Tag: book reviews

Review – Radiant Black, vol 1

Posted July 14, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Radiant Black, vol 1

Radiant Black

by Kyle Higgins, Cherish Chen, Marcelo Costa, David Lafuente

Genres: Fantasy, Graphic Novels
Pages: 192
Series: Radiant Black #1
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Visionary writer KYLE HIGGINS (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Ultraman) and artist MARCELO COSTA reinvent super heroes for a new generation! Nathan Burnett has just turned 30, and things aren’t great—he’s working (and failing) at two jobs, his credit card debt is piling up, and his only move…is moving back home with his parents.
But when Nathan discovers the ethereal, cosmic RADIANT, he's given the power to radically change his fortunes...unless the Cosmic Beings who created them succeed in taking them back by any means necessary. Oh, and did we mention there's a RED RADIANT who wants Nathan dead? The next must-read comic book series STARTS HERE.
Collects RADIANT BLACK #1-6

The first volume of Radiant Black (Kyle Higgins et al) offers a fairly unsurprising superhero origin story: dead-end guy ends up back with his parents, stumbles into something that gives him powers, and quickly discovers it’s linked to aliens and he needs to save the world.

Where it varies a bit is in giving us a few pages of the story the guy (Nathan) is trying to write, which I found interesting… and the fact that the hero switches partway through the story, as Nathan ends up in a coma.

The setup is fairly meh, as far as it goes, and I definitely wasn’t motivated enough to try to “translate” the alien symbols or anything, but I am kinda curious about the switch between Nathan and Marshall works out, whether Nathan still ends up with powers, etc. I’m not that motivated to read the next volume, but… maybe?

As for the red Radiant, nice motive, still theft, bodily harm and a minimum of manslaughter.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – The Dead Beat

Posted July 12, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – The Dead Beat

The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

by Marilyn Johnson

Genres: Non-fiction
Pages: 252
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Every morning, countless readers of the morning papers bypass the front page, neglect the sports section, and go directly to the obituary page. It's not morbid curiosity (or not just that) that motivates them. Legions of obsessive fans turn to the obit page first because it very often contains the most gripping and best-told stories of the day.

In The Dead Beat, former Life magazine writer and Esquire editor Marilyn Johnson makes a smart and light-hearted survey of obituary writing, unraveling the cult and culture of obituaries to consider what our feelings about death--and the way we write about it--tell us about how we live.

Marilyn Johnson’s The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries was a random pick for me; I’m not sure where I heard about it or why I added it to my Kobo via Kobo Plus, but it did sound kinda tempting to understand something that other people apparently get fannish about (ghoulish as that might sound).

I’m not quite sure what I hoped for, but maybe a bit more of a focus on obituaries, rather than on the people who write and obsess over them. There are parts I found interesting, discussing the development of obituary fashions (that’s not really quite the right term, but it works well enough), like the trend for “ordinary Joe” obituaries highlighting ordinary members of a community rather than just obituaries of famous people… but a lot of it was about Johnson getting fannish over meeting prominent/skilled/trend-setting obituarists. I ended up getting a bit bored of that, because I didn’t know who these people were or why their work was so good, other than that Johnson said so. There were snippets included, but it wasn’t enough to make me feel equally fannish — perhaps just because it’s not my interest.

Overall, I guess it kind of overstayed its welcome with me, but I’m glad I gave it a shot, all the same; it’s a bit of a random topic, I suppose, but I always enjoy learning about apparently random topics. I did enjoy little snippets of info, like the fact that Reagan died during the annual conference for obituary writers, which somewhat stymied them in writing his obituary…

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Sweet Poison

Posted July 11, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Sweet Poison

Sweet Poison

by Mary Fitt

Genres: Crime, Mystery
Pages: 198
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Sweet Poison takes its title from a line in King John: "Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age's tooth". It refers not only to the fact that the central character dies of poison, thought to be self-administered, but also to the fact that this character is a man obsessed with the past.

Augustus Gale was a man in love - in love with a woman of genius who had been dead for over a century. This macabre devotion poisoned both his own life and the lives of those around him: his son and daughter, his beautiful second wife, and even his devoted mother. Yet it was a strictly confined obsession, and when a party of archaeologists sought permission to excavate a Roman mosaic pavement on Augustus's land, they were met with blunt and contemptuous refusal. It might be said that Augustus Gale was a man who deserved to die, but if so, whose was the hand that killed him and with what motive?

I’ve been eager to read more of Mary Fitt’s work for a while, after really enjoying The Banquet Ceases, so I was glad to see a bunch on Kobo Plus. Sweet Poison appealed because it’s set on an archaeological dig, and the archaeological conundrum (a mosaic which passes below a boundary wall and into a private estate) offers one potential motive for the murder that follows.

I must admit, so far The Banquet Ceases has been my favourite; in both Strong Poison and Clues to Christabel, the female characters were almost universally offputting — in retrospect, there’s a similar problem in The Banquet Ceases, except that the main character’s wife is alright, and I hadn’t read enough of Fitt’s work to see a pattern yet. It’s not that the male characters are perfectly likeable either, but there’s something unhinged about most of her female characters in a way that’s starting to feel a bit samey to me — and though Dulcibella is level-headed and cares deeply about her children, and could be an interesting character given room to shine, her main object is escape and once that’s attained, she quickly discards Roger and exits the story. We see more of Cornelia, and, well…

Fitt did a pretty great job of setting up an atmosphere, in part because of that growing unease about the sanity of one of the female characters, and the way it all worked made sense and hung together well… but, yeah, I’m starting to wonder if Fitt liked women. Which is kind of a funny thing to say about a lesbian writer!

I’m still enjoying her books, and the mix of settings and set-ups for the mysteries, but… yeah. I’m hoping to see her do some more interesting things with her female characters.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – Game Changer

Posted July 9, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 8 Comments

Review – Game Changer

Game Changer

by Rachel Reid

Genres: Romance
Pages: 366
Series: Game Changers #1
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

New York Admirals captain Scott Hunter takes his pregame rituals very seriously. When a particular smoothie precedes Scott's breaking his on-ice slump, he’s desperate to recreate the magic… and to get to know the sexy, funny guy behind the counter.

Kip Grady knew there was more to Scott’s frequent visits than blended fruit, but he never let himself imagine being invited back to Scott’s penthouse. Or kissed with reckless abandon—and more. What goes on between them is hot, incredible and frequent… but also only on Scott’s terms and always behind his closed apartment doors.

Scott needs Kip in his life, but with playoff season approaching, the spotlight on him is suddenly brighter than ever. He can’t afford to do anything that might derail his career or the public’s image of what a hockey captain should be. Kip is ready to go all in with Scott—but how much longer will he have to remain a secret?

I’d been meaning to try Rachel Reid’s Game Changer for a while, given people’s excitement about the Heated Rivalry series, and it was definitely fun. I’d say it was pretty predictable, and quite a lot of it focused on sex scenes to a point where it didn’t feel like they were advancing the connection between the characters or the characterisation of either of them… but it was fun, all the same.

It helps that Kip and Scott are both characters that make sense, and their connection (and the ways they didn’t always work perfectly together) proceeded from that pretty well. Scott’s a very successful but deeply closeted athlete; Kip’s a poor queer arts graduate working shit jobs who’s happy to go to gay bars and pick up men who seem handsome and fun. It makes sense that there’s a lot about Kip that attracts Scott, at the same time as it makes sense that they’ll struggle to find a balance in terms of money and in terms of how public they want to be.

I did enjoy their friendships outside of the relationship, too, particularly Kip’s with Elena, but also Scott’s with his team. Kip’s dad is pretty cool as well…

So it all added up to something that wasn’t groundbreaking or full of surprising turns — and seeing the third act breakup coming from a mile away did have me wincing in anticipation, which I always hate — but which managed to be pretty cute and entertaining for what it is.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – We Burned So Bright

Posted July 9, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – We Burned So Bright

We Burned So Bright

by TJ Klune

Genres: Science Fiction
Pages: 169
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

Husbands Don and Rodney have lived a good long life. Together they’ve experienced the highest highs of love and family, and lows so low that they felt like the end of the world.

Now, the world is ending for real. A wandering blackhole is coming for Earth and in a month everything and everyone they’ve ever known will be gone.

Suddenly, after 40 years together, Don and Rodney are out of time. They’re in a race against the clock to make it from Maine to Washington State to take care of some unfinished business before it’s all over.

On the road they meet those who refuse to believe death is coming and those who rush to meet it. But there are also people living their final days as best they know how–impromptu weddings, bright burning bonfires, shared meals, new friends.

And as the blackhole draws near, among ball lightning and under a cracked moon in a kaleidoscope sky, Don and Rodney will look back on their lives and ask if their best was good enough.

Is it enough to burn bright if nothing comes from the ashes?

I received a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

I didn’t really read much about this novella before requesting it on Netgalley, because I’ve enjoyed TJ Klune’s books in the past. The concept is basically that two elderly gay men are travelling on a road trip during the end of the world to do something they feel they have to do, which isn’t completely revealed at first.

Sadly, I felt that it wasn’t very well written, overall. There were infodumps, the various different encounters and epiphanies they had were fairly predictable, and so was the object of their journey. I had only one doubt about exactly what it would be (which I won’t say in case I spoil it for someone else!) but that didn’t really feel like much to hold on for.

More than anything, the concept felt a little goofy. A black hole is going to eat the Earth, really? It doesn’t feel at all realistic, and I get that it’s not meant to actually convince me that it’s going to happen or is likely, but it felt like even Klune wasn’t totally committing to it, to me. He tried to figure out how people would act, and that part isn’t bad, but I think he’d have been more confident and avoided that goofy feel by picking something less… uncertain in details. A meteor would’ve worked better in most ways, apart from the mystical stuff that snuck in toward the end.

Overall, pretty weak tea, to my mind. Klune usually writes sentimentality quite well, but it didn’t come off here, maybe because the details were so weak.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Dinosaur Sanctuary, vol 7

Posted July 6, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Dinosaur Sanctuary, vol 7

Dinosaur Sanctuary

by Itaru Kinoshita

Genres: Manga, Science Fiction
Pages: 200
Series: Dinosaur Sanctuary #7
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

Suma Suzume, the newest dinokeeper at the struggling Enoshima Dinoland, stops by the lab to see her old friend Benkei...but will he have a place to stay much longer? Back at the park, the crew from a local TV station that's hoping to capture a day in the life of a rookie dinokeeper gets more than they bargained for when an unexpected visitor shows up in the Dilophosaurus paddock! And to top it all off, it's time for Suzume to learn the ropes at the park's facilities for disabled dinos...

Volume seven of Itaru Kinoshita’s Dinosaur Sanctuary is the last one that’s already out in translation at the time of writing, and I feel bereft. I love this series and how sweet it is, with Suma’s deep care for the dinosaurs, the supportiveness of (most of) her coworkers, and the sheer enthusiasm of the series’ consultant in the fact files between chapters!

This particular installment includes Trom, a blind Deinonychus, who has been trained with a clicker! He doesn’t go on display because he’s blind, so the park just takes care of him, and Suma learning to understand that he’s not necessarily to be pitied is pretty neat. We also get a bit with the psittacos in the petting zoo, which is so cute.

But really, the fact files are full of such enthusiasm, they especially made me smile in this volume.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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Review – Welcome Back, Aureole

Posted July 5, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Welcome Back, Aureole

Welcome Back, Aureole

by Takatsu

Genres: Manga, Romance
Pages: 210
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

Outgoing and popular Kazu and shy and serious Moto grew up together as childhood best friends. But something changes during junior high, and the familiar, easy rhythm of their friendship begins to break apart as Kazu starts nursing deeper feelings for his oblivious friend. When Kazu's troubled home life and Moto's budding romantic forays create a clash of misunderstandings, secrets, and hurt feelings, will their relationship be able to survive these growing pains?

Welcome Back, Aureole is a bittersweet yet tender exploration of the maturation of young love. Two boys growing up side by side... their stars drift apart and come together again.

I didn’t love the art in Takatsu’s Welcome Back, Aureole, but it’s a cute story nonetheless: Kazu and Moto have been best friends for a long time, but we quickly learn that Kazu has fallen in love with Moto, who doesn’t return the feelings. Nonetheless, he’s determined to remain Kazu’s friend and help him with what he’s going through (the abusive alcoholism of his father and his parents’ divorce), even if Kazu just tries to go away.

There’s a happy ending, of course: their feelings start out of step, with Kazu’s attempt at kissing Moto just confusing and angering him. Moto starts to see Kazu differently though, especially after his 2.5 year relationship with his girlfriend ends with purely friendly feelings between them.

There’s a bit of pining along the way, and background trauma on Kazu’s part, but it works out pretty cute.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – Night Sky with Exit Wounds

Posted July 4, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Review – Night Sky with Exit Wounds

Night Sky with Exit Wounds

by Ocean Vuong

Genres: Poetry
Pages: 89
Rating: two-stars
Synopsis:

An extraordinary debut from a young Vietnamese American, Night Sky with Exit Wounds is a book of poetry unlike any other.

Steeped in war and cultural upheaval and wielding a fresh new language, Vuong writes about the most profound subjects – love and loss, conflict, grief, memory and desire – and attends to them all with lines that feel newly-minted, graceful in their cadences, passionate and hungry in their tender, close attention: ‘…the chief of police/facedown in a pool of Coca-Cola./A palm-sized photo of his father soaking/beside his left ear.’ This is an unusual, important book: both gentle and visceral, vulnerable and assured, and its blend of humanity and power make it one of the best first collections of poetry to come out of America in years.

Ocean Vuong’s Night Sky with Exit Wounds is a rare book of poetry I’ve actually heard about/seen around elsewhere, rather than stumbling across. I’ve heard it might work a bit better if you’ve read Vuong’s other work, but I haven’t, so I came to this cold.

And… left it pretty cold, unfortunately; there are some amazing images, some sharp sentences, but the overall effect just… didn’t quite come off for me. Some of the poems felt scattered, disjointed, and not necessarily intentionally so: I just couldn’t follow the train of thought, or in a couple of cases, simply didn’t care to.

Some beautiful language, that can’t be denied, but not my thing stylistically.

Rating: 2/5 (“it was okay”)

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Review – Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries

Posted July 2, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Review – Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries

Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries

by Stephanie Boonstra, Campbell Price

Genres: History, Non-fiction
Pages: 236
Rating: three-stars
Synopsis:

This book presents the unique history of ancient Egypt through 50 artefacts discovered during excavations of the EES since its founding in 1882. They are brought together in this beautifully illustrated volume from global museums: from major collections as well as those that are a little less known. Readers will travel through three millennia of Egypt’s history from the Early Dynastic to the end of the Graeco-Roman Period uncovering the daily lives of the ancient Egyptians by investigating everyday items, as well as the elite objects of the ruling classes. 90 illustrations.

Alongside these artefacts, further topics are unpacked relating to the history of Egypt and Egyptology as well as those characters that have played a role in the ‘discovery’ of ancient Egypt.

Each object entry is written by an expert in their field. Contributions include several items from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the Metropolitan Museum in New York as well as the University Museum of Kyoto, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery, and Bolton Museum.

Ancient Egypt in 50 Discoveries is nominally written by Stephanie Boonstra and Campbell Price, but they also acted as editors, gathering together a bunch of contributions from others associated with the Egypt Exploration Society.

As a result, though it’s a lovely volume with some good (full-colour) photographs of various finds, it has a somewhat disjointed feel; there are extra sections with info that repeats from the main objects and vice versa, and it doesn’t quite feel like a cohesive narrative. Some of the objects are related to each other, but most stand alone, and I think it could’ve benefited by being a bit more drawn together.

Still, there are some good photos and good choices of object, and they make a good point about the later periods being less interesting to archaeologists and treated as a “decline”, while still actually producing amazing monuments equal in quality to before. It’s a bias that comes out of the fascination with a particular period of ancient Egypt, and isn’t necessarily the full truth.

As someone who knows a fair bit about ancient Egypt, a lot of the extra info wasn’t necessary for me — but would definitely help orient someone who knows less about it.

Rating: 3/5 (“liked it”)

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Review – Guardian, vol 2

Posted July 1, 2026 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments

Review – Guardian, vol 2

Guardian

by Priest

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novels, Mystery, Romance
Pages: 341
Series: Guardian #2
Rating: four-stars
Synopsis:

THE SLEEPING GOD STIRS

As snow quietly covers Dragon City in the final days of the lunar year, patients writhing in pain flock to the hospital. Baffled doctors call upon Zhao Yunlan and his team for help. As the case unfolds, Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan discover that one of the Four Hallowed Artifacts, the Merit Brush, has appeared in the Mortal Realm. In the wrong hands, its power can be transformative.

While each step toward the artifact only pulls the pair deeper into a vortex of mysteries, Zhao Yunlan keeps stumbling upon a name: Kunlun. Who is Kunlun, and what is his connection to the Merit Brush? As Zhao Yunlan closes in on the answer, will he also uncover the truth behind Shen Wei's knowing gaze?

Book two of Priest’s Guardian gives us some major developments, both showing us who Zhao Yunlan really is and how he originally met Shen Wei, and getting into more detail on the bigger plot that’s bringing that to light. I must admit I probably need to skim the details again, but there’s a lot going on and a whole mythology here to figure out, but the way things are getting on is pretty intriguing.

We do get some more glimpses of the lives of the side characters Zhao Yunlan works with, and also of his family — his discussions with his parents about his sexuality and his relationship with Shen Wei are well done.

Aaaand we get some progression on the horrific pining, with Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan moving toward an openly romantic relationship, with lots more pining and chemistry off the charts. I can’t wait to see how they sort themselves out and properly commit to something, with Zhao Yunlan aware of the history between them. I hope they get a really happy ending, given the tragedy that seems to have befallen them in the past. Only one more book for everything to resolve, and I can’t quite see how it can all be wrapped up in that time!

I do still dislike the way Zhao Yunlan (and maybe others) consistently call Daqing “fatty” and stuff like that, though. Sure, he’s a cat yao, not a human, but he’s a speaking character. I know that culturally it can come across differently, but it doesn’t seem to be meant positively here, so that’s worth being aware of.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

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