Isaiah Roby's Blog: MI Book Reviews, page 7
June 12, 2025
I’ll Be Boned for Christmas
“Nothing like getting caught streaking to bring people together for the holidays…
Jordan
I’ve got a rep in town for causing trouble, and it’s well-earned. But when Nick and I get caught streaking after the tree lighting ceremony, we’re in for a messload of community service to get the town ready for the Collier’s Creek Christmas Bash. Except I’ve been craving to be taken more seriously, and Nick seems to be the only person in town who does.
Nick
After Jordan and I get in trouble, one joke le...
Alternating Current
“One broken air-conditioner. One record-breaking heat wave. One repair job gone right.
Kyle’s not looking for anything but an escape from his broken air-conditioning during the worst heat wave of the summer. And when his repairman ends up being a total fox? It sure as hell couldn’t hurt to give the guy his number.
Garrett wasn’t expecting the adorable twink in 3B to proposition him, but he can’t help inviting him over. Yet when their scorching night together grows hotter than the temps out...
June 11, 2025
When the Harvest Comes
“A young Black gay man reckoning with the death of his father must confront his painful past—and his deepest desires around gender, love, and sex.
The venerated Reverend Doctor John Freeman did not raise his son, Davis, to be touched by any man, let alone a white man. He did not raise his son to whisper that man’s name with tenderness.
But on the eve of his wedding, all Davis can think about is how beautiful he wants to look when he meets his beloved Everett at the altar. Never mind that h...
Come As You Are
“Hot on the heels of a broken heart, Everett “Evie” Riley arrives at Camden Academy ready for a new beginning – one far away from her cheating ex-boyfriend, the sister who stole him, and the best friend who let it happen. But her fresh start is stopped in its tracks when she’s accidentally placed in an all-boys dorm, with no choice but to stay.
When rumors and gossip about Evie’s housing predicament spread like wildfire, she decides the only way to survive is to lean into her questionable new...
June 8, 2025
When the Third Moon Rises
This could have been fun, but wasn’t.
There were some cool ideas for the aliens, but it was all surface level and refused to add any depth or put any more than surface thoughts into the worldbuilding.
After becoming the victim of an alien abduction, Rex finds himself in a whole other world—literally. Following being sold by his captors, he enters an intergalactic auction, where species across the universe can be bought for every purpose imaginable. With a final bid to seal his fate, Rex soon ...
To Go On Living
“Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, Narine Abgaryan’s haunting short stories show people finding hope and purpose again. Named “one of Europe’s most exciting authors” by the Guardian, Narine Abgaryan has written a dozen books which have collectively sold over 1.35 million copies. To Go On Living comes directly from her experiences coming of age during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Set in an Armenian moutain village, thirty-one linked short stories tra...
“Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, Narine Abg...
“Set in rural Armenia in the aftermath of war, Narine Abgaryan’s haunting short stories show people finding hope and purpose again. Named “one of Europe’s most exciting authors” by the Guardian, Narine Abgaryan has written a dozen books which have collectively sold over 1.35 million copies. To Go On Living comes directly from her experiences coming of age during the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in the early 1990s. Set in an Armenian moutain village, thirty-one linked short stories tra...
A Date with the Fairy Drag Queen
“Saskia Nash’s world is turned upside down when her single-parent father tears her from an idyllic childhood in Germany-leaving behind the memories of her dead mother and the protection of her beloved Opa-for a teaching position at a small Jesuit college on the East Coast. A misfit in a strange land, struggling to learn the language and customs of a good American girl, Saskia struggles with issues of belonging, sexual identity, and faith. She’s drawn to the progressive spirituality of the Jesuit...
June 3, 2025
The Listeners
I was super excited to see Stiefvater doing an adult book, and while I’m not usually a fan of historical fiction (this is set in 1942), the setup of the manager of a luxury hotel with magical water having to deal with hosting Axis power diplomats (including Nazis) was instantly intriguing to me.
The extraordinary, genre-defying debut adult novel by the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author Maggie Stiefvater.
AT THE AVALLON, REAL POWER COMES TO THOSE WHO WATCH AND LISTEN…
High in the Appalach...
June 2, 2025
The Word for World is Forest
Impactful Sci-Fi novella about imperialism, colonialism, and the price of resistance.
Winner of the 1973 Hugo award for Best Novella, and nominated for many others, The Word for World is Forest is part of Le Guin’s ‘Hainish Cycle’. It explores a future history of Earth and pacifistic ideals in its depictions of violence, colonialism and resistance.
A world of peaceful aliens conquered by bloodthirsty yumens, their existence is irrevocably altered. Forced into servitude, the Athsheans find the...
