Reviews written by Christina Franke

What I Loved: You know what? I think this one is my favorite of the trilogy. Only with Front and Center does D.J. really come of age. She does her growing up and embraces herself and generally comes to recognize her own awesomeness. Murdock continues to tackle tough issues...

What I Liked: Obviously, My Life Next Door comes highly recommended by book bloggers. I’m pretty sure at least five have mentioned that I needed to get to this novel. And, having read it, I’m happy to say you were all right and that this is definitely a Christina...

What I Loved: I read Freakboy as I traversed the United States. The row in front of me on the airplane, there was a baby, so I put my headphones in and blasted music into my ears. This actually really helped me focus in on the book, and remove...

With anthologies, the reading experience is always going to be a mixed bag. Rags & Bones is one I’ll remember as a favorite anthology. Typically, I struggle a bit with short stories, but the good solidly outweighed the rest in this one. The concept, too, is delightfully original. Rather than...

What I Liked: The fact that Josin L. McQuein released two novels within her debut year is impressive. What I find even more impressive is that both are good and that they fall into such different genres. Of Arclight and Premeditated, I preferred the latter, which has much stronger...

What I Loved: Society does a number on people. In every era, though fashions change from culture to historical period, certain people are considered attractive and others ugly. For those with beautiful faces, be they rubenesque, sharply skinny, dimpled, butt-chinned, freckled, pale as snow, or dark as obsidian, life...

What I Loved: Those who know me well are aware that I’m not generally one to give praise lightly. While I read a lot of books I think are fantastic and authors who I believe have talent, not every voice or novel is one that makes a lasting impression...

Guys Read: Other Worlds is a collection of fast-paced stories that will appeal to reluctant young readers, of either gender. Breakdown of the stories: “Percy Jackson and the Singer of Apollo” by Rick Riordan: Okay, so I’m actually not the biggest Percy Jackson fan. I’ve read...

What I Liked: Catherynne M. Valente’s Fairyland trilogy recalls classic tales very clearly, but, rather than coming across as redundant, Valente weaves them together into something wholly new. The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There (TGWFBF for short) dives back into the vibrant world of...

What I Liked: The other day I was talking about bookish dealbreakers, and for each one of those there are multiple exceptions. For example, one of my top dealbreakers is a plot that involves babies. Well, add this one to the exception list that previously held just The Bean...

What I liked: Woo! I finished a complete series in a week. Gooo me! Now that I’m done, I can assure you that the Ruby Red Trilogy doesn’t read so much like a trilogy as a single novel that has been spread out across three books. In fact, I...

What I Liked: So far as series go, Sapphire Blue is really consistent with the quality of the first book. Of course, the fact that, if you removed the framing narrative, this is essentially just one book may help with that. Seriously, the first chapter picks up right where...

What I Loved: Fortunately, the Milk is absolutely freaking adorable. Were it not by Neil Gaiman, I never would have bothered with reading it, because it frankly looked a bit young for me and I don’t tend to go for children’s books that are shorter than two hundred pages...

What I Liked: Meg Cabot is, in fact, my most-read author, just narrowly edging out Janet Evanovich for that honor. I have a soft spot for sassy women and hilarious books, okay? I tell you about my vast store of Meg Cabot knowledge so that you’ll understand that when...

What I Liked: So, you know how I’m always going on and on about how I’m a highly character-focused reader? Well, this book is one of those rare exceptions where I’m totally in the book for something else. The amount that I enjoyed this was definitely out of character...