RT Book Review: Bishop’s Novel of the others series has truly been one of the most original and phenomenal UF series out there, so this fifth book is a bit bittersweet. While Bishop’s worldbuilding is second to none, it has been the characters and their relationships that elevate these stories into masterpieces. It appears that this will be the final Simon and Meg book (at least for now), since in her next book Bishop will turn to new characters in a different part of Thaisia. Bottom line, this is once again an epically amazing and thrilling story, but I really hope Bishop returns to continue Simon and Meg’s unforgettable journey because this didn’t feel like a finale.
Feb 162017
Kirkus: A unique collection of 15 wrongful conviction sagas bound to shake faith in the American criminal justice system. In the past three decades, books about wrongful convictions have become so numerous that they form their own genre. The advent of DNA testing for law enforcement purposes validated the previously discredited statement that American prisons are filled with innocent inmates while the actual perpetrators remain unpunished. Few of the books, however, match this skillful anthology, assembled by Life After Innocence founder Caldwell (The Dog Park, 2014, etc.) and Edgar Award-winning mystery editor Klinger (editor: In the Shadow of Edgar Allan Poe: Classic Tales of Horror, 1816-1914, 2015, etc.), in which exonerated individuals tell their stories to high-profile authors, most of them known for their fast-paced crime novels. While the names of the exonerees may be unfamiliar to general readers, the names of the authors are better known: Sara Paretsky, Lee Child, Laurie King, and more. Scott Turow and Barry Scheck provide the introduction. […] A searing, unforgettable anthology, with valuable insights provided at the end of each chapter by the editors.
Publishers Weekly: The universe appears to be literally shrinking around Ozzie Pinkerton: erasing people, obliterating the stars, and reducing the world to little more than his town of Cloud Lake, Fla. Ozzie alone remembers the world as it was […] As in We Are the Ants, Hutchinson uses a science fiction overlay to explore important topics, including self-mutilation, gender identity, and child abuse. Ozzie’s friends remind him that the world doesn’t revolve around him, but Hutchinson playfully disagrees, turning the literal shrinking of the universe into a smart metaphor for Ozzie’s introversion and alienation. Ozzie’s wit and concern for his friends make him a captivating narrator frozen by the changes and choices he faces. 
Library Journal: Palmer’s sequel to Too Like the Lightning brings the next phase of Mycroft and Bridger’s journey in a sphere that is beginning to collapse. While the dense prose may be rough going for some readers, the eloquence of Palmer’s reflections on social issues cannot be denied.
Booklist: Self-styled drama queen, Kathleen’s phantom pain in her feet and mouth is anything but artifice; it is the same kind of inexplicable, excruciating pain that drove her mother to suicide. The only thing that affords Kathleen relief is immersion in water, preferably the sea, though it is the sea that generations of women in her Irish family, which seems to be cursed, have chosen as their means of suicide. Now, on a vacation trip to Florida with her girlfriend, Harry, she begins hearing mysterious voices from the sea calling, “Come home. Come home.” Angrily denying their summons, she returns home with Harry return to Boston, where Kathleen suffers a debilitating attack that leaves her hospitalized. Harry and Kathleen’s father agree that an end to her pain might be found if she is taken to Ireland. But will it? Claycomb’s fine first novel is told from multiple points of view, even that of mermaids, for, yes, the novel is a loose retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Little Mermaid. And, like its source, it is numinous and lovely.
Kirkus Reviews: The first of a two-book series concerning a future Earth society patterned after the principles of the Enlightenment.