Book Review: Pachinko by Min Jin Lee

By Carmen Lebar

Content warning: racism, death, suicide, physical violence, sexism

Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko is a generational novel set in Korea and Japan during the 1900s and follows the life of Sunja and her family  over four generations. Sunja is a young girl who works with her family at her home where they lodge fishermen. During this time, she falls in love with a wealthy man and becomes pregnant. When she finds out he’s married, she is convinced by her parents to marry a minister who is staying at their lodge on his way to Japan. Unbeknownst to Sunja, her decision will have consequences for the generations after her. Pachinko excels in its storytelling, expertly weaving the connections of all its characters to the real-life happenings in Korea and Japan in the 20th century.

Sunja’s story begins with a decision. After falling in love with the wealthy Koh Hansu and becoming pregnant with his child, she eventually decides to marry the dutiful minister Baek Isak, whom she cared for when he was dealing with tuberculosis. Her decision ultimately changes the fate of her children and everyone else connected to her. As the novel depicts the changing political and social climate of Korea and Japan, it reveals how the characters are viewed in society. This interconnectivity is brilliantly written by Lee, showcasing how personal decisions can affect how one is perceived in society, and how these decisions don’t only affect the person making them. I particularly enjoyed reading about the differences between Sunja’s children—Noa and Mozasu—and how they navigate growing up and finding a place in society differently based on their mother’s decision.

With Sunja’s choice made, she moves to Osaka with Isak to live with his brother and sister-in-law. They have to work hard to survive as their passage into Japan is wrought with uncertainty, but Sunja and her sister-in-law, Kyunghee, do whatever it takes to keep their family afloat. Many hardships and dangers await the family, and it’s through the dedication of these women that many of these hardships and danges are avoided.

In this novel, Lee writes about women in a nuanced way. They have their faults but ultimately show integrity, resourcefulness, and loyalty. It was pleasant to see such complex female characters and the determination they had to help their loved ones in any way they could. Lee depicts women as more than just mothers or caregivers but as people with an amalgamation of motivations and desires.

Pachinko is a modern-day historical classic. The novel takes the reader on a journey through Sunja’s life, but also the historical, political, and social changes that were occurring in Japan and Korea in the 20th century. Lee is artful with her writing, creating vivid imagery, and haunting plotlines. Although the novel is nearly 500 pages long, it sweeps you away in its storytelling, making it a fast and engrossing read. I would recommend Pachinko to historical fiction lovers, and readers who love reading generational novels. It’s an excellent novel depicting important moments in history, and one that will be on modern-day classic reading lists in the near future. Pachinko is a novel I’ll never forget, and I’m confident Sunja’s story will captivate readers in the years to come.

Book Review: Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron

By Sara Hailstone

Farah Heron presents her rendition of Jane Austen’s Emma with her book Kamila Knows Best. Kamila Hussain is just like Emma Woodhouse in that she plays matchmaker with members of her social circle and is connected to a wealthy clique in Toronto’s modern boroughs. As an accountant with her father’s firm, she also cares for her ailing father and is known within her society for throwing elaborate and detailed theme parties. She is the total package: with good looks and an impeccable wardrobe, she is admired and perseveres through the stereotypes of her career, offering cutting-edge and fresh takes on getting a feminine foothold against the current of an overwhelmingly masculine industry. She is whole in person and is not looking for marriage.

Heron slowly teases out a romantic arc for Kamila, but her character strives for more in a world that, despite its contemporary setting, still limits expectations of women. Kamila asserts her desire to take over her father’s company upon his retirement. In a narrative flushing out childhood issues, Kamila Knows Best is a vibrant coming-of-age story of a woman from a South Asian Toronto community.

Inspired by Jane Austen, Farah Heron has carved out her own style of romantic comedies depicting families from South Asian communities. Her debut novel, The Chai Factor, was widely praised, as was its follow up, Accidentally Engaged. Her debut young adult novel, Tahira in Bloom, was deemed the best rom-com of the year by USA Today. Heron’s narrative style stands out as an entry for readers into lives of art, food, family, and love.

In painting the world of a charismatic woman enmeshed in vibrant settings, with Kamila’s lush Bollywood-themed parties and exquisite interior design, Heron offers us entry into this world through food. During the pre-planning of her Bollywood movie night, the reader follows Kamila into a train-of-thought of menu decisions and witnesses the handmade preparations of appetizers. (She has chosen chili-paneer kebobs and vegetable momo dumplings with chili-ginger chutney.) When Kamila struggles with making cooking mishaps, Rohan, her endearing family friend, steps in and saves the day. Their teamwork results in a scrumptious party and a growing romance between the pair. At the end of the novel, Heron lists the full recipes of the dishes presented in the text. Readers can try out the food in the book, a unique inclusion that further allows intimacy.

Overall, the parallel that Heron draws between Emma Woodhouse and Kamila Hussain transforms this first impression rom-com into a text of necessity within a Canadian canon in giving voice and representation to South Asian communities. Firstly, Kamila thrives within a family dynamic of being taken care of while caregiving for her father. But, if autonomous, Kamila would flourish on her own. Her personality is not confined to construct. Kamila is independent in social orientations and career. She also does not exhibit fluency within the feminine domestic domain only but transgresses gender expectations by being a successful accountant. She is not looking for marriage and love to fulfill her being, but it comes to her nonetheless.

Thank you to Farah Heron and Hachette Book Group for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

Book Review: What My Bones Know by Stephanie Foo

By Meagan Stockwell

Stephanie Foo’s What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma is a powerful and deeply personal account of her journey towards healing from childhood trauma. The book offers an intimate glimpse into the author’s struggles with anxiety, depression, and complex post-traumatic stress disorder (CPTSD), and acts as a guide for others navigating the world of CPTSD.

One of the strengths of the book is its honesty and vulnerability. Foo doesn’t shy away from discussing the darkest aspects of her trauma, including physical abuse and neglect. She also candidly describes the ways in which her trauma has affected her relationships, career, and sense of self-worth. By sharing her story with such candour, Foo invites readers to reflect on their own experiences with trauma and to consider the ways in which they might also be struggling with the lasting effects of past wounds.

Another strength of the book is its emphasis on the importance of somatic healing. Foo writes about the ways in which trauma can become “stuck” in the body, leading to chronic pain, tension, and other physical symptoms. She also describes the various somatic practices that she has found helpful in releasing this trauma, such as yoga, dance, and meditation. Foo’s book leads others to discover a new sense of connection to their bodies and a deeper understanding of the ways in which our physical sensations are linked to our emotional and mental states.

The book is also notable for its nuanced approach to healing. Foo acknowledges that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to trauma and that each person’s journey towards healing will be unique. Foo set out to write the CPTSD book she didn’t have when she was first diagnosed. She emphasizes the importance of finding a therapist or healing modality that resonates with one’s individual needs and values, and she also acknowledges that healing is an ongoing process that may never be fully complete. This nuanced approach to healing is refreshing and empowering, as it encourages readers to take ownership of their own healing journeys and to seek out the support and resources that will best serve them.

Overall, What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma is a compelling and thought-provoking read that offers valuable insights into the often messy process of healing from trauma. Through her personal story, Foo inspires readers to confront their own traumas and to take the necessary steps towards healing and growth. The book is a testament to the power of vulnerability, self-reflection, and the human capacity for resilience and transformation.

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Vera Wong's Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto

By Meghan Mazzaferro

Content warning: toxic relationships, bullying, death, emotional abuse, panic attacks/disorders, violence, cursing, domestic abuse

Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers follows Vera, an older woman whose vigorous routines and diligent internet snooping keep her young at heart—though neither her son nor her potential customers seem interested in that. With so little to keep her superior mind occupied, who can blame Vera when, after finding a dead body in her tea shop, she decides to steal a little bit of evidence and investigate the murder herself? The police think it was an accident, but Vera knows that if she just waits long enough, the guilty party will show up and make her a hero. Unfortunately, not one but four young people with their own motives and ties to the dead man turn up in Vera’s shop. Now it's up to Vera to uncover the truth even as her snooping brings all her suspects together in a way that just might be exactly what they all need.

This book is both hilarious (which I was expecting) and very heartwarming (which I was not). I knew that Jesse Q. Sutanto could pull off the humour of writing a meddling mother while still creating a well-rounded and loveable character, and Vera is exactly that. She is outrageous and arrogant while also being smart, caring, and so full of love—and all of that makes her delightful to follow. What I did not expect was for Sutanto to also introduce four complicated characters with their own traumas and have this group help heal each other in a really beautiful way. The book is split between Vera’s point of view and the perspectives of each of her four suspects, which really elevated the story. Each POV has their own individual arcs and connections to the mystery, and they each grow and provide something for the others, culminating in a found family that I did not know I needed in my life.

The actual mystery was really interesting.  It took a lot of twists and turns that I did not expect while still giving enough hints and clues to solve the mystery along with Vera. Vera’s snooping and aggressive motherly interrogations divulge in equal parts real, important clues as well as ridiculous theories that had me giggling while still providing helpful character insights. The pacing of the mystery may unfold a little bit inconsistently but that makes sense for the plot of this story, and I was never bored.

This book had me laughing constantly, and while I was worried that I would end up laughing at Vera, this book never feels malicious. Yes, you definitely do laugh at her as she can be a bit ridiculous at times and while the book pokes fun at her, she has so much heart that you fall in love with her and her ridiculousness.  The other characters in this book all fear and want to please her in equal parts, which helps this book feel like it is gently teasing rather than outright mocking. I’m just so pleasantly surprised by how this book blended comedy with real emotional connection, with each character feeling grounded and real in a way that makes you miss them once the book is over.

If you’re looking for a funny mystery full of complex, loveable characters with a heartwarming found family and so many descriptions of food that will have your mouth watering, I would highly recommend this book. I picked it up when I needed something light and fun, and it made me laugh and cry and fall in love with these characters. I had a great time with it.

Thank you, Penguin Random House Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Healing Through Words by Rupi Kaur

By Kaylie Seed

Rupi Kaur is an extremely well-known poet. She has written a number of poetry collections and continues to be a favourite among poetry lovers around the world. In September 2022 Kaur published Healing Through Words, a collection of guided writing exercises meant to get you writing while also diving deep into your personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences. This guided tour is meant to be a journey back to oneself and a mindful exploration through writing. Part self-help experience, part writing exercise collection, Healing Through Words is meant to evoke creativity and a genuine sense of healing.

There are a number of themes that are explored throughout the book and a lot of them push writers to really dig deep and come face-to-face with topics that can be uncomfortable. Kaur notes that if any topic feels like too much or if the writer is not ready to address certain aspects of their life, experiences, or self, they can skip portions of the exercises. While writers are encouraged to explore trauma, loss, heartache, love, family, healing, and celebration of the self, Kaur also reminds writers to first take care of themselves and take breaks as needed or omit sections altogether and return to them if and when the writer feels comfortable to do so.

I personally love to both read and write poetry, so having the opportunity to work through these exercises was cathartic and helped to reignite my love of writing in general. Kaur put a lot of thought and care into the exercises that she created for Healing Through Words and what is so lovely is that you can continue to go back to these exercises whenever you are in need of some inspiration or really feel like digging into the uncomfortable parts of yourself. I recommend Healing Through Words not only to writers, but to those who are looking to know themselves better or address things in their life through writing.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Perfumist of Paris by Alka Joshi

By Christina McLaurine

The final book of Alka Joshi’s Jaipur Trilogy, The Perfumist of Paris is a story of scent, memories, and secrets. In this novel, the reader follows Radha in 1974, and the spirited teenager we meet in The Henna Artist, has blossomed into a bright and vibrant woman. Living in Paris, Radha is trying to balance being a wife, and mother and her budding career as a lab assistant at a perfume house. In search of inspiration and materials for her first solo project, her first business trip takes her back home to India. While there, she learns that Nikki, the child she gave up at the age of thirteen, is on his way to Paris to find her. The secrets of Radha’s past are catching up to her and as they do, they threaten the stability of the family she’s created and the future she’s been working towards.

Nothing pulls a memory from the recesses of the mind like scents. They transport us back in time as they unlock memories of parents, lovers, heartbreak, and delight. Some readers might find Joshi’s descriptions of perfume synthesis and scent production uninteresting but they paint a vivid picture of the detail and refinement the process entails. The way Joshi uses scent to coax out memories from the characters’ past is sure to have readers reminiscing about the scents of their lives.

Unlike the first two books in the series, The Perfumist of Paris doesn’t alternate points of view. All four parts of the novel are told solely from Radah’s point of view. The first half of the book is slower paced as it’s more character-driven. The second half of the novel is plot-driven and as such is faster paced. The Perfumist of Paris is a wonderful finale to this exciting trilogy. Readers are reacquainted with characters from the first novel and left satiated as the loose ends are tied up and there are no questions left unanswered. Turning the last page of this book will have readers wanting to return to The Henna Artist to restart their journey with these enchanting characters.

Thank you, HarperCollins, for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Grievers by adrienne maree brown

By Lindsay Hobbs

Content warning: death, illness, hospitalization, racism

Grievers is a quiet story with deep, unsettling roots. It is at once an astute portrayal of grief and loss, an invitation to engage with ideas of death and renewal, and a love song to the Black communities of Detroit.

When we meet our protagonist Dune, she is struggling to heft her mother’s body, heavy in death, into their backyard. She has built a makeshift pyre and sits vigil over her mother’s cremation. Here begins the story, which then weaves back and forth in time, showing us in lovely and precise language all the details that have led up to this moment and then moving beyond. 

Dune’s mother Kama is patient zero of a sickness that will eventually be labelled Syndrome H-8. It hits people out of nowhere, stopping them abruptly in the middle of their lives, rendering them conscious but nonresponsive, with expressions that look like extreme grief on their faces. No one recovers from H-8.  

“There was a deeper stillness, a giving up way down in the nervous system. The look on the faces of the sick was usually somewhere between horror and immense longing, the way the word ‘why’ looks when something precious and irreplaceable dies.”

The city grapples with what is happening slowly and clumsily. In a scenario that will feel familiar to us, there are attempts at curfews, masking, social distancing, and enforcement by police. How H-8 is transmitted remains a mystery, and conspiracy theories vie with unsuccessful attempts at research. What is apparent to everyone is that H-8 strikes only Black people.

Dune’s story follows her through the stages of her grief, starting with acute inertia and despair, moving through her efforts to remain connected to her family members via the books and projects they left behind, and finally, on to her growing commitment to document the sick when she finds them in the streets and their abandoned houses. Her own survival is braided into these processes as she learns to follow the rhythms of the seasons, to forage and identify and preserve food, and to move through the empty streets with purpose. These every day and homey aspects of the novel are soothing to read, much as they must have been soothing to Dune to enact.

But as tempting as it is to stay cocooned inside, it is not truly an option. H-8 is steadily ravaging Dune’s city and community. Grief, it seems, is the key to this syndrome. Although there are no explicitly stated resolutions to the questions of what and why, in the novel, it seems clear that H-8 is a sort of manifestation of the injustice, and at times, the sorrow of being a Black American.

“‘Black people. H-8 takes Black people out of ourselves. To…grieve?’
They stood together, quiet, feeling the tender logic in the mystery. Of course Black people were dying of grief.”

Yes, there is a tender logic to this. Anyone who has been paying even the smallest amount of attention to the world can see that. With this novel, author adrienne maree brown, activist and writer-in-residence of the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute, takes the reader by the shoulders and gently shakes them. The victims of H-8 may not wake up, but we, the readers, still can.

Dune comes from a lineage of women and men in the social justice movement, and it is in this context that we see her home city of Detroit. Understanding the legacies of work that marginalized communities have always done is crucial to reading this story. Fighting oppression and dispossession is work layered with heartbreak, and within Kama, there had always been a necessary core of rage that Dune herself shied away from. Despite being raised in a socially conscious home, she spent a lifetime tucking herself away from her family’s passions. Dune’s grief is now complicated not only by regrets but also by a realization that with her mother gone, so too is a certain tether to life.

Left almost entirely alone in a city that is becoming more and more ghostly, Dune must figure out how to tether herself to life. Her project thus becomes the documentation of the sick and of their pain, and a dogged, steadfast commitment to others that doesn’t waver—even when that commitment means changing soiled adult diapers, cremating family in the backyard, or tucking loved ones who have been taken by H-8 into their beds so they will have some small comfort in their coming deaths. Dune opens herself fully to grief, and her strength grows daily. 

Grievers asks hard questions and doesn’t provide any pat answers. It invites us in to this discussion to reflect on how the past informs the present, how trauma can be witnessed and honoured, what can be done to address injustice in the face of such power imbalance, and under what circumstances life can re-emerge and possibly even thrive. It is not an easy read, but it is one that is worth every second.

Thank you to AK Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

By Meghan Mazzaferro

Content warnings: sexual violence, misogyny, rape, sexual assault, suicide, child abuse, child trafficking, toxic relationships, death of a parent

The Wild Ones is a lyrical story following a group of girls who call themselves the Wild Ones. Many years ago, Paheli, the first Wild One, was betrayed by her mother.  After escaping the man she was sold to, she met a boy with stars in his eyes who tossed her a box of stars and disappeared. The stars give Paheli access to the Between and unlock a hidden world of magic layered over her own. Paheli uses the stars to help other girls like her, and together they use the Between to travel the world and work through their traumas. When the boy with stars in his eyes reappears, the Wild Ones will need to fight to protect his freedom and their own.

This book is beautifully written, with a lyrical voice and several different points of view. The majority of the chapters are told from the collective perspective of the Wild Ones. By using we instead of I or they, this book invites the reader to become one of the Wild Ones and speaks directly to the reader about the universal dangers girls and women face. There are also chapters from Paheli’s point of view that give us insight into the mind of the first Wild One, a girl who has tasked herself with protecting as many people as she can while struggling to let any of them close, as well as pages with poetry that capture the experiences of each of the Wild Ones.

The book deals with heavy subject matter and has a plot steeped with overcoming abuse and reclaiming your body and sense of self, as well as exploring class differences and the pressures from different cultures on girls.

It is also full of magic, beautiful descriptions of different cities around the world, and a sisterhood of girls who protect and provide for each other. The story moves slowly, but the lyrical and unique writing style is really beautiful and helped keep me engaged. I did find the magic system a bit confusing, and this was not a book I could read super quickly, but every time I picked it up, I connected with the story again and was very emotionally invested in the characters and their journey.

The relationship between Paheli and Taraana, the boy with stars in his eyes, is particularly compelling and complex. I also loved the relationships between the Wild Ones,  the ways they support each other, and the ways they connect with Taraana. The book doesn’t shy away from the traumas each of these girls has experienced, but it also puts power back in their hands and shows them embracing safety, comfort, and community as they walk together through cities they know and love, eat and laugh together, and keep each other safe when threats emerge.

The plot of the book is interesting but definitely takes a backseat to the atmosphere and character work that happens in this story. I did enjoy the plot, but the main reason I picked the book up every day was because of the characters and the writing style, which I found to be impactful.

If you’re a fan of lyrical and uniquely written, character-driven, feminist stories that examine trauma and are full of girls who embrace their wildness and are willing to fight for their freedom, I would suggest checking this one out. It’s slow, but very impactful and vastly different from anything else I’ve ever read.

Thank you, Simon and Schuster Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: VenCo by Cherie Dimaline

By Larissa Page

Cherie Dimaline has made a name for herself writing gritty, genre-bending stories, from the dystopian world in The Marrow Thieves and Hunting by Stars to the modern retelling of traditional Métis story in Empire of Wild. With VenCo, Dimaline tries her hand at something a little different than before: witches.

A coven must be formed, using enchanted spoons found by women who become members. Time is not on their side and an ancient enemy is at their door. When Lucky St. James finds a spoon in a very odd place, she gets pulled into a different world, and has days to complete an important task. She, with the support of the rest of the coven, must find the final witch to complete the circle.

There is no doubt that Cherie Dimaline is a skilled storyteller. Her writing is engaging and accessible, and her characters are both damaged and loveable. The relationships she writes are what kept me going through this book. Lucky and Stella are stars, Meena and Wendy are heart, and the rest of the coven is so important, too. I do wish I had gotten more from the rest of the coven. While we are given peeks into the lives of Freya, Morticia, and Lettie from before they found their spoons, I wanted more. I wanted more of their histories, but I wanted more of them from their place within the coven as well. I felt particularly drawn into the story of Lettie, only to be left wanting to know her better.

I did feel the world of magic in this story was underexplored. I found it so interesting that I wanted more details. I will be happy to have those details in another book (like a sequel, or even more stories on each of the characters), but I felt left wanting to know what each character’s magic did and how it worked. What is this coven, once formed, meant to accomplish in more concrete terms? I also wanted to have a better understanding of VenCo or perhaps other covens from around the world. The world of magic Dimaline has created is potentially very interesting and intricate and I want to know more about it, especially with the secondary levels of magic that support witches.

This story features road trip-style adventure, a really solid grandmother-granddaughter relationship, solid smash-the-patriarchy themes, and a new world of magic to be introduced to. For lovers of witchy reads, this one does provide, with room to speculate. You’ll love it in particular if you love feisty, unconventional, no-nonsense grandmothers.

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: God Isn't Here Today by Francine Cunningham

By Shantell Powell

Content warning: suicide, substance abuse, self-harm, sexual harassment

Francine Cunningham is an award-winning poet and author. She is the winner of the 2019 Indigenous Voices Award and Grain Magazine’s 2018 Short Forms Fiction contest. God Isn’t Here Today is her debut collection of short fiction, and it delves into the speculative realms, frequently dipping into horror with a dark literary touch. It has been longlisted for the 2023 Carol Shields Prize.

Each of the stories is quite different from the other, but many are connected by themes of death and transformation and a fragrant throughline of lemon and lavender. The death of a barman brings life to others. A hunting expedition becomes a death sentence. A dead artist becomes an artistic medium full of love. A meet-cute in a porn shop turns ugly. A pleasure ghost gets a new assignment. The stories contain a distinct viscerality: hemoglobin and skin grafts, fantasies of rough sex and bondage, ice cream melting down forearms, and a DIY trepanation.

The stand-out stories for me include the eponymous story, a surreal tale of a young man seeking audience with God in an unoccupied office. Instead of finding God, he finds other people seeking God. It reminds me a bit of Waiting for Godot by way of Kafka’s The Metamorphosis.

I also enjoyed “Spectre Sex,” which imagines ghosts as working stiffs. The protagonist of this story is a sex worker who enjoys his job about as much as someone working in a dead-end cubicle farm enjoys theirs.

“Glitter Like Herpes” gives me a John Waters vibe. Michelle is an aging stripper who makes ends meet by stealing used panties from the other workers and selling them on the dark web. The seedy setting, the betrayal, and the climactic cat fight make me imagine this story acted out by Mink Stole and Divine.

“Mickey’s Bar” follows a deceased barman’s body parts as they bring parts of his personality into their organ recipients, and in return, their memories join with his.

Cunningham experiments with form in this collection. Some pieces are classic short stories, some are free verse, and some are hybrid works, such as “Thirteen Steps” which marches across the pages in paired columns of thirteen paragraphs. Cunningham has provided a musical playlist to accompany the stories in this collection, and the songs sing out the themes of each tale. https://www.francinecunningham.ca/post/god-isn-t-here-today-the-playlist

God Isn’t Here Today may appeal to fans of Joshua Whitehead, Chuck Palahniuk, and the trash cinema of John Waters.

Thank you, Invisible Publishing, for a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

By Meghan Mazzaferro

Content warning: body horror, death, child death, sexual assault (off page), childhood sexual assault (off page), child abuse, emotional abuse, animal death, torture

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury follows two Black girls separated by ten years as they try to discover the secrets of a dark house in Northern Canada. Daisy has always felt trapped by her mother and her life, so when they finally get the chance for stability in the form of a house given to them by a mysterious relative, Daisy hopes this can mean a fresh start for her mother and a chance at freedom for herself. But there is something wrong with the house, something connected to the ghosts Daisy has seen her whole life, and to the past her mother has kept secret from her.

Ten years later, Brittney is desperate to bring justice to forgotten Black girls, starting with the girl who died in the house. She will stop at nothing to unravel Daisy’s story, even as the things she uncovers connect painfully to her own past and relationship with her own mother.

While I like a good paranormal story as much as the next person, I am an absolute coward and not great at horror or psychological thrillers. When I read the concept of this book I was intrigued but scared to read something outside of my comfort zone, but I am so glad I pushed myself because once I started this book it was impossible to put down. This book has so many secrets, so many twists and turns and people hiding things, and I absolutely had to get to the bottom of it.

The writing style is tense and eerie, and the plot unfolds slowly while revealing just enough in each chapter to make the reader uneasy and desperate for more crumbs of information. The balance of paranormal happenings with psychological and real-world threats was really well done, and the way the story explored the dangers of both supernatural and human evil was riveting.

Both Daisy and Brittney are wonderful characters, flawed and complex and scarred from their respective pasts and traumas, and they both feel so real and grounded. Daisy makes a lot of mistakes, but you never question why. Her actions all make sense, and as the story begins to escalate it becomes clear that she has no good options, which is so frustrating to read in the very best way. Brittney is sometimes abrasive, harsh, or untrusting, and she feels so deeply for the story she is trying to uncover. Both these girls were absolutely fantastic to follow, and I loved the way the story wove their two narratives together.

This book does deal with a lot of heavy subject matter, and I highly recommend checking content warnings before reading. My copy of the book included an author’s note from Sambury that details the subject matter, which is thorough and which I really appreciated before diving into this story. Yes, it’s heavy. It is dark and twisting and deals with layers of abuse and trauma. But it also explores hope, and coming out the other side of that trauma, which I found very powerful.

Lastly, I will say that it never fails to bring me joy to read a book set in Canada. Seeing my home town mentioned put a smile on my face, and I adored the references to Tim Hortons and all-dressed chips, and Thunder Bay gets mentioned!

This book is absolutely incredible, and while I do think it’s best to go into it informed, I highly recommend checking out this story if you’re interested in ghosts, cursed houses, generational trauma, or the complicated relationships between mothers and daughters. I could not put this book down, and I cannot wait to see what Sambury writes next.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Those People Next Door by Kia Abdullah

By Erica Wiggins

Content warning: racism

“You can choose your house. Not your neighbours.”

In Those People Next Door, Salma Khatun has just moved to Blenheim with her husband and son, looking for a new start. However, shortly after moving in Salma sees her neighbour, Tom Hutton, knocking their anti-racism banner out of their garden. Wanting to avoid a confrontation, Salma moves the banner inside to a window. When she wakes up the next morning with paint smeared on her window, she decides to confront Tom. There is no going back now—the stakes have been raised and the consequences are inevitable. Those People Next Door is the latest novel from Kia Abdullah, a bestselling author and travel writer, who has won many awards for her writing. She is also the founder of Asian Booklist, a non-profit that advocates for diversity in publishing.   

Wow! This my first book by this author but it will not be the last. While the first chapter started slowly, the story picks up from there, moving at warp speed and making it hard to put down. We meet the characters, literally, of this neighbourhood. Salma, her husband Bil and son Zain are trying to fit in while working through a difficult time. Their next door neighbour Tom lives with his privileged wife Willa and their son Jamie, who is hard of hearing. And then there is the nosy neighbour Linda, who seems to know everything and seems a little off. As the feud escalates, the author pulls you in different directions, offering clues from unreliable sources, and leaving you feeling suspicious of everyone and how they may or may not be involved. It’s a rare treasure to find a story that can keep you guessing like this one. At the end of part one, this feud has reached its boiling point.

Without giving the story away, part two and three only prove to highlight the skills of this writer. This story deals with a challenging topic—racism (perceived and actual)—but is handled in a way that reminds us that it is not always possible to know the whole truth. It demonstrates how something small and the way that we handle it can escalate very quickly.

I loved the construction of the story. Split into three parts, it starts with the foundation of the story, before moving into the courtroom and finally to the aftermath. It leaves you turning the pages while you flip back and forth on who you believe. The twists keep coming; you think it’s all sorted and done and then another bomb is dropped. I couldn’t believe how many times the author got me.

Thrilling, gripping, and thought-provoking, Those People Next door slips you into suburbia and takes you on a ride. The author takes this topic, a real-life problem, and spins a fictional tale with a ring of truth to it, making it feel so much more realistic. This story is compelling and makes you question what choices you would make. If you love a thriller that twists until the end, then this book is for you.

Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Bindle Punk Bruja by Desideria Mesa

By Kaylie Seed

Bindle Punk Bruja takes readers to the Roaring ‘Twenties in Kansas City, Missouri, and follows Luna Alvarado, a white-passing daughter of a Mexican mother and white father. Luna is a bruja (also known as a witch) and is trying to fully understand her powers. Luna is also one of the first women to own a speakeasy and is known around town as Rose Lane (she has to hide her true identity due to rampant racism in a prejudiced world). Mesa packs a punch with her novel Bindle Punk Bruja that tackles a number of heavy topics, including sexism, racism, and homophobia.

When readers think of historical fiction, they are likely not going to think about the 1920s but it is clear that Mesa has done the research to ensure that her tale is authentic. Mesa includes descriptions of fashion, politics, and historical figures from that time, as well as the language that was used during that time. While there is quite a bit of slang used throughout Bindle Punk Bruja, the overall prose was easy to read and beautifully written.

The characters were all fleshed out quite well and each brought their own eccentricities to the story to keep readers engaged. At the same time, there are a number of people out to get Luna and it starts to feel a little overdone. It can be hard to remember who everyone is and what they want from Luna; instead of having numerous “bad guys”, having one to focus on would’ve been enough and would have made the story just as powerful.

Bindle Punk Bruja begins as a slow burn but picks up pace as the story progresses. Luna is a strong female lead and those looking for that in a novel will likely enjoy this one. Those who are looking for a historical fantasy will want to pick this one up too as Mesa has done a great job at writing a compelling historical fiction read with a magic system that is fleshed out and bound to make fantasy readers swoon.

Thank you, HarperCollins Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters

By Erica Wiggins

Content warnings: child labour, loss of a child, miscarriage, abuse

The Berry Pickers is a story about a Mi’kmaq family in 1962 who travels to Maine to pick blueberries with their five children, including six-year-old Joe and four-year-old Ruthie. When Ruthie disappears from her favourite rock her brother, Joe, the last one to see her, is devastated. Elsewhere in Maine, a young girl named Norma grows up as an only child with a distant father and an overprotective mother. As Norma gets older, she feels her family is holding something back and Norma is determined to find the truth. This debut novel is written by Amanda Peters, a writer of Mi’kmaq and settler ancestry. She currently lives in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Sometimes you finish a book and easily write a review about it, spilling everything you loved or didn’t and move on to the next book. Then a book comes along, and you wonder how you will ever find the right words to adequately describe your experience reading it. For me, The Berry Pickers falls into the latter category and while I don’t think I can do this book justice in describing it, I am going to try.

The Berry Pickers reads in alternating perspectives between Joe and Norma while flashing from the present day to the past. The author fully immerses you in the locations, bringing them to life and helping you connect to these families. One young family experiences so much trauma and loss but still comes together. After their youngest child goes missing, they never fail in their belief that she is out there somewhere. It is so tragic yet heartwarming to watch this family come together. In another family, fleeting glimpses of the past and a continued quest to find your own history, to find your place in the world, to find forgiveness, and to be at peace with yourself.

All of this is to say that this story is stunning, beautifully written, and heartbreaking. I experienced so many emotions and was rooting for each family to discover the truth, to find closure and peace. I learned about the challenges in life and the split-second decisions that can change your life forever. 

I loved Joe, the doting and conflicted brother. I loved Norma, the precocious and inquisitive child. I became quickly attached to these characters. It felt like I was reading a biography of two families. This will be a story that I recommend to anyone and everyone who will listen. I will tell them that they will likely see themselves in one or all of these characters in the way they make decisions to protect who they love. I will tell them they will read heartbreak, but also hope and determination.  

This is a story that will stay with me. It is a story that made me think and feel. It drew me into a world and brought it to life. What more can we ask for from a story?

Thank you, HarperCollins Canada, for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Theory of Crows by David A. Robertson

By Sara Hailstone

The Theory of Crows is David A. Robertson’s first adult novel, and offers a healing narrative of a father and daughter relationship that begins fraught with strain. Matthew, a middle-aged man, is presented in a state of existential crisis. He has been caught cheating on his wife with a co-worker through a series of inappropriate texts and workplace connections. Holly finds her father’s texts and observes the conflict between her parents, and she confronts her father, who was more present for her when she was younger. She spirals and becomes disconnected from her father and herself. Embedded within Matthew’s pain is a quiet spiritual detachment from reality, and yet, an ancient way of being propels him to seek connection with the microcosm of nature, the fabric of stars, the turn of leaf and wind. In recurring images like his father’s hand resting on his child’s belly, Matthew strives to find his breath again in a pit of regret, shame, and guilt.

When his father, Moshum, crosses over, Matthew and Holly set aside estrangement and seek out the family’s northern trapline to put to rest Moshum’s ashes and return him home. A gentle shifting between narrative point of view offers a steady stream of consciousness and a father’s gentle teachings.  

David A. Robertson has steadily carved out his space in literary circles within Canada and abroad as an author from the Norway House Cree Nation. With a portfolio of children’s books and texts for young readers, Robertson has made his mark as a prominent voice. His list of awards and accolades is long, among them the 2021 Writer’s Union of Canada Freedom to Read Award, The Globe and Mail Children’s Storyteller of the Year, two Governor General’s Literary Awards, the McNally Robinson Best Book for Young People Award, and the shortlist for the Ontario’s Library Association’s Silver Birch Award. Robertson is also the host of Kíwew (Key-Way-Oh), an award-winning podcast. I have encountered Robertson in humble settings, presenting his latest upcoming children’s book to the students in our school board and offering a compassionate and optimistic space for youth in conversations about residential schools while sharing his personal connections to the land.

The Theory of Crows offers knowledge that helps build allyship, telling us that the starting point is acknowledging that no matter what our background, we share something with everybody on the planet: “That you are human.” We can come together in the space of this text. As an educator, I was offered valuable insight into Holly’s experience of being Indigenous in a school setting. Learning new vocabulary like Indigeneity, a word that is used to “describe the state of being Indigenous” and which Holly uses to break down assumptions she has of what her elder’s counselling space would be like when she ventures in to sit with her.[1] This scene helped me contextualize what my students might be going through.

Next, profiling or tokenism, terms referred to when an Indigenous topic is brought up in class and the Indigenous student is called upon to validate and embody the components of the flow of that conversation. “How the fuck should I know?” Holly demands, before being sent out of class. I learned from this scene and strive to not actualize it in the setting of my own classroom. Lastly, I learned about blood memory: “It’s like your ancestors, their lives and experiences, living in you,” [Matthew] said. “Embedded into your DNA.” These teachings help inform me as an educator and better equip me if I introduce this text in a course.

Robertson’s depiction and honouring of sacred spiritual alliances further moves this text into current conversations surrounding the representation of and engagement with animals in literature. Rejecting the colonial framework that objectifies and flattens it into symbolism, Robertson sets nature free and depicts a way of walking in balance with the environment that can help shift current paradigms and society’s interaction with the world around it. Calling back to the title of the book, the theory of crows connects to land memory and crow knowing.

Your grandfather used to say that you could remember the land, even if you’d never been on the land before. Your grandfather used to say that the land could remember you. It works the same way with crows, Hallelujah. They remembered him, they would remember me, and they remember you. They pass these things down through the generations.

We are the extension of the land and exist together within reciprocal exchanges. We are the land; when we walk upon it, we become it and root down into blood memory and holistic being. With discrete layers of the ethereal and interaction with the spiritual realm, Robertson has crafted a first adult novel that will be shelved alongside canonic texts of literature. This is only the beginning.

Thank you to Harper Perennial for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

[1] Queen’s University Office of Indigenous Initiatives. 2023. “Decolonizing and Indigenizing,” https://www.queensu.ca/indigenous/decolonizing-and-indigenizing/defintions.

Book Review: Jade Is a Twisted Green by Tanya Turton

By Tiffany Miller

The beautiful, bold, green cover art of this book caught my attention immediately. The cover blurb described it as a book about an immigrant Jamaican Torontonian overcoming the grief of losing her twin sister, but this novel was about way more than grief: it was about sisterly love, family, womanhood, becoming, and the complexity of finding yourself in a world full of expectations.

The protagonist, Jade, finds herself trapped in a rut of grief following the untimely death of her sister. Underneath Jade’s grief is a layer of internalized oppression and a track record of “safe,” risk averse relationships and behaviour. While in the beginning Jade is paralyzed by the anxiety of navigating life without her sister, this story is truly about learning to overcome your fears and discover your true self.

What I loved most about this book was following Jade along on her emotional journey. It was a pleasure to watch her find the courage to be vulnerable, to reconnect with a past love, to explore new relationships, and to learn to love travelling alone.  I also enjoyed the secondary characters in this book. They were real and hilarious, and this story left me with a pleasant vibe of having just come home from a life-changing weekend with my bestest friends. I appreciated all of the 90s pop culture references and enjoyed the nostalgia of revisiting TV shows, movies, and song lyrics from my own coming of age. 

Finally, I loved reading a book that took place in Toronto, a city that I’m familiar with but have never lived in.  It gave me a new view of the city from the lens of a person with a different experience of Canada than my own. 

I recommend this book to anyone that enjoys stories about women empowering other women. It was an easy read about real-life problems, and you will enjoy every moment of watching Jade emerge and find strength, confidence, and her community and friendships.

Thank you to Dundurn Press for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: The Devourers by Indra Das

By Shantell Powell

Content warning: sexual assault, cannibalism, graphic depictions of violence

Indra (Indrapramit) Das is a writer from Kolkata, India. His first novel, The Devourers, was written during his MFA graduate studies at the University of British Columbia. The Devourers was shortlisted for numerous awards and won the Lambda Literary Award in 2017 for best LGBTQ SF/F/Horror. He is a Shirley Jackson Award-winner for his short fiction, which appears in Clarkesworld Magazine, Asimov’s, Slate Magazine, and Strange Horizons, as well as in numerous anthologies.

I spoke with Indra at the Roots. Wounds. Words. writer’s retreat in January of 2023. There I learned that this gorgeous meta-tale of history, mythology, and bloodshed was inspired by a time when he protected a stray kitten from street dogs in Kolkata. The novel opens with a variation on that scene: Alok Mukherjee (a professor of history) protects a kitten from a pack of dogs while sharing a cigarette beneath the full moon with a stranger who claims to be half werewolf.

The story contains layers within layers: A predator (Alok) protects another predator (a kitten) from other predators (the dogs), while speaking to the most dangerous predator of all (the half werewolf). When Alok says he doesn’t think there are any wolves in India, the stranger says, “Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there.”

This sentence can be seen as a microcosm of the book. Alok is a closeted queer person in a place where colonial laws have made homosexuality a crime. As a result, queer folks are hidden. Alok has been masking his sexuality in order to please his family. He feigns being a cisgender heterosexual man out of fear of brutal reprisal. Until the stranger comes along, Alok has never entertained the existence of supernatural creatures, because they’ve gone as unseen as he has.

The conversation between Alok and the half-werewolf leads to Alok being hired to transcribe a handwritten notebook. This book is filled with translations of diaries documenting the remarkable lives of shapechangers and the human woman who connects and complicates their lives. The stories of shapechangers and their prey have been hidden for centuries, but if you know where and how to look, the tales of their existence are ubiquitous.

The Devourers does for werewolves what Anne Rice’s seminal Interview with the Vampire does for vampires. It is a sumptuous and visceral look at what it is to be an apex predator in a multicultural world. It is an unapologetic look at survival as a queer person. It is a paean to the complex history of a colonial melting pot, where numerous peoples, religions, cultures, and mythologies violently collide. It traces generations of shapechangers and stolen lives. It shows how one culture forced itself upon another, just like how long ago, a European shapechanger forced himself upon a human woman from India.

The Devourers contains some of the most beautifully written depictions of graphic violence I have ever read. It is transgressive, transgender, trans-species, and trans-genre. It carries the reader along from seventeenth century Mughal India to twenty-first century Kolkata. It travels from modern cities to lost ruins, from caravans to harems to jungles, from the erotic to the repugnant, and it does so with the most delicious of vocabularies.

The Devourers may appeal to readers of Marlon James, NK Jemisin, Neil Gaiman, and Margaret Atwood. It will certainly appeal to werewolf fans.

Book Review: You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty by Akwaeke Emezi

By Kaylie Seed

Perfect for beach reading or wanting to pretend you’re escaping to a tropical island, You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty is a stunning romance novel that truly goes deeper than what is just on the surface. Emezi has written a vibrant, energetic, and inspiring tale about learning to love after loss while also learning to love oneself again. Feyi has been stuck ever since the love of her life tragically died in an accident, and when she decides that it is time to discover living again she finds herself surrounded by three very different men who can offer her very different things. What ensues is a story about a woman learning to be herself after a part of her died when her first love did.

This was a literary romance in my opinion. While it is a steamier read, it was written in such a way that readers will be able to feel the passion, heartache, and grief as Feyi rediscovers who she is after the love of her life has died. Romance wasn’t the main focus of this novel: there is a lot of it, but Emezi has managed to incorporate it into the story while focusing on Feyi’s journey to self-rediscovery, and that is something I can personally appreciate while reading a romance novel. Emezi immerses readers in food descriptions, music you can hear while reading, and stunning settings that are bound to entrance readers.

You Made a Fool of Death With Your Beauty has themes such as love, grief, healing, sexuality, finding oneself, trauma, and at its core it is about love—both for others and for oneself. This novel is complex and is one I recommend readers pick up if they enjoy steamier romances, gorgeous prose, difficult and deep themes, and characters who feel vibrant and alive.

Thank you to Simon and Schuster Canada for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Book Review: Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

By Sara Hailstone

Bad Cree is a debut novel by Jessica Johns and is a riveting account of one young woman’s confrontation with the supernatural and tragic events that caused the death of her sister, Sabrina. Set in Northern Alberta and Treaty 8 land, it tells the story of Mackenzie, who confronts the ability to transcend dream-time after she begins bringing physical remnants from the nightmares surrounding her sister’s death into her waking reality. Amongst the female familial bonds of aunties and cousins, Johns presents an empowering narrative of a family of women with strong matrilineal roots facing an enemy within the realm of the supernatural.

Jessica Johns is a member of Sucker Creek First Nation in Treaty 8 territory in Northern Alberta. As an interdisciplinary artist and writer, she has had pieces published in various magazines and anthologies. Johns is on the editorial board for GUTS—An Anti-Colonial Feminist Magazine and she sits on the advisory board for the Indigenous Brilliance reading series. This novel evolved from a short story titled Bad Cree that won the 2020 Writers’ Trust McClelland & Stewart Journey Prize.

The reader ventures with Mackenzie through nightmares to the lake where the family spent time in the past with their kokum, who has also crossed over. We witness Mackenzie intervening in an attack of her sister’s body by a murder of crows and bringing a severed crow’s head back to the waking world. In another episode she is thrown in water and almost drowns, waking drenched and coughing. In preparing for the nightmares, Mackenzie’s family come together to help her journey into the subconscious realm.  

The strength of the novel lies in its underlying theme of the power of women and family to support each other through trauma. Further, Johns successfully weaves together a narrative of interconnectivity with her treatment of the physical environment, community, and characters. I took away from the novel a coming-to-know journey of spiritual alliance with animals like the crows. Initially interpreted as threatening, Mackenzie learns that they are guiding and protecting forces. These themes address current conversations surrounding land, environmentalism, reclamation of walking in balance with nature and portrays a journey only possible with the healing and embracing of feminine connections in the novel.

I highly recommend Bad Cree and can see this novel being added to course outlines and taught alongside novels like Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson. Johns has contributed her voice and creative literary interpretation to a growing repertoire of Indigenous voices in Canadian society and beyond.

Thank you to HarperCollins for the complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review!

Book Review: Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler

By Carmen Lebar

Content warning: death, physical violence, murder, drug use

Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler is a speculative fiction novel that centres around the irreversible consequences of climate change. Starting in the year 2024, it is the story of Lauren Olamina becoming aware of the impact that the world around her will have on her future. Only fifteen at the start of the book, Lauren knows things have to change in her small community of Robledo, California. Throughout the novel, Lauren is optimistic in the face of adversity when her peers are negative or make rash decisions. Lauren’s audacity to be hopeful in this novel is what drew me to instantly consider this novel a classic. Lauren’s perseverance and desire for a community is what shines in this dystopian like novel.

In a small town filled with people surviving in a warming world, Lauren tries to find a way to adapt to the current living conditions. Without water, viable income, or security, the community is not a safe place to be. That’s when Lauren creates her journal, entitled Earthseed: Books of the Living. Throughout the novel, Lauren is writing in her journal about all the ways humanity can survive and live in the future on Earth, and elsewhere. A new belief system is what catapults Lauren into leaving her town and finding a new life. Her determination to survive is admirable, and something she encourages in her community with Earthseed. It’s fascinating to see the way in which Lauren’s new outlook on life molds the plot and the character development of almost every character in the novel. I found Lauren’s perseverance unlike that of any other character in a speculative or dystopian novel I’ve read before. She’s hopeful, positive, and accepting of new followers. Earthseed is what allows Lauren to gather a new community.

When she leaves Robledo, she finds that the open Californian highway is filled with danger and uncertainty. No one is safe on the highway, especially those travelling in small numbers. (Lauren has to disguise herself as a man to avoid unwanted trouble.) With the teachings of Earthseed, Lauren gathers new people to join her group—for security and for survival. By welcoming others into her group, she is creating a community of people who want to survive and learn the teachings of Earthseed. Although not everyone is convinced of Lauren’s views, the idea of surviving and creating a livable life is what entices people to join her. Lauren’s way of community building is to show people how good life could be within the circumstances they live in and how they can build a better future.

Parable of the Sower is a novel that is equal parts a warning and a symbol of hope. Butler makes it abundantly clear in this novel that it is possible to survive in a world that seems unsurvivable. What we take for granted now is what will encourage us in the most uncertain times. Lauren’s determination is inspiring and showcases how speculative and dystopian novels don’t have to be pessimistic or overly dark. Rather, as with Parable of the Sower, fiction can demonstrate that way that the good in humanity can always prevail in the darkest of circumstances. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves speculative fiction and wants a more positive outlook in their reading. I also think this is a perfect novel to read if this is your first time reading Butler.