The Great Believers, by Rebecca Makkai: This was wonderfully written and narrated, though I nearly combusted of frustration (perhaps intended by the author) in seeing so clearly exactly what was going to befall the main character, a young man living in Chicago during the HIV crisis of the 1980s and 90s. There are two narratives, the second told from the perspective of another character’s sister in the 2010s, and I found both compelling.
Fiend, by Alma Katsu: I keep chasing the high of Katsu’s The Hunger and, alas, not finding it. This was more of a miss than her historical horror novels – over the top and unconvincing.
Girl in Snow, by Danya Kukafka: Kukafka’s Notes on an Execution was a huge leap forward, but you can see the incredible potential here even as it doesn’t feel as masterful.
Real Americans, by Rachel Khong: I went into this knowing it was an intergenerational saga but little else, so I was mildly perplexed by how summary the first part felt – the writing is excellent, so I was enjoying it, but it wasn’t until the end of Part 1 that intrigue began and I understood the pacing.
The Dream Hotel, by Laila Lalami: I wanted this to rise more from the level of pastiche – of Minority Report, the “Nosedive” episode of Black Mirror, even other recent novels – to invention; that isn’t to say that every premise must be entirely new or that authors can’t mine the same relevant ideas, but that this novel did less than I hoped for to make already-familiar ideas feel fresh.
