Christine D

Lauren Owen's The Quick is something of a "slow burn" read, first leading you down one path of Victorian England by the hand, then pushing you quite suddenly into something else that it leaves you shocked. The book keeps on doing this, time and time again as it changes from third person narration to another character's diary, and back and forth until you aren't sure you'll be able to differentiate one character from another or that Owen knows quite where her own story is going. But then Part 4 comes along and something amazing happens - characters that seemed superfluous at first show how essential they are, and you find yourself grateful for the jumps back and forth in time that in the beginning felt haphazard. By the time you've finished reading, you don't want to let go of the world and characters and Owen has created and are simply left mystified and wishing for more. What promised to be the story of a would-be-poet in a dark Victorian London became nothing short of a wonderful story of grief, hope, survival, and love.

Colette McBeth's Precious Thing is a brilliantly dark and chilling story. It grips you from the very start, wondering how two women (Rachel and Clara) got to this place after being friends for so long. Page by page, chapter by chapter, it all comes together in such a way that will have you looking at your own friendships, wondering if such a thing is possible in your own life. The format for the book, a long letter written by Rachel, is ingenious. It gives great insight into her mind while she recounts different events and reminds the reader that not everyone sees or experiences things the same way. A wonderful debut novel from an author whose work I will be looking out for in the future!

Amy Hatvany's Safe With Me reels you in from the very first page. The characters and their actions are so real, you can't help but feel for them. The story is both heartbreaking and life-affirming. It makes you feel thankful for all you have, and for simply being alive. It makes you think about what you would do in the different characters' situations, and hope you would have the courage to do the right thing. Unfortunately, especially in the case of Hannah's and Olivia's situations, Amy Hatvany described it brilliantly when she had Olivia note that life is full of shades of gray, and it's not so simple for one to say 'yes, I would do that' and have that be true. Which is what makes the story work so well, how true it is to life, the way it exemplifies all the different options you have in a given situation, the way events can pile up all at once, and how grief can take hold of you that you pull back from the world and the ones you love.