Celebrates and empowers the women who bear witness to injustice and tell about it.
A college student is forced to face past cruelties and mistakes when a childhood friend is murdered.
Rachel Nardelli, a senior at Denman College, feels stuck and uncertain about her future. She’s isolated herself from her fellow journalism students, committed instead to her toxic boyfriend, Cam, who flirts with freshman girls during the epic parties he throws in his dorm room while Rachel drinks to the point of blacking out. One night she thinks she sees Alison Petrucci, a friend from her childhood, leaving one of Cam’s parties; when her former friend’s body is discovered the next morning, Rachel is forced to reveal some of her darkest, most shameful adolescent memories as the journalism team investigates. The novel unfolds through these two timelines: the present day, as the journalism students look into Alison’s murder with the help of Michaela Stannard, a sympathetic faculty member; and the past, where we learn about how Rachel and Alison became best friends—and then how the friendship was picked apart and destroyed. There is a mystery here, but the book is more truly an exploration of adolescent friendship, bullying, and social pressures, plus the guilt that follows these broken relationships. Secondarily, it’s a condemnation of male misbehavior and entitlement. And thirdly, it’s a story of how a young writer finds her path with the right guidance and support. Rachel doesn’t always come across as the most relatable or sympathetic protagonist, but she is shatteringly human, and in that authenticity lies her appeal. “Be bold, write about the things you care about, not just the things you think you should,” Stannard challenges Rachel in the end. And so, Rachel—and Russo—do.
Celebrates and empowers the women who bear witness to injustice and tell about it.Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9780593850688
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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