing a tragic incident, Stella is now a bootlegger who returns home for Motty’s funeral and to check on her ten year old cousin Sunny that Motty adopted. Sunny seems like a normal enough girl, but she is stronger than Stella ever was at her age, and the other members are eager to introduce Sunny to their god. Continue reading

Book Review: The Dark Will End The Dark by Darrin Doyle

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November 22, 2025

I received this book from The Next Best Book Club in exchange for an honest review.

Darrin Doyle’s short story collection The Dark Will End The Dark features an array of strange and horrifying stories. Doyle does an excellent job of creating tension, especially the slow build of it to create feelings of dread and horror. There are many unlikable protagonists we follow here and honestly it’s enjoyable to see what fate awaits them, just as it’s nice to read some of the more hesitant protagonists slowly realizing what is happening around them. I loved how varied each of the stories were and think this is a fantastic collection of stories!

Read my thoughts on each of the stories in the collection here: Continue reading

Book Review: The Healing Hippo of Hinode Park by Michiko Aoyama

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November 19, 2025

“‘Kabahiko is an amazing hippo. People say that if you touch the area of his body that you want to make better on yours, he’ll provide a cure,'” (Aoyama 13).

Multiple residents at the new Advance Hill condominium find themselves at the children’s playground Hinode Park where an old hippo ride named Kabahiko can apparently heal a person based on the area you touch the hippo. One by one the residents visit Kabahiko and share their worries with him, hoping for some of his healing magic, and maybe finding their own answers in the process. Continue reading

Book Review: Mate by Ali Hazelwood (Bride #2)

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November 17, 2025

“He would die for her, and he would kill for her. More importantly, he will live for her,” (Hazelwood).

Serena Paris is the first Human-Were known to the world. Orphaned and without a pack, Serena thought that her existence might have repaired the rift between Humans, Weres, and Vampyres but if anything it’s only put a target on her back. Serena realizes she can’t survive this alone and so she turns to Koen, the Alpha of the Northwest pack, who also happens to be her mate. Koen won’t let anyone harm Serena even if she doesn’t reciprocate his feelings, but with the threat of dangerous Vampyres and a strange group of Weres as well as Serena’s own inner conflict, she isn’t sure if there is anyone who actually can save her. Continue reading

Book Review: Wildwood by Colin Meloy (Ill. Carson Ellis)

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November 14, 2025

“‘My dear Prue, we are the inheritors of a wonderful world, a beautiful world, full of life and mystery, goodness and pain. But likewise we are the children of an indifferent universe. We break our own hearts imposing our moral order on what is, by nature, a wide web of chaos,'” (Meloy 380).

After her little brother Mac is abducted by a murder of crows, Prue is determined to get him back, even if it means venturing into the mysterious Wildwood that her parents have warned her from exploring. With the help of her classmate Curtis, the two kids enter a strange world filled with talking birds and coyotes, warring creatures, and a strange figure dark quest. Continue reading