We’re not the only ones who love the books we’ve talked about in Under the Radar, Over the Moon! Many of these books have received rave starred reviews from multiple trade publications. Check out all the stellar praise below!
The Nest by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney
Kirkus: “A fetching debut from an author who knows her city, its people, and their hearts.”
Booklist: “D’Aprix gives each of the characters a distinct and true personality, and she has a flair for realistic and funny dialogue—readers will feel as though they’re sitting right next to the clan as they bicker and barter.”
Be Frank With Me by Julia Claiborne Johnson
Library Journal: “magnificently poignant, funny, and wholly original”
The Bridge Ladies by Betsy Lerner
Publishers Weekly: “absorbing…. This beautifully written, bittersweet story of ladies of a certain age and era will have wide appeal.”
Booklist: “unfailingly honest… poignant…. touching…”
Disappearance at Devil’s Rock by Paul Tremblay
Publishers Weekly: “Tremblay uses concise prose and smooth storytelling to evoke raw emotion in this tale of love, loss, and terror…. stunning and tantalizing”
Booklist: “This tense, quick-moving story, part mystery and part folktale with a dash of police procedural, moves between points of view that offer tantalizing clues and moments of discomfort. The result is a satisfying piece of fiction that shifts genres underneath the reader.”
Night of the Animals by Bill Broun
Publishers Weekly: “strange, witty, and engrossing, skipping through madness and into the realm of myth.”
Booklist: “Imaginative, fast-paced, thoughtful, and awash in laser-like imagery”
Library Journal: “highly recommended, original tour de force”
Kirkus: “An impressive, richly imagined, deeply urgent story.”
Brighton by Michael Harvey
Kirkus: “Sharp as the blades used to gut the guilty and innocent alike, Harvey’s fierce stand-alone is a blood-soaked tribute to finding your past and living with the consequences.”
Booklist: “Masterful…. With a gritty atmosphere, extraordinary characters, and several stunning twists”
Library Journal: “Riveting”
The Hating Game by Sally Thorne
Kirkus: “A breezy tale perfect for a day at the beach, this one’s a real winner.”
News of the World by Paulette Jiles
Booklist: “Jiles’ lyrical style and minimal punctuation allow the reader to become immersed in the dusty Texan landscape, witnessing the anguish, fear, compassion, and joy in the unlikely pair’s journey.”
Kirkus: “Lyrical and affecting”
The Perfect Girl by Gilly Macmillan
Booklist: “Masterfully drawn characters and intricate plotting make this a stunning piece of crime fiction.”
Publishers Weekly: “suspenseful, serpentine tale”
Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly
Publishers Weekly: “crucial to understanding subsequent movements for civil rights”
Library Journal: “an impassioned and clearly well-researched narrative…. highly recommended”
Booklist: “an incredibly powerful and complex story”
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
Booklist: “… far more compelling and far less sensational than any satire about education since (and including) Pictures from an Institution (Randall Jarrell, 1954) as well as much realer and wiser and sadder and eventually reassuring about human nature than dozens of other novels.”
The Possessions by Sara Flannery Murphy
Publishers Weekly: “… a beautifully rendered, haunting page-turner.”
Booklist: “[Blends] suspense and sf-tinged mystery in a complex novel that is both unforgettable and impossible to put down.”
The Weaver by Emmi Itäranta
Publishers Weekly: “a finely crafted fantasy tale that seamlessly blends a coming-of-age story with high-stakes intrigue and danger… Itäranta writes engagingly, displaying her setting and atypical characters in full color.”
The Believer by Joakim Zander
Booklist: “Zander has written another compelling, timely, and character-centered thriller, and many readers will look forward to what he does next.”
Heartstone by Elle Katharine White
Library Journal: Janeites will enjoy this fantastical reimagining of a literary masterpiece that should also appeal to fans of Naomi Novik’s “Temeraire” series.
Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson
Booklist: “…here he introduces a delicious monster-under-the-bed creepiness to the expected top-notch characterization and steadily mounting anxiety.”
Library Journal: “Psychological thriller devotees should block time to read Swanson’s… novel in one sitting, preferably in the daylight.”
Shining City by Tom Rosenstiel
Library Journal: “Veteran journalist Rosenstiel’s debut novel ‘shines’ with page-turning intensity that will make readers hope that this book is the beginning of a new series.”
The Stolen Child by Lisa Carey
Kirkus: “Vividly and soulfully described, love and curses, roiling in a supernatural stew, bring about the large and small calamities that will render St. Brigid’s uninhabitable. Magical realism of the best kind, utterly devoid of whimsy.”
Where I come from people aren’t born—they sprout. I grew up traipsing through thousands of acres of farmland, barefoot and bareback, astride a buckskin quarter horse in the heart of apple country in upstate New York.
