Friends and Strangers by J. Courtney Sullivan

 

meh

The Deluge by Stephen Markley

 

This was a bit overstuffed, but still terrifying.

Mrs. Plansky's Revenge by Spencer Quinn

 

This was epic fun. The Romanian setting was fun, and I appreciated the quirkiness of the plot.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Collected Regrets of Clover by Mikki Brammer

 

Some of the expository parts got a bit long-winded, but overall this was just lovely and charming.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

 

Yeesh, this did not age well.

We Are Satellites by Sarah Pinsker

 

This worked really well.

The Wives by Tarryn Fisher

 

Clever, with good twists.

What Remains by Wendy Walker

This was really well done -- it was unusual enough to hold my attention. I find that I am often disappointed that endings to mysteries are so bizarre, but this one stuck the landing.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Cutting Teeth by Chandler Baker

 

Chandler Baker is one of my favorite authors (doesn't hurt that she lives in Austin, so when women in her books get stressed, they eat Blue Bell straight outta the carton). Sometimes when I really like an author, my high expectations set me up for disappointment.

Well. This book far exceeded my already lofty expectations. It was brilliant funny, clever, and really worth reading. Highly recommended.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Queen Wallis by C. J. Carey

 

I was looking forward to this because I really enjoyed Widowland. It exceeded my expectations with its very clever alt-history. That said, the title is a bit off -- it really isn't about Wallis very much.

Review copy provided by publisher.

American Mermaid by Julia Langbein

 

Unique, clever, wicked funny, etc. Highly recommended.

Illuminae by Amie Kaufman

 

Overall really well done, but the beginning was stronger than the ending. 

The Centre by Ayesha Manazir Siddiqi

 

So. I don't even know where to start. This was laugh-out-loud funny, with an excellent narrator. And then it takes this super-dark, super-weird twist. And I'm not sure how to feel about that. But I think I could recommend this for book groups because it's definitely one of those "I need to talk to someone about this" books.

Review copy provided by publisher.

Summer of '69 by Elin Hilderbrand

 

meh

What the Neighbors Saw by Melissa Adelman

 

Lots of interesting elements here, but I think we need a new rule banning multiple improbably events in one novel serving as plot resolution.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley

 

Decent.

Hestia Strikes a Match by Christine Grillo

 

I am still not clear whether this was a dystopian novel, a romance, social criticism, satire, or a feel-good novel. There were a lot of interesting elements here, but they just didn't seem to gel, and the tone felt confusing.

Review copy provided by publisher.

The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis

 

meh