Jeffrey_B

"Welcome to the Kokoro Cat Clinic" by Syou Ishida is a delightfully weird book about a back-alley mental health clinic (of a sorts) which prescribes its patients cat-based therapies. Structure as a series of short vignettes, this book will have readers charmed and sometimes baffled. I am very glad I read it and think you will be too!

Thank you to Berkley Publishing Group and Netgalley for sending me an advanced reader copy of this book.

"Plant Lady" by Minyoung Kang (translated by Shanna Tan) is a dark-cozy story about the owner of a plant shop in Korea and the way she deals with men who mistreat her plants and the women in their lives.

This short novel executes both the cozy and dark/suspense aspects perfectly, despite some pretty dark moments, the overall atmosphere remains cozy plant store - which itself adds to the feeling of darkness and unease.

Minyoung Kang does a remarkable job is this novel and brings the reader right up to the line where dark would become horrific. The main character is clear in her motivations and can be truly terrifying. There is no moment where things become gratuitous.

"Plant Lady" will not be for everyone but it is a very good book and manages to say a lot about society and give a view into the psychology of the main character.

Content warnings: violence, relationship violence, and animal abuse

A fun, charming mystery with lots of style.

I loved read this debut novel from Yosha Gunasekera and on the edge of my seat waiting for the sequels

"Hole in the Sky" is a thrilling science fiction read that readers will want to sit with and rush to the ending. Willson's new novel is addictively fun, a seamless blend of "new weird," classic disaster story, and Indigenous futurism. The story is told through the perspective of three main characters, all of whom are fully-realized people in their world, making choices and acting during a time of extreme change and danger. A true page turner with a incredible ending.

Highly recommend to all fans of science fiction and thrillers, especially those who enjoyed the Area X series and Wilson's "Robopocolyps."