biancarogers's reviews
878 reviews

Molly Aitken’s stark historical novel reimagines the fragmented life of Alice Kyteler—13th-century Ireland’s first accused witch—into a powerful exploration of power, prejudice, and survival. Set in medieval Kilkenny, the story follows Alice’s determined rise from innkeeper’s daughter to a prosperous businesswoman, with each calculated marriage and negotiation bringing her closer to both influence and peril.

Rather than indulging in supernatural tropes, Aitken’s approach leans into historical accuracy, portraying a world where herbal knowledge sparks suspicion and female ambition courts disaster. Her prose reflects the harsh realities of the period, while her careful research sheds light on medieval Irish society’s darker facets. Echoing the works of Lauren Groff, Aitken’s portrayal underscores society’s enduring impulse to vilify women who defy convention.

Carrie Lowry Schuettpelz's The Indian Card explores Native American identity through the lens of federal policy and tribal sovereignty. Blending historical analysis with personal narratives and interviews across Indigenous nations, she examines the complexities of tribal membership and colonization's lasting impact. Narrator Amy Hall brings warmth and clarity to these challenging topics.

Schuettpelz weaves her journey with Native identity into a broader investigation of who can claim Indigeneity. Through research and storytelling, she reveals how historical policies continue to shape modern Indigenous communities – creating both trauma and resilience. Hall's thoughtful narration helps make this work both academically rigorous and deeply personal, contributing to vital conversations about Native American identity and sovereignty.

In Rejection, Tony Tulathimutte presents a bold collection of interconnected stories that confront the struggles of our digital age, particularly the yearning for connection in an increasingly isolating world. Through characters that are deeply flawed yet fascinating, he delves into the pathology of loneliness, offering intimate snapshots of people shaped by experiences of rejection. The collection is a darkly humorous take on millennial life and internet culture, reminiscent of Ottessa Moshfegh's fearless portrayals of unsympathetic characters.

What distinguishes Rejection is its ambitious structure, evolving beyond mere character studies. The stories build in surreal intensity, culminating in one of the most daring endings in recent fiction. Starting with explorations of human desperation and self-sabotage, the collection transforms into something unexpected and profound, engaging readers while pushing them to confront unsettling truths about our collective desires.

Kate Greathead's The Book of George offers a compelling character study of a man brimming with potential yet frustratingly stagnant. Through nuanced storytelling, Greathead crafts a portrait that is both exasperating and captivating, evoking both frustration and empathy from readers. The close narrative perspective creates engaging dramatic irony as we recognize George's flaws before he does. Balancing humor with authenticity, Greathead avoids superficial judgments, encouraging readers to understand similar figures in their own lives.

Barker's audiobook narration enhances Greathead's nuanced tale, with the female voice cleverly emphasizing the external perspective on George's life. This pairing of Greathead's incisive exploration of personal stagnation with Barker's delivery makes The Book of George a compelling experience. Readers who enjoy character-rich fiction will find this poignant, often humorous journey into human relationships and personal growth engaging and relatable.

White on White by Ayşegül Savaş offers a subtle yet profound examination of art, identity, and the personal stories we create. Told through the reflective lens of a nameless narrator and her encounters with Agnes, an enigmatic tenant, the novel explores how we craft our lives as artistic expressions. Beneath the calm exterior, a simmering tension builds as Agnes shares vivid stories from her past, each peeling back another layer of her intricate self. Savaş masterfully merges art criticism with personal disclosure, setting this quiet unraveling against the minimalist backdrop of the narrator's apartment.

Forgoing a traditional plot, the novel derives its depth from its refined portrayal of human nature and the construction of self-image. The dynamic between Agnes’s detailed stories and the narrator’s quiet curiosity creates a subtle tension that probes authenticity and self-perception. Though the narrative pace may feel unhurried, readers drawn to reflective, contemplative storytelling will find a nuanced meditation on how we perform our lives for others. Like the understated white-on-white artwork it references, Savaş’s novel reveals its depths gradually to those willing to linger in its subtleties.

Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays cuts like a razor through the glittering facade of 1960s Los Angeles. Through former actress Maria Wyeth's unraveling, Didion crafts a masterwork of minimalism where what's left unsaid echoes louder than what's on the page. The novel's fragmented structure - chapters that sometimes span mere paragraphs - mirrors Maria's splintering psyche as she speeds down empty freeways and through hollow parties.

While some readers may bristle at the novel's relentless surface-level gaze, this is precisely Didion's point: in a world of profound superficiality, even emptiness has texture. Her spare prose doesn't just describe numbness - it induces it, pulling us into Maria's disintegrating reality with hypnotic force. For readers willing to sit with discomfort, Play It as It Lays offers a haunting portrait of privilege curdling into despair.

The Book of X is a rare novel that defies easy categorization. In it, Sarah Rose Etter tells the story of a girl, like her mother and grandmother before her, born with her body twisted into a knot. Set in the haunting landscape of a quarry that oozes raw meat, this unique blend of magical realism and feminist themes dives deeply into the experience of womanhood, brought to life through Etter’s vivid prose and dreamlike imagery.

Across 279 pages, we follow the protagonist’s search for tenderness in a world that seems determined to deny it. Etter’s minimalist style transforms surreal elements into piercing truths about femininity, crafting a mind-bending work that could easily inspire a Yorgos Lanthimos adaptation—where the strange is eerily familiar. For anyone who treasures genre-defying fiction that dares to push boundaries while staying powerfully human, this novel is an absolute must-read.

In Julia Alvarez's spellbinding new novel, the lines between the living and the buried blur as two remarkable women become custodians of forgotten tales. At its heart are Alma, a cemetery curator in the Dominican Republic who buries her unfinished manuscripts beneath the soil, and Filomena, a groundskeeper whose supernatural ability to hear these interred stories transforms her into their unlikely voice. Their parallel journeys unfold across two worlds, from the sun-soaked Caribbean to the bustling streets of New York City, with Spanish phrases weaving through the narrative like threads of gold in a tapestry.

Drawing deeply from the Americas' rich tradition of magical realism, Alvarez transforms buried stories into living forces that shape both their tellers and listeners. Through this supernatural lens, she poses profound questions about whose narratives deserve preservation and how untold stories echo through generations—whether preserved in print or passed down through whispered secrets and folklore. It's a masterful exploration of memory, legacy, and the persistent power of stories that refuse to remain silent.

Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh is a masterful exploration of loneliness, aging, and the power of narrative. The story follows Vesta Gul, a 72-year-old widow whose discovery of a mysterious note in the woods blurs the lines between reality and imagination. Moshfegh subverts the traditional murder mystery genre, using it to delve into the psyche of a woman grappling with regret and suppressed desires.

The novel serves as a meditation on storytelling itself, with Vesta's elaborate speculations about a fictional character reflecting her own unfulfilled life. Moshfegh crafts a narrative that is both a critique of the mystery genre and a poignant character study, challenging readers to question the reliability of Vesta's perspective.

While the author's prose is brilliant, the deliberate pacing and focus on Vesta's internal monologue may test some readers' patience. However, this frustration is intentional, inviting deeper reflection on aging, isolation, and the human need for purpose. Death in Her Hands showcases Moshfegh's talent for exploring the fringes of human experience, sacrificing immediate gratification for long-term literary impact.