I should have known after reading and so enjoying House of the Spirits decades ago that any other book by this author would feel like a letdown. Her latest novel, My Name Is Emilia del Valle, continues the saga of the del Valle family that she has written about inContinue Reading
Calla has terrible nightmares that she must save her younger brothers from a bloody end. Dre is two years younger but seems to have his ducks in a row. Jamie, who is only sixteen, is busy trying to fight, or charm, his way out of every self imposed bad situation.Continue Reading
All the Water in the World is an allegory about what happens after climate change has flooded New York City and broken down civilization as we know it. It also is a coming-of-age tale for Nonie, the teenage female protagonist. I think it may have just been me but thisContinue Reading
On the Isle of Antioch Is many things. It is an allegory. It is literary fiction. It is a dystopian tale. But above all, it is a philosophical take on how humans are constantly being distracted by petty wars and non-inclusive religions. What if they were not? How much moreContinue Reading
The Centre is an exclusive and secretive language school. Twenty learners stay for ten days in residence with no connections to the outside world and no talking to the other learners or staff. When they return home, they can speak a new language like a native. The mystery is howContinue Reading
The Rachel Incident is a great character-driven novel about adulting in Cork, Ireland during the Great Recession. Rachel meets James while working at the same bookstore. In the way of twenty-year-olds, they are quickly best friends and move in together. James is gay but hasn’t come out yet. He helpsContinue Reading
It is hard not to compare new science fiction plots to all that have gone before. On Earth as It Is on Television is much more about the characters’ individual reactions to the first alien arrival than humanity’s overall response to it. It reminded me of the beginning of IndependenceContinue Reading
The author of The Passage has written a standalone door stop of a novel called The Ferryman. The plot is part science fiction, part fantasy and part mystery. For someone who loves genre mashups, did the entire book thrill me as much as its blurb? The Plot Prospera is aContinue Reading
The God of Endings is a story about a vampire. However, it reads more like a philosophical tale weighing the pros and cons of immortality. It is slow and sometimes confusing. It is probably best for literary fiction fans rather than fantasy, horror or even historical fiction readers. Still, itContinue Reading
I was expecting a science fiction thriller and received an in-depth literary fiction look into San Fran tech startups. I think Please Report Your Bug Here would be a great choice for aspiring teen tech billionaires. It was written by one of the first Instagram employees. However, mystery and thrillerContinue Reading
Geeta is ostracized by her small Indian village after her spouse disappears. The townspeople are convinced that Geeta murdered her drunken and abusive husband. So, when Farah decides to do the same to her drunken and abusive husband, of course she asks Geeta for help. The two women’s stories parallelContinue Reading
Can a tendency towards violence against women be inherited? Olivia left her ex-husband twelve years ago when their son, Asher, was only six. Now, Asher’s girlfriend, Lily, has been found dead and Asher has been arrested. Is it a case of the sins of the father revisiting the children? OrContinue Reading
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow is the story of two childhood friends, Sam and Sadie. After being estranged for six years, they meet again when both are enrolled in nearby colleges. They decide to make a video game one summer that changes their lives. The plot, as stated above, doesn’tContinue Reading
What could be more appropriate as we quickly approach the holiday season than a book about family. In Last Stop on the 6, Angela left her extended Italian American family ten years ago vowing to never return. But after being guilted into returning for her brother’s wedding, she discovers (a)Continue Reading
The blurb of The Perishing was so much better than the book itself. For most of the book, I was confused. When the denouement finally appeared, it felt rushed. And, to be honest, I didn’t care what happened by then anyway. Do yourself a favor and skip this book. 2Continue Reading
In an unnamed snowy land, a husband and his wife wait in a remote hotel for their last chance for a child. The woman is cancer-ridden. However, a local orphanage in this desolate town has promised them a son. However, nothing is simple in the absurdist romp, What Happens atContinue Reading