The Fair Folk, Su Bristow (Europa Editions 979-8-889-66012-5, $18.00, tpb, 464pp) January 2024.

In her gorgeous new historical fantasy, The Fair Folk, author Su Bristow crafts the story of a particularly complex interaction between mortals and faeries. Opening in 1959, the novel follows the shifting relationship between then-eight-year-old Felicity and Elfrida, the apparent queen of a long-established fairy group ensconced in the woods near her home. At first, the ...Read More

Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind, Molly Mc­Ghee (Astra House 978-1662602115, $24.95, hc, 304pp) October 2023.

On the fourth page of Molly McGhee’s debut novel, the titular character Jonathan Abernathy is described as a young man drowning in financial debts. They primarily include ‘‘(1) a series of unpaid credit cards inherited after the death of his parents’’ and ‘‘(2) the legal culminations of the decisions he made as a 17-year-old ...Read More

Midnight at the Houdini, Delilah S. Dawson (Delacorte 978-0593486795, $18.99, hc, 357pp) September 2023. Cover by Aurelie Maron.

Initially, Delilah S. Dawson’s Midnight at the Houdini is all about 16-year-old Anna Alonso’s very stressed-out day. Her beloved older sister is getting married, and because no one else in her family seems to worry about details to the degree that Anna does, she has organized the whole thing. While checking ...Read More

Threads That Bind, Kika Hatzopoulou (Razor­bill 978-0-593-52871-6, $19.99, hc, 341pp) May 2023. Cover by Corey Brickley.

Kika Hatzopoulou’s Threads That Bind is a mystery, heavily steeped in mythology, set in the marvelously complicated half-sunken city of Alante. Along with her two older sisters, teen Io Ora is a descendant of the Fates who now uses her abilities to aid her work as a private detective. Early in the novel ...Read More

The Shadow Sister, Lily Meade (Sourcebooks Fire 978-1-7282-6447-9, $18.99, hc, 336pp) June 2023. Cover by Shaylin Wallace.

When did Lily Meade’s The Shadow Sister grab my attention? With the first sentence, which sets the tone for everything that follows: ‘‘My sister is a bitch, but that doesn’t mean I want her dead.’’ Sutton is missing, and Casey, of course, wants her found. No sister would want any different, no ...Read More

Into the Light, Mark Oshiro (Tor Teen 978-1-250-81225-5, $19.99, hc, 437pp) March 2023. Cover by Carolina Rodriguez Fuenmayor.

Mark Oshiro masterfully takes on an enor­mously important topic with his com­pelling, realistic, horrific novel, Into the Light. In a narrative framed by three different timelines and told from two teen perspectives, Oshiro takes readers into the dangerous world of religious fundamentalism and conversion therapy. The primary protagonist, Manny, is ...Read More

Dream to Me, Megan Paasch (Feiwel & Friends 978-1-250-81705-1, $18.99, 384pp, tp, hc) January 2023.

For half-sisters Eva and Rhonda Sylvan in Megan Paasch’s Dream to Me, life has recently taken a terrible turn. Their mother long gone and Eva’s father just killed in an accident, Rhonda has assumed guardianship of teen Eva, although she is barely equipped for the task. Forced by finances to leave their New ...Read More

The Wicked Remain, Laura Pohl (Source­books Fire 978-1-7282-2890-7, $10.99, tp, 462 pp) September 2022. Cover by Ray Shappell.

Laura Pohl finishes off her Grimrose Girls duology with The Wicked Remain and there is a lot, A LOT, to absorb in this 450+ page read. Picking up soon after the events of The Grimrose Girls, our four heroines are reeling from the discovery in that book that they are ...Read More

Even Though I Knew the End, C.L. Polk (Tor­dotcom 978-1-2508-4945-8, $19.99, hc, 144pp) November 2022.

Oh. My. God. If you are a fan of noir, if you love a dark crime mystery with a supernatural twist, if complicated family dynamics are a favorite addition to your drama reading experience, and if romance – solid, true, emotionally intense relationship-py romance – makes you happy, then you must read C.L. Polk’s ...Read More

The Atlas Paradox, Olivie Blake (Tor 978-1-250-85509-1, $27.99, hc, 416pp) October 2022. Cover by Jamie Stafford-Hill.

Blake returned in October with the latest installment in The Atlas series, The Atlas Para­dox, and quickly tossed readers into more intrigue with the Society of Alexandrians and the drama surrounding its newest members. Fans of the first book, The Atlas Six, will be well aware of the major twist and ...Read More

The Other Side of Night, Adam Hamdy (Atria Books 978-1-9821-9618-9, $27.00, hc, 282pp) September 2022. Cover by Jim Tierney.

For much of his complex and thoughtful book, Adam Hamdy’s The Other Side of Night presents as a tightly crafted crime novel. There is a child possibly in peril, a dogged former cop who lost her job despite being very good at it, two murders (maybe), and many red herrings. ...Read More

These Fleeting Shadows, Kate Alice Marshall (Viking Books for Young Readers 978-0-593-40511-6, $18.99, 357pp, hc) August 2022.

These Fleeting Shadows is described by the publisher as ‘‘The Haunting of Hill House meets Knives Out,’’ which is certainly apt but really nowhere close to what this creepy novel with its unforeseeable plot twists and complex characters is all about. Yes, the house is haunted, and yes, the family ...Read More

Before Takeoff, Adi Alsaid (Knopf 978-0-593-37576-1, $18.99, 336pp, hc) June 2022.

Adi Alsaid’s Before Takeoff takes place during one long, bizarre, somewhat terrifying, delay-filled day in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Interna­tional Airport. James and Michelle are waiting for separate flights home with their parents, wandering around, killing time, when the airport goes dark, everyone becomes trapped, and a series of bizarre occurrences hit the concourses. It’s snowing in one place, growing ...Read More

A River Enchanted, Rebecca Ross (Harper Voyager 978-1-250-81107-3, $27.99, hc, 480pp) February 2022.

In Rebecca Ross’s enthralling mystery/fan­tasy/drama/romance, A River Enchanted, Jack Tamerlaine is called home to the island of Cadence for reasons he does not understand. Steeped in the magic of the spirits who reside on the land and in the water surrounding the is­land, Cadence is also in the midst of a long-term conflict between the ...Read More

The Temperature of Me and You, Brian Zepka (Disney-Hyperion 978-1-36806-471-2, $17.99, hc, 416 pp) January 2022.

Author Brian Zepka set out to blend a sweet romance with high school drama and a major science fiction twist in The Temperature of Me and You, a novel involving the teen victim of a lab accident/experiment that has left him literally burning from the inside out. I’ll be honest; I’m a ...Read More