The last book in the A Court of Thorns and Roses series is out now – A Court of Silver Flames. For the first time, Sarah J. Maas pivots away from Feyre’s storyline and this novel instead focusses on Nesta Archeron. Since being forced into the Cauldron and becoming High Fae, Nesta has struggled to find her place in this new world, haunted by the horrors she endured in the last battle. Cassian, the Illyrian warrior, ignites her temper. When Feyre decides on an intervention to combat Nesta’s self-destructive behaviour, the two are forced to keep close quarters with each other. Meanwhile, the human queens who returned to the Continent after the last ware have forged a dangerous new alliance, the key to halting them may well rest in Nesta’s hands. As Cassian trains Nesta up, her powers both inherited from the Cauldron, and within herself, become clearer. Whilst at The Night Court though, Nesta begins to forge alliances with the women she encounters.

This latest instalment in the Sarah J. Maas series is dark and sultry, as propulsive a read as the others in the series and continues to be as intricately woven as her previous novels in the series. In Nesta, Maas paints one of the most intricately painted and compelling character arcs in the series thus far, wetting appetites yet further for the final novels in the series.

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In Men Who Hate Women, Laura Bates takes a deep dive into the vast network of misogynist communities currently at work around the globe. It’s both a fascinating and terrifying read that traces the roots of misogyny from Incels themselves to Pick Up Artists and Men’s Rights Activists – exploring the way pervasive and pernicious narratives have become a large part of the mainstream, from political posturing to the large erasure of misogyny from the definition of terrorism. Bates looks deep into how these movements can groom and radicalise young and vulnerable men, tracing the origins of this extreme ideology from the internet to real life through real-life sleuthing of internet forums to interviews with trolls, former incels and academics understanding the movement.

Largely, the book feels despairing as Bates how pernicious these thoughts and narratives have become and how prevalent the idea of the manosphere is. Still, Bates does provide an element of hope in her examination of the conscious ways that people – particularly men – can work to undermine this momentum. More than anything in her desire to work against the narratives that are propagated on YouTube, Reddit and more. Bates largely feels empathetic in how impressionable young boys can fall prey to these narratives and it is this that prevents the book from feeling despondent. This is a vital and necessary read for people of any gender.

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The third book in Sarah J. Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses sees the culmination of the war with Hybern that was set up in A Court of Mist and Fury. It’s a deliciously intoxicating novel that sweeps you along in its wake, a propulsive novel that moves with the kind of pace to leave you dizzy. Although it may be one of the weaker novels in the series, perhaps given the lack of romantic tension now that Rhysand and Feyre are established as the leading romantic couple. Still, Maas has an ability to build an intricate, detailed world like no other that pulls you into its fantastical wake. Whether it is the fear of the Carver or the Weaver or the confusion over Tamlin’s rivalry, Maas has an unique ability to leave you on tenterhooks throughout the novel, through to its heart wrenching conclusion. A Court of Wings and Ruin will satisfy any fans of the first two in Maas’ A Court of Thorns and Roses series and whilst there is a largely predictable factor in this novel that was not present in the first two, still it is an immensely enjoyable read.

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It’s hard to put into words the propulsive power of Sarah J. Maas. She has an ability to transform even the most ardent opposer of fantasy fiction to a believer. The second book in her A Court of Thorns and Roses series is as undeniably compelling and propulsive, if not more so, than her first novel. It’s a slow-burning and exquisitely beautiful, hauntingly emotional novel, filled with fantasy, adventure and very real yearning, grief, sorrow and joy.

The book is a story about life and love, picking up as Feyre navigates her new status as an immortal Fae, grappling with the horrors of what she underwent Under the Mountain. Throughout the novel, Feyre comes to realise what real joy, love, companionship and hope entail. It’s a gorgeous story about a woman finding herself and understanding how to really overcome all the horrors she has dealt with and how best to deal with the bargain she made with Rhysand while in captivity. When Tamlin’s protectiveness for Feyre turns into something toxic, Rhysand sweeps away to his Night Court, as war approaches. It is the feminist side of Rhysand – particularly in comparison to Tamlin – that makes him such a compelling protagonist. A Court of Mist and Fury is a wonder of a novel that will sweep the reader back into the magical realm that Maas created, one they will not want to leave.

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Greenwich Park – the new novel by Katherine Faulkner – is an addictive new thriller, for any fans of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train. Helen seems to have it all – a perfect husband, a perfect home in Greenwich Park and a wonderful relationship with her brother and sister-in-law, now she is expecting a baby. At antenatal class, she meets Rachel, an unpredictable single mother. Helen is drawn to her or maybe Rachel is forcing herself on Helen?  Her behaviour becomes increasingly erratic, something that her family and friends quickly pick up on. As Rachel embeds herself more firmly into their lives, links to their shared history emerge, it becomes clear that there are many secrets lying lurking in the foundations of Greenwich Park.

This novel is bound to be an instant success and classic, Faulkner twists and turns her prose with a nimble dexterity, her plotting is masterful and the narrative propulsive and pacy. We’ll be keeping our eyes on this author in the years to come.

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Beautiful Country is one of the break-out debuts of 2021, written by an incredibly fresh talent and new voice – Qian Julie Wang. The memoir offers a very real portrayal of life as an undocumented child living in poverty in America. When seven-year old Qian arrives in New York in 1994 from China, the reality of life in ‘Mei Guo’ is not the fairytale dream they had believed it to be. Back in China, her parents were professors, but now in America they live illegally, in constant fear of being discovered by the authorities. In order to scrape a living together, her parents are forced to work in sweatshops – the effect continually felt on their marriage and Qian herself is left as an outsider at school with her limited English. Despite the odds stacked against her, she largely teaches herself English and finds a love in books and literature. It would have been highly likely for Qian to detest the country which makes her life so hard, yet she delights in the small joys around her, falling for the American Dream as ardently as her father before her.

In telling her story, Wang tells the whole picture – unvarnished and wholly real – picking apart her own flaws, her parents often unkind treatment of their child and each other. She offers a mature adult perspective, whilst still living within her childhood perspective and innocence in some respects. It’s an important read to help empathise, in many ways, with the undocumented experience – the burden of living under the shadow of being discovered and the potential impact on daily life. One of the most eye-opening parts of the memoir is shown in Ma Ma’s fear of going to the hospital, where the authorities are, even whilst enduring the effects of cancer. Wang’s voice is unique, thoughtful and unvarnished, positioning her as a fresh and important voice, one worth heeding.

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The Paper Palace tells the story of Elle Bishop, a young mother, who is haunted by memories of the past in ‘The Paper Palace’ – the decaying summer camp in the back woods of Cape Cod, where her family has spent every summer. The novel starts with a sudden passionate encounter she had the night before, with her childhood friend, as her husband and mother entertained guests inside. The story then toggles back and forth between the story that unfolds over twenty-four hours and her childhood memories of The Paper Palace, unveiling family legacies of love, lies and secrets, the disintegration of the fabric of her family. Elle, ultimately has to decide between the life she has created with her husband Peter and her love for her childhood friend, Jonas.

On the surface then, the novel appears to be one of family ties and the complicated relationships between parents and children, yet the story goes a layer deeper than that, with a darker, earthier underbelly to the story that makes it more compelling. Cowley Heller emerges from the narrative as one of the next great American writers, capturing a fast-pace storyline that manages to seamlessly weave together the past and present in an intoxicating way – an immensely addictive and intoxicating story that will stay with you long after the final page.

Pick up a copy of The Paper Palace by Miranda Cowley Heller here.

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Pick up a copy of the novel here.

Released this summer, Emily Henry’s sweet and charming novel tells the story of Alex and Poppy who meet at college and travel on one trip together every summer. Inspired by When Harry Met Sally, the novel is a second-chance romance toggling between the present day and the alternating previous vacations that led to the break between Poppy and Alex.

Both Poppy and Alex are immensely engaging and compelling main characters that are both incredibly likeable. Poppy is free-spirited, quirky and outgoing, whilst Alex is a quieter, more introverted character. The duo meet at college and become friends, going on adventures together each summer. In the present, after two years of not talking, Poppy is determined to fix things with Alex and persuades him to go on one last vacation.

Emily Henry’s writing is succulent and addictive, making this a novel that is sweetly charming from start to finish, filled with yearning and tension. Above all though Henry allows space for authenticity, the characters have very real struggles and challenges to undergo – Poppy is at a roadblock in her career. It is this that makes the novel so engaging, as it feels immensely real and immediate. This is the perfect summer read and we can’t recommend it enough.

Order You and Me on Vacation by Emily Henry here.

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Taylor Jenkins Reid paints the glamour of the past century like no other commercial novelist of the moment. So in The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, she painted a picture of Hollywood glamour in the 1960s and in Daisy Jones and the Six, she describes the gritty underbelly of rock n’ roll in the 1960s. Now, she is back with a new novel situated in the surfing culture of the 1970s – for those paying attention, it builds on the story of Mick Riva, one of Evelyn Hugo’s ex-husbands, his first wife June and their four children – Nina, Hud, Jay and Kit.

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Often when a book has as much hype around it as Casey McQuiston’s debut novel Red, White and Royal Blue, it is hard to live up to the hype around it. This may be one of the rare exceptions to the rule. Red, White and Royal Blue is a delicious romance, filled with everything you’d want from this kind of a novel and more. The book tells the story of the sworn enemy to unlikely romantic relationship between the Prince Henry of England and Alex Claremont-Diaz, the First Son of the United States, while his mother (the first female president) is gunning for her second-term in office. 

At times, the novel falls into cliche – the sworn enemy nature of their relationship evaporates unnaturally quickly – but this does not make it any less propulsive or engaging. McQuiston artfully threads the romance through broader issues of attitudes to sexuality in the long-entrenched ‘traditional’ narrative of the royal family and in the threat that coming out may pose to Alex’s mother’s second term and his own political chances. Indeed, one of the most tear-jerking moments is seen in the public reaction to the romance, when the couple are outed through illicit means. The novel though should not be taken for a major political manifesto – it’s a compulsive and frivolous romance  that is simply put, the ideal lockdown read, it’s an escapist and delicious work of fiction and you will love being a part of this world, even for a little while. Now, we remain excited for McQuiston’s second novel – One Last Stop – that will be released later this year. 

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