All Better Now

All Better Now
by Neal Shusterman
Simon & Schuster, 2025. 518 pages. Science Fiction.

A deadly and unprecedented virus is spreading. Those who survive it experience a long-term effect no one has ever seen before: utter contentment. Stress, depression, greed, and other negative feelings are inexplicably gone. More and more people begin to revel in the mass unburdening. But not everyone. People in power—those who make a living convincing the public that happiness comes from buying more, new, faster, and better everything—know this new state of being is bad for business. The race to find a vaccine begins. Meanwhile, a growing movement of Recoverees plans ways to spread the virus as fast as they can, in the name of saving the world. It's nearly impossible to determine the truth when everyone with a platform is pushing their agenda. Three teens from very different backgrounds who have had their lives upended in very different ways find themselves at the center of a power play that could change humanity forever.

Neal Shusterman excels at exploring very timely “what-if” questions, allowing his stories to develop around one intriguing central idea. The concept of “toxic positivity” has long fascinated me—I’m normally a pretty upbeat person who prefers to find silver linings wherever I can, but there comes a point when “looking on the bright side” starts to do more harm than good. Where is that line, though? All Better Now forces all of humanity to question what happiness truly means—and there are no easy answers. Shusterman’s earlier hit series, The Arc of a Scythe, took place in a far-future version of Earth, which made everything seem a bit more fantastical. All Better Now, on the other hand, takes place in a “five minutes in the future” version of our present day, which can make things hit more than a little too close to home. Character motivations vary wildly, and you definitely won’t always like them or agree with them. (Dame Glynis Havilland comes straight from the Maleficent School of Petty Villains.) But Shusterman always lets his characters behave in ways that feel very true to who they are. You can always count him to craft a thoughtful tale that will stick with you for a long time. The scene is definitely being set up for a sequel, and I'll be looking forward to it!

 

If you like All Better Now, you might also like:

The Darkest Minds
by Alexandra Bracken
Hyperion, 2012. 488 pages. Science Fiction.

When Ruby woke up on her tenth birthday, something about her had changed. Something alarming enough to make her parents lock her in the garage and call the police. Something that got her sent to Thurmond, a brutal government "rehabilitation camp." She might have survived the mysterious disease that killed most of America's children, but she and the others emerged with something far worse: frightening abilities they cannot control.

Snowglobe
by Soyoung Park
Delacorte Press, 2024. 372 pages. Science Fiction.

Enclosed under a vast dome, Snowglobe is the last place on Earth that's warm. Outside Snowglobe is a frozen wasteland, and every day, citizens face the icy world to get to their jobs at the power plant, where they produce the energy Snowglobe needs. Their only solace comes in the form of twenty-four-hour television programming streamed directly from the domed city. The residents of Snowglobe have everything: fame, fortune, and above all, safety from the desolation outside their walls. In exchange, their lives are broadcast to the less fortunate outside, who watch eagerly, hoping for the chance to one day become actors themselves.

LAH

The Last Murder at the End of the World

The Last Murder at the End of the World
by Stuart Turton
Sourcebooks Landmark, 2024. 354 pages. Science Fiction, Mystery.

Outside the island there is nothing: the world was destroyed many years ago by a fog that swept the planet, killing anyone it touched. On the island, it is idyllic. One hundred and twenty-two villagers and three long-lived scientists (the only ones who remember what life was like before), living in peaceful harmony. The villagers are content to fish, farm and feast, and to do what they're told, including obeying a strict nightly curfew. One morning, to the horror of the islanders, one of their beloved scientists is found brutally stabbed to death. To make matters worse, the murder has triggered a lowering of the security system around the island--the only thing that was keeping the fog at bay. If the murder isn't solved within 92 hours, the fog will smother the island-and everyone on it. But the security system has also wiped everyone's memories of exactly what happened the night before, which means that someone on the island is a murderer--and they don't even know it. The clock is ticking…

I recently enjoyed Stuart Turton’s mind-bending mystery novel, The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, in which the protagonist is compelled to solve a murder by reliving the days leading up to it, in the bodies of various participants and witnesses. It was a nifty premise, but to my delight it took an even deeper turn, becoming a thoughtful meditation on remorse, forgiveness, and the worth of a soul by the end. I love a book that takes what could just be a clever gimmick and turns it into something more. That’s a long way of saying that when The Last Murder at the End of the World came along, I had some high expectations. Could this author surprise me again?

I’m pleased to report that Turton is an author worth watching. He has taken another high concept idea and done the most interesting things with it. The narrator, Abi, being a nigh-omniscient artificial intelligence is both a delightful surprise and an intriguing complication, as while her entire purpose is to serve and protect the remnant of the human race on the island, her perspective is utterly inhuman. Most of the time, The Last Murder feels like a traditional third-person limited narrative. The residents of the island have to piece the clues together as best they can, based on their understanding of themselves and their relationships, both with the scientists and one another. It is easy to get drawn into the thoughts and struggles of Emory, Thea, and the other islanders, only for Abi to make a comment at just the right moment to bring the reader crashing back to earth with the realization that we're getting all our information from a narrator who can't even tell us if she knows more than she's saying. I can’t say more lest I spoil the big revelations; all I can say is that my sci-fi-loving heart was quite satisfied by the ending which proves, again, to be more than originally promised. Stuart Turton has said that he wants to try something different with every book he writes; I will be waiting to see what he writes next!

 If you like The Last Murder at the End of the World, you might also like:

Ghost Station
by S.A. Barnes
Nightfire, Tor Publishing, 2024. 377 pages. Science fiction, Horror.

Psychologist Dr. Ophelia Bray has dedicated her life to the study and prevention of Eckhart-Reiser syndrome (ERS), a psychological condition that can affect long-time space travelers--the most famous case of which resulted in the brutal murders of twenty-nine people. Ophelia is assigned to a small exploration crew on an abandoned planet who recently suffered the tragic death of a colleague. She wants to help, but as the tight-knit crew works to solve the mystery of what happened to the previous inhabitants of the planet, it becomes clear that they are not eager to open up. In fact, they are definitely hiding something. The gruesome murder of their pilot sparks terror that history is about to repeat itself. Is this simply the terrible effects of another case of ERS, or something more sinister?

 

The Deep
by Nick Cutter
Gallery Books, 2015. 394 pages. Horror, Suspense.

A strange plague called the 'Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes forgetfulness – first in small things like the location of one’s car keys, but getting progressively worse to the point that the human body “forgets” how to function at all – and there is no cure. Far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, a heretofore-unknown substance hailed as a “universal healer” has been discovered, and it may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets. A special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea to study this phenomenon. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths...and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

-LAH

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

A Psalm for the Wild-Built

by Becky Chambers

Tordotcom, 2021. 147 pages. Science Fiction

It's been centuries since the robots of Panga gained self-awareness and laid down their tools; centuries since they wandered, en masse, into the wilderness, never to be seen again; centuries since they faded into myth and urban legend. One day, the life of a tea monk is upended by the arrival of a robot, there to honor the old promise of checking in. The robot cannot go back until the question of "what do people need?" is answered. But the answer to that question depends on who you ask, and how. They're going to need to ask it a lot.

Leisurely paced and full of atmospheric worldbuilding. Perfect for when you want to take a moment to reflect on yourself, your purpose, and your connection to the greater world.  A beautifully cozy Science Fiction piece.

If you like A Psalm for the Wild-Built, you might also like:

In the Lives of Puppets
by TJ Klune
Tor Publishing Group, 2023. 420 pages. Science Fiction.

When an unwitting act of betrayal leads to the capture of his android Gio, who once hunted humans, Victor Lawson and his assembled family must journey across an unforgiving and otherworldly country to the City of Electric Dreams to rescue Gio from decommission, or worse, reprogramming.

The Wild Robot

by Peter Brown
Little, Brown and Company, 2016. 279 pages. Juvenile Fiction.

Roz the robot discovers that she is alone on a remote, wild island with no memory of where she is from or why she is there, and her only hope of survival is to try to learn about her new environment from the island's hostile inhabitants.

 -RBL

No One Will Come Back for Us

No One Will Come Back for Us
by Premee Mohamed with Soneela Nankani (narrator)
Tantor Media, Inc., 2024. 10 hours. Sci-Fi, Horror, Short Stories.

Here there be gods and monsters—forged from flesh and stone and vengeance—emerging from the icy abyss of deep space, ascending from dark oceans, and prowling strange cities to enter worlds of chaos and wonder, where scientific rigor and human endeavor is tested to the limits. These are cosmic realms and watery domains where old offerings no longer appease the ancient Gods or the new and hungry idols. Deities and beasts. Life and death. Love and hate. Science and magic. And smiling monsters in human skin…

I have to admit that horror is not my favorite genre. Until now, my only real forays into the realm of horror were the writings of Edgar Allan Poe, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, and the Jane Austen parodies by Seth Grahame-Smith and Ben H. Winters. However, I was intrigued by the premise of this short story collection, in which ancient beings come into conflict with our modern world. I quickly found myself drawn in by Mohamed’s straightforward writing and Nankani’s unsettlingly cheerful narration. These tales are standalones; two are definitely connected if you’re paying close attention, but overall the only real common element is the idea that there are…things out there that are far older than we can imagine and are probably beyond our comprehension. At times, they feel like fairy tales--but the older, scarier kind, wherein if the “fair folk” take notice of you for any reason, you’re probably doomed. Whether it’s a beehive possessing the little girls of a village, the “old gods” that bless your farmland in exchange for the proper offerings, an alien something that has welcomed unsuspecting human colonists in the worst way possible, a science experiment gone unbelievably wrong, or even “Death” itself, there are enough creepy eldritch things in this collection to keep you awake for a long time.

 

If you like No One Will Come Back for Us, you might also like:

Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror
by Jordan Peele (editor)
Random House, 2023. 386 pages. Fiction, Horror, Short Stories.

A cop begins seeing huge, blinking eyes where the headlights of cars should be that tell him who to pull over. Two freedom riders take a bus ride that leaves them stranded on a lonely road in Alabama where several unsettling somethings await them. A young girl dives into the depths of the Earth in search of the demon that killed her parents. These are just a few of the worlds of Out There Screaming, Jordan Peele's anthology of all-new horror stories by Black writers.

The Salt Grows Heavy
by Cassandra Khaw
Nightfire, Tor Publishing Group, 2023. 106 pages. Fiction, Horror, Fantasy.

You may think you know how the fairytale goes: a mermaid comes to shore and weds the prince. But what the fables forget is that mermaids have teeth. And now, her daughters have devoured the kingdom and burned it to ashes.

 -LAH

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England

The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England 

By Brandon Sanderson

Tor Publishing Group, 2023. 366 pages. Fantasy 

A man awakes in a clearing in what appears to be medieval England with no memory of who he is, where he came from, or why he is there. Chased by a group from his own time, his sole hope for survival lies in regaining his missing memories, making allies among the locals, and perhaps even trusting in their superstitious boasts. His only help from the "real world" should have been a guidebook entitled The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, except his copy exploded during transit. The few fragments he managed to save provide clues to his situation, but can he figure them out in time to survive? 

This is a fun blend of science fiction and fantasy. It feels very sci-fi with the time-travel, multiple dimensions, and the corporation that employs those aspects to create a unique experience for their clients. And yet, there are fantasy elements that slip their way in. The book is a fast-paced, comedic romp through Medieval England, full of adventure and mystery as the protagonist tries to regain his memories and figure out why he’s there in the first place. With so many different genres blended into one, this book was a fun experience, though perhaps not as enjoyable as a custom dimension in Medieval England. 

If you liked The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England, you might also like: 

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 

By Douglas Adams 

Harmony Books, 1979. 215 pages. Science Fiction 

Arthur Dent’s day starts with his house being demolished—then the Earth is destroyed, and he learns his best friend is an alien. Armed with only a towel, a fish, and a strange book called The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Arthur is swept into a chaotic adventure across the universe. Fortunately, the book’s cover offers one piece of solid advice: DON’T PANIC. If you liked the sci-fi, comedy, guidebook, and adventure aspects of Sanderson’s work, this is a classic that undoubtedly influenced the project. 

Project Hail Mary 

By Andy Weir 

Ballantine Books, 2021. 476 pages. Science Fiction

Ryland Grace wakes up alone on a spaceship with no memory of who he is or why he's there—only to slowly realize he's humanity's last hope against an extinction-level threat. As his memories return, he must complete an impossible mission, with help from an unexpected ally. If you like the sci-fi, humor, problem solving, and amnesia aspect of Sanderson’s book, this is another great option. 

ACS

Hugh Howey's Wool

Hugh Howey’s Wool
by Hugh Howey, Justin Gray, Jimmy Palmiotti & Jimmy Broxton
Jet City Comics, 2014. 160 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world as we know it ended a long time ago. The earth's surface is a toxic wasteland, and the remnants of the human race reside in a giant silo underground, hundreds of stories deep, governed by strict regulations for their own protection. One day, the well-respected Sheriff Holston unexpectedly breaks the greatest taboo of all: he asks to go outside. An unlikely candidate is appointed to replace him: Juliette, a mechanic who has spent most of her life working deep in the lower levels. Now Juliette is tasked with leading the people of the silo, and she will soon learn just how badly her world is broken...

Hugh Howey’s Wool is a comic book adaptation of Wool, Howey's 2011 novel (the book series has also been adapted recently into Silo, a series currently streaming on Apple TV+). I love a good post-apocalyptic drama, especially one with a big mystery to solve, and this book delivers on both fronts. Gray and Palmiotti have crafted a tightly focused version of Howey’s original story that serves well as a stand-alone read. Broxton’s artwork really captures the paradoxically vast yet claustrophobic atmosphere of the Silo. (Comic art fans will enjoy the bonus "making of" materials included in this volume.) Science fiction fans will find Hugh Howey's Wool is great by itself or as a jumping off point into the larger world of the Silo novels. Personally, I am eager to find out what happens next!

If you like Hugh Howey's Wool, you might also like:

Arca
by Van Jensen and Jesse Lonergan
IDW Publishing, 2023. 176 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world burned. But the rich and powerful... they had a plan. When society fell apart, a select group of billionaires had an escape hatch: a rocket aimed at the nearest habitable planet, a ship equipped with many of the luxuries of life on Earth--why survive if you can't survive in style? Their every need is tended to by teenagers who are willing to act as slaves in return for the promise of a new life. This is a good story. But, like so many stories, it is not true.

Eden
by Christopher Sebela and Marc Laming
Humanoids, Inc., 2024. 131 pages. Graphic Novels.

The world is dying. As government and the environment crumble, humanity's only hope is Eden, a newly discovered Earth-like planet unspoiled by the folly of man. Massive Edencorp spaceships begin to shuttle millions of people lucky enough to be chosen by the lottery to the bright future of Eden... but a bright future for whom?

-LAH

Snowglobe

Snowglobe 

By Soyoung Park 

Delacorte PRess, 2024. 372 pages. Young Adult 

Snowglobe is a climate-controlled city surrounded by a frozen wasteland, where its citizens live in safety and comfort while their lives are broadcast 24/7 to the less fortunate outside. Chobahm, a devoted viewer of the city’s television programming, dreams of a life like the stars she watches, especially Goh Haeri, Snowglobe’s biggest star. When Haeri dies, Chobahm is chosen to take her place, but life inside Snowglobe is far from the glamorous illusion she expected. As she navigates this new reality, Chobahm uncovers dark secrets, realizing that the truth behind Snowglobe is hidden, and the perfect society is far from it. 

This was an action-packed, complexly plotted dystopia that includes the richness of Korean culture. The cast of characters is quite large, so that can feel a bit overwhelming and hard to follow, but it adds layers to the story since everyone has their own unique perspectives about Snowglobe. If you enjoy YA dystopias, mysteries, and K-media, this is a book you won’t want to miss. 

If you liked Snowglobe, you might also like: 

This Is Not the Real World 

By Anna Carey 

Quirk Books, 2022. 283 pages. Young Adult 

After months of living in the outside world, Jess Flynn returns to the reality show she was unknowingly trapped in for most of her life to expose the dark truth about the production company behind the show. 

Into the Sunken City 

By Dinesh Thiru 

HarperTeen, 2024. 347 pages. Young Adult 

In a world where the rain never stops, impoverished Jin Haldar is offered the score of a lifetime--a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas and must do what she promised herself she'd never do again: dive.

ACS

When Women Were Dragons

When Women Were Dragons 

By Kelly Barnhill 

Doubleday, 2022. 340 pages. Sci-Fi 

After the Mass Dragoning of 1955, when thousands of women, including her beloved Aunt Marla, transformed into dragons, left a trail fiery destruction and took to the skies, young Alex Green must face the consequences of this event as she learns to accept people as they really are. 

This allegorical tale tells the story of a family of women and how the Mass Dragoning affects each one, as they either accept it or reject it in their lives. It also weaves in fictitious scholarly research surrounding the event, rounding out Alex’s hazy childhood memories. This is a great read for anyone who enjoys the often dual role of Magical Realism, as it can not only present an engaging story about dragons, but also reveal insight on societal problems.

If you like When Women Were Dragons, you might also like: 

Shark Heart 

By Emily Habeck 

Marysue Rucci Books, 2023. 408 pages. 

When her husband Lewis, a few weeks after their wedding, receives a rare diagnosis that his physical body will gradually turn into a great white shark, Wren, struggling with his fate, finds his developing carnivorous nature activating long-repressed memories which forces her to make an impossible choice. 

The Power 

By Naomi Alderman 

Little Brown and Company, 2017. 386 pages. Sci-Fi 

When a new force takes hold of the world, people from different areas of life are forced to cross paths in an alternate reality that gives women and teenage girls immense physical power that can cause pain and death. 

AB

Witch of Wild Things

Witch of Wild Things 

by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland 

Berkley, 2023. 311 pages. Romance

Sage Flores has been running from her family—and their “gifts”—ever since her younger sister Sky died. Eight years later, Sage reluctantly returns to her hometown and takes back her job at Cranberry Rose Company. She uses her ability to communicate with plants to discover unusual heritage specimens in the surrounding lands, accompanied by the man who broke her heart in high school, Tennessee Reyes. 

 After writing several successful young adult novels, Witch of Wild Things is a triumphant first adult novel for Gilliland. Combining second chance romance, sister relationships, and magical realism, Gilliland tells the story of Sage Flores and her journey to reconnect with her family and her past. Sage doesn’t have time for romance, but Tennessee is a male lead that cannot be ignored. I loved this romance that offered a fuller tale of Sage’s life, sisters, and magical gifts. 

If you like Witch of Wild Things, you might also like: 

The Enchanted Hacienda

by J.C. Cervantes 

Park Row Books, 2023. 363 pages. Fiction

Harlow Estrada returns to the enchanted Hacienda Estrada, a family farm in Mexico where her mother, sisters, aunt, and cousins harness the magic of charmed flowers, but when she’s chosen to watch over the farm, she panics since she, herself, is magic-less, until she opens her heart to love and creativity. 

Lost and Found Sisters

by Jill Shalvis 

William Morrow, 2017. 371 pages. Romance 

Feeling empty after the accidental death of her sister, a Los Angeles chef is shattered when a lawyer reveals a devastating family secret that prompts her to relocate to a different town, where she finds solace in simple pleasures and a kindhearted new friend. 

AB

Into the Sunken City

Into the Sunken City 

By Dinesh Thiru 

Harperteen, 2024. 347 pages. Young Adult 

In the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops. For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new—ever since her father died in a diving accident, she's barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara. Enter Bhili: a drifter who offers Jin and Thara the score of a lifetime—a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas. Jin knows it's too dangerous. She stopped diving after her father's accident. But when her sister decides to go, Jin's left with only one choice: to go with her. A high-stakes heist ensues that's beyond even Jin's wildest fears. Crumbling ruins, sea beasts, corsairs, and a mysterious figure named João Silva all lie in wait. To survive, Jin will have to do what she promised herself she'd never do again: dive. 

I really loved the world building in this novel, and the diving (particularly in Las Vegas) reminded me of the video game HOIRZON: FORBIDDEN WEST (not to mention the theme of climate change apocalypse). This novel was action-packed, fast-paced, and kept the tension high throughout. I felt like it was a really nice genre blend of action, adventure, apocalypse fiction, heist, and a bit of romance. 

If you liked Into the Sunken City, you might also like: 

Atlantia 

By Ally Condie 

Dutton Books, 2014. 298 pages. Young Adult 

Rio has always dreamed of leaving the underwater city of Atlantia for life in the Above; however, when her twin sister, Bay, makes an unexpected decision, Rio is left stranded below where she must find a way to unlock the secrets of the siren voice she has long hidden and save Atlantia from destruction. 

Fable

By Adrienne Young 

Wednesday Books, 2020. 353 pages. Young Adult 

Seventeen-year-old Fable joins the young, motley crew of the Marigold to escape the island where her father abandoned her, but she quickly realizes life off the island is more dangerous than she imaged. 

ACS

The Seven Year Slip

 

The Seven Year Slip

by Ashley Poston 

Berkley, 2023. 336 pages. Romance. 

An overworked book publicist with a perfectly planned future hits a snag when she falls in love with her temporary roommate - only to discover he lives seven years in the past. 

Since releasing The Dead Romantics in 2022, Poston is on a roll with new and inventive romantic comedies. This is my favorite romance read of 2024 so far, with clever writing that demanded audible laughter. I also enjoyed the reflections on grief, loss, and growth. The Seven Year Slip includes some simple magical realism that takes a new, holistic view of time travel. Poston’s story encourages readers that it’s possible to fall in love with every version of a person. 

If you like The Seven Year Slip, you might also like: 

The Flatshare 

by Beth O’Leary 

Flatiron Books, 2019. 328 pages. Romance. 

Entering a flatshare arrangement with a man on an opposite work shift, a heartbroken woman begins exchanging notes with the roommate she has never met and becomes his best friend, and possibly soulmate, through their correspondence. 

One Last Stop

by Casey McQuiston 

St. Martin's Griffin, 2021. 422 pages. Romance. 

Cynical August starts to believe in the impossible when meets Jane on the subway, a mysterious punk rocker she forms a crush on, who is literally displaced in time from the 1970s and is trying to find her way back. 

AB 

The Last Cuentista

The Last Cuentista

by Donna Barbra Higuera
Levine Querido, 2021. 320 pages. 
YA Science Fiction

A girl named Petra Pena, who wanted nothing more than to be a storyteller, like her abuelita. But Petra's world is ending. Earth has been destroyed by a comet, and only a few hundred scientists and their children - among them Petra and her family - have been chosen to journey to a new planet. They are the ones who must carry on the human race. Hundreds of years later, Petra wakes to this new planet - and the discovery that she is the only person who remembers Earth. A sinister Collective has taken over the ship during its journey, bent on erasing the sins of humanity's past. They have systematically purged the memories of all aboard - or purged them altogether. Petra alone now carries the stories of our past, and with them, any hope for our future. Can she make them live again? 

While I typically don't dive into science fiction, The Last Cuentista surprised me with Higuera's seamless blend of futuristic themes like spaceships and exploration with rich folklore. I was drawn into Petra's world and on the edge of my seat. This novel is not just a tale of adventure, but a testament to the enduring power of stories themselves.

If you like The Last Cuentista, you might also like: 

The Grief Keeper
by Alexandra Villasante
G.P Putnams's Son's, 2019. 310 pages. 
YA Science Fiction

American television has shaped 17-year old Marisol's idealized dream of life in the United States. When her opportunity finally comes, its not in a way she could have wished or expected. After her relationship with Liliana comes to light, Marisol's mother is forced into hiding, and Marisol and her little sister Gabi are forced to flee for their lives. They leave El Salvador and cross the American border illegally. They are caught and will almost certainly be sent back home until Marisol is presented with an unusual opportunity. If she will take on the grief of someone else--become a grief keeper--her participation in this study will allow her and her sister to stay in the United States. Marisol will do almost anything to protect Gabi, even if it means falling in love and overcoming her own grief.

The Sound of Stars

by Alechia Dow

Toronto, Ontario:Inkyard Press, 2020. 426 pages. 

YA Science Fiction

Two years ago, a misunderstanding between the leaders of Earth and the invading Ilori resulted in the deaths of one-third of the world's population. Seventeen-year-old Janelle "Ellie" Baker survives in an Ilori-controlled center in New York City. With humans deemed dangerously volatile because of their initial reaction to the invasion, emotional expression can be grounds for execution. Music, art and books are illegal, but Ellie breaks the rules by keeping a secret library. When a book goes missing, Ellie is terrified that the Ilori will track it back to her and kill her. Born in a lab, M0Rr1S was raised to be emotionless. When he finds Ellie's illegal library, he's duty-bound to deliver her for execution. The trouble is, he finds himself drawn to human music and in desperate need of more. They're both breaking the rules for the love of art--and Ellie inspires the same feelings in him that music does. Ellie's--and humanity's--fate rests in the hands of an alien she should fear. M0Rr1S has a lot of secrets, but also a potential solution--thousands of miles away. The two embark on a wild and dangerous road trip with a bag of books and their favorite albums, all the while creating a story and a song of their own that just might save them both.

BWW

The Ministry of Time

The Ministry of Time

by Kaliane Bradley

Avid Reader Press, 2024. 339 pages. Science Fiction

In the near future, a British civil servant is offered the salary of her dreams to work on a top-secret project. A recently established government ministry is gathering "expats" from across history to establish whether time travel is feasible—for the body, but also for the fabric of space-time. She is tasked with working as a "bridge": living with, assisting, and monitoring the expat known as "1847" or Commander Graham Gore. As far as history is concerned, Commander Gore died on Sir John Franklin's doomed 1845 expedition to the Arctic, so he's a little disoriented to be living with an unmarried woman who regularly shows her calves, surrounded by outlandish concepts such as "washing machines," "Spotify," and "the collapse of the British Empire." But with an appetite for discovery, a seven-a-day cigarette habit, and the support of a charming and chaotic cast of fellow expats, he soon adjusts. Over the next year, what the bridge initially thought would be, at best, a horrifically uncomfortable roommate dynamic, evolves into something much deeper. By the time the true shape of the Ministry's project comes to light, the bridge has fallen haphazardly, fervently in love, with consequences she never could have imagined.

This time travel novel of a different sort focuses on the time traveler's experience of adjusting to a new reality instead on the thrill of travelling to a new place. The story starts a little slowly, but the plot builds with humor, swoon-worthy romance, and intrigue. I personally loved the overarching message that looking to the future doesn't necessarily require time travel: forgiveness and a willingness to move forward from past mistakes is a type of time travel of its own.

If you like The Ministry of Time you might also like:

This Is How You Lose the Time War

by Amal El-Mohtar

Saga Press, 2019. 198 pages. Science Fiction

Among the ashes of a dying world, an agent of the Commandant finds a letter. It reads: Burn before reading. Thus begins an unlikely correspondence between two rival time travelling agents hellbent on securing the best possible future for their warring factions. What begins as a taunt, a battlefield boast, slowly grows into something more.

How to Stop Time

by Matt Haig

Viking, 2018. 325 pages. Science Fiction

Tom Hazard has a dangerous secret. He may look like an ordinary 41-year-old, but owing to a rare condition, he's been alive for centuries. Tom has lived history—performing with Shakespeare, exploring the high seas with Captain Cook, and sharing cocktails with Fitzgerald. Now, he just wants an ordinary life. So Tom moves back to London to become a high school history teacher, and begins to fall for the school's French teacher. But the Albatross Society, the secretive group which protects people like Tom, has one rule: Never fall in love. As painful memories of his past and the erratic behavior of the Society's watchful leader threaten to derail his new life and romance, the one thing he can't have just happens to be the one thing that might save him.

MB

Star Splitter

Star Splitter 

By Matthew J. Kirby 

Dutton Books, 2023. 305 pages. Young Adult 

2199. Deep-space exploration is a reality and teleportation is routine. But this time something seems to have gone very, very wrong. Seventeen-year-old Jessica Mathers wakes up in a lander that's crashed onto the surface of Carver 1061c, a desolate, post-extinction planet 14 light-years from Earth. The planet she was supposed to be viewing from a ship orbiting far above. The corridors of the empty lander are covered in bloody hand prints; the machines are silent and dark. And outside, in the alien dirt, there are fresh graves carefully marked with names she doesn't recognize. Now Jessica must unravel the mystery of the destruction all around her--and the questionable intentions of a familiar stranger. 

Lately I’ve been having a hard time getting sucked into the books I’m reading, but this one broke that streak. Right from the outset it was hard to set down, and when I had to put it down I could hardly wait to get back to it. The author did a great job of creating a creepy, futuristic world without bogging the reader down in excessive details. I also loved the ideas it provoked regarding what makes you, you. In this world, teleportation is basically scanning the body and “printing” it in the new location, with the original body getting destroyed. Generally, this works flawlessly, but what if the file gets corrupted? I really loved this book, and will easily recommend it for anyone who enjoys YA sci-fi. 

If you liked Star Splitter, you might also like: 

Aurora Rising

By Amie Kaufman 

Alfred A. Knopf, 2019. 470 pages. Young Adult 

Relegated by a misguided act of heroism to a squad comprised of his school's hopeless misfits, a graduating cadet in a 24th-century space academy rescues a centuries-hibernating girl from interdimensional space only to be swept up in an interstellar war millions of years in the making. 

Pitch Dark

By Courtney Alameda 

Feiwel and Friends, 2017. 378 pages. Young Adult 

A boy who has been in stasis aboard a ship preserving Earth's most valued artifacts and a girl from a shipraiding family who is hired to steal the ship's invaluable cargo become unexpected allies in a battle against invading aliens who use sound to kill. 

ACS

Vicious

Vicious
By V.E. Schwab
Tor, 2013. 364 pages. Fiction 

Victor and Eli started out as college roommates-- brilliant, arrogant, lonely boys who recognized the same sharpness and ambition in each other. In their senior year, a shared research interest in adrenaline, near-death experiences, and seemingly supernatural events reveals an intriguing possibility: that under the right conditions, someone could develop extraordinary abilities. But when their thesis moves from the academic to the experimental, things go horribly wrong. Ten years later, Victor breaks out of prison, determined to catch up to his old friend (now foe), aided by a young girl whose reserved nature obscures a stunning ability. Meanwhile, Eli is on a mission to eradicate every other super-powered person that he can find-- aside from his sidekick, an enigmatic woman with an unbreakable will. Armed with terrible power on both sides, driven by the memory of betrayal and loss, the archnemeses have set a course for revenge-- but who will be left alive at the end?

This book is an absolute masterpiece! Schwab creates an anti-hero who is definitely a bad person doing things, that are just barely for the greater good, and yet by the end of it you are rooting for him completely. The use of flashbacks creates a deliciously suspenseful atmosphere of inevitability that keeps you hooked through multiple perspectives and plotlines. And the characters are all just as complex and intriguing as the rest. I loved the atmosphere and the way the story came together like a puzzle leaving you in awe at how it all worked out.

 

If you like Vicious, you might also like: 

 

Ninth House

By Leigh Bardugo

Flatiron Books, 2019. 458 pages. Science Fiction

Galaxy "Alex" Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. Raised in the Los Angeles hinterlands by a hippie mom, Alex dropped out of school early and into a world of shady drug-dealer boyfriends, dead-end jobs, and much, much worse. In fact, by age twenty, she is the sole survivor of a horrific, unsolved multiple homicide. Some might say she's thrown her life away. But at her hospital bed, Alex is offered a second chance: to attend one of the world's most prestigious universities on a full ride. What's the catch, and why her? Still searching for answers, Alex arrives in New Haven tasked by her mysterious benefactors with monitoring the activities of Yale's secret societies. Their eight windowless "tombs" are the well-known haunts of the rich and powerful, from high-ranking politicos to Wall Street's biggest players. But their occult activities are more sinister and more extraordinary than any paranoid imagination might conceive. They tamper with forbidden magic. They raise the dead. And, sometimes, they prey on the living.

Hench

By Natalie Zina Walschots 

William Morrow, 2020. 403 pages. Science Fiction

Anna does boring things for terrible people because even criminals need office help and she needs a job. As a temp, she's just a cog in the machine. But when she finally gets a promising assignment, everything goes very wrong, and an encounter with the so-called 'hero' leaves her badly injured. So, of course, then she gets laid off. With no money and no mobility, with only her anger and internet research acumen, she discovers her suffering at the hands of a hero is far from unique. When people start listening to the story that her data tells, she realizes she might not be as powerless as she thinks. Because the key to everything is data: knowing how to collate it, how to manipulate it, and how to weaponize it.

KJ