Source: Penguin Random House Canada

#BookReview Caste in the Stars by Leylah Attar @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #CasteInTheStars #LeylahAttar #PenguinReads

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Caste in the Stars by Leylah Attar @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #CasteInTheStars #LeylahAttar #PenguinReads Title: Caste in the Stars

Author: Leylah Attar

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Dec. 16, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

For fans of Becka Mack and Ana Huang comes a heart-stopping and utterly romantic story about two people from opposite sides of the world who dare to risk the odds to be together.

She did everything right—until her life fell apart.
The last place Priya Solanki wants to be is back at the funeral home her parents have run for decades—a place tied to a caste legacy the world says is long gone, but that her family carried from India to Canada and never let go of. Her traditional parents call it fate—proof that her path was written in the stars, just like the generations before her. But to Priya, it’s a life she never chose, and one she’s spent years trying to outrun. Her plan is simple: regroup, reset, and finally break the cycle.

Then Ethan Knight reappears.
Once the reckless, motorcycle-riding boy next door, he’s now a full-blown Hollywood star—older, incredibly handsome, and impossible to avoid. Adored by millions and followed everywhere by flashing cameras, he’s renting out the funeral home to prepare for a role—and flipping every piece of Priya’s plan upside down.

And finally, the stars align.
Trapped in close quarters with the boy she once loved in silence, Priya can’t escape the heat, the history, or the ache she’s buried for years. But falling for Ethan doesn’t just mean risking her heart; it means stepping into a world that was never built for someone like her—and daring to believe she belongs in it anyway.

But even if she takes the risk, what happens when Ethan leaves? Because, inevitably, he will.

Loving him wouldn’t just destroy her—it would destroy everything she’s trying to rebuild.

Review:

Heartwarming, hopeful, and sassy!

Caste in the Stars is a cute, romantic story that takes you into the life of the hardworking, dependable Priya Solanki as she navigates a recent divorce, an unwanted move back into her parents home, difficult conversations surrounding the financial stability of the family-owned funeral home, and an unexpected resurgence of feelings for a famous movie star, once her teenage crush, who is now briefly back in town.

The prose is smooth and light. The characters are fun-loving, supportive, and endearing. And the story is a heartfelt, witty mix of awkward situations, tender moments, self-discovery, fresh starts, friendship, family, culture, community, expectations, happiness, and love.
 

Overall, Caste in the Stars is a charming, flirty, feel-good read by Attar, with characters that are impossible not to root for and a swoon-worthy ending that left me smitten, satisfied, and eagerly anticipating whatever she whips up next.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

Thank you to Doubleday Canada for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Leylah Attar

LEYLAH ATTAR is an award-winning Indo-Canadian author. Her self-published work has appeared on the New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal's bestseller lists. A recipient of the Writer's Digest Award and the IndieReader Discovery Award, Leylah writes stories that reflect her diverse influences and heritage, and have sold over 150K copies across formats. Caste in the Stars is her traditional publishing debut. She lives in Toronto with her husband, son and the most adorable Yorkshire Terrier on the planet.

Website | Facebook | Instagram

#BookReview Fallen Stars by Imani Erriu @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #FallenStars #HeavenlyBodiesSeries #ImaniErriu #PenguinReads

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Fallen Stars by Imani Erriu @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #FallenStars #HeavenlyBodiesSeries #ImaniErriu #PenguinReads Title: Fallen Stars

Author: Imani Erriu

Series: Heavenly Bodies #2

Published by: Random House Canada on Nov. 25, 2025

Genres: Romantasy

Pages: 544

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The stunning sequel to the instant international bestseller Heavenly Bodies.

Never make a bargain with a god.

Elara is out for revenge. Her love, Prince Enzo, is trapped between the realms of life and death, and her enemy has vanished, leaving Elara with a life she never wanted and new powers she cannot control.

Now a disgraced queen on the run, Elara must find a way to wake Enzo while also seeking the lost Titans, a league of gods who ruled the world long before the Stars.

But there is a darker power at play, one that even Ariete, King of the Stars, is afraid of. With enemies at every turn, Elara must tread carefully if she has any hope of saving her soulmate and fulfilling her promise to make every Star fall.

Review:

Complex, adventurous, and enthralling!⁣
⁣
𝐅allen Stars is an action-packed, seductive tale that plunges us back into the life of Queen Elara as she endeavours to do whatever it takes, even bind herself to her greatest enemy, Ariete, the King of Stars, in order to reclaim her soulmate’s tether and rescue him from the Dreamlands, where he’s been lost.⁣
⁣
The prose is brisk and tight. The characters are multilayered, fearless, and compelling. And the plot brims with twists, turns, duty, danger, power, destruction, heartbreak, family, friendship, violence, vengeance, control, deceit, tortured pasts, and unwavering love.⁣
⁣
Overall, 𝐅allen Stars is a creative, passionate, epic fantasy novel by Erriu, overflowing with perilous quests, soul-searching dilemmas, sizzling romance, and complex, magnetic magical beings, and it’s the perfect addition to the Heavenly Bodies series.⁣

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Imani Erriu

IMANI ERRIU is the author of the romance fantasy series Heavenly Bodies. She is a graduate from the Manchester Metropolitan University where she received a Bachelor's Degree in English Literature and Creative Writing. She spent most of her childhood in the forests of the English countryside, which definitely gifted her an overactive imagination. When she isn't crying over her own fictional characters or daydreaming up her next plot twist, she can be found eating pasta and watching "The Office" on repeat.

Photo by Alessia Erriu

Website | Instagram

#BookReview Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley @doubledayca @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA @doubledayca #ConsiderYourselfKissed #JessicaStanley #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Consider Yourself Kissed by Jessica Stanley @doubledayca @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA @doubledayca #ConsiderYourselfKissed #JessicaStanley #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: Consider Yourself Kissed

Author: Jessica Stanley

Published by: Doubleday Canada on May 27, 2025

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

When she first meets Adam, Coralie is new to London and is feeling adrift. But Adam is clever, witty and (he insists) a half inch taller than the average male. His charming four-year-old daughter only adds to his appeal.

But ten years on, something important is missing from the life Coralie and Adam have built. Or maybe, having gained everything she dreamed of, Coralie has lost something else she once had: herself.

Set against an eventful British decade that included the soap opera of five prime ministers plus Brexit and Covid, Consider Yourself Kissed puts the subjects of love and family on a grand stage, showing how the intimate dramas in our homes inescapably compete for energy and attention with the shared public dramas of our times.

Told over ten years of one woman’s life, this is an unforgettable love story that effortlessly balances sweetness with bite, the public with the personal, and humour with heart.

Review:

Optimistic, relatable, and sincere!

Consider Yourself Kissed is a tender, insightful tale that takes you into the life of Coralie, a young woman who is struggling with her self-identity after spending ten years in a career she’s not sure she loves, being a busy mother to three children, two of her own and one stepchild, losing the mother who she never felt truly cared, and supporting a partner whose priorities are mixed up and who is more than a little self involved.

The writing is genuine and direct. The characters are lonely, quirky, and disillusioned. And the plot is a lighthearted, touching mix of life, love, introspection, friendship, awkward situations, sweet moments, misunderstandings, relationship dynamics, family drama, healing, and moving on, all set against the backdrop of British politics.

Overall, Consider Yourself Kissed is a layered, astute, intriguing tale by Stanley that is the first novel I’ve read by this author, but certainly won’t be my last.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Doubleday Canada for gifting me a copy.

 

About Jessica Stanley

Jessica Stanley grew up in Australia before moving to the United Kingdom in 2011. She worked in advertising before publishing fiction, and lives in London with her husband and their three children.

Website | Instagram

#BookReview It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan @PenguinRandomCA #ItsALoveStory #AnnabelMonaghan #Putnam #PenguinReads

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview It’s a Love Story by Annabel Monaghan @PenguinRandomCA #ItsALoveStory #AnnabelMonaghan #Putnam #PenguinReads Title: It's a Love Story

Author: Annabel Monaghan

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons on May 27, 2025

Genres: Contemporary Romance

Pages: 368

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 9/10

From the USA Today bestselling author of Nora Goes Off Script, a novel about a former adolescent TV punchline who has left her awkwardness in the rearview mirror thanks to a fake-it-till-you-make-it mantra that has her on the cusp of success, until she tells a lie that sets her on a crash-course with her past, spending a week in Long Island with the last man she thinks might make her believe in love.

Rules for a love story: There are none. It’s all a lie.

Jane Jackson knows that true love is a lie. Laughter is the only truth—you can’t fake a belly laugh. Jane should know, she spent her adolescence as “Poor Janey Jakes,” the barbecue-sauce-in-her-braces punchline on America’s fifth-favorite sitcom. Now she’s a Creative Executive at Clearwater Studios and she’s living by a new mantra: Fake it till you make it.

Except, she might have faked it too far. Desperate to get her first project greenlit and riled up by pompous cinematographer and one-time crush Dan Finnegan, she opened her mouth and a big fat fib fell out. She claimed that Jack Quinlan, hottest popstar of the moment, has promised to write an original song for the soundtrack. Jack may have been her first kiss—and greatest source of shame—but she hasn’t spoken to him in twenty years.

Now, Jane must turn to the last man she’d ever want to owe: Dan Finnegan. Because Jack is playing a festival in Dan’s hometown on Long Island, and Dan has an in. A week in close quarters with Dan while facing down her past is Jane’s idea of hell, but Dan just might surprise her. While covering up her lie, can they find something true?

Review:

Amusing, tender, and sweet!

It’s a Love Story is a charming, uplifting tale that takes you into the lives of two main characters. Jane Jackson, a former child actor turned studio executive struggling to get her first movie made, and Dan Finnegan, a cinematographer with a big family who may seem from afar to be a little arrogant but who actually has a huge heart of gold.

The writing is touching and light. The characters are charismatic, genuine, and endearing. And the plot is an engaging mix of heart, humour, friendship, attraction, chemistry, relationship drama, heartfelt moments, romance, and movie-making.

Overall, It’s a Love Story is another heartwarming, witty, delightful tale by Monaghan that has all the elements I’ve come to know and enjoy in her novels, including a fierce heroine, an attentive alpha male, and a swoony storyline.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for this free copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Annabel Monaghan

Annabel Monaghan is the USA Today bestselling and Library Reads Hall of Fame author of Summer Romance, Same Time Next Summer, and Nora Goes Off Script, as well as two young adult novels and Does This Volvo Make My Butt Look Big?, a selection of laugh-out-loud columns that appeared in The Huffington Post, The Week, and The Rye Record. She lives in Connecticut with her family. Her novels have been translated into twenty languages.

Photo by Alison Rodilosso.

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey @PenguinCanada @doubledayca #OurLastWildDays #AnnaBailey #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Our Last Wild Days by Anna Bailey @PenguinCanada @doubledayca #OurLastWildDays #AnnaBailey #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: Our Last Wild Days

Author: Anna Bailey

Published by: Doubleday Canada on May 27, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 320

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

The Labasques aren’t like other families.

Living in a shack out in the swamps, they made do by hunting down alligators and other animals. To the good people of Jacknife, Louisiana, they are troublemakers and outcasts, the kind of people you wouldn’t want in your community.

So, when Cutter Labasque is found face down in the muddy swamp, no one seems to care, not even her two brothers. The only person who questions the official verdict of suicide is Cutter’s childhood friend, Loyal May, who has just returned home to care for her mother. When she left town at eighteen years old, she betrayed Cutter. Now with a ragtag group from the local paper where she works, Loyal goes in search of answers, uncovering a web of deceit and corruption that implicates those in town. It may be too late to apologize to Cutter, but Loyal has restitution in mind.

Weaving through the swamps and bayous of rural Louisiana, Our Last Wild Days is an atmospheric, smoldering suspense about our darker impulses—and how to set things right.

Review:

Intense, thought-provoking, and atmospheric!

Our Last Wild Days is a dark, twisty novel that takes you into the lives of a handful of people, including reporter Loyal May, who, after returning home to care for her mother, finds herself obsessed with discovering what truly happened to her childhood friend Cutter, when her body is found floating in the river.

The prose is fluid and tight. The characters are conflicted, scarred, and relentless. And the plot is a compelling, sobering tale of life, loss, family, friendship, grief, guilt, denial, secrets, abuse, neglect, poverty, desperation, self-preservation, violence, redemption, and small-town dynamics.

Overall, Our Last Wild Days is a gritty, intricate, engrossing tale by Bailey that captivates from the very first page and ultimately leaves you pensive, unsettled and thoroughly entertained.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Anna Bailey

ANNA BAILEY is a Sunday Times bestselling author from Gloucestershire. Their debut novel, Tall Bones (published in Canada as Where the Truth Lies), was inspired by their experiences living in the Colorado Rocky Mountains and was nominated for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year among other awards. They live in Bordeaux with their wife.

Instagram

#BookReview The Tiger and the Cosmonaut by Eddy Boudel Tan @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA #TheTigerAndTheCosmonaut #EddyBoudelTan #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Tiger and the Cosmonaut by Eddy Boudel Tan @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA #TheTigerAndTheCosmonaut #EddyBoudelTan #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: The Tiger and the Cosmonaut

Author: Eddy Boudel Tan

Published by: Viking on Apr. 25, 2025

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 336

Format: Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 10/10

Casper Han grew up the dutiful son of immigrants who never felt entirely welcome in their remote corner of British Columbia. Now an adult, living in Vancouver with a boyfriend whose privilege he quietly resents, Casper rarely returns to his hometown, the site of a grief his family doesn’t discuss: the loss of his twin, Sam.

Over twenty years have passed since Sam went missing, and a pressing crisis has brought Casper and his siblings back. Their father has vanished, only to be found wandering the vast woods beyond the family home, confused and clutching a pair of scissors, seemingly trapped in the memory of that tragic night. In order to move forward, the Han family, accustomed to fleeing their problems, must stay put and finally confront the past—untangling the mystery of what really happened to Sam.

Combining the atmosphere and intrigue of a cracking good suspense novel with the depth of a rich character study, The Tiger and the Cosmonaut tells the story of a family whose members have long made themselves small and quiet and obedient—and what happens when the cycle is finally broken.

Review:

Poignant, immersive, and affecting!

The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is a raw, vivid, suspenseful tale that takes you into the life of Casper Han, a young, gay man who, after his father suddenly goes missing, decides to return to his hometown to not only help find his father, but to finally discover what really happened to his twin brother on that night more than twenty years ago when he vanished without a trace.

The prose is eloquent and expressive. The characters are sorrowful, secretive, and strong. And the plot is an exceptionally tender tale about life, loss, family, friendship, strength, abuse, loneliness, grief, self-discovery, revelations, heartache, belonging, and love.

Every once in a while you pick up a book that completely moves you and surprises you in all the best ways, and The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is one of those novels. It’s a powerful, pensive, mysterious, beautifully written story by Tan where the space between the words resonates as loudly as the words themselves and is a beautiful reminder that forgiveness in all its forms is always necessary for true healing.

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

      

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for gifting me a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Eddy Boudel Tan

EDDY BOUDEL TAN has been a finalist for the Edmund White Award, the ReLit Best Novel Award, and the Ferro-Grumley Award for his novels After Elias and The Rebellious Tide. He was named a Rising Star by Writers’ Trust of Canada in 2021. His short stories can be found in Joyland, Yolk, and various literary journals and anthologies. The Tiger and the Cosmonaut is his third novel. He lives in Vancouver with his husband.

Photo by Hannes van der Merwe

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview Favourite Daughter by Morgan Dick @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA @doubledayca #FavouriteDaughter #MorganDick #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

Published on by Zoe1 Comment
#BookReview Favourite Daughter by Morgan Dick @PenguinCanada @PenguinRandomCA @doubledayca #FavouriteDaughter #MorganDick #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: Favourite Daughter

Author: Morgan Dick

Published by: Doubleday Canada on Apr. 29, 2025

Genres: General Fiction

Pages: 352

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

After her father abandoned Mickey and her mother for his new family, Mickey resolved never to think of him again. Years later, she’s fine without him. Yes, she drinks, but only sometimes—and, really, she can’t not. But with only $181 to her name, she’s not above attending some mandated therapy to access the not-insignificant inheritance he’s left her in the wake of his death. She’ll happily kneel at the Kleenex altar if it means she’ll soon be bingeing Bridgerton with a bottle of Russian Standard, five million dollars richer.

One town over, Arlo has more issues than most of her clients. Being a therapist has not prepared her for grief. She adored her father—his laughter, his charm, the smell of his cologne. She thought he adored her, too, but now he’s given his inheritance to a daughter no one knows, and Arlo is at a loss.

But unbeknownst to either woman, their problematic father had one dying wish, throwing them together on a crash course that will either break—or save—them both.

Review:

Intense, sobering, and thought-provoking!

Favourite Daughter is a perceptive, compelling tale that takes you into the lives of Mickey and Arlo, two young women who are both struggling to come to grips with the loss of their father, pasts filled with secrets and abuse, familial relationships that are strained and fractured, and a half-sister they’ve never met.

The prose is sombre and raw. The characters are complex, damaged, and burdened. And the plot uses a sensitive, reflective style to unravel all the personalities, motivations, and relationships within it.

Favourite Daughter is ultimately a novel about life, loss, family, secrets, grief, abuse, alcoholism, addiction, forgiveness, and the long-lasting effects of a dysfunctional childhood. It’s a well-written, emotional debut by Dick that does a great job of reminding us that everyone who enters our lives, no matter the length of time, impacts, shapes, and defines it.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Morgan Dick

Morgan Dick is a writer from Calgary, Canada. Her short fiction has appeared in Grain, Geist, CAROUSEL, Cloud Lake Literary, The Prairie Journal, Vagabond City Lit, and The Humber Literary Review. Her debut novel draws from her time working in the mental health field.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram | X

#BookReview The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaidsSecret #NitaProse #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose @NitaProse @PenguinCanada #TheMaidsSecret #NitaProse #PenguinReads #PenguinCanada Title: The Maid's Secret

Author: Nita Prose

Series: Molly the Maid #3

Published by: Viking on Apr. 8, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 326

Format: ARC, eBook

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

A wedding. A heist. A secret.

Molly Gray’s life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and recently promoted Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, good things are just around the corner, including her marriage to her beloved fiancé, Juan Manuel, only two months away. 

But Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things for appraisal, and much to everyone’s surprise, one item turns out to be a rare and priceless treasure. Instantly, Molly is both a multi-millionaire and a media sensation—the world’s rags-to-riches darling—until the priceless piece vanishes from the hotel in the boldest, brashest antiquities heist in recent memory.

The key to the mystery lies in the past, in a long-forgotten diary written by Molly’s gran. For the first time ever, Molly learns about Gran’s true-to-life fairytale, a young girl to the manor born, the only child of a wealthy magnate. But when Gran falls head over heels in love with a young man her parents deem below her station, her life is thrown into turmoil. As fate would have it, the greatest love of Gran’s life is someone Molly knows quite well….

Together with her friends, Molly combs the past and the present to catch the thief before looming threats against her become real.

A spirited heist caper and an epic love story, The Maid’s Secret is a spellbinding whodunnit that will capture and warm your heart.

Review:

Mysterious, sentimental, and fun!

The Maid’s Secret is a suspenseful, engaging tale that takes us back into the life of Molly Gray, a charming young maid who, after learning of the reality show Hidden Treasures filming at the hotel, decides to take some of her gran’s extraordinary things to be appraised only to discover that one of them is priceless and something somebody is really eager to steal, and the other is an item that will give her invaluable insight into a life once filled with wealth and betrayal.

The writing style is intricate and light. The characters are curious, supportive, and intriguing. And the plot is a well-paced, compelling tale of life, love, family, friendship, tricky situations, awkward moments, ruthless behaviour, deduction, and amateur sleuthing.

Overall, The Maid’s Secret is an immersive, satisfying, wonderful addition to the Molly the Maid series by Prose that once again confirms why this is and always will be a must-read series for me.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

         

 

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Canada for providing me with a copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nita Prose

NITA PROSE is a longtime editor, serving many bestselling authors and their books. She lives in Toronto, Canada, in a house that is only moderately clean.…

Photo by Dahlia Katz Photography.

Website | Goodreads | Instagram

#BookReview The Garden by Nick Newman @PenguinRandomCA #TheGarden #NickNewman #PenguinReads

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview The Garden by Nick Newman @PenguinRandomCA #TheGarden #NickNewman #PenguinReads Title: The Garden

Author: Nick Newman

Published by: G.P. Putnam's Sons on Feb. 18, 2025

Genres: Fantasy, Horror, Science Fiction

Pages: 313

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8/10

A beautiful eerie, hypnotic novel about two elderly sisters living alone at the edge of the world, and how their lives unravel when their sanctum is breached, for fans of Piranesi and The Testaments.

In a place and time unknown, two elderly sisters live in a walled garden, secluded from the outside world. Evelyn and Lily have only ever known each other. What was before the garden, they have forgotten; what lies beyond it, they do not know. Each day is spent in languid service to their tending the bees, planting the crops, and dutifully following the instructions of the almanac written by their mother.

So when a nameless boy is found hiding in the boarded house at the center of their isolated grounds, their once solitary lives are irrevocably disrupted. Who is he? Where did he come from? And most importantly, what does he want?

As suspicions gather and allegiances falter Evelyn and Lily are forced to confront the dark truths about themselves, the garden, and the world as they’ve known it.

Review:

Unique, chilling, and atmospheric!

The Garden is a sharp, engaging tale that takes you into the life of two elderly sisters, Evelyn and Lily, who have been content to spend the majority of their lives contained to the boundaries of their property and following the rules their mother left for them, until one day a strange young man breaks into their home, and they suddenly start to question everything they’ve ever known or believed about the world at large, the past, and themselves.

The writing is tight and intense. The characters are obedient, lonely, and intelligent. And the compelling plot sweeps you away into an intricately woven tale that touches on life, solace, sacrifice, dread, beliefs, fears, and survival.

Overall, The Garden is, ultimately, a speculative, haunting, well-written story by Newman that did a wonderful job of incorporating a creative storyline, postapocalyptic fiction, and an atmospheric setting into a compelling tale full of isolation, reflection, compliance, loneliness, and sisterhood.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Nick Newman

Nick Newman is the adult pen-name of Nicholas Bowling, author of several children’s novels including Witchborn and In the Shadow of Heroes, which was shortlisted for the Costa Children's Book Award. He has previously worked as a teacher, musician, and a stand-up comedian and is currently working as a bookseller at Daunt Books in London.

Photo by Robin Christian

Website | Instagram | X

#BookReview Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #BloodTies #JoNesbo #KongeriketSeries #PenguinReads

Published on by ZoeLeave a comment
#BookReview Blood Ties by Jo Nesbo @doubledayca @PenguinRandomCA #BloodTies #JoNesbo #KongeriketSeries #PenguinReads Title: Blood Ties

Author: Jo Nesbo

Series: Kongeriket #2

Published by: Random House Canada on Feb. 11, 2025

Genres: Mystery/Thriller

Pages: 384

Format: ARC, Paperback

Source: Penguin Random House Canada

Book Rating: 8.5/10

The modern master of Nordic noir is back with an explosive novel about two brothers who, on the verge of losing everything, are willing to do anything to stop that from happening.

By all accounts, Carol and Roy Opgard are doing quite well for themselves. Or at least they are doing as well as can be expected in a small town like Os. Carl manages the area’s swanky and successful spa, while Roy runs the local gas station and dreams of building it into an entire amusement park complete with a roller coaster. But then news breaks about a new highway that will bypass Os and leave the town cut off and isolated. Something has to be done about that, even if the methods need to be dirty. Fortunately, Roy and Carl have experience with dirty work.

Meanwhile, the town sheriff has gotten his hands on new technology that will enable him to take a deeper look at a spate of unsolved murders from years past—including that of his own father. Just as the sheriff reopens his investigation, the death toll begins to climb. Like Roy says about his roller coaster: “Once it is rolling, it’s too late to get off.”

Blood Ties is a tense, compulsively readable tour de force about loyalty, family ties and love that is as destructive as it is powerful.

Review:

Dark, simmering, and gritty!

Blood Ties is a slow-burning, intricate tale that takes us back to the small Norwegian village of Os and into the lives of the Opgard brothers. Carl, a college graduate turned spa owner, and Roy, a garage owner with lofty dreams of building an amusement park, as they each grapple with enduring jealousy, exceptional childhood cruelty, devastating violence, and long-buried secrets that bind them together but which may ultimately tear them apart.

The writing is edgy and tight. The characters are consumed, deceitful, and troubled. And the plot is an ominous, murky tale full of twists, turns, secrets, surprises, familial drama, lies, greed, obsession, resentments, mayhem, abuse, violence, childhood trauma, swirling emotions, guilt, wickedness, and murder.

Overall, Blood Ties is a twisty, unpredictable, sinister page-turner by Nesbo that transports you into the darkest corners of the human psyche and takes you on a roller coaster ride of psychological manipulation, control, corruption, and ruthless ambition.

 

This novel is available now.

Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.

        

 

 

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.

 

About Jo Nesbo

Jo Nesbø is a bestselling Norwegian author and musician. He was born in Oslo and grew up in Molde. Nesbø graduated from the Norwegian School of Economics with a degree in economics. Nesbø is primarily famous for his crime novels about Detective Harry Hole, but he is also the main vocals and songwriter for the Norwegian rock band Di Derre. In 2007 Nesbø also released his first children's book, Doktor Proktors Prompepulver.

Facebook | Goodreads