The Real, Honest, Word on Books
By Yaa Gyasi This book is about a woman who grows up deeply religious, but through multiple setbacks turns her back on God. As she continues to evolve and mature, she pursues science as her new religion. The plot asks the reader to follow along with her on her journey to combine God and science…
By Awkwaeke Emezi This book is about Vivek Oji more than his death, though that is where we open. The reader looks at his life from multiple points of view: his cousin, one of his best friends, his mother, etc. It seems few understood him completely, but when each of them combine their perspective, we…
By Kit Frick This book is about Anna Cicconi’s confession of killing a girl, Zoe Spanos, whom she has never met. Anna gets a job in the exclusive Hamptons area for the summer as a babysitter for a precocious girl whose previous sitter, Zoe, went missing over the previous New Year’s holiday. As Anna tries…
By Aiden Thomas This book is about magic and witches in the Latin culture, specifically dealing with the souls of the dead and Dios de Los Muertos. Yadriel is a trans boy who is unaccepted by his traditional culture, but driven to prove his worth regardless. I specifically did not name his gender in the…
By Ella Berman This book is about a child actor who grows up to have some mental instability. An A-List director “discovers” her at the age of fourteen and together they achieve fame, credibility, and wealth. Unfortunately, he takes molests her, gaslights her, and then leaves her in the wind once she ages out of…
By Madeline Miller This book is about the classic tale of Achilles, hero of Greek myth. It is told from the point of view of Patroclus, his friend, lover, and lifelong champion. What I really liked about Miller’s style is that she makes the legendary real, providing essential context where previously I only harbored disbelief….
By Alexis Henderson This book is about a town called Bethel that is ruled by tradition and a “Prophet”. The Prophet is a religious leader whose word is law, and guides the flock through his visions sent by God. In this town, the prophet takes many wives, physically carving his mark into their face with…
By Kester Grant This book is about social injustice, revenge, and hierarchy a la Les Miserables. If you liked the book by Alexandre Dumas or the musical by Boubil and Schonberg, this book will be extra dear to you. The classic tale is layered under The Court of Miracles, an organization of the underworld bringing…
By Patrick Ness This book is about dragons, religious zealots, and interdimensional travel. It is a great story about righting wrongs and doing what is right. In the dimension we open on, dragons are normal beings who can be hired to do jobs, like say clear land on a farm. There is also a human…
By Stephen Graham Jones This book is about an old Native American myth turned dark and contemporary. It alludes to many of the struggles Native Americans face on and off the reservations today, burdened by an illustrious history and a future rife with cliche and despair. Again, it’s very dark, and not just the horror…