Review: The Shadows Tomorrow

The Shadows Tomorrow by Noëlle Michel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Shadows Tomorrow by Noelle Michel from Simon & Schuster via NetGalley.  This book will be published around August 4, 2026.

The Shadows Tomorrow by Noelle Michel was translated into English by Frank Wynne.  The story is told across a span of the near future in alternating chapters from different character perspectives.  I won't be giving anything away to say that in this near future, scientists have brought Neanderthals back from extinction much like we have already done with dire wolves.  For research purposes, they are kept in remote sanctuaries and kept from having contact with Homo Sapiens.  They even use the research footage to make a reality TV show called Another Eden so that people can watch them like a virtual zoo.  Ethicists would be losing their minds.  Disturbing premise aside, it is a great book!  

Bonus points for travel bans on meat eaters.  At least, I think that was the proposal.  I'm sure it had to do with carbon footprint or something, but I am all for it!  Would make my travel so much easier!

View all my reviews

Review: Cat Tales

Cat Tales by Herbert S. Rolfes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Cat Tales by Herbert S. Rolfes from the author via NetGalley.  This book has already been published.

Cat Tales by Herbert S. Rolfes is exactly what the title suggests.  It is a collection of short stories told from the perspective of cats.  The book is broken up into different sections including cats of famous people and cats with occupations.  I really liked the pet store cat.  Each story is fairly short.  They appropriate for most ages.  You don't have to read them in order.  You can read whatever tickles your fancy for the moment.  If you like cats and wish they could talk, give this a read.  It was very fun, and the illustrations are super cute.

Bonus points for being about cats.  That's enough to earn extra points.

View all my reviews

Review: The Library After Dark

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego from Bantam via NetGalley.  This book will be published around May 5, 2026.

The Library After Dark by Ande Pliego is one of the best books I have read.  If you like Clue or locked room mysteries, you will absolutely want to read this book.  The setting is a spooky, haunted (?) library of death in New York City.  The Daedalus library has sent out invitations to a select few to attend an after hours tour and viewing of an upcoming exhibit.  The exhibit will showcase a supposedly cursed book that is the basis for many myths and fairy tales you might recognize.  Everyone is dying to read it!  Pliego tells the story in alternating character viewpoints as they tour the library and stories from the "cursed" book.  These stories are dark just as the unvarnished fairy tales were.  Putting all the pieces together was so much fun for me!  It was probably less fun for these poor characters.  

View all my reviews

Review: Hunger and Thirst

Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Full Disclosure:  I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller from Tin House via NetGalley.  This book will be published around June 2, 2026.

Hunger and Thirst by Claire Fuller comes across as horror although it may all just be in the mind of the narrator.  Nobody seems to be able to fully corroborate anything she claims happened.  If anything, people appear to believe she is not guilty of the things she said she did.  Is that because people underestimate teenage girls or because she really is innocent but so traumatized that she blames herself?  You'll have to read it to decide for yourself.  Using a documentary to tell the viewpoints of other characters is clever.  I'm not sure I trust what people say when cameras are rolling.  

View all my reviews