a rave review for THE THIRTEENTH HUSBAND from New York Journal of Books!

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Ah, I love a review, good or bad, but it is definitely possible that I might love good reviews more. I’m only human!

So I definitely enjoyed this lovely review from the New York Journal of Books.

Lots of plot detail, so beware of spoilers (from Aimee’s real life as well as the book), but here’s the upshot if you don’t want to click through:

“An outstanding depiction of Aimee Crocker's complicated real life turned into fiction.”

Full review here. Thanks, NYJB!

another great review for THE THIRTEENTH HUSBAND!

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Short post today but wanted to share this lovely review from the Historical Novel Society! I love reviews that tell you just enough about the plot to intrigue you without giving too much away. And of course I love the kicker:

This novel will appeal to those who enjoy a story with a healthy dose of mysticism, a tale of a glamorous but flawed heroine.

Read the whole review here. Thanks, HNS!

THE THIRTEENTH HUSBAND reviewed by Library Journal!

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Here’s my secret about reviews: I read them. All of them, even the ones on Goodreads. And I appreciate them, even the bad ones. Because it means someone read the book and felt strongly enough about it to share their opinion.

But do I love rave reviews better than pans? I do. And do I take trade reviews seriously? I do.

So these kind words from Library Journal put a major smile on my face!

Verdict: This would be a good addition to most libraries’ popular fiction sections and is sure to be a hit with fans of the work of Marie Benedict, Alison Pataki and Susan Meissner.

Read the full review here.

my review of Sea of Tranquility in CHIRB!

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Just a quick little link — I reviewed Emily St. John Mandel’s new novel, Sea of Tranquility, for the Chicago Review of Books. I liked a lot of it, and it bears some resemblance to her amazing Station Eleven, but it’s also:

far more focused. Station Eleven dipped into multiple characters’ points of view, following both the pandemic’s outbreak and the recovering world several decades on, and Mandel’s writing fully inhabited every character, immersing us in their particular angle on the stricken world. Sea of Tranquility keeps the multifaceted narration style, passing with ease between voices, but narrows the focus to a simpler question: What happened?

Read the full review here.

SCORPICA gets a starred review from Kirkus!

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Somehow I seem to have forgotten to mention that SCORPICA got a starred review from Kirkus. Possibly the shock of the good news knocked everything else out of my head for a bit. You can read the whole review here, and as usual, my publisher’s fabulous team has pulled out the most exciting and relevant bit to present in graphic form. Not everyone is reading my blog daily and knows all about this book, after all — we’ve got to get the word out to other readers who would love to read feminist fantasy set in a matriarchal world and just haven’t heard about SCORPICA yet!

review of Megan Abbott's THE TURNOUT up at CHIRB!

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Most of what I review these days at the Chicago Review of Books (CHIRB, for short) is historical fiction or fantasy, but every once in a while, something else comes along I can’t resist — usually a female-focused thriller or crime novel.. What I couldn’t resist this time around was the opportunity for an early peek at the new Megan Abbott novel (!) set at a ballet school (!!). And it did not disappoint!

With the entire book filtered through Dara’s point of view, as a questionable decision early in the novel spirals into an ever-worsening situation for all three of the main characters, you’re likely to read with your shoulders up around your ears, full of tension and dread. When the crime finally comes at last, it’s almost a relief.

Read my full review of THE TURNOUT here.

review of SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN up at CHIRB!

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Yesterday was a pretty big day! In addition to the cover reveal for SCORPICA going up on the interwebs, my latest review for CHIRB also went live. I raved about Shelley Parker-Chan’s SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN, “both inseparable from its real-life inspiration and wholly original.“

A sneak peek into my thoughts on Parker-Chan’s debut:

It may seem odd to keep coming back to “original” as praise for a story based on real-life events and people, but the word kept springing to mind as I read. Perhaps “imaginative” would apply just as well. She Who Became the Sun beautifully illustrates how the fantasy genre opens up to embrace anything an author can imagine—not just ghosts and goblins, but new ways of exploring and interrogating gender and identity, prejudice and violence, history and humanity.

Read the full review here.

writing about reviews at Writer Unboxed!

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Here’s this month’s Writer Unboxed post — instead of talking about how authors feel about our reviews, I thought I’d tackle whether or not authors should write reviews of other authors’ books. Obviously, since I write reviews for the Chicago Review of Books, I’ve answered that question for myself with a yes — but not everyone will make that same decision.

I talk about the guidelines, potential pitfalls, and things to think about here.