Category: Book Reviews

Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

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Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Complex feelings on Ava Reid’s LADY MACBETH. I don’t think I can rate it fairly, nor do I think anyone with a longstanding relationship to the original play and titular character could. Best to know the story is Macbeth-inspired rather than a true retelling. The departures from the original story and Lady are many. There were lots of things I hoped this book would be, and instead it was something entirely of its own, which interestingly enough is one of the major themes of the novel–the difference between truth and expectation of identity. It really leaves me wondering if this was the same exact book but with different character names if I would have had a different experience.

Many beautiful and evocative moments in the story. I have a deep respect for anyone who attempts to make something new out of Shakespeare–it’s bold and it’s risky. The atmosphere created had gorgeous intensity. I just couldn’t snap out of my own desire to keep looking for Lady Macbeth. The more time I spent with Roscille, the more I just kept thinking, “that’s not her.” But I do think Roscille’s story has merits of its own.



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All Men Are Mortal by Simone de Beauvoir

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All Men Are Mortal by Simone de Beauvoir

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Why have an existential crisis when you can read one instead?! ALL MEN ARE MORTAL is an Existentialist manifesto in the form of a centuries-spanning epic, narrated primarily by Fosca, an immortal man born in the 1200s who is now trying to begin yet another new life in 1900s Paris. The story is at turns chilling, gorgeous, infuriating, passionate, problematic, and profound. Existentialist philosophy argues that every human individual forges their own life’s meaning and value through their freely-chosen actions in the face of certain death and despite the incomprehensible nature of the universe. But without the threat of death, could life have meaning at all? Fosca struggles to answer this question through countless regimes, lovers, bloodlines, landscapes, wars, and ambitions, all the while increasingly mourning the inevitable loss of his humanity. Incredibly thought-provoking.



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Black Tide Son by H.M. Long

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Black Tide Son by H.M. Long

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


BLACK TIDE SON is the second installment in H.M. Long’s pirate fantasy trilogy. This book expands the rich universe of the Winter Sea with more cultures, more monsters, and an unraveling knot of forces at the core of a swiftly intensifying war. It’s a constant chase, careening through alleys, waterways, and levels of reality as the core characters all seek their own forms of redemption amid the swelling supernatural power of the Black Tide. A very fun read!



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Book Review: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

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Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


My first time reading this classic. Opulent, stirring, gothic, richly romantic, incredibly dramatic, and tense with emotion, JANE EYRE has captured at least one more heart. Passion over pragmatism reigns here, but also a fierce case for devoted love on equal ground, where both partners are intellectually engaged, free, and can speak openly. (After all the secrets get spilled, that is.)



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Book Review: The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

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The Crane Husband by Kelly Barnhill

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I read THE CRANE HUSBAND by Kelly Barnhill in one long, breathless go. A dark fairytale for the past, present, and future, this novella is earnest in a way that makes it feel immediate. The world she creates has fantastical rules, but feels lived-in and inevitable. A stunner.



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Book Review: Model Home by Rivers Solomon

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Model Home by Rivers Solomon

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Horror is done so incredibly right in MODEL HOME by Rivers Solomon. Uncanny, frighteningly heavy, intimately empathetic, and viscerally terrifying in about fifteen different ways, this novel feels unescapable in a way that only a masterful writer like Solomon could achieve. MODEL HOME is equal parts haunted house hell, seething social commentary, psychological thriller, and warning sign.



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Book Review: I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

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I Cheerfully Refuse by Leif Enger

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One for the Great Lakes Gothic shelf! I CHEERFULLY REFUSE by Leif Enger spins a tale that imagines how our world might disintegrate or regenerate in the years just beyond our own horizon. The characters in this book are recognizable, for their flaws, their oversights, their confusions and convictions. Culture and circumstances change quickly, but perhaps people don’t, and in that reality lies a balancing act for morality when the chips are down. Enger’s book celebrates the stubborn and trusts Lake Superior as a rarely forgiving (but always honest) setting on which to prove oneself. An entrancing sail through the dark.



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Book Review: There’s Always This Year by Hanif Abdurraqib

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There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension by Hanif Abdurraqib

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Listen, there are only so many books out there that hit the very specific cross-section of devoted NBA fandom, the cravings of a poet, a fierce loyalty to the cities of the American midwest that largely get counted out, a need for sad songs, and an open-armed love for the world. THERE’S ALWAYS THIS YEAR feels like meeting someone for the first time, who you see wearing a jersey from your favorite team and after a short affirming word somehow ends up accompanying you into the night as you whisper stories about your lives and suddenly see the future with fresh eyes. Left me in tears, which is my highest praise.



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Book Review: Monsters We Have Made by Lindsay Starck

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Monsters We Have Made by Lindsay Starck

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Graceful literary writing pervades Lindsay Starck’s monster story MONSTERS WE HAVE MADE. Part horror, part psychological thriller, this novel layers fact, fiction, and figment together into nuanced character study and a riveting pursuit for the truth.

P.s. Always excited to read a midwest author!



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