7,856 book reviews and counting...

"unpredictable first novel from Beijing-born An Yu..."

"The author of A Girl Is a Half-Formed Thing gets lost in literary solipsism..."

"a delightful, stealthily affecting story about what it means to be a family..."

"Cha...is a talented storyteller..."

"Eleven freewheeling pharmaceutically messy vignettes..."

"The natural and supernatural collide in this portrait of a tiny community brimming with secrets. ..."

"The villain of this much-hyped debut is a total bore..."

"Think Ulysses on a cocaine binge..."

"makes for a lively and pacey read..."

"Zimbabwe’s chaotic history has at least produced some outstanding fiction..."

"a rich portrait of a 20th-century American family..."

"a mesmerising autobiographical novel..."

"Dietrich’s life provides no shortage of rollercoaster drama..."

"Sophie Hannah is one of this country’s most accomplished writers..."

"Lupton’s ability to handle the topic is subtle and clever..."

"Too much too fast in this satire on privilege ..."

"...bewildering, perplexing, original – and I would recommend that readers allow it the concentration it demands......"

"(a) stand-out debut, which recalls Katherine Boo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction ..."

"a sweeping historical saga..."

"Goldie compassionately explores the ways her characters’ lives are changed,..."

"This astonishing book is about Mexican migrants trying to reach America. ..."

"a fascinating, sometimes messy book..."

"In asking why women read fiction, Taylor’s book makes a start..."

"Cander’s novel, although it falls occasionally between starkness and sentimentality, is an interesting exploration of an abiding dilemma..."

"sounds like a sneeze and reads like a fever..."

"This astonishing book is about Mexican migrants trying to reach America. ..."

"Lupton’s ability to handle the topic is subtle and clever..."

"Sophie Hannah is one of this country’s most accomplished writers..."

"The knots Douglas-Home ties are so intricate and tight that you wonder if they can be unravelled...."

"uses its headline-grabbing counterfactuals as an opportunistic peg for a tricked-out potboiler...."

"Helen​ Phillips’s disconcerting new novel starts on a note of thrillerish urgency...."

"Mannheim exposes the cracks in the facade of the American dream..."

"beneath everything, there is a wild and dangerous energy..."

"Wartime Paris is lovingly depicted: the smell of wet leaves, the taste of chicory coffee, the flics in their rain capes, a loaded glance across a café. Most of all, the sense of menace...."

"Intensely human characters, a cracking storyline and vivid scene-setting make The Last Hunt one of Meyer’s best...."

"Buenos Aires in the 1960s, home to remnants of the Third Reich in exile, is brought chillingly to life..."

" the attempts to modernise the series with subtle nods to modern popular culture are intriguing..."

"Penny keeps the reader guessing who did what to the very end...."

"there is a surprising lack of narrative tension, the internal inconsistencies are confounding and we have guessed the denouement long before it arrives..."

"... atmospheric, clever, witty and amusing. If I were only allowed to read one crime series again it would be that of Donna Leon...."

"keeps the reader guessing..."

"a highly original, electrifying read..."

"This lean, fast-paced action thriller has the feel of Taken set in the world of Sons of Anarchy...."

"As always, Child gets a charge out of flaunting Reacher’s impressive build, but he’s also unafraid to show his hero’s softer side..."

"A tale of Russian intrigue in Britain’s mess..."

"Lucy Foley's gripping thriller stays chilling to the final page..."

"Bringing together four crime writers to write one thriller could be a disaster. But in the case of The Understudy, this quartet pull it off with aplomb..."

"At the heart of The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa’s masterful 1994 novel, now published in English in Stephen Snyder’s lucid and elegant translation, is the way that, once lost, things get forgotten..."

"Nicci French is back to what she does best..."

"expertise is clear throughout... his marriage of fact and fiction is masterly..."

"Sansom’s deep reading about the past, creatively processed, gives Shardlake’s adventures special historical value. ..."

"Sophie Hannah is one of this country’s most accomplished writers..."

"(a) stand-out debut, which recalls Katherine Boo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning non-fiction ..."

"The knots Douglas-Home ties are so intricate and tight that you wonder if they can be unravelled...."

"offers a fantastical journey through the murkier crevices of Victorian London..."

"Together the Maigrets add up to a huge, utterly coherent inventory of lust, fear, greed, ambition, jealousy and long-hidden pain..."

"dark and funny tales reflect a changing political climate..."

"The narrative is clever and self-knowing..."

"Pullman is a consummate and gifted storyteller and his narrative skill and linguistic dexterity are on full display here..."

"One of the joys of reading Renko is seeing Russia through Smith’s eyes and Renko’s cases...."

"the best so far of an unmissable series..."

"Intensely human characters, a cracking storyline and vivid scene-setting make The Last Hunt one of Meyer’s best...."

" the attempts to modernise the series with subtle nods to modern popular culture are intriguing..."

"Through her powerful command of language, she eases the reader into her nightmarish fairytale..."

"wonderful twists and turns which single out Upson as a talented author of historical crime..."

"This is a spectacular debut...."

"Gripping, twisty and immensely satisfying, this confirms Blok’s talent...."

"... atmospheric, clever, witty and amusing. If I were only allowed to read one crime series again it would be that of Donna Leon...."

"there is a surprising lack of narrative tension, the internal inconsistencies are confounding and we have guessed the denouement long before it arrives..."

"Penny keeps the reader guessing who did what to the very end...."

"Lynne Truss is clearly having a great time — and so does the reader. There is a smile, giggle or guffaw on every page...."

"keeps the reader guessing..."

"a brilliant change of pace..."

"a highly original, electrifying read..."

"This lean, fast-paced action thriller has the feel of Taken set in the world of Sons of Anarchy...."

"Lucy Foley's gripping thriller stays chilling to the final page..."

"This is an intense, oppressive debut, with its dark climax sudden and shocking in its plausibility..."

"Bringing together four crime writers to write one thriller could be a disaster. But in the case of The Understudy, this quartet pull it off with aplomb..."

" the real pleasure in this slice of Scandi noir is the insight it gives into the strange cocktail of claustrophobia and remoteness that is life in Greenland..."

"Nicci French is back to what she does best..."

"While the plots of many Nordic noir writers are turning ever more grim, Finland’s Antti Tuomainen opts these days for a wittier, lighter touch..."

"It is a truth wearisomely acknowledged that a renowned novel in possession of earning potential must be in want of a sequel...."

"The sister best known for burning Jane’s letters is brought to life..."

"I suspect I won’t read anything more moving this year...."

"a fascinating portrait of the women who helped to make a dynasty..."

"Dietrich’s life provides no shortage of rollercoaster drama..."

"offers a fantastical journey through the murkier crevices of Victorian London..."

"a linear and engrossing family tale of Georgia..."

"Tolstoy is able conclusively, with letters and contemporary sources not previously available, to lay to rest some of the canards..."

" an ardent homage..."

"Suncatcher is memorable and sometimes brilliant..."

"the best so far of an unmissable series..."

"Wartime Paris is lovingly depicted: the smell of wet leaves, the taste of chicory coffee, the flics in their rain capes, a loaded glance across a café. Most of all, the sense of menace...."

"much of the joy of The Tenth Muse derives from Chung’s writing, which is unadorned but expressive, shot through with moments of sparse lyricism..."

"there is a surprising lack of narrative tension, the internal inconsistencies are confounding and we have guessed the denouement long before it arrives..."

"a brilliant change of pace..."

"Gun Island is a novel about migration – as all climate fiction must be..."

"expertise is clear throughout... his marriage of fact and fiction is masterly..."

"a masterful naval gazer..."

"The Secrets We Kept is set to be a publishing phenomenon; but more importantly, it is a thoroughly enjoyable read..."

"an unsettling mass of contradictions..."

"a shorter book might have given this story so much more power...."

"Tracy Chevalier excels at writing about the ordinary human characters who find themselves accidentally at the centre of history...."

"fascinating for the sheer detail..."

"forensic reflections as fiction laureate..."

"this new book brings her back to us..."

"Nisha Ramayya’s first book is a welcome affirmation of the feminist power to be found in Hinduism...."

"There is writing of a glancing brilliance here, and an emotional and sensory acuity well matched to the terrain..."

"Some of his best poetry was in his journalism, and some of his best journalism is in this poem...."

"This book is brave and moving..."

"to instil a love of literature, a copy of Dancing By The Light Of The Moon ought to find its way into every home in the land...."

"Farley does not let his poetic mastery mask the possibility that technology is mastering him – and us..."

"The new Oxford poetry professor draws on The Odyssey in her skilful collection..."

"Where this volume breaks new ground in English is in conveying Brecht’s extraordinary poetic inventiveness...."

"Spotlight Books is a new initiative from Myriad Books, Creative Future and New Writing South to discover talented new writers who might otherwise be under-represented..."

"Baroque rhyme glues the bric-a-brac together, making each poem more than the sum of its eclectic parts..."

"a rare collection of her lyrics, poems and paintings, handmade as a gift for friends by Joni herself more than 40 years ago..."

"[Miller] combines biting social satire with moments of tender beauty..."

"The US poet’s voice is searing, powerful and, even in hopelessness, beautiful..."

"[r]eading this book can feel like sliding into that sunken world..."

"Hilarious, heartbreaking diaspora tales..."

"like all great poetry – its story speaks urgently to the present..."

"Inspired by a spell in hospital, Hugo Williams confronts the body in crisis with irresistible style..."

"exactly Geoffrey Hill’s idea of poetry: a sad and angry consolation, alert to the past. ..."

"some brilliant, one shocking..."

"lyrical successes – and plenty of imaginative touches..."

"a collection rich in language and dark in tone..."

"Wry, clear-eyed and uncompromising..."

"It is among his greatest work...."

"The British poet’s technical dexterity and way of seeing the past afresh reap rich dividends..."

"laugh-out-loud funny [with] a feminist bite..."

"this edition is utterly remarkable..."

"It is a truth wearisomely acknowledged that a renowned novel in possession of earning potential must be in want of a sequel...."

"a linear and engrossing family tale of Georgia..."

"Misfit women rule in a beguiling tale of unlikely love..."

"A sharp intelligence beneath the romantic sensibility makes the less convincing story elements almost forgivable..."

"This novel is talky, smart, anarchic and quite sexy. You begin to linger on those three s’s when you speak the title aloud..."

"I adored this uplifting story about hope and love..."

"A warm-hearted witty debut about finding friendship where you least expect it..."

"an enjoyably overwrought exercise in dark melodrama...."

"Can she reconcile her past in this riveting read?..."

"a fascinating account..."

"funny and beautifully written..."

"An unmissable, multi-layered read..."

"Love and humour are found at the end of the road for a pair of elderly protagonists..."

"a harrowing and a bewitching adventure..."

"the pleasure of this novel is in the quirky characters, the effervescent writing and the comedy in just about every line..."

"...bewildering, perplexing, original – and I would recommend that readers allow it the concentration it demands......"

"uses its headline-grabbing counterfactuals as an opportunistic peg for a tricked-out potboiler...."

"this novel struggles to find novelty..."

"Earwig is a very curious novel, often at its most satisfying in its smallest physical descriptions..."

"Here really is a world, thrillingly imagined and under the surface entirely like our own..."

"a stunning conclusion to a trilogy that expands our understanding of what science fiction can do...."

"the novel is one long caper..."

"a finely written book, evocative and moving in its exploration of how we live now, without being maudlin or sentimental..."

"Beside its predictably fine dialogue, the book’s strengths include the Stephen King-like way humour is interwoven with horror and Koepp’s enthralling conjuring of the fungus, which becomes as vivid as its human co-leads..."

"Neal Stephenson’s sequel to Reamde sees reality augmented and humanity absorbed..."

"Artemis Fowl for grown-ups..."

"...bewildering, perplexing, original – and I would recommend that readers allow it the concentration it demands......"

"Earwig is a very curious novel, often at its most satisfying in its smallest physical descriptions..."

"the conclusion of the book is, in its bleak way, impressive..."

"Erin Morgenstern’s starry debut, The Night Circus, proves a hard act to follow..."

"beautifully illustrated by the Croatian artist Tomislav Tomic..."

"Although crammed with characters and detail, the intricately woven story never slackens its merciless grip ..."

"the best one so far..."

"[a] devilish satire..."

"a genuinely new take on the Robin Hood tales..."

"A novel where special coffins are required to keep the dead from rising, and river gods vandalise jetskis could be irritating. But here the tricks pay off..."

"a richly picaresque adventure..."

"[a] striking account of growing up gay in Syria..."

"Fabulous elements are mixed with everyday life and references to Brexit in an intriguing mother-daughter story about origins..."

"reassert[ing] that black readers are as capable of having broad, varied, multifaceted interests as anyone else...."

"the narrative builds like a tidal wave ..."

"reading it can often be a bit of a slog, to be frank..."

"The natural and supernatural collide in this portrait of a tiny community brimming with secrets. ..."

"Andrew Michael Hurley returns to a strange but familiar terrain..."

"a blunt, forceful poetry, entirely suited to a tale – and, in fairytale, a genre – that blends a catalogue of dangers with a celebration of female agency..."

"– a near-perfect ghost story..."

"Horrendously read-able, deliciously sickening and elegantly twisted, Joe Hill’s new collection of stories range from elegiac pulp to full-on horror...."

"Some readers might find [the authorial interjections] jarring; to others, it might feel like authorial over-sharing. In the end though, I think Logan pulls it off...."

"This novel is talky, smart, anarchic and quite sexy. You begin to linger on those three s’s when you speak the title aloud..."

"If you liked A Woman in Black, you'll love this utterly gripping and atmospheric book..."

"an enjoyably overwrought exercise in dark melodrama...."

"Innovative and unsettling debut novel..."

"original and engrossing... brilliant..."

"Zombies hunt for living flesh in an Ireland destroyed by ‘the Emergency’ … but does this debut bring anything new to the dystopian genre?..."

"With her pithy put-downs and her easy way with half-truths, it’s impossible not to warm to Little Lulu..."

" a beloved genius of storytelling and illustration..."

"Rusty Brown is a human document of rare richness..."

"a restrained, poignant graphic novel..."

"This affecting account of family life features dreams of monsters, classroom japes – and a father hooked on heroin..."

"a huge year for the Wimpy Kid comes to a close with Greg's 14th adventure...."

"a masterpiece..."

" There is...real daring here, as well as empathy and imagination..."

"this flawless performance is captivating..."

"it certainly is a wild ride..."

"devilishly good..."

"a sweet romance that explores autism..."

"One admires Slimani's bravery in creating a deeply unsympathetic character ..."