Layla Martinez, trans. Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott
PositiveForeword ReviewsGenerational trauma at the intersection of gender and class directs Woodworm, a captivating horror novel.
Courttia Newland
PositiveForeword Reviews... an expansive speculative novel ... The book’s methodical storytelling reveals the particularities, personality, and lore of its world ... Involving spirituality, colonization, and quantum realities, A River Called Time is an immersive speculative novel set in a dystopian city that’s facing an uprising.
Jaap Robben, tr. David Doherty
PositiveForeword ReviewsThe book’s language is precise and forthright as Brian observes, and portrays in stark terms, the intense, awkward, and lovely actions of those around him. Sharp exchanges reveal characters who are witty and earnest in equal measure. Summer Brother is a harrowing novel about dysfunctional family dynamics and the universal awkwardness of being a teenager.
Rebecca Solnit
RaveForeword ReviewsThe seven essays in Solnit’s book consist of politic-bending criticisms...that expose the inner workings of patriarchy in areas of life where it dominates most, and where meaning and happiness are most often derived: relationships and family, work and the economy, and domestic and public safety ... Solnit extrapolates...with wit to reveal how women’s credibility is often questioned. She uses language in a confident, assured manner, and even when she applies humor, her writing offers something profound[.]
Deborah Burns
PositiveForeword ReviewsMore than a memoir, Deborah Burns’s Saturday’s Child is a tribute to her mother Dotty, a powerhouse of a woman whose role in Burns’s life is conveyed in expressive prose ... Important scenes are captured in thorough, enchanting detail. Other details—such as that Burns began writing the book when she was the same age that her mother was when she died—draw clear-minded connections ... The book’s language is eloquent, and narrative techniques including cliffhangers and suspense help the story to unfurl. Dotty is a compelling character. Pertinent descriptions articulate people’s natures in few, precise words ... a memoir that recalls a difficult mother-daughter relationship; its cathartic tone is sympathetic.
Angela Readman
RaveForeword ReviewsAngela Readman’s Something like Breathing pairs nuanced observations with an atmospheric setting to tell an evocative story of growing up with a secret ... Secret love affairs, deep-seated regrets and yearnings for comfort, fears that shape the course of relationships: these are all made painfully plain to the reader, while astute Lorrie misses them even as she describes the world around her in her own words. This painstakingly rendered, gorgeous novel is pervaded by a sense of tense mystery while maintaining a close narrative distance. Something like Breathing is a skilled and beautiful portrait of a wonderful gift masked as darkness.
