A thoughtful and richly rendered novel about censorship, authority, and liberation.
A group of citizens challenges the government’s virus narrative in Davies’ dystopian novel, one in a series.
Over the last century, humanity has survived a series of “outbreaks”—the exact number is disputed—that have nearly wiped out civilization. Now, fear of the Zoribiatus virus (which turns victims into the zombielike “near-dead”) is used by the government to control the remnant population clustered in the cities. Only “dissenters,” who think the government is lying, are willing to risk wandering the countryside. Many residents of the capital resist the government’s rules in their own ways. Zayd Baba, a factory floor supervisor, takes on a lucrative under-the-table job smuggling contraband between cities. Mora Rossi is a poor student but a lover of literature from the old world—and of Omen, the raven (whose species is purportedly extinct) that visits her sometimes on the roof of her building. Amy Park is a medic and aspiring scientist who has just washed out of a prestigious laboratory program and is willing to break the rules to be with her lover. Moe Simons mans a remote energy station and works with the dissenters to undermine the government. As each character’s search for the truth about the virus leads them inevitably into conflict with the powers that be, they must decide how far they are willing to dissent—particularly if it means separation from the people they love. Davies has constructed a world of impressive depth, one shaped by the mutual maturation of the virus and the measures taken to contain it: “Viruses evolve. Zoribiatus hid and changed, and when it reemerged in the fringe communities, spreading out like tendrils through the main infrastructure, the Institute changed, too.” The cast is large, and the plot takes a long time to get going, particularly if the reader is expecting the “creeping hordes of diseased people clamoring for an unsuspecting populace” teased at the outset. While not entirely satisfying as a stand-alone novel, fans of the other books in the series will no doubt enjoy this expansion of the universe.
A thoughtful and richly rendered novel about censorship, authority, and liberation.Pub Date: May 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798989004348
Page Count: 402
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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