Brightdreamer's Book Reviews

 

Little Gryphon

 

General Fiction

Clap When You Land: YA: ****
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian: ****+
Flight: ***+
Pride and Prejudice: ***+
This Book is Not Yet Rated: YA: ****
The Benefits of Being an Octopus: MG: ****
Don Quixote (translated by Walter Starkie): ***+
Frindle: CH: ****
The Janitor's Boy: CH: ****+
Walk Two Moons; The Walk Two Moons series, Book 1: MG: ****
The Tiger Rising: CH: ***
Great Expectations: ***
Holy Cow: Fiction, General Fiction/Humor: ***
The Nine Lives of Algernon: CH?: ***
The Great Gatsby: ***+
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise; The Coyote Sunrise series, Book 1: MG: *****
Unflappable: ****
Pirate's Passage: MG: ****
Fat Kid Rules the World: YA: ****+
The Husbands: ***
God Game: ****
The Magic Misfits; The Magic Misfits series, Book 1: MG: ****
Chomp: MG: ****
Scat: MG: ****
The Outsiders: YA?: ***+
The Fourteenth Goldfish; The Fourteenth Goldfish series, Book 1: MG: ****
The Whale Rider: ****+
I'm Not Dying with You Tonight (with Gilly Segal): YA: ****
Hello, Universe: CH: ***+
I Kill Giants, illustrations by JM Ken Niimura: YA?: ****
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: CH: ***+
Restart: MG: ****
Anne of Green Gables; The Anne of Green Gables series, Book 1: MG?: ***+
Oona Out of Order: ***+
There There: ***+
The Rifle: MG: ****
Pax, illustrations by Jon Klassen: CH?: ****
In An Instant: YA?: ***+
Ghost; The Track series, Book 1: MG: ****+
Fangirl: A Novel: YA: *****
A Christmas Story: The Book That Inspired the Hilarious Classic Film: ***+
The Hate U Give; The Hate U Give series, Book 1: ****+
Remarkably Bright Creatures: ***+

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Historical Fiction

Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God; The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series: ***+
Zorro: ****
Beyond the Western Sea 1: Escape from Home; The Beyond the Western Sea series, Book 1: CH: ****
Beyond the Western Sea 2: Lord Kirkle's Money; The Beyond the Western Sea series, Book 2: CH: ****
Midnight Magic: CH: **
The Secret School: CH: ****
The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle: CH: *****
Serafina and the Black Cloak; The Serafina series, Book 1: MG: ***
The Inscription: ***
My Sons Will Eat Today: ****
The Diviners; The Diviners series, Book 1: YA: ***+
Pulp, illustrations by Sean Phillips and Jacob Phillips: ****
Between Two Fires: ****+
Those Across the River: ****+
The Nonexistent Knight (translated by Archibald Calhoun); The Our Ancestors series, Book 3: ****
Walk the Earth a Stranger; The Gold Seer series, Book 1: YA: ****
Curiosity House: The Shrunken Head (with Lauren Oliver); The Curiosity House series, Book 1: MG: ***
The Black God's Drums: ****+
A Dead Djinn in Cairo; A Dead Djinn Universe novella: ****
The Haunting of Tram Car 015; A Dead Djinn Universe novella: ****+
A Master of Djinn; The Dead Djinn Universe series, Book 1: *****
Ring Shout: *****
Thieving Forest: ****
Ghost Hawk: MG: ****
My Lady's Choosing (with Larissa Zageris): ***
The Border Bride; The Borderlands trilogy, Book 1: **+
Graven Images: YA?: ****
Outlander; The Outlander series, Book 1: **
The Conductors; The Murder & Magic series, Book 1: ****
Water for Elephants: *****
Firefly Hollow; The Firefly Hollow series, Book 1: ***
Crimson Gold; The Spokan Falls series, Book 1: **
Stowaway: MG: **+
Boston Jane: An Adventure; The Boston Jane series, Book 1: YA: ***+
Lifeboat 12: MG: ****
Eagle Drums: MG: ****
The House of Silk; A Sherlock Holmes novel: *****
Moriarty; A Sherlock Holmes novel: ***+
Dread Nation; The Dread Nation series, Book 1: YA: ****
The Quill Pen: YA: ***+
News of the World: ****
Under an Outlaw Moon: ****
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate; The Calpurnia Tate series, Book 1: MG: ****
Broken Wings; A Time Travel Romance: ***
The Ballad of Black Tom: ***+
The Call of the Wild and White Fang: ***
Trials of Artemis; The Haberdashers series, Book 1: ***+
Castle: CH?: ****
Bloody Jack; The Bloody Jack Adventures, Book 1: YA: *****
The Curse of the Blue Tattoo; The Bloody Jack Adventures, Book 2: YA: ****
Under the Jolly Roger; The Bloody Jack Adventures, Book 3: YA: ****
Gods of Jade and Shadow: ****
Burn: YA?: ***
A History of What Comes Next; The Take Them to the Stars series, Book 1: ****+
Polaris: MG: ***
She Who Became the Sun; The Radiant Emperor series, Book 1: YA?: ****+
Northwind: MG: ****
Woods Runner: MG: ****
Crocodile on the Sandbank; The Amelia Peabody series, Book 1: ***+
Code of Honor; The Intrepid Heroines series, Book 1: **+
The Ruby in the Smoke; A Sally Lockheart Mystery, Book 1: YA: ****
Root Magic: MG: ***+
At Road's End; The Pre-Aztec series, Book 1: **+
Captain Blood; The Captain Blood series, Book 1: ***+
Gilgamesh the King: ***+
Clash of Eagles; The Clash of Eagles trilogy, Book 1: ***+
Death of an Eye; The Eye of Isis series, Book 1: ****
Girl Waits With Gun; A Kopp Sisters novel, Book 1: ****
The Cay: MG?: ****
The Nickel Boys: ****+
The Underground Railroad: ****
Beyond the Bright Sea: MG: ***+

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Literary Fiction

No Two Persons: ***+
Flux: ***+
News of the World: ****
Before the Coffee Gets Cold (Geoffrey Trousselot, translator); The Before the Coffee Gets Cold series, Book 1: ***
Billy Budd: **
Moby Dick: **
Animal Farm: ***+
Too Like the Lightning; The Terra Ignota series, Book 1: **
Swamplandia!: **
The Last Murder at the End of the World: ***
Zero Stars, Do Not Recommend: ****
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories: ***+
The Picture of Dorian Gray: ***+
Interior Chinatown: ****

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Media Tie-Ins

The X-Files: Ruins The X-Files series: ***
Darth Vader and Son; The Darth Vader collection, Book 1: CH?: ****+
Vader's LIttle Princess; The Darth Vader collection, Book 2: CH?: ****+
The X-Files: Earth Children are Weird, illustrations by Kim Smith; Based on The X-Files series: CH: ***
The X-Files: Fight the Future (adapted by Elizabeth Hand); The X-Files series, Book 7: ***
The Artemis Fowl Files; The Artemis Fowl series: MG: ***
The Expanse #1 (with Corinna Sara Bechko), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon; The Expanse series, Issue 1: ****
The Expanse #2 (with Corinna Sara Bechko), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon; The Expanse series, Issue 2: ***+
The Expanse #3 (with Corinna Sara Bechko), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon; The Expanse series, Issue 3: ****
The Expanse #4 (with Corinna Sara Bechko), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon; The Expanse series, Issue 4: ****
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 1 (with Andy Diggle), illustrations by Rubine; The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 1 - 4: ****+
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 2 (with Andy Diggle), illustrations by Francesco Pisa; The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 5 - 8: ****+
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 3 (with Andy Diggle), illustrations by Francesco Pisa; The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 9 - 12: ****+
The Expanse Volume 1: Origins (with Hallie Lambert and Georgia Lee), illustrations by Huang Danlan, Triona Farrell, Juan Useche, and Rahzzah; The Expanse Origins, Issues 1 - 4: ***+
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Visual Companion: ****
The Third Man: ****
Stranger Things: The Other Side, illustrations by Stefano Martino and Keith Champagne; A Stranger Things graphic novel, Volume 1: YA?: ***+
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter; The Dungeons & Dragons series: ***+
A Diversity of Dragons (with Richard Woods), illustrations by John Howe: ***
Altered Carbon: Download Blues (with Rik Hoskin), illustrations by Ferran Sellares; A Takeshi Kovacs graphic novel: ****
Infinity Welcomes Careful Drivers; The Red Dwarf series, Book 1: ****
Better Than Life; The Red Dwarf series, Book 2: ****+
The Illustrated Good Omens (with Neil Gaiman), illustrations by Paul Kidby: ****+
How to Survive a Sharknado and Other Unnatural Disasters: *****
Dinotopia: Hatchling; The Dinotopia series: CH: ****
Jim Henson's Labyrinth Coronation: Volume 1; The Labyrinth Coronation series, Issues 1 - 4: YA?: ***+

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Mystery and Crime

Midnight Riot; The Rivers of London series, Book 1: **
Sherlock Holmes: The Breath of God; The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes series: ***+
The Improbable Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (editor): ***+
Like Never and Always: YA: ****
The In-Between: MG: ****+
Midnight Magic: CH: **
Spirelli Paranormal Investigations: Episodes 1 - 3; The Spirelli Paranormal Investigations series, Books 1 - 3: ***
The Case of the Case of Mistaken Identity; The Brixton Brothers series, Book 1: MG: ****
Track of the Cat; The Anna Pigeon Mysteries series, Book 1: ****
The Name of This Book is Secret; The Secret series, Book 1: MG: ****
Write This Book: A Do-It-Yourself Mystery; The Secret series, Book 6: MG: ****+
Firekeeper's Daughter: YA: ****+
The Diviners; The Diviners series, Book 1: YA: ***+
Wish You Were Here (with Sneaky Pie Brown); A Mrs. Murphy Mystery, Book 1: ***
Good Guys: ***+
Blacksad Volume 1: Somewhere Within the Shadows, illustrations by Juanjo Guarnido; The Blacksad series, Book 1: ****
Meddling Kids: ***+
Pines; The Wayward Pines trilogy, Book 1: ****
Scritch Scratch: MG: ***+
The Tea Master and the Detective: ***
Counterweight (translated by Anton Hun): ***
The Flaw in All Magic; The Magebreakers series, Book 1: ***+
A Study in Scarlet; A Sherlock Holmes novel, Book 1: ****
The Sign of the Four; A Sherlock Holmes novel, Book 2: ****
Hound of the Baskervilles; A Sherlock Holmes novel, Book 3: ****+
The Valley of Fear; A Sherlock Holmes novel, Book 4: ***+
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; A Sherlock Holmes collection, Book 1: ****
The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes; A Sherlock Holmes collection, Book 2: ***+
The Return of Sherlock Holmes; A Sherlock Holmes collection, Book 3: ***+
The Cuckoo's Calling; A Cormoran Strike novel, Book 1: ***+
Winterhouse; The Winterhouse series, Book 1: MG: ****
The Conductors; The Murder & Magic series, Book 1: ****
The Third Man: ****
Titanium Noir: ***+
Brimstone Bound; The Firebrand series, Book 1: ***+
The Imaginary Corpse: *****
Slow Horses; The Slough House series, Book 1: ****
Spider Woman's Daughter; The Leaphorn and Chee series, Book 19: ****
Holmes on the Range; The Holmes on the Range series, Book 1: ****
Carnacki the Ghost Finder: ****
Fanuilh; The Familiar Dragon series, Book 1: ****
Wizard's Heir; The Familiar Dragon series, Book 2: ****
Beggar's Banquet; The Familiar Dragon series, Book 3: ****
Scales of Justice; The Familiar Dragon series, Book 4: ****
The House of Silk; A Sherlock Holmes novel: *****
Moriarty; A Sherlock Holmes novel: ***+
Under an Outlaw Moon: ****
Crown of Serpents; The Tununda Mysteries series, Book 1: **
Billy Summers: ****
The Spare Man: **
Skulduggery Pleasant; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 1: MG: ****+
Playing With Fire; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 2: MG: ****+
The Faceless Ones; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 3: MG: ****+
Dark Days; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 4: MG/YA: ****
Mortal Coil; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 5: YA: ****+
Apocalypse Kings; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 5.6: YA?: ****
Death Bringer; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 6: YA: ****+
Kingdom of the Wicked; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 7: YA: ****+
Kingdom of the Wicked; The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 7: YA: ****+
7 Ate 9: The Untold Story, illustrations by Ross McDonald; The Private I series, Book 1: CH: ****
The Eye of Jade; A Mary Wang Mystery, Book 1: ***+
First Watch; The Fifth Ward series, Book 1: ****
Pony Confidential: ****
I Am Still Alive: YA: ***+
One of Us Is Lying; The One of Us Is Lying series, Book 1: YA: ****
Monster: YA: ****
The Ghosts of Belfast; The Belfast novels, Book 1: ****
The Mimicking of Known Successes; The Investigations of Mossa and Pleiti series, Book 1: ***+
From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler: CH: ***+
The Night Raven; The Crow Investigations series, Book 1: ***
Crocodile on the Sandbank; The Amelia Peabody series, Book 1: ***+
Felidae; The Felidae series, Book 1: ****
The Experiences of Loveday Brooke, Lady Detective: ***+
Even Though I Knew the End: ****+
The Ruby in the Smoke; A Sally Lockheart Mystery, Book 1: YA: ****
Ghost Ship: MG: ***
When They Find Us; The Agent Victoria Heslin series, Book 3: **
Holes; The Holes series, Book 1: MG: ****
The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency; The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Book 1: ****
Tears of the Giraffe; The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series, Book 2: ****
Death of an Eye; The Eye of Isis series, Book 1: ****
When You Reach Me: MG: ****+
Girl Waits With Gun; A Kopp Sisters novel, Book 1: ****
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story: ***
The Last Chance Hotel; The Seth Seppi series, Book 1: MG: ***
The Crimson-Eyed Dragon: YA: **+
An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good (translated by Marlane Delargy); The Elderly Lady series, Book 1: ***
The Last Murder at the End of the World: ***
Remarkably Bright Creatures: ***+
Never Trust a Dead Man: YA: ***+
Cast the First Stone (with Susan May Warren, James L. Rubart, and David C. Warren); The True Lies of Rembrandt Stone series, Book 1: ***+

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