Camp Zero

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Camp Zero 

Author: Michelle Min Sterling

Publisher: Atria 

Release Date: 4.4.23

Publisher’s Summary 

In a near-future northern settlement, a handful of climate change survivors find their fates intertwined in this mesmerizing and transportive novel in the vein of Station Eleven and The Power.

In the far north of Canada sits Camp Zero, an American building project hiding many secrets.

Desperate to help her climate-displaced Korean immigrant mother, Rose agrees to travel to Camp Zero and spy on its architect in exchange for housing. She arrives at the same time as another newcomer, a college professor named Grant who is determined to flee his wealthy family’s dark legacy. Gradually, they realize that there is more to the architect than previously thought, and a disturbing mystery lurks beneath the surface of the camp. At the same time, rumors abound of an elite group of women soldiers living and working at a nearby Cold War-era climate research station. What are they doing there? And who is leading them?

An electrifying page-turner where nothing is as it seems, Camp Zero cleverly explores how the intersection of gender, class, and migration will impact who and what will survive in a warming world.

My Review

If you don't know the term cli-fi yet, you will soon see it everywhere. Climate fiction (cli-fi) is not new but I've noticed a sharp increase in recent years and I see plenty of upcoming releases that fit into this genre. 

Michelle Min Sterling's debut novel Camp Zero centers around a group of six sex workers (one of which is a spy,) a professor, a billionaire, a green architect, and a group of women scientists living in northern Canada in the near future. People now wear a small "Flick" implant in their skulls (think smartphone technology) that uploads/downloads information and they fight to survive in a world of rising temperatures and extreme weather. 

Ok, that's enough of a summary because I don't want to give anything away, but huge arcing storylines cover migrations, resource access, gender roles, power, and exploitation. This is very much a story where the layers just keep peeling back to expose more and more and while the ending gives closure, I can't help but think this has to (hopefully) be the beginning of a series. 

A House with Good Bones

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: A House with Good Bones

Author: T. Kingfisher

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Release Date: 3.28.23

Publisher’s Summary 

"Mom seems off."

Her brother's words echo in Sam Montgomery's ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam's excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

My Review

I thought this would be a quick read because my ARC is 243 pages but the print was small and it took much longer than I expected. I really loved the first 3/4 of this story. It was perfect Southern gothic and the dark humor was very well done. The final 1/4 had me a bit grossed out but really I was more sad about the change to a paranormal horror story. That being said, I would recommend this to someone who likes BOTH Southern gothic AND horror stories. If you are also an avid gardener, this is your perfect trifecta book. 

Community Board

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Community Board 

Author: Tara Conklin 

Publisher: Mariner

Release Date: 3.28.23

Publisher’s Summary 

The New York Times bestselling author of The Last Romantics deliversa wise, timely, big-hearted novel of unplanned isolation and newly forged community.

Where does one go, you might ask, when the world falls apart? When the immutable facts of your life—the mundane, the trivial, the take-for-granted minutiae that once filled every second of every day—suddenly disappear? Where does one go in such dire and unexpected circumstances?

I went home, of course.

MURBRIDGE COMMUNITY MESSAGE BOARD

FREE: 500 cans of corn. Accidentally ordered them online. I really hate corn. Happy to help load.

REMINDER: use your own goddamn garbage can for your own goddamn pet waste. I’m looking at you Peter Luflin.

REMINDER: monthly Select Board meeting this Friday. Agenda items: 1) sludge removal; 2) upkeep of chime tower; 3) ice rink monitor thank you gift. Questions? Contact Hildegard Hyman.

Darcy Clipper, prodigal daughter, nearly thirty, has returned home to Murbridge, Massachusetts, after her life takes an unwelcome left turn. Murbridge, Darcy is convinced, will welcome her home and provide a safe space in which she can nurse her wounds and harbor grudges, both real and imagined.

But Murbridge, like so much else Darcy thought to be fixed and immutable, has changed. And while Darcy’s first instinct might be to hole herself up in her childhood bedroom, subsisting on Chef Boy-R-Dee and canned chickpeas, it is human nature to do two things: seek out meaningful human connection and respond to anonymous internet postings. As Murbridge begins to take shape around Darcy, both online and in person, Darcy will consider the most fundamental of American questions: What can she ask of her community? And what does she owe it in return?

My Review

I had high hopes for this one since I loved The Last Romantics and I love reading the absolute randomness that is my Nextdoor message board. Unfortunately, I zoned out at about 25%, started skimming around 50%, and ended up quitting at 80%. I'd rather read Nextdoor.  

The Fake

  

I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Fake

Author: Zoe Whittall

Publisher: Ballantine 

Release Date: 3.21.23

Publisher’s Summary 

A con artist can make you feel like the luckiest person on earth just to be in their presence. But when the jig is up, they ghost, and you’re left wondering if you ever mattered

After the death of her wife, Shelby feels more alone than ever—until she meets Cammie, a charismatic woman unafraid of what anyone else thinks and whose own history of trauma draws Shelby close. When Cammie is fired from her job and admits she is in treatment for kidney cancer, Shelby devotes all her time to helping Cammie thrive. But Shelby’s intuition tells her there are things about Cammie’s past that don’t add up. Could the realest thing about Cammie be that she’s actually a scammer?

Gibson is almost forty, fresh from a divorce and deeply depressed. Then he meets and falls in love with Cammie. Suddenly, he’s having the best sex of his life with a woman so attractive he’s stunned she even glanced his way, and for the first time ever he feels truly known. This is the kind of desire and passion that musicians have been writing love songs about for centuries. But Gibson’s friends are wary of Cammie, and eventually he too has to admit that Cammie’s dramatic life can feel a bit over the top.

When Shelby and Gibson find out Cammie is a pathological liar, they struggle to understand what they really want from her—sometimes they want to help her heal from whatever causes her to invent reality, and sometimes they want revenge. But the biggest question of all is: how honest can Shelby and Gibson be about their own characters?

My Review

What a letdown. I should have quit at the beginning. This is a story of a scammer but there is no closure. Just a whirlwind of mess. Maybe this would be a shocking read to a young adult but as a cynical woman with too much (?) life experience, I've known way too many scammers, and just like Cammie, they somehow always get away with it and just move on to the next mark. 

Brutes

Title: Brutes

Author: Dizz Tate

Publisher: Catapult

Release Date: 2.7.23

Publisher’s Summary 

The Virgin Suicides meets The Florida Project in this wildly original debut--a coming-of-age story about the crucible of girlhood, from a writer of rare and startling talent

We would not be born out of sweetness, we were born out of rage, we felt it in our bones.

In Falls Landing, Florida--a place built of theme parks, swampy lakes, and scorched bougainvillea flowers--something sinister lurks in the deep. A gang of thirteen-year-old girls obsessively orbit around the local preacher's daughter, Sammy. She is mesmerizing, older, and in love with Eddie. But suddenly, Sammy goes missing. Where is she? Watching from a distance, they edge ever closer to discovering a dark secret about their fame-hungry town and the cruel cost of a ticket out. What they see will continue to haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Through a darkly beautiful and brutally compelling lens, Dizz Tate captures the violence, horrors, and manic joys of girlhood. Brutes is a novel about the seemingly unbreakable bonds in the we of young friendship, and the moment it is broken forever.

My Review

If you've read any reviews of this one you know that it is a headscratcher. 

It's unsettling and experimental, so that is definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I love when a book can do that. I really liked the focus on the girls' inner world because I love when teen girls are portrayed in ways I identify with. These girls are a bit feral, looking for some sort of excitement in their bleak world, and so interdependent that they are almost a single organism. This aspect of the book I absolutely loved, especially the section where they tell us why they are called brutes. However, there are several other storylines/themes that are added in but are so vague as to make me wonder if they should have been cut or expanded upon. The "missing girl" storyline is almost lost with at least 3 other main storylines (in addition to the constant details of the girls' daily lives) and I ended up wanting either more or less--but I don't know which.

I read this in a single evening and would only recommend it to someone who likes Megan Abbott, Sophie Macintosh, and Karen Russell-types of books.  

Have you read this? I'd love to discuss. 

Lookout

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Lookout 

Author: Christine Byl 

Publisher: A Strange Object 

Release Date: 3.14.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Set in rural Montana, Lookout centers on the dual coming-of-age of a girl and her father amid the natural and cultural forces that shape their family.

Lookout tells the story of the Kinzlers, a working-class family firmly rooted in Northwest Montana. Set beneath big skies and spanning four decades, Lookout is an unvarnished look at contemporary life in the rural mountain west, and the interior worlds of people who are different than their surfaces imply. Josiah & Margaret Kinzler have forged an unusual bond that honors both tenderness and solitude; their daughters, Cody and Louisa, grow up watching their parents navigate what it means to be true to yourself, and what that costs.

The core of the book is a dual coming-of-age: Cody’s from stoic ranch kid to a resilient woman learning to lean on others, and Josiah’s as he struggles to thrive in a world that has misunderstood him. Bound by their love of the land, the Kinzlers work to bridge the gaps created by the secrets they keep from one another. Lookout brings to life a family at home in a nuanced American West, at the conjunction of the outer world with inner lives.

My Review

The publisher's summary states that this novel "centers on the dual coming-of-age of a girl and her father," but the other characters are all strongly written and can barely be considered secondary. Full of tender and truthful dialogue, this book is both light and full of love as well as achingly sad and heavy. I have been turning this story over and over in my mind the last few days, trying to think of how I will do it justice with a review. I will keep it short and say it is one of the most beautiful stories I've ever read. Take your time with this quiet book and you will be greatly rewarded. 

Once Upon a Tome

 

 I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Once Upon a Tome: The Misadventures of a Rare Bookseller  

Author: Oliver Darkshire

Publisher: W.W. Norton 

Release Date: 3.14.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Some years ago, Oliver Darkshire stepped into the hushed interior of Henry Sotheran Ltd on Sackville Street (est. 1761) to interview for their bookselling apprenticeship, a decision which has bedevilled him ever since.

He'd intended to stay for a year before launching into some less dusty, better remunerated career. Unfortunately for him, the alluring smell of old books and the temptation of a management-approved afternoon nap proved irresistible. Soon he was balancing teetering stacks of first editions, fending off nonagenarian widows with a ten-foot pole and trying not to upset the store's resident ghost (the late Mr Sotheran had unfinished business when he was hit by that tram).

For while Sotheran's might be a treasure trove of literary delights, it sings a siren song to eccentrics. There are not only colleagues whose tastes in rare items range from the inspired to the mildly dangerous, but also zealous collectors seeking knowledge, curios, or simply someone with whom to hold a four hour conversation about books bound in human skin.

By turns unhinged and earnestly dog-eared, Once Upon a Tome is the rather colourful story of life in one of the country's most ancient bookshops and a love letter to the benign, unruly world of antiquarian bookselling, where to be uncommon or strange is the best possible compliment.

My Review

I think every dedicated reader has had a daydream or two about working in a bookshop, especially a bookshop with forgotten rooms and lots of hidden artifacts. Oliver Darkshire thought he was going to be an apprentice antiquarian bookseller for a year, but he ended up staying on and the stories he shares about his daily experiences are so quirky and funny. Filled with lots of short chapters, I would recommend this to anyone who loves the "idea" of a bookshop or is needing some giggles between heavier reads. 

Arca

  I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Arca

Author: G.R. Macallister 

Publisher: Gallery / Saga Press

Release Date: 3.7.23

Publisher’s Summary 

Return to the Five Queendoms in the sequel to Scorpica, a sweeping epic fantasy that Rebecca Roanhorse called “ambitious and engaging,” in which a centuries-long peace is shattered in a matriarchal society when a decade passes without a single girl being born.

The Drought of Girls has ended, but the rift it broke open between the Queendoms is not so easily healed. Political tensions roil the senate of Paxim, where Queen Heliane vows to make her son Paulus the nation’s first ruling King or die trying. Scorpican troops amass on the border of Arca, ready to attack. And within Arca itself, its young, unready queen finds her court a nest of vipers and her dreams besieged by a mysterious figure with unknown intentions.

As iron and magic clash on the battlefield and powerful women scheme behind the scenes, danger and violence abound. Can anyone stop chaos from ripping the Queendoms apart?

My Review

I thought this was a strong 2nd book for the series but I didn't love it as much as the first book. I think this is because the first book (as with any series) introduces all the characters and settings, but the second book settles in a bit more. I am assuming this series will have 5 books (each named after one of the queendoms) but that doesn't seem to mean that each book will focus solely on the queendom of its title. This book is pretty equally divided between Scorpica (and their outpost in Godsbones,) Paxim, and Arca. I was expecting this book to focus more on the queendom of Arca and Eminel's powers, and while those were prominent storylines, I was expecting them to be the main storylines. I wasn't expecting so much about Scorpica again since that was the first book. There are so many fighting and battle scenes in this book that made me lose some interest. I really wanted more magic and less military! My opinion is largely based on unmet expectations so that's not really the book's fault, but mine. Overall, I enjoyed reading this and will definitely continue with the series. 

A Likely Story

  

I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: A Likely Story 

Author: Leigh McMullan Abramson 

Publisher: Atria 

Release Date: 3.14.23

Publisher’s Summary 

The only child of an iconic American novelist discovers a shocking tangle of family secrets that upends everything she thought she knew about her parents, her gilded childhood, and her own stalled writing career.

Growing up in the nineties in New York City as the only child of famous parents was both a blessing and a curse for Isabelle Manning. Her beautiful society hostess mother, Claire, and New York Times bestselling author father, Ward, were the city’s intellectual It couple. Ward’s glamorous obligations often took him away from Isabelle, but Claire made sure her childhood was always filled with magic and love.

Now an adult, all Isabelle wants is to be a successful writer like her father but after many false starts and the unexpected death of her mother, she faces her upcoming thirty-fifth birthday alone and on the verge of a breakdown. Her anxiety only skyrockets when she uncovers some shocking truths about her parents and begins wondering if everything she knew about her family was all based on an elaborate lie.

Wry, wise, and propulsive, A Likely Story is punctuated with fragments of a compulsively readable book-within-a-book about a woman determined to steal back the spotlight from a man who has cheated his way to the top. The characters seem eerily familiar but is the plot based on fact? And more importantly, who is the author?

My Review

This is another example of a book I initially passed on, gave a 2nd chance, and ended up loving. Deb @lonestarwords put it back on my radar after her review (that's been happening a lot recently.) I received a physical ARC in the mail, decided to read the first few pages to make my final decision, and proceeded to devour the entire story in a single day. 

I loved this book and felt like it was a perfect mashup of some of my other favorite books (The Plot, The Resurrection of Joan Ashby, and Who Is Maud Dixon?) I wanted to underline so many passages, especially regarding Claire and Ward's marriage. Debut author Leigh McMullan Abramson weaves infuriating details of egomaniac writer Ward's perceived superiority and his long-suffering wife's complaints and complicities into a much larger story about artistic creation and public perception. From the microcosm of a small family to the entire publishing and reading world, this book just works on so many levels.

I do have one little nagging thought about the title. Now as a Gen X music lover, I sing No Doubt's "Spiderwebs" every time I see the title, which is fun, but that song has nothing to do with the book. The phrase "A Likely Story" feels too vague. It's not catchy or strong enough. I think a better fit would have been "The Cheat." 

The God of Endings

  I received a copy of this release from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The God of Endings 

Author: Jacqueline Holland

Publisher: Flatiron 

Release Date: 3.7.23

Publisher’s Summary 

By turns suspenseful and enchanting, this breathtaking first novel weaves a story of love, family, history, and myth as seen through the eyes of one immortal woman

Collette LeSange is a lonely artist who heads an elite fine arts school for children in upstate New York. Her youthful beauty masks the dark truth of her life: she has endured centuries of turmoil and heartache in the wake of her grandfather’s long-ago decision to make her immortal like himself. Now in 1984, Collette finds her life upended by the arrival of a gifted child from a troubled home, the return of a stalking presence from her past, and her own mysteriously growing hunger.

Combining brilliant prose with breathtaking suspense, The God of Endings serves as a larger exploration of the human condition in all its complexity, asking us the most fundamental question: is life in this world a gift or a curse?

My Review

I'm seeing comparisons of this to The Invisible Life of Addie La Rue and I can see that, but beware that Addie is soft and sad, while this is sharp and dark. Yes, it is a vampire story but much more The Historian than Twilight.  Collette LeSange (the protagonist's current name) is experiencing a sudden increase in cravings. "For more than a century, I could have set a clock by my cravings, and a quart of blood every third day never failed to satisfy them. But suddenly and mysteriously, this is no longer the case." Pursued by Czernobog, the god of endings, we follow Ana/Collette across the globe, through war and persecution, landing in 1984 teaching privileged preschoolers at her private home school. As she becomes intertwined with one of the students and his mother (think A Simple Favor) her actions become more dangerous until she acknowledges what she must do to curb her increased appetite. This story unfolded in so many directions that I could see it being turned into a television series. 

At 480 pages this debut novel runs long and the nonlinear timeline confused me a few times, but I was truly invested in and enjoyed the story. No spoilers but the ending is both final and leaves the option for a sequel (or series) that I would love to read. 

Scorpica

 

Title: Scorpica (The Five Queendoms #1)

Author: G.R. Macallister 

Publisher: Saga

Release Date: 2.22.22

Publisher’s Summary 

A centuries-long peace is shattered in a matriarchal society when a decade passes without a single girl being born in this sweeping epic fantasy that’s perfect for fans of Robin Hobb and Circe.

Five hundred years of peace between queendoms shatters when girls inexplicably stop being born. As the Drought of Girls stretches across a generation, it sets off a cascade of political and personal consequences across all five queendoms of the known world, throwing long-standing alliances into disarray as each queendom begins to turn on each other—and new threats to each nation rise from within.

Uniting the stories of women from across the queendoms, this propulsive, gripping epic fantasy follows a warrior queen who must rise from childbirth bed to fight for her life and her throne, a healer in hiding desperate to protect the secret of her daughter’s explosive power, a queen whose desperation to retain control leads her to risk using the darkest magic, a near-immortal sorcerer demigod powerful enough to remake the world for her own ends—and the generation of lastborn girls, the ones born just before the Drought, who must bear the hopes and traditions of their nations if the queendoms are to survive.

My Review

This is one of those books that I anxiously anticipated and was so excited to read that I purchased it and then put it aside for the perfect "special" reading time. Devoted readers probably know where I'm going with this. Flash forward a year and I see that the second book in the series is about to release and I had still not read the first one! I started Scorpica and all other books fell to the wayside as I alternately tore through and devoured it and tried to take my time to make it last. I'm actually happy that I waited to read the first book of the series so close to the release of the second because two days after finishing Scorpica I received Arca (book 2) in the mail. I am already obsessed with this series!