Kiley Reid has done it again! If you enjoyed Such a Fun Age, place your library hold or buy this book right now. Come & Get It is set on the college campus of the University of Arkansas. Millie is a 24 year old super senior and resident assistant in the dorm nobody wants to live in. Agatha Paul is a 38 year old visiting professor who writes unique nonfiction books that blend interviews and personal memoir. 

When Agatha Paul offers Millie an easy way to make a few bucks, Millie jumps at the chance and this launches a series of events that you will not be able to look away from. I cannot believe how quickly I read this book and how much I enjoyed it when it is, admittedly, full of college kid drama. 

This is a story worth just jumping into. You'll love and love to critique the characters- the mismatched roommates, the other RAs, Agatha's ex, they all are so vivid and dynamic. This story about race, class, money, and bad decisions is so good because in Kiley Reid's established style- she doesn't tell you what to think. Everything is up to you to interpret and nothing is black and white. I love when an author allows you to think so deeply and invites you to sit in that discomfit of morally ambiguous characters. 

So if that sounds good and you like a fun, fast paced read, you need to put this on your TBR! 

The Covenant of Water is a sprawling family saga that covers several generations of a family with a mysterious curse. In this family, at least one in a generation dies of drowning. Told in ten parts, in some ways this book reads as a series of connected novellas. There are some characters that are in multiple parts and others that are only in one. Verghese writes absolutely beautiful characters that feel like they came straight from the past, not from his imagination. I found myself connecting to someone in each part, especially after part one wrapped up by establishing the horrible family curse. 

There's so much in this massive novel that I can't do justice to in a review. I am so glad I listened to the audiobook, which is deftly read by the author. His accents and narration are incredible. As he takes us from 1900 to 1977 in India, this book is also rich with historical information that will be new to many. The medical details are impressive and also far from overwhelming. Really, I'm convinced Verghese is capable of anything. What can't he do? 

The characters from this book will live in my heart for so long. I cannot recommend this book enough if you enjoy family dramas. If you loved The Love Songs of W. E. B. Du Bois, this is absolutely a great comp. 

Anita de Monte Laughs Last is the sophomore novel by Xochitl Gonzalez. Her first novel, Olga Dies Dreaming, was one of my top reads of 2022. Anita de Monte Laughs Last is similar in themes but very different in mood and style. This book is a good fit if you like stories that explore gendered power dynamics and classism and racism in the art world, especially towards women of color. 

Told in two timelines that seem unconnected for much of the story, the reader learns about Anita de Monte's untimely death and about Raquel, a first generation Ivy League college student. Anita de Monte was a rising star in the art world married to a famous white male artist, but she tragically died in 1986. Anita was frustrated with the controlling nature of her husband and was sick of his behavior. Later in 1998, Raquel starts dating an old art student from a wealthy family and she finds herself in new social circles. As she experiences the nuanced discrimination of these circles discovers a story relevant to art history that has been swept under the rug and she starts to explore it. 

I went into this book knowing absolutely nothing about the plot and I loved it, but I did find the major style differences from Gonzalez's last book surprising. Mild spoilers:

This book is partially told from the perspective of a ghost who is able to impact the lives of the living.

Overall, I found this wickedly smart and unhinged in a way that was fun and horrible at the same time. This book tackles tough topics and there was one particular scene that made me feel almost sick- but it was important and well written. If you want a book that is entertaining and cuts to the quick of how society treats women of color, pick this up! 

Wait is an emotional novel about two sisters whose mother goes missing. I am a lover of books set on Cape Cod and Nantucket, and this hit many of the notes I expect and want when I pick one of these up. 

Set on the island of Nantucket, this story speaks to class dynamics and includes wonderful nature imagery and details. Burnham wrote so well to the divide between summer visitors and tourists and working class year-rounders. With beautiful and emotional details about plovers, an endangered species of the area, this really is a well rounded book. So to move beyond setting, this is a very character driven novel with a few key plot points but no clear climax and dénouement. The sisters, Sophie and Elise, are together again for the first time in four years since Elise has just returned from UNC Chapel Hill. There are clear rifts to repair as a result of Elise never visiting during her four years of undergrad, and when their mother does not come home for days on end the stress rises for everyone. 

Elise and Sophie spend much of their time with Sheba, the very rich heiress to the Play-Doh fortune who Elise met at UNC. Each girl has their own baggage and way of interacting with each other and the world, and that's really the meat of this book. In a short number of pages, these characters are so vivid and feel fully formed, ready to come off of the page and into the world. 

I had a wonderful time with Wait by Gabriella Burnham and I know I'll be reading her backlist. I highly recommend this one! 

Heads up: No quotation marks! However, Burnham's writing style is easy to adapt to and it becomes very clear what is spoken versus internal dialogue. 

The Resort is a multi-POV thriller set at a remote luxury resort in Thailand. Cass is a scuba instructor who enjoys her life working and living in this beautiful area famous for parties and exclusive events. When one of her students is found dead, she is sure that something is amiss. And Cass is keeping a big secret. 

The strengths of this story are the beautiful descriptions of the unique island setting. I loved the details about the close proximity of coral reefs and the scuba segments seemed impressive and well researched. I found the characters interesting enough, but I did not connect or relate to any of the young cast. 

As a technical point, I think I would have enjoyed this more as a physical read. The audiobook is voiced primarily by two female narrators who sounded fair to similar for me to effectively tell them apart. It was helpful that each chapter had a narrator heading. 

Pick this up if you want the vibes of a summer escape gone wrong with secrets and the mixed up dynamics of working class employees and the elite wealthy. 

Almost Surely Dead starts with quite the hook; someone tries to kill Dunia by pushing her onto the subway tracks. Saved by real deal New Yorkers, Dunia is further traumatized when her attacker falls onto the tracks and dies himself. 

Trying to recover from the attempt on her life, Dunia relies on her best friend Kendra and a new friend Liz. Her mostly estranged sister sends a family friend Zabir to check on Dunia as well. This unlikely crew creates further mystery as for the majority of the novel they spend time with Dunia separately and distrust each other as Dunia remains in peril. 

Told with chapters set in the past as well as a podcast transcript, we glimpse Dunia's sad childhood and the beliefs of her Pakistani family. If you can enjoy a supernatural element, this thriller is totally binge worthy and I don't want to ruin any of the surprises and reveals by saying more. I highly recommend this! 

Damani is exhausted. She drives for a ride share app to cover her part of the bills. And she is over your bullshit, to put it lightly. This novel begins with Damani driving around town waiting to pick up repeat and new clients, putting up with their nonsense and worrying about how her pay has dramatically decreased in recent months. 

Things start to move from hilarious to intriguing when Damani gives a ride to a girl that she crushes on instantly. This is pivotal to the plot and moves the story from humorous with subtle commentary on race and class to much more heavy handed. 

I thought this book was a great time and I am so impressed that the audiobook was read so amazingly by the author. I did feel that it was a little too direct with racial themes towards the end, but I also loved that. Where is the shame in being direct in calling out racism, elitism, and those who try to appear as allies while acting as anything but? 

The Centre is an unsettling book by Pakistani author, Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi. Anisa is a translator living in London after growing up in Karachi. Doing just fine for herself, Anisa develops some jealousy when she begins dating a white man who knows more languages that she can count. When he confides in her that he learned several of these languages at "The Centre," Anisa demands the information so that she can go to do the same. 

As Anisa undertakes the very secretive journey of an extended stay at The Centre, she begins to unravel a mystery. This book uses a very secretive process to comment on classism, appropriation, and how we identify. Very literary in style, this is not your typical mystery and certainly not a thriller, but it does contain some elements of those genres and of horror. 

I flew through this and loved the writing style, but I found the ending

flat and  unsatisfying. I typically love an open ending, but this one just didn't hit the mark.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon is an incredible piece of historical fiction that strays only slightly from the actual life of Martha Ballard- an incredible midwife who delivered over a thousand babies without losing a mother in childbirth in the eighteenth century. I am drawn to stories of midwives and perinatal care, so I couldn't resist this one but I was hesitant just because it is receiving so much positive attention. As we all know, sometimes expectations can make or break a reading experience. In this case, The Frozen River absolutely lived up to the praise I have been seeing for it everywhere. 

Told in traditional chapters and real (sometimes adapted) journal entries by Martha Ballard herself, this story begins with the death of a man accused of rape. Martha Ballard is called to examine the body and then later to testify to her findings. In a world ruled by men, Ballard is brave even when faced with extreme discrimination, and we follow as she seeks justice for women who have been assaulted. 

This book does have dark content so proceed with care, but it also is full of hope and the resiliency of those who carry and give life. And when you think the book just couldn't get better, Lawhon's author's note just puts it over the top. Don't miss this one if you love historical fiction and especially if you enjoy stories of brave women.