2/8/26 - Christina Critiques

THE AGE OF CALAMITIES

By: Senaa Ahmad

Release: 1/13/26

Page count: 225

KU: No         Hoopla: No

Synopsis: Nine stories that juxtapose historical figures such as Anne B. Henry VIII, Joan of Arc, and Genghis Kahn with haunting lyricism reminiscent of Margaret Atwood’s short story “Happy Endings”.

First line: “There was a man, let’s call him Henry VIII.”

Favorite lines: “… dread is a fire that starts everywhere at once.”

“Change is what’s left when you purge everything else.”

Thoughts: How this is Ahmad’s debut is insane. Each of her stories read as a decades seasoned author. The reader becomes obsessed from the first line of the first story. The amount of truth in the individual re-imagining of historical figures is done with a razor sharp precision.

Rating: 6/5

Other recommendations: N/A

Find it here: https://a.co/d/0dBs38br

MAMA CAME CALLIN’

By: Ezra Clayton Daniels

Release: 2/3/26

Page count: 240

KU: No       Hoopla: No

Synopsis: Kirah’s family is a bit different. He dad was accused of and sentenced for attempting to kill her dressed as the “Gatorman”. Now, years later, he has come back to plead his innocence but will it fall on deaf ears and damn Kirah to her death this time?

First line: “I want honey on it!”

Favorite line: “You can’t trust anyone, Aisha.”

Thoughts: Do you love a story (let alone a graphic novel) that entertains, keeps you guessing from the first panel, AND educates you? MAMA CAME CALLIN’ is that and so much more. Drenched in relevant and uncomfortable social commentary of how racism can hide among family and a linguistic exploration of the phrase “gator bait”, Daniels navigates the not so distant swamps holding the readers hand but showing the truth. Absolutely stellar.

Rating: 5/5

Other recommendations: UPGRADE SOUL

Find it here: https://a.co/d/020GVEEK

THERE IS NO ANTEMEMETIC DIVISION

By: qntm

Release: 11/11/25

Page count: 279

KU: No      Hoopla: No

Synopsis: A secret division of specialists that do not exist work to save the world from extinction. But remember, it doesn’t exist.

First line: “Do anything nice over Christmas?”

Favorite line: “U-0055 may present a major physical threat and indeed may have killed hundreds of personal, and we would not know it.”

Thoughts: If you need a WTF read, this is the one you are looking for. An unnerving and extremely unsettling futuristic scarefest. When one character walks out and lights her cigarette, something so small can cause the biggest gasp followed by the biggest heartbreak. There is even more of the universe that is fan driven - check out the wesbite https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/ (There are even books released that go further in depth.)

Rating: 5/5

Find it here: https://a.co/d/0cj8qLja