For The Book Obsessed
[ad_1] At the end of the world, Kate is Bertie’s best friend. In the aftermath of a world war, after enduring terror and loss together, they still have each other. Until Kate decides to move away—and Bertie is left to grapple with her own personal apocalypse. In End of the World House, Adrienne Celt delivers … Read more
[ad_1] “My name is Tetley Abednego, and I am the most hated girl in Garbagetown.” From this very first sentence of The Past is Red by Catherynne M. Valente, Valente ensures her readers know where Tetley stands. Tetley knows too, but it doesn’t bother her. “Everyone says they only hate me because I annihilated hope … Read more
[ad_1] Madame d’Aulnoy was a literary leader of late 17th century France—ahead of even Charles Perrault in popularizing the literary fairy tale. As Jack Zipes notes in his introduction to this new collection of d’Aulnoy’s tales, The Island of Happiness, Madame d’Aulnoy was the inventor of the term “fairy tales.” She used this form of … Read more
[ad_1] Sankofa is the adopted daughter of Death. With a glowing green light that comes from within her, she can take the lives of those around her. Nnedi Okorafor’s newest novella, Remote Control, introduces Sankofa through the stories many people tell about her—she is Death’s own remote control, they say. When she touches technology, it … Read more
[ad_1] The many hauntings of a mother’s body coalesce in Hinge, a new poetry collection by Molly Spencer. With stories ranging from the ancient myths of Persephone and Demeter to the modern folklore of Peter Pan, Hinge examines a girl’s dreams alongside a mother’s fears. In Spencer’s poetry, pain is chronic in the body, persistent … Read more
[ad_1] In Burning Roses, S. L. Huang treats a fairy tale as merely the prologue to the rest of a life. We meet Little Red Riding Hood, Rosa, as an older woman already looking back on her life. The famous encounter with the wolf at her grandmother’s house is long behind her—far from the guiltless … Read more
[ad_1] Or What You Will by Jo Walton belongs to the tradition of beautiful cozy books about books. A love letter to Shakespeare, fantasy, and alternate histories, the story follows Sylvia, an author, from the perspective of a nameless narrator who has appeared throughout Sylvia’s novels as a collection of different characters. With meta layers … Read more
[ad_1] Sirens’ voices have power—not only because of their magical properties, but also because of how they use their voices and for whom. Tavia and Effie know this better than anyone: Tavia herself is a siren, and Effie is Tavia’s best friend in the world. Yet in Bethany C. Morrow’s debut young adult title, A … Read more
[ad_1] In her sophomore novel, Hex, Rebecca Dinerstein Knight delivers a thesis on love and poison as if they are one and the same. Amidst the cataclysm of Nell Barber’s expulsion from her graduate level biology program, Nell is determined to continue her research and keeps meticulous notes. This research has been unconventional lately, because … Read more