Ribbon

Just another superhero origin story. It's well written but doesn't break any new ground and it's generally forgettable. Most of the characters are very simple - the rock star girl has music themed one liners, the Irish brawler tells tall tales, the younger girl is cuddly, etc. The main character is just another Peter Parker type.

Even though the Zodiac Legacy is prose, it's easy to picture the comic book panels throughout.

Expect lots of fight scenes and no conclusion at the end of the first book.

Cats and ravens are classics, but Unfamiliar Familiars offers some fun alternatives. Each animal has a color picture (often really friggin adorable), strengths and weaknesses, and a brief description. Also a few name ideas, like Boop Noodle for a ball python.

This is an ideal book to leave out for guests to flip through and have a giggle. It even has a page marking ribbon so they know you're high class as they flip to the page you marked (it's the Dik-Dik page, it's always the Dik-Dik page.)

A whole family gets portaled to a fantasy world with light LitRPG elements just before Christmas. They get to choose their fantasy race, class, and talent when they arrive and the main character, a transgirl, is able to magically change to being biologically female as well. The family gets settled in, there's almost no conflict, and it's just a pleasant wish fulfilling time.

About halfway through there's some God and Jesus talk, which took me by surprise. The “A Christmas Story” should have been a hint but it's such a non-secular holiday in my experience that I forgot.

This is a very sweet Christmas story for anyone who wants a break from the classics but without sacrificing the cozy mood. Short enough to read to the kids before bed on Christmas Eve!

Why gender roles are reversed from our world is unclear, but maybe the mentions of Boudicca are the hints and I don't know English history well enough to get it. Regardless, women are the political leaders and heads of household in this world. Men are magic users. A woman cannot be a politician unless she is married to a magic user. Now let's subvert the gender roles.

This is a nice taste of repressed Regency romance at a fancy ball in a magic underwater ballroom. It's included with the audiobook for Snowspelled.