Book Review: Twist
April 1, 2025
McCann’s writing veers off in different directions, gathering glimpses of our world standing on the knife edge of thriving & falling apart.
McCann’s writing veers off in different directions, gathering glimpses of our world standing on the knife edge of thriving & falling apart.
This is true community: with chaos and contradictions, dubious motivations, skirmishes and secrets, sitting alongside unity and cooperation.
This book contains joy and sadness and complex, indecipherable feelings. Reading it felt a lot like being seen.
Full of the horrors of late-stage capitalism, Birnam Wood also manages to be bitingly funny – especially in part one.
If you like your books cozy, look elsewhere! This author delights in voicing the cynical, sinister attitudes that lie just below the surface.
Matthews perfectly encapsulates the struggle of establishing boundaries with family members– and does so with heart-warming hilarity.
A stealthily affecting novel exploring the uneven politics of care, caring and carelessness, centered around the residents of Victory Park.
Don’t be deceived by this slender little volume – it’s chock-full of action, adventure, romance, violence, hilarity, grit and destiny.
Both funny and deeply sad, reading this is like watching a crash in slow motion – it’s deliciously addictive and hard to look away.
Dolly has a special talent for finding unique aspects of relationships, and describing them in a way that will make you go ‘yes, so true!’
Farm life – sweaty days spent sheering sheep, beers on the front porch – is observed afresh and curiously askew through Tama’s imagination.
I love a character-driven novel, and Wilkins is so adept at creating a cast that feels complex, relatable and easy to love.
This is a novel about familial tensions, the desperation caused by poverty and how to be yourself when so much is expected of you.
Kamali’s beautiful prose was the perfect conduit for this tale of friendship & resistance amidst a dangerously shifting political landscape.
This book captured me immediately, with fresh and sometimes very funny prose, and fierce, surprising characters.
You’ll find characters you’ll either deeply love or deeply hate (I had the experience of wanting to slap everyone but also hug them tenderly)
Abandon your preconceptions & prepare for a wild ride. (Spoiler: some of that ride takes place on a broomstick, with a pig riding shotgun.)
I believe that the less you know about it going in, the better! So take a chance on Piranesi if you’re in the mood for something different.
There is darkness in this story, but it’s leavened by Smith’s ever-playful storytelling, and her characters’ capacity for resistance & hope.
Timelines and characters are bound together through an ancient text that changes their lives in incredible and unexpected ways.