News - Book Reviews

News - Book Reviews

De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s DECENT PEOPLE received a great review from Humanities Tennessee’s website Chapter16: “Murder mysteries conventionally focus on a single question: Who did it? The best of the genre — such as De’Shawn Charles Winslow’s new novel DECENT PEOPLE — raise more philosophical issues. What is the value of human life? What kind of world do we live in? Is justice possible? … Despite the darkness of the subject matter, Winslow has a light touch, moving readers briskly through the novel’s kaleidoscopic events. He spices the story with period detail, apposite references to MCMILLAN & WIFE and Patty Hearst that remind us we are visiting a lost world. Winslow’s novel partakes of seedy crime and racial violence, family secrets and betrayals, romantic rivalries and hopeless loves but resolves into an essentially domestic question: Where can we find a home?” Winslow was also interviewed for Pen America's "Pen 10 Column." Bloomsbury published DECENT PEOPLE on January 17, 2023.

GIRLS AND THEIR MONSTERS, Audrey Clare Farley’s next work of nonfiction, received a rave review from Publishers Weekly. It reads: “Farley’s narrative is based in deep research and makes for her nuanced analysis of the country’s shifting attitudes toward childhood and mental health. Readers will be riveted.” Grand Central Publishing will publish GIRLS AND THEIR MONSTERS on June 13, 2023.

Scientific American released a great review for Jaroslav Kalfar’s next novel, A BRIEF HISTORY OF LIVING FOREVER. Amy Brady writes: “Kalfar turns an ambitious premise (a person whose body has expired but whose consciousness lives on) into a moving, frightening story about the strength of family bonds.” Little, Brown and Company will publish the novel on March 28, 2023.

Erica Berry’s WOLFISH has continued to receive critical acclaim following its publication. The Washington Post published a fantastic review of the book, with reviewer Maggie Lange praising: “Terror propels Erica Berry’s exhilarating book, WOLFISH…No matter where Berry weaves, she sniffs out fascinating insights. And she writes about it in clear, beautiful language.” Scientific American offered another strong review, where Amy Brady writes: “Berry is a skillful guide, highlighting the wolf's influence on everything from creation myths to viral memes and from government policies to proverbs.” Debutiful also published an excerpt, alongside praise: “Through this cultural criticism, Berry smashes expectations for what a book can do.” Flatiron Books published WOLFISH in the U.S. on February 21, 2023.

Maggie Millner’s debut poetry collection COUPLETS: A LOVE STORY has enjoyed a firestorm of wonderful press since its release. A fantastic review from Kamran Javadizadeh for The New Yorker raves: “In COUPLETS, Maggie Millner uses rhyme, confession, and surprising metaphor to create a fresh portrait of desire…Millner’s ultimate achievement is to draw open the distance between the book’s first line and its ostensibly identical second, between the self that one takes as given and the self, no less true, that one cannot help but make.” The book was featured on The New York Times’ Editors’ Choice list this week, and called out by poetry editor Gregory Cowles: “If you’re on the hunt for a good book to reset your own brain, might I suggest Maggie Millner’s COUPLETS: A LOVE STORY? It’s a story of romantic attachment and romantic betrayal told almost entirely in rhymed couplets, and it’s a balancing act of such sly virtuosity that it may give you vertigo.” Meanwhile, for The New York Times Book Review, Adrienne Raphel writes: “Maggie Millner’s first book, COUPLETS, breathes new life into an old form to tell the story of a romance that catches its heroine off guard.” A review by Kristen Millares Young for The Washington Post praises: “While unmasking the ‘long and torturous’ journey that self-knowledge requires, Millner delights in the small pivots and grooves afforded by strict verse. Even the line breaks provide fractals of the fractured themes of longing, grief, hope and passion. Restless, imaginative and daring, COUPLETS advances the canon of the erotic.” Lastly, a review by Ana Cecilia Alvarez for The Los Angeles Review of Books raves: “With Millner’s well-attuned sense of metaphor, we know we are in good hands. Her verse is neat and supple…This gentle refusal of subjectivity is etched into the book’s own form: something of a novel, something of a collection of poems, and something of a memoir.” Farrar, Straus & Giroux published COUPLETS on February 7, 2023.

DECENT PEOPLE by De’Shawn Charles Winslow received a starred review from Shelf Awareness. Reviewer Nell Beram writes: “As far as endearing, small-town amateur elder sleuths go, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple has some competition in Josephine ‘Jo’ Wright, who features in De'Shawn Charles Winslow's splendid second novel, DECENT PEOPLE, a mystery in which there's a lot more at stake than finding a murderer.” The book also received a great review from Jonathan Haupt for The Post and Courier, who raves: “[A] stellar sophomore novel…DECENT PEOPLE is a brilliantly threaded character-driven novel of fractured lives seeking a healing of the human spirit…DECENT PEOPLE further advances Winslow’s well-deserved reputation as a rising star in American literature with a novel that masterfully balances its themes of empathy and social justice with its structure as a small-town mystery page-turner.” DECENT PEOPLE was also featured on Garden & Gun’s list of “The Best New Books for Southerners in 2023.” Bloomsbury Publishing published the book on January 17, 2023.

SINK by Joseph Earl Thomas received a fantastic review from The New York Times. Reviewer Bryan Washington raves: "[P]recise and deeply thoughtful…Thomas really does accomplish the extraordinary. SINK is heavy. It’s a tough book to read. But it is honest. Thomas has constructed a sort of alchemy on the page, but one born of experience, from skill and from a trust about what will end up on the other side; a meticulous, careful construction…Thomas has earned a deep bow." Grand Central Publishing published the book on February 21, 2023.

WE ARE A HAUNTING by Tyriek White received a fantastic starred review from Publishers Weekly. The reviewer calls the book a “poignant and poetic debut,” adding: “Each character is acutely aware of the weight of their forebears, which White uses to effectively tell a story that is both intimate and sweeping…White works wonders with this inspired story of grief and the struggle for hope.” Astra House will publish the book on April 25, 2023.

Monica Brashears’ HOUSE OF COTTON received a wonderful review from Booklist. Reviewer Allison Escoto writes: "[S]tartling, vivid, and impressive...Brashears has written a lush, pictorial, and often steamy novel with an indelible heroine. Coupling classic gothic elements with a realistic portrayal of the issues facing a young, poor, Black woman with few options, the novel’s many strengths culminate in a powerful and original story that will appeal to a variety of readers across fiction genres." Flatiron Books will publish HOUSE OF COTTON on April 4, 2023.

TAKE WHAT YOU NEED by Idra Novey received a fantastic starred review from Booklist. Reviewer Carol Haggas writes: "Novey explores the mysteries of the creative process, the precariousness of family, and the inherent biases toward unconventional behavior. Novey’s richly complex third novel shows not only a nuanced appreciation for the artistic process but also places such creativity within the toxic distrust sewn by poverty, misogyny, and xenophobia…Novey has constructed a cantankerous character whose artistic passion, fierce independence, and fragile emotional state make her impossible to forget." Viking will publish the novel on March 14, 2023.