RaveBooklistThis debut is a genre blend of mystery and fantasy with some amazing world building. Readers will enjoy being transported to a new world. Fans of fantasy will want to know Lin’s name.
Debbie Urbanski
RaveBooklistUrbanski’s debut imagines what the future of humanity and the planet might be ... Fans of sf, cli-fi, and apocalyptic novels will enjoy this fresh take on familiar genres.
Juno Dawson
RaveBooklistDawson, in an impressive flex, uses the rules of the fantasy genre to make a statement about people of color and LGBTQ individuals and how organizations can exclude and ignore them ... Readers who enjoy witches and watching change ripple through a culture will enjoy this series.
Matthew Lyons
PositiveBooklistThe suspense of the chase and the discovery of the entity in Nell are great plotlines, but the siblings rediscovering their relationship is what will keep readers interested.
Scott Carson
RaveBooklistCarson does not disappoint ... Nick’s own mind and the app are the bogeymen here, and Carson cleverly connects our technology with memory. Readers will be terrified by the notion that an app could control them as Clarity does Nick, but more so by the question of how much we know ourselves. Horror fans will want to keep an eye on Carson.
Stephen Graham Jones
RaveBooklist... a fever dream of a horror novella, where the reader is never quite sure what is happening or whom to trust. It is suspenseful from beginning to end as Sawyer narrates the story in an approachable and engaging way, luring the reader in even as Manny comes out of the shadows.
Andrea Hairston
PositiveBooklistHairston pulls the reader into a mythical fantasyland based on Africa, and the tone, pace, and stories within the novel speak to the folkloric tradition, reminiscent of Marlon James’ Black Leopard, Red Wolf (2019) ... Fans of Rachel Caine’s Ink and Bone (2015) and S. A. Chakraborty’s The City of Brass (2017) will enjoy this.
Alexis Henderson
RaveBooklistHorror meets fantasy in this witchy story that will appeal to readers of The Handmaid’s Tale ... Older readers will enjoy Immanuelle’s passion for knowledge about herself and her world as well as admire her fight against what is wrong about her society.
David Sosnowski
PositiveBooklistAlong with the almost satirical rendering of the world, the lovely writing, and engaging plot, the characters of George and Pandora are brilliant—fascinating, tough characters who, through their own skills, are able to bend the world to meet their needs.
Rj Barker
PositiveBooklistReaders will set sail to a world with ships made from dragons’ bones, demanding shipwives, flesh-eating sea monsters, and ever-present death in this beautifully crafted trilogy starter ... The first in the Tide Child trilogy presents a unique and memorable world—harsh and brutal and full of sharply realized, powerful female characters. Barker has managed to craft a story inspired by Moby Dick,, Game of Thrones, and pirate lore, and readers will be drawn in and fascinated.
Jeremy Finley
PositiveBooklistIt is not a stretch to see fans of Netflix’s Stranger Things or Sylvain Neuvel’s Sleeping Giants (2016) enjoying this book.
Ashok K Banker
RaveBooklistIn this rich environment, various perspectives from the vast cast of characters are used to tell this immersive story from the internationally best-selling Banker.
David Moody
PositiveBooklist\"Fans of zombie fiction and the horror genre will enjoy Moody’s world and his take on raw, all-consuming hatred destroying humanity. Readers will root for Matthew and hope for his success in the terrifying new world.\
Ausma Zehanat Khan
PositiveBooklistThe Black Khan, prince of a neighboring kingdom, is an unlikely ally for the Companions of Hira and the Silver Mage, as he is only interested in his own ends ... Khan has created a rich, well-crafted world that will appeal to readers of S.A. Chakraborty’s The City of Brass (2017) or Erika Johansen’s The Queen of the Tearling (2014).
Gene Doucette
RaveBooklist\"Sorrow Falls, Massachusetts, is an average-enough town—except for the UFO that landed there three years before ... With a dynamic character like Annie and the background of a UFO, The Spaceship Next Door is a must-read hit. Originally self-published in 2015, Doucette’s series starter deserves a wider audience.
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Jeremy C. Shipp
RaveBooklistShipp...successfully plays with the expected atmosphere of a haunted house but still presents surprises. The mystery of the haunting drives the plot and does not disappoint the reader. Any fans of haunted houses or strange families will thoroughly enjoy reading this short novel.