General Fiction
Plot/Idea: On the Run is a taut and unnerving historical thriller set between Ireland and the USA at the time of the Troubles. Against the backdrop of IRA bombings and a tense social landscape, Shaw's novel shines a light on the harsh political unrest and unforgiving prison life of the time.
Prose: Shaw's text is peppered with fabulous passages of description that effectively transmit the geographical landscape. The stunning imagery is interspersed with the grim realities of prison life and undeniable tragedy in a book that packs a real emotional punch.
Originality: On the Run is an engrossing and effective novel which captures the tense atmosphere that permeated the Irish sociopolitical landscape in the late 70s. Shaw's historical fiction is woven together with effective sports writing and strong family dramatization to create an all-encompassing and engrossing storyline.
Character/Execution: On the Run's acutely realized family life is one of its main strengths, the great emotional depth in the characters' relationships having a profound impact on the reader. The portrayal of protagonist Terence, convicted for terrorist activity in the aftermath of the assassination of Lord Mountbatten, is particularly affecting.
Blurb: A compelling historical thriller.
Plot/Idea: School is an imaginative and insightful college drama that mixes fantastical elements with modern day teenage issues. Although it has a tendency to descend into monotonous teenage melodrama at times, it is generally an ambitious and rewarding read.
Prose: Freed's text is inventive and playful, brilliantly capturing the likes of text speak and meme culture while exploring the positive and, more often than not, negative vibes associated with college life. Her use of crude and offensive language throughout the novel is simultaneously shocking and effective.
Originality: School will strike a chord with a young, vibrant audience, with its fresh and compelling college setting and exploration of contemporary issues. The plethora of characters and lack of a central protagonist results in an adventurous book that casts a dizzying existential tone over proceedings.
Character/Execution: School's myriad cast of characters lend the novel a freshness and vitality with large stretches of dialogue that are often engaging and dynamic. Freed masterfully displays an understanding of teenage emotion and relationships in a bold, affecting, and memorable book.
Blurb: An inventive and colorful campus drama.
Plot/Idea: Reinelt’s story has a compelling premise—a deep exploration of the mechanics and idiosyncrasies that happen between a patient and psychologist during therapy. The dialogue drives the plot, through poignant interactions between Charlie Houden and psychologist Dina Epstein that illuminate the heartache, trauma, and distress in Charlie's life.
Prose: Reinelt’s prose is direct and easy to read, allowing Charlie's story to unfold in broad strokes while also exploring the minutiae of his past and how it relates to his present experiences.
Originality: The dynamics that come into play between Charlie and his psychologist are riveting and will engage readers. The story favors simmering tension over immediate conflict, a strategy that melds well with the book's premise.
Character/Execution: Charlie and Dina form the strongest part of this novel, and the give and take of their relationship is engrossing to watch—so much so that readers may wish Reinelt expanded their relationship beyond their primary interplay.
Plot/Idea: Pescadero is a quietly moving novel that centers on 14-year-old Hilde, who relocates with her mother and brother from Wisconsin to the titular Northern California town. An additional narrative focuses on a migrant worker and his family, whose story becomes engagingly intertwined with Hilde's.
Prose: Brady prose sensitively examines Hilde's feelings of disorientation as she adjusts to life in California, while sections devoted to Gabriel and Joaquín’s attempts to reunite with his sibling, are raw and impactful.
Originality: Brady integrates familiar coming-of-age themes, while the Northern California setting–and what it represents–is portrayed effectively via multiple lenses.
Character/Execution: Hilde grows from a girl grappling with a sudden relocation and the loss of the family she knew to a wiser, more outwardly compassionate individual. The story of Gabriel and Joaquín plays out movingly and, while Brady doesn't imply Hilde's circumstances are directly comparable, the author makes some acute observations about the human need to find shared community and reestablish roots.
Plot/Idea: Also Known as Jaime Dorn is a fun and consistently engaging tragicomic journey of self discovery. Featuring a strong-willed protagonist that readers can really root for and a spiky first-person narrative, Emilson's text is a beautifully constructed celebration of family, culture, and small town life.
Prose: Emilson has a knack for creating characters and locations that seem familair and stay long in the memory. She excellently evokes small town Manitoba with top notch attention to detail that really brings the characters and locations to life.
Originality: Also Known as Jaime Dorn is a captivating story about trying to find one's place in the world, the dangers of keeping secrets, and the healing power of the heart. Emilson's dynamic and impressive use of language makes for a highly satisfying and addictive read.
Character/Execution: Emilson's central character, Jaime Dorn, is a compelling, hard-edged, aspiring artist who is easy to identify with. The first-person narrative works extremely effectively with everything funneled through Jaime's unique, and colorful perspective.
Blurb: A humorous and captivating slice of nostalgia.
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Plot/Idea: The Man Who Made an Angel is a powerful historical drama set in post-WW1 Germany. Blake's fascinating plot brilliantly melds elements of early 20th century history with dynamic storytelling to create a thrilling and enthralling read.
Prose: Ivan Blake's diligently presents a ravaged post war Germany in brilliant detail in The Man Who Made an Angel. The character relationships slowly unravel through dynamic stretches of dialogue that are measured and engrossing.
Originality: The Man Who Made an Angel is a confidently created historical novel with well written characters and an intriguing plot. Blakes's text evocatively captures time and place as well as exploring pertinent philosophical issues, illness, and the damaging effects of war.
Character/Execution: Blake's fine cast of characters are acutely observed, with their unique traits and personality quirks coming to the fore. Additionally, confidently written dialogue helps add real emotional depth to the relationships.
Blurb: A sharply observed historical drama.
Plot/Idea: Inspired by a true story, Tell Them to Be Quiet and Wait, deftly contemplates the lack of progression for American women, academia, and science in the 20th century. Told in parallel story structure, the plot focuses on Beverly and Lena's struggles to be accepted in their academic fields in a compelling and illuminating manner.
Prose: Cook's text features acutely observed character descriptions that accentuate personality traits and idiosyncrasies. Additionally, she uses emotive and affecting language that delicately enhances the book's themes of inequality and lack of acceptance.
Originality: Tell Them to Be Quiet and Wait is a bold and refreshing novel that studies the lack of evolution in attitudes towards women working in academia. The beautifully balanced parallel stories exemplify the great strides women have made in the academic field, but simultaneously stresses there is much yet to be done.
Character/Execution: The parallel telling of the lives of Dr. Beverly Conner (1935) and Lena Rivera (2015) balances Cook's text perfectly as she deftly observes the injustices both women have to endure at university.
Blurb: A bold and intriguing historical drama.
Plot/Idea: The Blue Iris is engaging and easy to follow as it explores the rich interplay between a group of people with very different backgrounds, motivations, and hardships. Readers will be intrigued by the cast's individual stories, all closely woven together against Stone's vividly launched backdrop of a neighborhood flower market.
Prose: Stone writes familiar, crisp prose that entertains as it builds multiple perspectives. The nuances of Tessa's interactions with the staff at the Blue Iris are carefully fashioned, with gentle direction and guidance from Stone that gives each character a brilliantly developed voice.
Originality: The flower market setting brings this lush story to life, allowing multiple perspectives to bloom across the novel as they grow into one cohesive, stunning storyline.
Character/Execution: Stone attentively nurtures each character, with Tessa and Charlie as standouts, using a rotating first-person viewpoint to allow readers an intimate glimpse of the cast's emotions and thoughts.
Plot/Idea: Botánicos is a unique yet relatable story that unfolds organically. The novel blends mystery with romance and scientific exploration.
Prose: Meerow's writing style is informative but entertaining, blunt but personable, with all of the appropriate rises and falls in tone when the story picks up speed.
Originality: From the very beginning, Botánicos set itself apart as a witty mixture of different tropes that somehow blend seamlessly together to serve the characters and the key conflicts in the plot. Because of this, it's almost difficult to assign this book just one genre, and it means that more readers will be able to dive in and find something to enjoy.
Character/Execution: Each of the main characters are distinct from one another, with their own voices and mannerisms that lend themselves to the rising and falling action nicely.
Plot/Idea: Zodiac Pets is a colorful, sparklingly funny drama starring a sprightly protagonist and a frequently compelling storyline. It boasts a consistently charming yet thought-provoking narrative that takes a biting look at the brutal world of American idealism.
Prose: Giroux's wiring style is both wryly humorous and sincere, neatly carving an accessible novel that demands the readers attention from the off. Moreover, the streets of Pennacook, Massachusetts are vividly and diligently brought to life with nimble attention to detail.
Originality: Zodiac Pets, told from the perspective of college-age Wendy looking back at her younger self, features a vivacious cast of characters and a stirring plot. Giroux's intricate, incisive writing and nicely balanced storyline create an absorbing blend that deals head on with often complex themes.
Character/Execution: Giroux's well rounded protagonist, Wendy Zhou, is mourning the loss of her father while forging a new life for herself in dilapidated Pennacook. Furthermore, Zodiac Pets features a fine supporting cast of quirky and offbeat characters coupled with subtle observations of U.S. society and city life.
Blurb: An absorbing and vibrant teen drama.
Plot/Idea: The Diving God follows flawed, disillusioned Bob Banks whose life is upturned as he leaves New York City for Mexico. Ray Brewer delivers an endearing story of personal growth and unexpected fulfillment.
Prose: Ray Brewer has a pleasingly lyrical style that gently propels the storytelling. Detailed passages devoted to landscapes, rock formations, archaeological sites, and diving offer a vivid sense of place. Dialogue, while expressive, can sometimes miss the mark, relying too heavily on exposition.
Originality: Bob Banks's journey of discovery is uplifted via atmospheric backdrops and the lead characters total immersion in his surroundings.
Character/Execution: While not always empathetic, the characters are suitably layered. Ray Brewer avoids idealizations and makes Bob Banks's path toward contentment a bumpy and uncertain one.
Plot/Idea: It Rhymes with Truth is an intriguing and engrossing tragicomic novel drenched in sentimentality. It focuses on the relationship between an 8-year-old boy and an elderly woman, and this odd dynamic helps forge an engaging and beautifully touching tale.
Prose: Miller's sharp attention to detail and compelling, well constructed characters lure the reader into the story. His prose style is dynamic and entertaining, with the text written in first and second person, creating a strangely immersive atmosphere.
Originality: It Rhymes with Truth is an imaginative and cleverly written debut novel, driven by a powerful childlike simplicity that recalls Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime. The eccentric nature of the central relationship coupled with the diaristic writing style helps create a beguiling and convincing narrative.
Character/Execution: It Rhymes with Truth has two brilliantly realized central characters, an eight-and-a-half-year-old homeless boy and a slightly peculiar elderly woman. Their touching, funny and engaging relationship evolves effectively over the course of Miller's impressive novel.
Blurb: An engaging character-focused drama.
Plot/Idea: This is a wonderfully clever work that offers a mix of Top Chef meets Survivor. Mace Walston provides rich insights into culinary competition, resulting in a fun and captivating story.
Prose: The rotating narratives will stick in the reader's mind as each character offers up his/her own interpretations and perspectives. The competition element just adds to the overall spiciness of the story.
Originality: The Forager Chef Clubs is riveting, smart, and in a class all its own. Drool-worthy menus make it even more distinctive and fun.
Character/Execution: The revolving narrative of all the major characters results in incredibly strong depictions. The reader understands what those in the work do not – specifically the motives and intentions of each narrator.
Blurb: Stellar! The Forager Chefs Club is riveting fun, a combination of Top Chef meets Survivor. Readers will be hard-pressed to put the book down before the last page.
Plot/Idea: Sonya Taylor believes she has put her traumatic childhood behind her—until her high school English teacher, aware of her secrets thanks to a senior writing assignment, resurfaces. Ramsey's plot is carefully constructed and unfolds naturally, gradually exposing Sonya's upbringing and illustrating the power that comes with telling your story.
Prose: The prose is clear and readable, and Ramsey's delivery is compelling, transporting readers into the narrative right from the beginning.
Originality: Escaping Hell is unique in its construction of individual narratives that interlace within the bigger novel, and Ramsey skillfully shares key information on both Sonya's upbringing and her son's thoughts and emotions that bring their stories to life.
Character/Execution: This is a character-driven story, and the main characters are fully fleshed out and complex. Sonya's complicated relationship with her past, and how it plays out in her role as a mother, stands out as particularly well done.
Plot/Idea: Talmadge Farm is by no means a fast-paced book, as the events unravel over many years from the 50s onwards. However, Duaghtry isn't in a rush to paint a vivid picture of what it was like in the Carolinas at that time, and what particular situations likely occurred. It is a depiction of a moment in time, and the plot's pacing reflects the subject matter and intention of the author.
Prose: Daughtry uses descriptive and prosaic prose that not only transports the reader to North Carolina but paints a picture of the South in a way that is literary, engaging, and visceral.
Originality: Talmadge Farm offers multiple fresh perspectives on the historical moment and a unique setting. While the work may benefit from a greater level of tension, readers will nevertheless savor the reading experience.
Character/Execution: Daughtry shows a keen awareness of each characters' identity, motivations, and complexities. Distinctive voices and strong dialogue provide depth and verisimilitude.
Plot/Idea: Inujini is a hard-hitting story drawn from historical events and focused on the lives of young indigenous women deeply impacted by violence and war.
Prose: The author's prose is both exacting and beautifully descriptive, skillfully alternating between parallel stories. Smith is a masterful storyteller whose work touches on themes of identity, nationalism, and generational trauma.
Originality: Inujini offers an inventive and compelling retelling of a tragic historical event well-known in Japan but unknown widely in the West. The author doesn't shy from describing atrocities, potentially opening readers' eyes to Japanese history.
Character/Execution: Via three points of view–each distinct and devastating–Smith creates a memorable, character-driven novel that utilizes its historical circumstances to optimal impact.
