While quarantine may have us all holed up in our homes, YALLWEST continued to make staying home a little brighter with its panel, “Suckage is a Part of Writing.” As an aspiring author myself, who experiences writing mental breakdowns on…
Book Review: Don’t Call the Wolf by Aleksandra Ross
Aleksandra Ross’s debut novel Don’t Call the Wolf is a lush, atmospheric, Polish folklore-inspired fantasy, featuring a golden dragon, dark magical woods, and a shapeshifting queen. While the world of this story is enchanting, full of dark, whimsical, and horrifying…
Book Review: Elysium Girls by Kate Pentecost
Kate Pentecost’s debut novel, Elysium Girls, successfully blends dystopian, steampunk, and fantasy genres all into one flashy, high concept western that follows a rough and tumble gang of witches and an otherworldly daemon magician during the Dust Bowl in Oklahoma. …
Book Review: Havenfall by Sara Holland
Author Sara Holland’s latest offering, Havenfall, a YA fantasy set in the mountains of the Colorado, breathes new life to the portal fantasy subgenre by bringing the fantastical worlds to us through the magical inn of Havenfall— a peaceful sanctuary…
Book Review: The Vanishing Deep by Astrid Scholte
Astrid Scholte’s sophomore novel, The Vanishing Deep, dives into the deepest depths of sisterly love and explores the moral question of what would it mean if you could bring someone back from the dead… for a price. Everything about this…
Book Review: The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow
Alechia Dow’s YA, music and literature filled. sci-fi debut, The Sound of Stars, lands a bit pitchy with the plot and tone, turning a fun, trope-filled YA road trip into an unharmonious dirge on the depravity of mankind. When I…
Book Review: Ink in the Blood by Kim Smejkal
Kim Smejkal’s debut, dark YA fantasy, Ink in the Blood, is a steampunk, nightmare carnival ride, where tattoo artists are messengers for the gods, and the tiniest mistake could lead to death by insanity. The concept of this book is…
