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A virus is unleashed during research on the thawing arctic tundra. A set of interlinked stories follow a cast of characters across the centuries as the world struggles to come to terms with the impact of the virus. 

Each story is a gem, with characters dealing in different ways with grief and their own mortality. While there are often questionable decisions made by the characters, they all remain deeply human, and Nagamatsu’s telling of their tales is empathetic and caring. 

While the stories were enough on their own to keep me reading, the intricate connections between them were a joy to uncover. References beyond the book were scattered around. At one point I found myself thinking that one story felt a lot like Miri Yū‘s Tokyo Ueno Station, only to have Ueno station mentioned a few paragraphs later.

It’s a book I’d love to read again to see what I …

Spence wakes up the day after a horrible party, only to realize he has to live the same day over again.

When I started reading this book, I knew exactly how it could disappoint me. It didn’t. It exceeded all of my expectations, and I found I couldn’t stop reading. 

Well written, with compelling characters and the best use of a time loop I’ve ever read, this book should be required reading for teenage boys—actually for all men—everywhere. 

Elena’s daughter has died. The court and police say it is suicide, but Elena knows it’s not. 

Elena—who has Parkinson’s—sets out on a journey to call in a debt and find the truth. The result of this journey will stay with me for a long time. 

Elena’s internal monologue is worthy of Virginia Woolf. The book as a whole challenges simple notions of what is “right” and “good.”

I would love to read more crime
fiction like this and will certainly be seeking out more of Claudia Piñeiro’s books. 

This is the most Orwellian book I’ve read in a while. It is an Animal Farm for our era. I would love to see this read in every classroom so that people are thinking about what it means when we are asked to pretend that something doesn’t exist; to forget uncomfortable truths; to consign certain books to the fire. This is a book that should be read by everyone. 

Wolfsong is the story if a young man, Ox, whose father has left him and his mother. Ox finds family and more with a pack of werewolves that move in next door. 

I didn’t know until reading it that this book was being republished (it was originally published in 2015), presumably to capitalize on the popularity of House on the Cerulean Sea.

I loved HotCS. It was unique and amazing. The same can’t really be said of Wolfsong. It is a good example of the wolf pack genre, but falls into the traps and tropes of the genre without distinguishing itself. I’m not a fan of the whole Alpha trope. For one, it is not an accurate way of representing wolf family structures, which we’ve known for 20 years (at least 10 when the book was written). For another, it feels like repeating it merely reinforces outdated ideas of hierarchy …

This was an ARC from NetGalley. 

This was a thrilling end to the story of Tina, Rachael, Eliza and their friends.

As with the other books in this trilogy, a major focus was on these characters working through their doubts, grief and trauma with the help of their friends. 

One theme very much came to the forefront in this book: how to deal with having killed someone, even in self defence. I remember reading a review of the first book in the trilogy that mentioned this, which pointed out how rare it is that fiction deals realistically with the trauma of having killed someone. In Promises Stronger Than Darkness, this is not only a theme, but an active topic of discussion among the characters. At one point, one of the characters says, “It’s difficult to grieve when a friend dies. But it’s even harder to grieve for an enemy you …

This is the second book in Charlie Jane Ander’s Unstoppable series.

Having stopped the horrific machine of the Vayt, our Earthling heroes are on the verge of having their dreams come true, only to find that their dreams are not quite what they wanted them to be.

Ander’s story does an amazing job of dealing with the curve balls that life throws you—from disappointment to full-on trauma. Her characters are less than perfect, and much of the narrative revolves around both the characters and their friends accepting this.

If you’re looking for a book (or even a trilogy) about the difficulties of friendships under difficult circumstances, I can wholeheartedly recommend Charlie Jane Ander’s Unstoppable trilogy (though I haven’t read the third book yet.

A man comes to Manningtree and finds witches where there were none before. The ‘Witchfinder’ repeats this feat across England; however, this story concerns the so-called witches her found in Manningtree, focusing on one in particular: Rebecca West. 

I am in awe of what A.K. Blakemore has done here. She has drawn characters from history and turned them into compelling, believable people. The story she tells is haunting and beautiful. In doing so, she shows us the folly of belief and the power of a well-told lie. 

Six magicians in are chosen to join the Alexandrian Society, guardians of the Library if Alexandria. Only five will be initiated into the society. 

This is a story about magic and those who are naturally gifted, but more than this it is a story of power. It explores the reasons people seek power, how power seduces and ultimately corrupts those who seek it for whatever reason. 

The characters often felt like they were there as a way to explore the mechanisms of power. 

Although the characters never really came alive for me, I found this book and it’s take on power fascinating. I’m looking forward to reading The Atlas Paradox to see where Olivie Blake takes this ambitious thought experiment next.