HORRORS BOTH HUMAN AND SUPERNATURAL roll out with a relentless, breathtaking pace in this final installment of the Indian Lake Trilogy. As ever, Stephen Graham Jones’s deft characterization and vivid sense of place drive the chill deep. B PLUS
AN ASPIRING THIEF OF MAGICAL jewels falls into a series of predicaments that leave her responsible for stopping a murder before it happens. Charming fantasy mystery with plenty of wit and action. B PLUS
THE CONQUISTADORES’ ARRIVAL, REIMAGINED in a playfully serious tale that darts as kaleidoscopically as a hummingbird between culture and culture and between the empires of past and present. Powerfully visual, sardonically witty. SOLID A
AN EXPERT ON CARCERAL VIOLENCE and the system’s cruel injustices to poor and minority youth tells the story of a tragedy that happened in his own extended family—the loss of a bright, caring teen to imprisonment and then a gang-related murder. A MINUS
Read A CONJURING OF LIGHT by V.E. Schwab if you love jumping right into the action, invasions, infections, sacrifices, pirate ships, magical markets, sharing pain, the scars left behind, so much blood, betrayals, the terror of love, dungeons, flashbacks & a shit ton of knives.
SUMMONING THE DEAD was only the first mistake Alex made—things got a lot worse after that. Sharp, evocative horror novel has a powerful sense of place and of the terrors of suffocating slowly in dead-end towns. B PLUS
A PERSONAL REINVENTION REVISITED with added layers of distance; French writer Édouard Louis retells the story of transforming himself from a poor village boy to an elegant Parisian autobiographical novelist. Thought-provoking yet a bit artificial. B PLUS
A DAZZLING PUNK-ROCK NARNIA blends magic and the everyday into a gritty, sweet, terrifying, and touching story about how life is built on love and anger and dreams. A MINUS
AFTER THE DESTRUCTION OF EARTH and most of its colonies, a post-human crew and its sentient space fleet traverse the universe in search of other life. Fascinating interstellar adventure blends action and complexity. B PLUS
WITNESS PROTECTION IN A RETIREMENT community isn’t most 31-year-olds’ idea of fun, and with a murder on the grounds and $2 million missing from community accounts, it’s not very protected. Fun Florida cozy has lots of pizzazz. B PLUS
INTENSE, VIVID, DREAMLIKE novel captures how a family shatters under the burdens of addiction, infidelity, and growing alienation. Timelines shift and collapse in ways that mirror the subjective experiences of heartbreak and grief. B PLUS
A WOMAN’S INTENSE OBSESSION with an older artist and her teenage daughter flowers disturbingly on a summer trip to Greece in this elegant yet creepy Swedish novel. B PLUS
UNFORGETTABLE STAR ANNA MAY WONG, a pioneering Chinese-American actor whose career spanned screen, stage, radio, and television, is the topic of this fascinating, deeply researched biography. Old Hollywood glam through a very modern lens! B PLUS
THE GREAT MIAMI NOVEL may well be this devastating blend of satire, magical realism, and local history—the story of a wannabe gangster and the imprisoned orca that fascinates him. Startling, distinctive, surreal. A MINUS
HIGH-INTENSITY FANTASY THRILLER recasts werewolf myths through a lens of female empowerment, and the result is a heist adventure led by two unforgettable young women/wolves. Sharp writing and evocations of hardscrabble backwoods life. A MINUS
A BLACK PHYSICIAN’S UNSPARING examination of the profound impact racism has on healthcare and health outcomes intertwines with stories of her own, her sister’s, and her mother’s lives as doctors. Thoughtful, deep, engaging. A MINUS
A MEMOIR OF DIVORCE AND MOTHERHOOD shines brightest when talking about the raw physicalities of birth and parenting and love and longing. Candid and impressively unafraid to show the writer’s flaws. B PLUS
Read A GATHERING OF SHADOWS by V.E. Schwab if you love magical tournaments, secret identities, political intrigue, lovers' reunions, shared pain, rebirth, masks, pirate ships, learning who you are, dysfunctional families, impossible decisions & body modifications.
TWO MAGICAL OUTCASTS join forces on a quest to discover a lake of mystical power. Vividly drawn fantasy set in a fascinating world offers memorable characters. B PLUS
FIERY, UNSETTLING, INCISIVE collection of essays delves deep into history and cultural critique as well as the author’s life for a rigorous exploration of power and control, from racism and colonialism to misogyny and sexual violence. A MINUS
My brain is currently a mess (whomst among us is not floundering while the world burns), and you know what that means: COMFORT REREADS. I'm revisiting THE SHADES OF LONDON series by V.E. Schwab before I read THE FRAGILE THREADS OF POWER.
Read A DARKER SHADE OF MAGIC if you love traveling between parallel worlds, interesting magic systems, collecting trinkets, pickpockets, plagues, night markets, masquerades, the river Thames, dive bars, fancy coats, too many knives, lucky kisses, queer dynamics & secrets.
ACTION-PACKED SPACE OPERA draws on astrophysics and the mythology of Ancient Egypt to create a memorable tale. Fresh, original, well crafted science fiction! B PLUS