In An Absent Dream

In An Absent DreamThis fourth entry and prequel tells the story of Lundy, a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should.

When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.


In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire was published by Tor.com on January 8th 2019.

No trigger warnings.

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Beneath the Sugar Sky

Beneath the Sugar SkyWhen Rini lands with a literal splash in the pond behind Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, the last thing she expects to find is that her mother, Sumi, died years before Rini was even conceived. But Rini can’t let Reality get in the way of her quest—not when she has an entire world to save! (Much more common than one would suppose.)

If she can’t find a way to restore her mother, Rini will have more than a world to save: she will never have been born in the first place. And in a world without magic, she doesn’t have long before Reality notices her existence and washes her away. Good thing the student body is well-acquainted with quests…

A tale of friendship, baking, and derring-do.

Warning: May contain nuts.


Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire was published by Tor.com on January 9th 2018.

No trigger warnings.

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Hiatus Recap

It’s been two and a half months since I last posted something here, a long time to be away from my blog, but I’m back now and I figured what better way to kick-start my return to Reading Every Night than with a hiatus recap.

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June and July were really busy months, August seems to be slowing down enough so that I have time to devote to blogging again, and honestly my mental health took a little turn for the worse. I had a slump and didn’t have the energy for anything creative, but I’m coming around the other side of that now. This post is likely to be a little longer than my usual monthly recaps, but I have two and a half months of books I’ve read, TV shows I’ve watched, and general life events to cover in just one post.

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Down Among the Sticks and Bones

down-among-the-sticks-and-bonesTwin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretence of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.


Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire was published by Tor.com on June 13th 2017.

No trigger warnings.

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The Near Witch

The Near WitchAll-new deluxe edition of an out-of-print gem, containing in-universe short story “The Ash-Born Boy” and a never-before-seen introduction from V.E. Schwab.

The Near Witch is only an old story told to frighten children. 

If the wind calls at night, you must not listen. The wind is lonely, and always looking for company. 

There are no strangers in the town of Near. 

These are the truths that Lexi has heard all her life. 

But when an actual stranger, a boy who seems to fade like smoke, appears outside her home on the moor at night, she knows that at least one of these sayings is no longer true. 

The next night, the children of Near start disappearing from their beds, and the mysterious boy falls under suspicion. 

As the hunt for the children intensifies, so does Lexi’s need to know about the witch that just might be more than a bedtime story, about the wind that seems to speak through the walls at night, and about the history of this nameless boy.


The Near Witch by V.E. Schwab was published by Titan Books on March 12th 2019.

No trigger warnings.

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ARC Review: Last Bus to Everland

Last Bus to EverlandBrody Fair feels like nobody gets him: not his overworked parents, not his genius older brother, and definitely not the girls in the projects set on making his life miserable. Then he meets Nico, an art student who takes Brody to Everland, a “knock-off Narnia” that opens its door at 11:21pm each Thursday for Nico and his band of present-day misfits and miscreants.

Here Brody finds his tribe and a weekly respite from a world where he feels out of place. But when the doors to Everland begin to disappear, Brody is forced to make a decision: He can say goodbye to Everland and to Nico, or stay there and risk never seeing his family again.


Last Bus to Everland by Sophie Cameron will be published by Macmillan Children’s Books on May 16th 2019. I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Trigger warnings; bullying, homophobic comments, mentions of suicide, mentions of eat disorders, agoraphobia, mentions of assault.

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All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages

All OutTake a journey through time and genres and discover a past where queer figures live, love and shape the world around them. Seventeen of the best young adult authors across the queer spectrum have come together to create a collection of beautifully written diverse historical fiction for teens.

From a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood set in war-torn 1870s Mexico featuring a transgender soldier, to two girls falling in love while mourning the death of Kurt Cobain, forbidden love in a sixteenth-century Spanish convent or an asexual girl discovering her identity amid the 1970s roller-disco scene, All Out tells a diverse range of stories across cultures, time periods and identities, shedding light on an area of history often ignored or forgotten.


All Out: The No-Longer-Secret Stories of Queer Teens throughout the Ages edited by Saundra Mitchell was published by Harlequin Teen on March 1st 2018.

No trigger warnings.

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April Recap

Where is the year going? The fact that we’re now in May is a shock to my system, but at least I can say I did more last month than I did in March, so it doesn’t feel like April flew by without me noticing it.

ReDesign April Recap Header

I got through six books in April, which seems to be my magic number because that’s how many I read last month as well, and I managed to maintain my blogging schedule and take part in Camp NaNo at the same time. I still took an unplanned mini-break from blogging, and I didn’t win at Camp NaNo but I’m doing better, and that something.

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Undead Girl Gang

Undead Girl GangMila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favourite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life.

Unfortunately, Riley, June, and Dayton have no recollection of their murders, but they do have unfinished business to attend to. Now, with only seven days until the spell wears off and the girls return to their graves, Mila must wrangle the distracted group of undead teens and work fast to discover their murderer…before the killer strikes again.


Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson was published by Razorbill on May 8th 2018.

Trigger warnings; death, murder, discussions of suicide, and fatphobic and racist comments.

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On the Come Up

On the Come UpSixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighbourhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

On the Come Up is Angie Thomas’s homage to hip-hop, the art that sparked her passion for storytelling and continues to inspire her to this day. It is the story of fighting for your dreams, even as the odds are stacked against you; of the struggle to become who you are and not who everyone expects you to be; and of the desperate realities of poor and working-class black families.


On the Come Up by Angie Thomas was published by Walker on February 7th 2019.

Trigger warnings; racism, drug dealing, gun violence, police violence.

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