Excellent: 97%
Despite being about a closed-off community of Hassidic Jews, this is a sad and powerful story is surprisingly relatable for the world at large – many of the reviewers said they wept when they read it.
Category Archive: Literary Fiction
‘Waiting for Sunrise’ by William Boyd: B (81%) – Aggregate Book Review
Above Average: 81%
A well-crafted spy novel that’s apparently heavy on the sex, some reviewers complained that aspects of the story were clichéd and disjointed, but many praised the pacing and the interesting characters.
‘In One Person’ by John Irving: C (72%) – Aggregate Book Review
Average: 72%
A reportedly important book about the life of a bisexual man, though some reviewers said some of the “coincidences” throughout the novel were a little too neat and the social commentary was too obvious.
‘Home’ by Toni Morrison: B (78%) – Aggregate Book Review
Above Average: 78%
Both praised and criticized for its length (basically a novella just over 150 pages), reviewers saw this story of an African-American veteran returning to the American south after the Korean war as both powerful and unfinished.
‘The Odds: A Love Story’ by Stewart O’Nan: B (82%) – Aggregate Book Review
Above Average: 82%
Whether or not you will enjoy this brief novel about a couple on the verge of divorce risking their marriage on a bet at Niagara Falls hinges on whether you think the central premise is believable. EDITOR’S NOTE: It honestly just sounds ridiculous to me.
‘By Blood’ by Ellen Ullman: A (87%) – Aggregate Book Review
Excellent: 87%
A page-turner of a novel where a creepy professor is eavesdropping on a woman’s therapy sessions, many of the reviewers praised its questions about identity and were left unsettled by the abrupt ending.
‘Carry the One’ by Carol Anshaw: A+ (100%) – Aggregate Book Review
Excellent: 100%
This story about the accidental death of a child and the 25 years that follow for the car full of people that hit her is defined by its excellent characterizations.
‘The Orphan Master’s Son’ by Adam Johnson: B (82%) – Aggregate Book Review
Above Average: 82%
A graphic and sometimes-depressing novel about oppression in North Korea, its story is vivid and effective, though sometimes a little absurd.
‘Gods without Men’ by Hari Kunzru: D (63%) – Aggregate Book Review
Below Average: 63%
An intriguing postmodern novel about the Mojave desert, many critics thought it was cliched and overly-fragmented, while others thought it offered wise interpretations of many elusive and esoteric existential concepts.
‘The Snow Child’ by Eowyn Ivey: A (92%) – Aggregate Book Review
Excellent: 92%
Despite its length and a somewhat overly sentimental final act, ‘The Snow Child’ is a satisfying and beautifully-written debut novel about a couple that makes a child out of snow.
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