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3 stars

Review: A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly

May 27, 2016 by Sana

LKAMC

ABOUT THE BOOK

A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly
young adult alternate history urban fantasy published by Simon & Schushter on February 2nd, 2016

Magic is powerful, dangerous and addictive – and after passage of the 18th Amendment, it is finally illegal.

It’s 1926 in Washington, DC, and while Anti-Sorcery activists have achieved the Prohibition of sorcery, the city’s magic underworld is booming. Sorcerers cast illusions to aid mobsters’ crime sprees. Smugglers funnel magic contraband in from overseas. Gangs have established secret performance venues where patrons can lose themselves in magic, and take a mind-bending, intoxicating elixir known as the sorcerer’s shine.

Joan Kendrick, a young sorcerer from Norfolk County, Virginia accepts an offer to work for DC’s most notorious crime syndicate, the Shaw Gang, when her family’s home is repossessed. Alex Danfrey, a first-year Federal Prohibition Unit trainee with a complicated past and talents of his own, becomes tapped to go undercover and infiltrate the Shaws.

Through different paths, Joan and Alex tread deep into the violent, dangerous world of criminal magic – and when their paths cross at the Shaws’ performance venue, despite their orders, and despite themselves, Joan and Alex become enchanted with one another. But when gang alliances begin to shift, the two sorcerers are forced to question their ultimate allegiances and motivations. And soon, Joan and Alex find themselves pitted against each other in a treacherous, heady game of cat-and-mouse.

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Review: The Fade Out, Vol. 1: Act One by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips

August 11, 2015 by Sana

EBSPTFOAO

ABOUT THE BOOK

The Fade Out, Vol. 1: Act One by Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, Elizabeth Breitweiser
historical noir fiction comics published by Image Comics on March 10th, 2015
first volume in The Fade Out comic series

Brubaker and Phillips’ newest hit series, The Fade Out, is an epic noir set in the world of noir itself, the backlots and bars of Hollywood at the end of its Golden Era. A movie stuck in endless reshoots, a writer damaged from the war and lost in the bottle, a dead movie star and the lookalike hired to replace her. Nothing is what it seems in the place where only lies are true. The Fade Out is Brubaker and Phillips’ most ambitious project yet!

Collects The Fade Out issues #1 to #4.

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Review: Sovereign, Volume 1 by Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury

January 11, 2015 by Sana

CRPMS

ABOUT THE BOOK

Sovereign, Volume 1 by Chris Roberson and Paul Maybury
historical high fantasy comics published by Image Comics on December 16th, 2014
first volume in Sovereign comic series

An epic fantasy in the tradition of Game of Thrones, Sovereign is set in a world which once knew gods, demons, and magic, and to which all three are returning. New York Times bestseller Chris Roberson joins artist Paul Maybury to tell the story of masked undertakers facing the undead with swords, of civil wars and cultures in collision, and of ancient threats emerging from the ashes of history to menace the future.

Collects Sovereign #1-5, plus extras.

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Review: Boomerang by Noelle August

January 10, 2015 by Sana

NAB

ABOUT THE BOOK

Boomerang by Noelle August
new adult contemporary romance published by William Morrow Paperbacks on July 8th, 2014
first book in Boomerang series

Welcome to Boomerang.com, the dating site for the millennial gen with its no-fuss, no-commitments matchups, and where work is steamier than any random hook-up.

Mia Galliano is an aspiring filmmaker. Ethan Vance has just played his last game as a collegiate soccer star. They’re sharp, hungry for success, and they share a secret.

Last night, Ethan and Mia met at a bar, and, well . . . one thing led to another, which led to them waking up the next morning—together. Things turned awkward in a hurry when they found themselves sharing a post hookup taxi . . . to the same place: Boomerang headquarters.

What began as a powerful connection between them is treated to a cold shower courtesy of two major complications. First, Boomerang has a strict policy against co-worker dating. And second, they’re now competitors for only one job at the end of summer.

As their internships come to an end, will they manage to keep their eyes on the future and their hands off each other, or will the pull of attraction put them right back where they started?

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Review: Wildlife by Fiona Wood

September 6, 2014 by Sana

FWW

ABOUT THE BOOK

Wildlife by Fiona Wood
young adult realistic contemporary published by Little, Brown on September 16th, 2014
second book in the Six Impossible Things companion trilogy

During a semester in the wilderness, sixteen-year-old Sib expects the tough outdoor education program and the horrors of dorm life, but friendship drama and an unexpected romance with popular Ben Capaldi? That will take some navigating.

New girl Lou has zero interest in fitting in, or joining in. Still reeling from a loss that occurred almost a year ago, she just wants to be left alone. But as she witnesses a betrayal unfolding around Sib and her best friend Holly, Lou can’t help but be drawn back into the land of the living.

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