Julia at the Drive-In by Rainbow Rowell

 

OMG, this was so much fun. I pretty much never do short stories, but this was just delightful.

Review copy provided by publisher.

A Good Person by Kirsten King

Entertaining .

Returns and Exchanges by Kayla Rae Whitaker

 

Meh.

Take Me with You by Steven Rowley

 

I usually love  Rowley, but this was disappointing.

Ms. Mebel Goes Back on the Chopping Block by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Decent.

Ghost-Eye by Amitav Ghosh

 

This seems like something I would hate, what with all of the magical realism and meandering, overly-detailed discursions. But for some reason I loved it. Maybe it was partially the narrator?

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Lowe Job by Grace Alexander

 

I didn't love this because it seemed like it was neither fish nor fowl: it couldn't quite decide what genre, tone, or register it wanted to be. That said, I do think there would be a lot here for book groups to discuss.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Burning Library by Gilly MacMillan

 

Meh 

Based on a True Story by Sarah Vaughn

 

So dumb.

Murder Takes a Vacation by Laura Lippman

 

Fun.

Insane City by Dave Barry

 

Lots of fun.

Blackman's Coffin by Mark de Castrique

 Solid.

Social Animals by Camille Perri

 

Basically solid, and I appreciated a sort of unusual plot twist as well as an excellent twist at the very end. However, it seemed like it couldn't quite decide whether it was a farce (see: the gala) or more serious (see: issues faced by characters).

Review copy provided by publisher.

Obstetrix by Naomi Kritzer

Very solid. There was some dimension missing stopping it from being fantastic; it felt somewhat predictable. 

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Fine Art of Lying by Alexandra Andrews

 

I really liked this.

A Perfect Hand by Ayelet Waldman

 

Meh.

Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith

 

I really liked this.

Dolly All the Time by Annabel Monoghan

 

So much fun.

Phoebe Berman's Gonna Lose It by Brooke Averick

 

Meh.

The Midnight Train by Matt Haig

 

So very, very bad.

Year Zero by Rob Reid

 

 Solid.

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

 

Meh.

Good Dirt by Charmaine Wilkerson

 

Really good.

The Children by Melissa Albert

 

This was a fun read, but it just didn't feel like it quite stuck the landing. 

Review copy provided by publisher.

Blunt Instrument by Amy Bloom

 

This was a solid mystery, but there just wasn't anything really setting it apart from all of the other mysteries out there.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Final Chapter by C. B. Everett

 

This was a lot of fun -- many meta elements that were well-constructed and not predictable.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Many Lives of Mama Love by Lara Love Hardin

 

Solid 

A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand

 

Fun.

Two Times Murder by Adam Oyebanji

 

Decent.

Notes on Your Sudden Disappearance by Alison Espach

 

Meh.

The Electric Hotel by Dominic Smith

 

I liked this.

The Half Life of Valery K by Natasha Pulley

 

This was fantastic.

Family of Origin by CJ Hauser

 

Meh.

A Special Place for Women by Laura Hankin

Solid.
 

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

 

Meh.

The Mars House by Natasha Pulley

 

This was so, so good.

The Last Mandarin by Louise Penny and Melissa Fung

 

I don't normally love Penny, but this was so much fun. Eunice Wong was fantastic. And I loved the idea of a political thriller that wasn't a steaming pile of toxic masculinity.

The Left-handed Twin by Thomas Perry

 

Meh.

Missing, Presumed by Susie Steiner

 

Solid, but the ending could have been better 

Happy & You Know It by Laura Hankin

 

Solid, with a great twist at the end.

The Candy House by Jennifer Egan

Meh. 

We Don't Talk about Carol by Kristen L. Berry

 

Decent.

The Shippers by Katherine Center

 

I mean, I'm slightly embarrassed by how much I enjoyed this. It really shouldn't have worked, but it did.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Puzzle Master by Danielle Trussoni

 The only thing I liked about this was Eduardo Ballarini.

Old World Murder by Kathleen Ernst

 

Meh.

The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances by Glenn Dixon

 

I did not like this.

The Franchise by Thomas Elrod

 

On the one hand, this was a lot of fun. On the other hand, given the set up, it seems like it actually could have been a lot better.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Like This, but Funnier by Hallie Cantor

 

So funny.

The Confessions by Paul Bradley Carr

 

We Burned So Bright by TJ Clune

 

Meh.