Search Results for: "Holly Black"
Book Review

Book of Night by Holly Black

Book of Night

Holly Black’s first novel marketed for adults is a gritty urban fantasy in which magic allows people to control their own, and sometimes other people’s, shadows, and in which the rich and powerful trade in secrets and books of lore while jockeying for power. The protagonist, Charlie, lives in the world of normality, where she is a bartender hoping to put her sister through college, and the world of magic, in which she is a … Continue reading Book of Night by Holly Black

Book Review

The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

The Darkest Part of the Forest

The Darkest Part of the Forest, by Holly Black, is a fantasy YA with romance elements. I’m a huge Holly Black fan – she’s been a major force in urban fantasy and her books are always gorgeous to read. This book had some problems, and the romance is pretty tacked on, but it’s excellent in terms of plot and dark fantasy atmosphere. Here’s the plot as described by the publisher: Hazel lives with her brother, … Continue reading The Darkest Part of the Forest by Holly Black

Book Review

Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Holy crap, you guys.  I’m not sure how to categorize The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, but it sure was gripping. I read Coldest Girl while I washed dishes and while I ate and while I was supposed to be paying bills and while I changed the kitty litter – basically if I could accomplish a task with one hand, the other hand was holding the book.  I read it while I was supposed to be … Continue reading Review: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown by Holly Black

Book Review

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries

This Guest Review is from Brigid F. Brigid is a Queer fantasy and romance reader who believes fantasy and romance make the perfect book cocktail. She reviews at Grimdark Magazine and loves writing fantasy and romance recs for blogs and media sites. They love curses, faeries, cozy witches, and wicked characters. … Here’s the thing. I will read anything with faeries in it. I will take sexy Dungeons & Dragons style fae, but deep down, … Continue reading Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett

Best of Reviews 2022, Part One

Smart Bitches Best of 2022 above a stack of very old books with the top one open and the pages fanned against a sparkly background

NB: This week, we’re taking a look back at 2022. We’ve got a week of best-of posts to share, with reviews, cover snark, sales, and more. We hope you enjoy revisiting our archives, and most of all, we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday and a happy new year – with all the very best of reading. … We’re counting down the best of our 2022 reviews, which I’m sure you’re all curious about. … Continue reading Best of Reviews 2022, Part One

SBTB Media Archive

The Atlas Paradox

The Atlas Paradox

The Atlas Paradox is the long-awaited sequel to Olivie Blake’s New York Times bestselling dark academic sensation The Atlas Six—guaranteed to have even more yearning, backstabbing, betrayal, and chaos. Six magicians were presented with the opportunity of a lifetime. Five are now members of the Society. Two paths lay before them. All must pick a side. Alliances will be tested, hearts will be broken, and The Society of Alexandrians will be revealed for what it is: a secret society … Continue reading The Atlas Paradox

SBTB Media Archive

Book of Night

Book of Night

#1 New York Times bestselling author Holly Black makes her stunning adult debut with Book of Night, a modern dark fantasy of shadowy thieves and secret societies in the vein of Ninth House and The Night Circus In Charlie Hall’s world, shadows can be altered, for entertainment and cosmetic preferences—but also to increase power and influence. You can alter someone’s feelings—and memories—but manipulating shadows has a cost, with the potential to take hours or days … Continue reading Book of Night

Books On Sale

Today’s Romance Daily Deals

Books on Sale: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall & More

RECOMMENDED: Boyfriend Material by Alexis Hall is $2.99! Carrie reviewed this one and gave it a B+:

I thought this book was lovely. It had real depth. There were characters who made me angry. Sometimes those characters were truly awful people and sometimes they were good people who made mistakes (hello, Luc, you mess). Sometimes the book made me sad. Mostly, it made me swoon and laugh in equal measure – a great stress read!

Continue reading →

SBTB Media Archive

The Coldest Girl in Cold Town

The Coldest Girl in Cold Town

Tana lives in a world where walled cities called Coldtowns exist. In them, quarantined monsters and humans mingle in a decadently bloody mix of predator and prey. The only problem is, once you pass through Coldtown’s gates, you can never leave. One morning, after a perfectly ordinary party, Tana wakes up surrounded by corpses. The only other survivors of this massacre are her exasperatingly endearing ex-boyfriend, infected and on the edge, and a mysterious boy … Continue reading The Coldest Girl in Cold Town

SBTB Media Archive

Flyaway

Flyaway

In a small Western Queensland town, a reserved young woman receives a note from one of her vanished brothers—a note that makes question her memories of their disappearance and her father’s departure. A beguiling story that proves that gothic delights and uncanny family horror can live—and even thrive—under a burning sun, Flyaway introduces readers to Bettina Scott, whose search for the truth throws her into tales of eerie dogs, vanished schools, cursed monsters, and enchanted bottles. In … Continue reading Flyaway

Book Review

Sparrowhawk by Delilah S. Dawson

Sparrowhawk

Sparrowhawk is an intense, violent, historical fantasy comic that I found to be both horrifying (in a good way) and amazing. Readers should know that there is harm to cute fey creatures, there is racism, and there is a cliffhanger ending, and the protaganist is tough as nails but too stupid to live. Our story begins in Victorian England. Artemesia is raised as an upper-class proper Victorian woman as the illegitimate daughter of a Naval … Continue reading Sparrowhawk by Delilah S. Dawson