Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Like Embers in the Night by Andrew Goliszek (Book Review #2061)
Like Embers in the Night is a haunting, deeply affecting historical novel rooted in the harrowing true story of two survivors of Soviet labor camps and gulags. With unflinching detail and emotional power, the book chronicles the endurance of Janek, a Polish soldier, and his wife Wanda, who are separated during World War II and subjected to unimaginable suffering under Stalin’s brutal regime.
Read MoreIn My Boots by Amanda K. Jaros (Book Review #2060)
Amanda K. Jaros’s In My Boots: A Memoir of Five Million Steps Along the Appalachian Trail is a deeply affecting, gracefully written memoir that charts both a physical odyssey and an emotional reckoning. In the spirit of Cheryl Strayed’s Wild, Jaros invites readers to walk beside her as she leaves behind the confines of a sheltered life—and the emotional scars left by an abusive, volatile father—to embark on a six-month, 2,160-mile solo journey across the Appalachian Trail.
Read MoreAfter Pearl by Stephen G. Eoannou (Book Review #2059)
Stephen G. Eoannou’s After Pearl is a masterfully written, darkly atmospheric historical mystery that immerses readers in the morally murky world of 1940s Buffalo, just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. At once gritty and psychologically complex, the novel introduces us to Nicholas Bishop, an alcoholic private investigator who wakes up in a hotel room with no memory of the past five days, two bullets missing from his .38 revolver, and a mounting suspicion that he may be responsible for the death of a sultry lounge singer named Pearl DuGaye.
Read MoreImmortality Bytes by Daniel Lawrence Abrams (Book Review #2057)
Daniel Lawrence Abrams’ debut novel, Immortality Bytes, is a ferociously clever, genre-blending cyberpunk satire that hits with the impact of a neural upload and the bite of political comedy at its sharpest. A winner of multiple prestigious awards—including “Best Science Fiction” and “Best Humor/Satire” from the 2024 American Fiction and Storytrade Awards—this book is as much a philosophical manifesto as it is a tech-thriller, pushing the boundaries of speculative fiction with unapologetic intelligence and irreverent charm.
Read MorePrince of Ruin: An Occasional King Novel by Hannah Marie and Caeli Rose (Book Review #2056)
In a literary era increasingly saturated with romance-forward fantasy, Prince of Ruin: An Occasional King Novel boldly charts its own course through grit, gallows humor, and deep moral introspection. Co-authored by sisters Hannah Marie and Caeli Rose, this debut entry in a long-planned series delivers a dramatic and thought-provoking journey into the troubled mind of an unwilling royal.
Read MoreThe Gates of Polished Horn by Mark A. Rayner (Book Review #2055)
In The Gates of Polished Horn, the mundane and the mythic coalesce into a lyrical meditation on memory, marriage, and the fragile nature of identity. Through the lens of Liz and Oscar’s quietly fraying relationship, the novel invites readers to inhabit an interior world shaped by love’s idealism and the slow, subtle erosion of dreams deferred.
Read MoreThe Goddess of Loneliness by John Straughn (Book Review #2054)
The Goddess of Loneliness by John Straughn is a profoundly creative and emotionally resonant work of speculative fiction that dares to explore the existential themes of introversion, isolation, identity, and the aching need for connection. Through a bold reimagining of the universe’s origins, Straughn delivers a story that’s equal parts philosophical allegory, dark satire, and heartfelt introspection.
Read MoreWhere I Belong by Candice Black (Book Review #2053)
Candice Black’s Where I Belong unfolds in short, dialogue-driven snapshots, following Clara—a woman who has just lost her job—through conversations that hint at both the upheaval in her life and the support she unexpectedly finds. Despite its brevity, the piece captures Clara’s resilience and her willingness to forge a new path by selling her handmade fabric pins. Her refusal to return to an untrustworthy boss and the kindness shown by a new acquaintance, Ben, reinforce the novella’s central idea: that a supportive gesture, however small, can help someone reclaim their sense of dignity and possibility.
Read MoreThrough Jaded Eyes by Ryan W. McClellan (Book Review #2052)
Through Jaded Eyes is a visceral dystopian thriller, a fusion of psychological suspense, political commentary, and prophetic vision. Written with searing urgency and unflinching grit, Ryan W. McClellan delivers a novel that reads like a warning shot to a sleeping world—one that dares to ask what happens when a society decides fear is a disease and attempts to eliminate it entirely.
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