Reviews written by Jan Farnworth, Digital Manager/Blog Assistant and Staff Reviewer

What I liked: Murder Mystery, Mulsim rep, Malaysian rep, and scrabble competition. The sprinkling of vocabulary words with their definitions used to initiate an investigation into her best friend's murder over a year later is a unique way to draw people into a murder mystery. Set...

What I liked: A science nonemotional driven kingdom vs. a true emotional realm with a princess who is missing her mother escapes to find her and instead discovers more than she expected. The uniqueness of this story with its science tech, exciting competition, and wide variety of...

What I liked: Sai is determined to have so much more than a life of helping her father con people and pickpockets. She poses as an apprentice to a mapmaker who is desperate to have his final years mean something. When a once in a lifetime...

What I liked: The plotting is tight, fast-paced, and full of tension but balanced with calm wonder and irreverent delight moments. Our story's city is richly developed and encompasses a wide variety of vibrant characters. This story definitely will able to the young men crowd as it glorifies...

What I Liked: To be a Fae Queen is a coming-of-age fae-inspired story where Tatina is the last of her line, and Kobolds are destroying her world. I have not read many stories that involve Kobolds, so that is a unique trait of this story. Also, having the...

What I liked: A horrifying tale that is rich, detailed, and heartbreaking all at the same time that kept me enthralled. Zombie novels are not new, but I tend to like the ones with a unique take on them, for example, warm bodies. What we harvest zombie-like issues...

What I liked: Ning is desperate to save her sister from the poison that killed her mother. When she hears about a competition to become the next Shennong-shi, she could win favor from the princess and the chance to save her sister. Competition stories are always a winner...

What I liked: The relatability of Contest of Queens is undeniable; an age-old issue, the upper class versus lower class, laid out in this story as an upper realm and a lower realm. The upper domain has queens, princes, and everything the rich could desire. The lower realm...

What I Liked: Cress Watercress is a beautifully illustrated book for children with all you want in a read-aloud story. It engages with family lessons, adventure, and relatable animal characters with human emotions. Cress Watercress loses her dad either to humans or an encounter with a...

What I liked: Russian Inspired, War and fighting, Unique Magic system, Fast-paced and engaging, and very little romance make for a perfect epic fantasy read. Crimson Regin is a solid finale to the Blood Heir Trilogy as Anna, who lost her powers, still has to fight to gain...

What I liked: The Ogress and the Orphans take an old-time way of telling a story with a lesson, usually called a parable, making it relevant and engaging to today's young readers. This parable contains a wide range of characters with unique traits to move along the...

What I liked: Nami is battling severe inner conflicts in this action-packed sequel in the Infinity Court series. How much are we responsible for when we are in a position of power? How do we motivate a disconnected world from people to fight for what...

Good Points: Red Tigress follows the continuation of Ana, Ransom, Linn, and Kais, their new ally, as they try to ally to stand against Morgana's forces. With four characters now in the plot, the story's movement moves at a fast clip, and the potential for cliffhangers...

What I liked: Myracles in the void is a unique story about the power to create and destroy our world, our lives, and others. How we shape ourselves and change what we harbor and ingrain into our hearts. Lynd and Gai are two unique characters, and I don't...

What I liked: The Munchkins is a fantastic middle-grade novel that fans of a series of unfortunate events and an umbrella academy will love. It again takes a group of orphans, embeds them to a unique farther figure, and of course, they all have powers. What makes this...