Tag: loss
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Quiet Spells by Isa Agajanian: Compelling Drama
Ghosts passed through the cottage sitting on the peak of Townsend Hill like passengers in a train station. Some, Teddy Ingram knew, stayed longer than others. More than half a year has passed since the disappearance of Gemma Eakley, and Teddy Ingram still has no clue as to whether she is alive, dead or something…
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Twelve Months by Jim Butcher: Emotional Journey
One year. 365 days. Twelve months. Harry Dresden has been through a lot, and so has his city. After Harry and his allies narrowly managed to save Chicago from being razed to the ground, everything is different—and it’s not just the current lack of electricity. In the battle, Harry lost people he cared about. And…
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A Grim Reaper’s Guide to Cheating Death by Maxie Dara: Thrilling and Captivating
Nora Bird works for S.C.Y.T.H.E., which might seem odd for someone as terrified of death as she is. But ever since her parents died in an accident when she was six, she’s been obsessed with avoiding risk, and what better place to learn how to cheat death than the company that employs the nation’s grim…
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Lessons in Magic and Disaster by Charlie Jane Anders: Emotional and Healing
A young witch teaches her mother how to do magic–with very unexpected results–in this relatable, resonant novel about family, identity, and the power of love. Jamie is the average New England academic in-training–she has a strong queer relationship, generational trauma, and an esoteric dissertation proposal. But she has one extraordinary secret: she’s also a powerful…
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The Lighthouse at the Edge of the World by J.R. Dawson: Joyful and Hopeful
At the edge of Chicago, nestled on the shores of Lake Michigan, there is a waystation for the dead. Every night, the newly-departed travel through the city to the Station, guided by its lighthouse. There, they reckon with their lives, before stepping aboard a boat to go beyond. Nera has spent decades watching her father―the…
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The Keeper of Lonely Spirits by E.M. Anderson: Heartbreaking and Hopeful
Find an angry spirit. Send it on its way before it causes trouble. Leave before anyone learns his name. After over two hundred years, Peter Shaughnessy is ready to die and end this cycle. But thanks to a youthful encounter with one o’ them folk in his native Ireland, he can’t. Instead, he’s cursed to…
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When Haru Was Here by Dustin Thao: Poignant and Emotional
After the death of his best friend, Eric Ly creates imaginary scenarios in his head to deal with his grief. Until one of them becomes real when a boy he met last summer in Japan finds his way back into his life. When he least expects it, Haru Tanaka walks into the coffee shop and…
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A House Like an Accordian by Audrey Burges: Insightful and Beautiful
A woman searches for her missing father in order to reconcile the many strange and fantastical secrets of her past before she loses herself completely in this deeply profound and magical novel by Audrey Burges. Keryth Miller is disappearing. Between the growing distance from her husband, the demands of two teenage daughters, and an all-encompassing…
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The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden: Powerful and Emotional
January 1918. Laura Iven was a revered field nurse until she was wounded and discharged from the medical corps, leaving behind a brother still fighting in Flanders. Now home in Halifax, Canada, Laura receives word of Freddie’s death in combat, along with his personal effects—but something doesn’t make sense. Determined to uncover the truth, Laura…
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“A Power Unbound” by Freya Marske: Stunning Conclusion
Secrets! Magic! Enemies to. . .something more? Jack Alston, Lord Hawthorn, would love a nice, safe, comfortable life. After the death of his twin sister, he thought he was done with magic for good. But with the threat of a dangerous ritual hanging over every magician in Britain, he’s drawn reluctantly back into that world.…
