Archeology student Greer Dixon is about to find her life’s purpose on a dig that becomes personal. Her professor is much more than he seems, leading her into a world unseen by most for a royal battle for good. This debut novel blends elements of the occult with romance and family relationships, as it draws the murder of Greer’s mother into her heroic role against ancient evil.
Danielle wakes up dead to find a Siamese cat named Pudding to guide her in the underworld for the purpose of making a vital decision. She witnesses limbo, where mediocre people wander aimlessly, and then the snarky cat opens the portal to Hell by pooping. Pudding takes Danielle through the nine circles of Hell, complete with Cerberus and Lucifer. Further portals are opened by various bodily functions. In the end, she must face herself. This is an enchanting and hilarious story.
This story begins at the funeral of Rose Hips, the narrator’s great-aunt, and it remains at that level of surrealism throughout the book, like listening to a comedian with a dry sense of humor that you either get or don’t. There’s a bit of political incorrectness, perhaps due to the author’s age or cantankerous nature. The narrator is chosen before birth by his grandmother, the family matriarch, to become the family genius by living with different family members in order to become a genius. He starts his life with his grandparents, and dear reader learns about everyone’s unusual traits as he moves through the families. It’s really a wild ride and I recommend it. I was gifted this tale for an honest review.
This is an intense story about an immigrant who feels stuck in her situation, uncomfortable as the only female in her tech company, and alone after her husband leaves her, when she is already struggling as an immigrant. Chen delves deep into Edwina’s psyche, sometimes seemingly beyond Edwina’s understanding. The book blurb says it’s darkly funny, but I was not laughing. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher Ecco through NetGalley.
Detective Annalise Vega mixes personal with business when she is put on the case of a murderer who must be a copycat of the serial killer who murdered her mother. The victim is a member of a sleuthing group investigating the serial killer. The series following Detective Vega is off to a good start. If you like murder mystery series with a tough, emotional detective, I think this will suit you. I recommend the series based on the first story. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher Minotaur Books through NetGalley.
After an unexpected inheritance, struggling artist Layla ends up on a road trip with her half-sister, who was raised by their father, a man many years in prison and completely estranged from Layla. She may finally learn the details of her mother’s death, and perhaps find a second chance at family. Castrodale keeps up the adrenaline with the ambiguity turning Layla’s heart around and the terrifying people connected to her father. I recommend this story I was fortunate to receive from the publisher Imbrifex Books through NetGalley.
The Raje family series continues with Yash Raje campaigning for Governor of California. At a rally, his bodyguard and best friend is critically injured, leaving Yash with panic attacks that interfere with his campaign. His family refers him to India Dashwood, a family friend who just happens to be a stress management coach they trust to be discreet. Of course, they don’t know that Yash broke her heart a decade earlier. Dev seamlessly coalesces the different perspectives of each character into the family story as a whole through each new novel. My favorite aspect of her books is that she always has two main characters that will make the most stubbornly self-proclaimed non-romance fan swoon. The novels are standalone, but are much better when building on the previous ones. I highly recommend anything by Sonali Dev, and especially the Raje series. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher / author through NetGalley.
This story opens with an omen of a village matriarch dreaming of an animal she’s only seen in photographs, setting everyone on edge, since this has always been followed by a death in the village. This is really her granddaughter Luise’s story, how she becomes a part of the larger world while staying in her village. Though foretold by the omen, the death comes as a shock to the entire village, tugging connections and shifting perspectives, grief overshadowing all. I love how the author infuses a little bit of magic into the story through the unusual perspectives, beliefs, and seemingly accurate superstitions. Leky’s characters are all laid out for the reader, since everyone seems to know everything about everyone else, and she lets us in on all the secrets. Though emotional, it’s easy to stand back from the story and see the whole picture. I was fortunate to receive this wonderful story from the publisher Farrar, Straus, and Giroux through NetGalley.
This book started off with a great story of a young boy caught in an impossible situation, a black teenager killing a Klansman in self-defense in 1913. The second section, a young woman unknowingly marrying a mobster, began another storyline that intersected tangentially with the first. This was really two distinct stories, both good, but not related enough to be in one novel. It tries to be historical fiction by mentioning historical events, but the characters are not really affected, just referencing them. Even with these niggles, the characters are solid, interesting, and endearing, even the ones who struggle the most to be good, and I recommend it for that alone. It’s really like getting two stories in one, actually. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the author through NetGalley.
There are a lot of twists and turns in this story of two missing women and a girl. My niggle is that the plot twist came out of nowhere, with no hints to back it up and provide the reader with that aha moment, so it didn’t come across as credible as it might have. Kubica is great at representing the messy, ambivalent, guilt-ridden emotions of human nature. I definitely like her work. I just wish she had led up to her climax more ambiguously, so that her red herring didn’t come across so clunky. I do recommend her for her storytelling talent. I was fortunate to receive a digital copy from the publisher Park Row through NetGalley.