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thebarandthebookcase's reviews
279 reviews
The Exhibition of Persephone Q by Jessi Jezewska Stevens
4.0
This is a deceptively complex debut novel about identity. Set immediately after 9/11, the narrator, Percy Q, is pregnant and has yet to tell her husband. Instead, she finds herself impulsively pinching his nose while he is asleep, yet this does not wake or suffocate him. Avoiding her husband and her violent impulses, Percy becomes nocturnal, roaming New York while considering her marriage and impending motherhood. Things further unravel when Percy receives a mysterious exhibition catalog in the mail, featuring images of a woman asleep in bed while the city outside of the woman’s window changes in each photo. Percy is convinced that she is the woman in the photos, yet no one believes her. What follows is a narrative in which Percy uses the mystery of the exhibition to figure out who she is, confronting her past and its inevitable impact on her future.
There is so much to unpack in this short novel. Jessi Jezewska Stevens structures the novel in three parts (with the second part being a novella of sorts documenting Percy’s past), with each part showcasing Stevens’s strengths as a writer. Percy’s odd and witty personality reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh’s characters, so if you like her work, I think you’ll dig this. A few passages made me laugh out loud, which I was not expecting. The book presents many questions about self-delusion and identity, which has kept this story lodged in my brain since I finished. This book was released on 3/3, and hopefully this puts it on your radar if it’s not already because it is SO GOOD. If the premise interests you at all, definitely pick this one up.
There is so much to unpack in this short novel. Jessi Jezewska Stevens structures the novel in three parts (with the second part being a novella of sorts documenting Percy’s past), with each part showcasing Stevens’s strengths as a writer. Percy’s odd and witty personality reminded me of Ottessa Moshfegh’s characters, so if you like her work, I think you’ll dig this. A few passages made me laugh out loud, which I was not expecting. The book presents many questions about self-delusion and identity, which has kept this story lodged in my brain since I finished. This book was released on 3/3, and hopefully this puts it on your radar if it’s not already because it is SO GOOD. If the premise interests you at all, definitely pick this one up.
The Wives by Tarryn Fisher
3.0
I picked The Wives as my Book of the Month on a whim. I had been underwhelmed by the last few thrillers I read, and I was hoping this would warm me up to the genre again. While the book has an interesting premise, in which the narrator is married to a polygamist and is one of his three wives, trying to discover the truth about her husband and their arrangement, the novel quickly reveals itself as a typical “unreliable narrator” thriller. I did enjoy Tarryn Fisher’s writing style and the unique setup, which kept me turning the pages, but in the end it still confirmed that I am just hard to please in the thriller genre. You might have a better time with this one than I did, as I’ve seen a bunch of rave reviews for the book as well. Also, I don’t want to spoil any plot points, but readers should be aware that the book may be triggering for some.
Luster by Raven Leilani
5.0
I am in awe. This debut novel is complex, hilarious, beautiful, and difficult, while being gorgeously written with every sentence. It’s hard for me to review this book as I feel anything I say or adjectives I apply won’t do it justice, but overall, I am simply so glad I read it. Raven Leilani an excellent writer (and artist!), crafting a wholly original and moving story about a young black woman discovering herself amidst complicated circumstances (to put it simply). The narrator, Edie, is one of my favorite characters in recent memory. This book joins Real Life by Brandon Taylor as one of my favorite reads of the year (and they are both debuts!). I hope you all read this incredible novel upon release in August.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
5.0
I LOVED this book. It’s one of the best horror novels I’ve read in recent memory, perfectly balancing horror and humor. I also love vampire tales, and pitting a vampire against a group of Southern women in a book club in the 90s was bound to work for me. I didn’t expect to be so disturbed by some of the scenes in this book. I had to put it down for a few minutes during one part because Hendrix tapped into my greatest fear (insect-related, *shudders*). This is a perfect horror novel for summer, and even if you don’t typically read horror, I’d still give this a try if you want a thrilling page-turner.
Death in Her Hands by Ottessa Moshfegh
5.0
This novel reaffirms Ottessa Moshfegh as one of my favorite writers. I don’t think this novel is for everyone, but I’d be remiss not to press this novel into all of your hands in the hopes that you’ll love it as much as I did. If you’ve read a Moshfegh novel before, you should expect a Moshfegh-ian narrator here as well. This book is her take on a murder mystery novel, as we follow an elderly woman living alone with her dog as she attempts to solve a murder upon finding a mysterious note during a walk in the woods. The reader quickly learns that this is not your conventional murder mystery. The end left me confused and shocked in the best way, and I’m dying for this book to be published to get more opinions on it. I’m not a re-reader, but I’m already itching to dive back into the dark woods of this strange novel.