Nalini Jones’s debut novel, The Unbroken Coast (Knopf – expected 8/12/2025), is a story of intertwined lives, found families, regrets, and triumphs. Set in and around a Mumbai fishing village, the novel follows a prominent retired professor who is struggling with his memories, and a young Koli girl from the fishing village whose family isContinue reading “THE UNBROKEN COAST – Nalini Jones”
Tag Archives: Advanced Reader's Copy
A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP – Sylvie Cathrall
I’m going to start this review with a word of caution and a bit of grace. When I was halfway through the novel, I suffered a stroke. I read some parts in the hospital and finally finished. Perhaps that contributes to my overall feelings about Sylvie Cathrall’s A Letter to the Luminous Deep (4/23/24 Orbit);Continue reading “A LETTER TO THE LUMINOUS DEEP – Sylvie Cathrall”
A FEATHER SO BLACK – Lyra Selene
Lyra Selene’s A Feather so Black (Orbit March 12, 2024 – thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy!) is a lush romantasy full of fae, magic, curses, and morally grey characters. Using Irish folklore, this Swan Princess retelling set in Tír na nÓg had a lot of potential but ultimately fell short due to,Continue reading “A FEATHER SO BLACK – Lyra Selene”
YOU DREAMED OF EMPIRES – Álvaro Enrigue
Álvaro Enrigue’s You Dreamed of Empires (translated by Natasha Wimmer – pub date 1/9/2024, Riverhead Books (thanks for the gifted advanced copy!)) is a fever dream of a reimagined meeting between Hernán Cortés and Moctezuma in 1519. Edgar Allen Poe once wrote “all that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream,”Continue reading “YOU DREAMED OF EMPIRES – Álvaro Enrigue”
THE END OF WORLD IS A CUL DE SAC – Louise Kennedy
I called Louise Kennedy’s Trespasses a “weeping wound of a novel about womanhood, love, and family” in my 3/30/2023 review, and her collection of stories, The End of the World is a Cul de Sac (Riverhead 2023, expected 12/5/2023; first published in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing in 2021) is a series of festering woundsContinue reading “THE END OF WORLD IS A CUL DE SAC – Louise Kennedy”
TONIGHT, I BURN – Katherine J. Adams
Katharine J. Adams’s debut novel, Tonight, I Burn, (Orbit – expected 7 Nov 2023) echoes with legends, fairytales and folklore that came before. While I heard Hades and Persephone and Beauty and the Beast the most; I wouldn’t call this a retelling of either. Adams is a reader first, and it shows beautifully in herContinue reading “TONIGHT, I BURN – Katherine J. Adams”
A DANGEROUS BUSINESS – Jane Smiley
Jane Smiley’s A Dangerous Business (Knopf 2022) was published in December of last year, but I just got around to reading the uncorrected proof the publisher sent. I know Smiley is a phenomenal writer – Horse Heaven and A Thousand Acres are two powerful novels that highlight that talent – but A Dangerous Business wasContinue reading “A DANGEROUS BUSINESS – Jane Smiley”
THE FAIRY BARGAINS OF PROSPECT HILL – Rowenna Miller
Rowena Miller’s The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill (Redhook/Orbit, publication date 3/28/2023) is a bit The Once and Future Witches meets Practical Magic, but with fae instead of witches. It’s a cozy fantasy of sisters, mothers, and womanhood woven with brilliant bits of family, society, and legends. (A huge thanks to the publisher for thisContinue reading “THE FAIRY BARGAINS OF PROSPECT HILL – Rowenna Miller”
THE SOCIETY OF SHAME – Jane Roper
The average menstrual cycle lasts 28 days. Jane Roper’s upcoming release, The Society of Shame (Anchor Books, anticipated release date 4/4/2023) primarily takes place over the course of 28 days, and opens with a perimenopausal woman, Kathleen Held, finding her husband, who is running for US Senate, on the front lawn in his underwear, withContinue reading “THE SOCIETY OF SHAME – Jane Roper”
THE MAGICIAN’S DAUGHTER – H.G. Parry
H.G. Parry’s The Magician’s Daughter (Redhook/Orbit 2023) is a very sweet, fairytale of a fantasy. The book will release on 28 Feb 2023, and I owe a huge thanks to the publisher for getting this early copy to me. I greatly appreciate every book that comes my way. Before I get into the review, canContinue reading “THE MAGICIAN’S DAUGHTER – H.G. Parry”
A Girl Named Tommi 