March Mini-Reviews

Onward to March when I had a week off work for spring break and managed to finish seven books.

Dodging and Burning

John Copenhaver (2018 debut novel)

I discovered this novel and author through the Queries, Qualms, and Quirks podcast. As soldiers return home from WWII, twelve-year-old Ceola mourns the loss of her brother Robbie and latches onto his best friend Jay and the story of a body he found in the woods outside their sleepy Virginia town. Jay's former classmate Bunny is more skeptical and begins to unravel Jay and Robbie's secret wartime romance and its tragic end. The next two books in the series are on my TBR.

The Writing Retreat

Julia Bartz (2023 debut novel)

Alex is an aspiring author and fan of reclusive novelist Roza Vallo. Invited to a writing retreat at Vallo's isolated mansion, Alex ignores the Too Good to Be True warning signs. Even when her fellow writers begin disappearing from the house, Alex holds onto the idea that she might become Vallo's protegee. Frankly, the antagonist's schemes got too elaborate and violent for me. Without spoiling too much, there have to be easier ways for a famous author with writer's block to, you know, get a book written.

Emily Wilde's Map of the Otherlands

Heather Fawcett (2024)

In this follow up to Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries, Emily and Wendell are off on a new adventure to uncover the source of the unfriendly folk Wendell's stepmother has sent after him. Emily continues to be stubborn and methodical; Wendell continues to sleep late, charm the locals, and stumble onto answers in his Howl-like way. Third book is due early next year, and I will be reserving it.

In My Dreams I Hold a Knife

Ashley Winstead (2021 debut novel)

Another read generated by an episode of Queries, Qualms, and Quirks, this novel is The Secret History meets I Know What You Did Last Summer. Jessica, the 1st person protagonist, is half-convinced she murdered her roommate Heather ten years ago and half-convinced one of their other close friends did. Where better to solve the mystery than at their college reunion? Fast-paced & twisty: I did not guess the ending.

Good Morning, Midnight

Lily Brooks Dalton (2016 debut novel)

Augustine, an elderly misanthrope and astronomer becomes stranded at a remote Arctic research station when all the other scientists evacuate at the news of some never-explained global disaster. He ruminates on the women he's carelessly loved and left, including one who bore him a daughter. Meanwhile, Sully is one of a small crew of astronauts returning to Earth when communications cease. Scanning radio and satellite channels, Sully finds Augustine's signals. Themes of grief and loneliness pair well with the desolation of both space and the Artic.

A Gathering of Shadows

V.E. Schwab (2016, author's website still under renovation)

The second novel in this series finds Lila Bard at sea on the pirate/not-pirate ship of Alucard Emery, a disgraced aristocrat who is loved by Prince Rhy and hated by Kell. Lila, Emery, and Kell all end up back in the (Red) London for the international magic games, which Kell and Lila both enter under disguise. Meanwhile, Black London isn't as dead as Kell thought he left it.

Maame

Jessica George (2023, she doesn't have an author webpage (!), so this is an article)

Maddie is an underemployed and unappreciated publishing assistant who cares for her father as his Parkinson's disease worsens. The workplace scenes were both devastatingly uncomfortable and desperately funny. Maddie has great friends who encourage to break out of her caretaker role. She finds her own path through those conflicts, and her mother, who spends more time in Ghana than London, finally returns home when Maddie needs her most.