GPL Blog

Book Review | No Guns Life #1 by Tasuku Karasuma

From the publisher: Ex-soldier Juzo Inui has one question—who turned him into a cyborg and erased his memories?

After the war, cyborg soldiers known as the Extended were discharged. Juzo Inui is one of them, a man whose body was transformed, his head replaced with a giant gun. With no memory of his previous life—or who replaced his head and why—Inui now scratches out a living in the dark streets of the city as a Resolver, taking on cases involving the Extended.

Want a story about a faceless loner warrior who helps a child with mysterious powers…

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Book Review | Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower by Tamsyn Muir

From the publisher: When the witch built the forty-flight tower, she made very sure to do the whole thing properly. Each flight contains a dreadful monster, ranging from a diamond-scaled dragon to a pack of slavering goblins. Should a prince battle his way to the top, he will be rewarded with a golden sword—and the lovely Princess Floralinda. But no prince has managed to conquer the first flight yet, let alone get to the fortieth. In fact, the supply of fresh princes seems to have quite dried up.

Those looking for a quick, easy fantasy read could do worse than Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower. Author Tamsyn Muir made a name for herself with her debut novel Gideon the Ninth, a space opera-fantasy mashup that struck an appealing balance of…

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Book Review | Thornwood by Leah Cypress

From the publisher: This middle grade debut is Sleeping Beauty like you’ve never seen it before, about a girl who lives in the shadow of her older sister and the curse that has haunted her from birth.

For years, Briony has lived in the shadow of her beautiful older sister, Rosalin, and the curse that has haunted her from birth–that on the day of her sixteenth birthday she would prick her finger on a spindle and cause everyone in the castle to fall into a 100-year sleep. When the day the curse is set to fall over the kingdom finally arrives, nothing–not even Briony–can stop its evil magic.

You know the story.

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Book Review | In Five Years by Rebecca Serle

From the publisher: Where do you see yourself in five years? Dannie Kohan lives her life by the numbers. But when she awakens, she’s suddenly in a different apartment, with a different ring on her finger, and beside a very different man. Dannie spends one hour exactly five years in the future before she wakes again in her own home on the brink of midnight—but it is one hour she cannot shake. In Five Years is an unforgettable love story, but it is not the one you’re expecting.

In Five Years is a beautiful story of love and friendship. Main character Dannie is incredibly Type A and has her perfect life all mapped out. On the same day she nails a job interview for a prestigious NYC law firm, she gets engaged to her boyfriend David, and everything…

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Book Review | Daughter of Black Lake by Cathy Marie Buchanan

From the publisher: In a world of pagan traditions and deeply rooted love, a girl in jeopardy must save her family and community, in a transporting historical novel by nationally bestselling author Cathy Marie Buchanan.

It’s the season of Fallow, in the era of iron. In a northern misty bog surrounded by woodlands and wheat fields, a settlement lies far beyond the reach of the Romans invading hundreds of miles to the southeast. Here, life is simple–or so it seems to the tightly knit community. Sow. Reap. Honor Mother Earth, who will provide at harvest time. A girl named Devout comes of age, sweetly flirting with the young man she’s tilled alongside all her life, and envisions a future of love and abundance. Seventeen years later, though, the…

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Book Review | The Body in the Garden by Katharine Schellman

From the publisher: London 1815. Though newly-widowed Lily Adler is returning to a society that frowns on independent women, she is determined to create a meaningful life for herself even without a husband. She’s no stranger to the glittering world of London’s upper crust. At a ball thrown by her oldest friend, Lady Walter, she expects the scandal, gossip, and secrets. What she doesn’t expect is the dead body in Lady Walter’s garden.

Katharine Schellman’s The Body in the Garden is a fun, well-researched cozy mystery set during the Regency era. Main character Lily loved her husband, who left her a young widow. His family convinces her to return to London, hoping she’ll remarry. She is…

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Book Review | Vagablonde by Anna Dorn

From the Publisher: Vagablonde is a darkly humorous, rollercoaster ride through the Los Angeles music scene about a woman who wants two things: the first is to live without psychotropic medication, and the second is to experience success as an artist. A cautionary tale about viral fame, Vagablonde speaks directly to our time in biting detail.

Anna Dorn is a writer from Los Angeles. She is a former criminal defense attorney with a JD from UC Berkeley Law and has written for various legal and pop culture outlets. It’s not too far off then to think that her book about Prue Van Teesen, a lawyer-turned-rapper battling anxiety and depression, is probably a bit autobiographical. Prue has never felt totally happy with being a lawyer, but it keeps her parents content, pays the bills, and…

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Book Review | Basketful of Heads by Joe Hill

From the publisher: #1 New York Times bestselling author Joe Hill asks, “With a cursed Viking axe, what can you accomplish?” and June Branch is ready to answer!

It seems like Joe Hill is everywhere lately: his graphic novel series Locke & Key was adapted on Netflix, with the next season expected later this year. His novel NOS4A2Basketful of Heads, Hill returns to the graphic novel format for this horror gore-fest that reads like a combination of Stephen King and Quentin Tarantino.

June comes to Brody Island to visit her boyfriend Liam, who’s just finishing up a summer internship with the local police department. June’s peaceful visit is interrupted though…

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Book Review | Forget Me Not by Alexandra Oliva

From the publisher: She was born for all the wrong reasons. But her search for the truth reveals answers she wishes she could forget in this suspenseful and deeply moving novel.

Forget Me Not pulled me in and kept me reading. I found it intriguing and moving. A rich couple have a daughter, who dies in a terrible accident as a teenager. The mom descends into mental illness and uses frozen embryos to impregnate herself in an attempt to recreate her dead child. But of course she can’t – and the new child pays the price for not being her older sister.

Linda, the protagonist, is very relatable. Now an adult, she is trolled on social media for…

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