![]() ![]() I picked up Gabrielle Hamilton’s Blood, Bones & Butter prior to my trip to New York and visit to her restaurant, Prune, in March. While the novel is rich in detail and description, the plot never fully captured my attention.īlood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton (⭐⭐⭐) The thread of de Vos’ art and life is interlaced with that of a man living in 1950’s Manhattan who has the painting hanging on his wall, and that of a young Australian forger living in Manhattan hired to replicate de Vos’ masterpiece. In Smith’s The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, three narratives are woven together to create a story that revolves around a painting, a landscape by Sara de Vos, a Dutch artist living in the 1600’s. The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith (⭐⭐⭐) Unfortunately, I found the plot interminable and characters and dialogue tedious. I was expecting to be swept up and carried away by Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches. I love that this fantasy features a cast of all-black characters and that the messaging throughout, about remembering those who came before, about finding the strength to fight, and about fighting a system of oppression and confronting police brutality, is so very relevant in our world today.Ī Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness (⭐⭐) So many fantasy books revolve around white boys, magicians/wizards who find their way to wizard school, are tested, and overcome adversity with magic. Though the story is told from three different perspectives, the book centers on Zélie Adebola, a strong warrior/heroine who embarks on a journey of self-discovery with a mission to return magic to the people and land of Orïsha. The book has flavors of a hard-boiled mystery with an obsessive female friendship at its core and a fairly predictable plot.Ĭhildren of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (⭐⭐⭐⭐.5)Īt 500+ pages, Tomi Adeyemi’s epic debut, the YA fantasy Children of Blood and Bone ( #1 in the Legacy of Orïsha trilogy) is an entertaining and surprisingly fast read, with strong character development and world-building. Now in Morocco, they begin to unravel the story of their past with alarming consequences. As roommates at Bennington College, Alice and Lucy formed a quick bond and parted ways after a mysterious accident. The book takes place in 1950’s Tangier, where a recently married couple is unexpectedly visited by the wife’s former college roommate. I picked up Christine Mangan’s debut novel, Tangerine, prior to my recent trip to Morocco. I loved this collection for the honesty and raw emotion found in each story, and am continually awed by Gay’s willingness and nerve to put her characters in difficult and necessary places. Of the crap that life throws at them every single day. The women in these stories are not “difficult,” they are survivors. Aciman writes desire so well, and he manages to capture the palpable ache of yearning with gorgeous prose.ĭifficult Women broke my heart. It’s a novel broken up into 5 vignettes (as opposed to Elgar’s 17) that center on the love life of Paul and his forays into lust, infidelity, emotional longing, and all matters of the heart. Like Elgar’s orchestral work of the same name, Aciman’s novel explores variations on a theme. Remember how much I loved Call Me By Your Name? It was so beautiful and evocative and full of longing, I was excited to pick up and read André Aciman’s 2017 novel Enigma Variations. Harry August’s story is totally absorbing and will keep you glued to your towel on the beach flipping pages or up reading late into the night. By the end of his 11th life, after he’s traveled the world, fought in wars, explored various occupations, loved and been loved, he is on his deathbed once again when he is visited by a young girl who tells him some frightening news about the future. In Claire North’s smart and inventive novel, Harry August lives and dies, and is born again remembering the life/lives that came before. The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North Start with book one and you won’t be able to stop… The first in the trilogy, A Darker Shade of Magic, follows an Antari named Kell, a magician with the ability to navigate between 4 disparate Londons who smuggles on the side and runs into danger regularly. ![]() Schwab’s Shades of Magic fantasy trilogy was one of my favorite discoveries of last year. ![]()
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