The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

A special thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. The taverna is the only place that Kostas and Defne can meet in secret, hidden beneath the blackened beams from which hang garlands of garlic and chilli peppers, creeping honeysuckle, and in the centre, growing through a cavity in the roof, a fig tree. The fig tree witnesses their hushed, happy meetings; their silent, surreptitious departures. The fig tree is there, too, when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns - a botanist, looking for native species - looking, really, for Defne. The two lovers return to the taverna to take a clipping from the fig tree and smuggle it into their suitcase, bound for London. Years later, the fig tree in the garden is their daughter Ada's only knowledge of a home she has never visited, as she seeks to untangle years of secrets and silence, and find her place in the world.

Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees moves back and forth in both time and place, and is split into three narratives: 2010s London, 1974s Cyprus, and the fig tree. The use of a tree will polarize readers—some will love its beautiful passages and others will be detached. But one thing is for certain, the writing is transcendent and stunning. Shafak's passages are vivid with detail and sweeping prose.  

The characters are complex and rich with detail and the supporting cast is just as strong—especially Aunt Meryem. With a story that is permeated with pathos, she is dynamic and refreshing. And although they are decades apart, Aunt Meryem mirrors teenage Ada and their relationship blossoms much to Ada's chagrin. 

The Island of Missing Trees is beautifully written and mesmerizing. With branches of grief, love, faith, nature, and home, it’s only fitting that one of its narrators is a fig tree. 

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ELIF SHAFAK is an award-winning British-Turkish novelist. She has published 19 books, 12 of which are novels, including her latest The Island of Missing Trees. She is a bestselling author in many countries around the world and her work has been translated into 55 languages. 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and RSL Ondaatje Prize; and was Blackwell’s Book of the Year. The Forty Rules of Love was chosen by BBC among the 100 Novels that Shaped Our World. The Architect's Apprentice was chosen for the Duchess of Cornwall's inaugural book club, The Reading Room. 

Shafak holds a PhD in political science and she has taught at various universities in Turkey, the US and the UK, including St Anne's College, Oxford University, where she is an honorary fellow. She also holds a Doctorate of Humane Letters from Bard College.

An advocate for women's rights, LGBTQ+ rights and freedom of expression, Shafak is an inspiring public speaker and twice TED Global speaker. 

The Book of Magic by Alice Hoffman

A special thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada and Edelweiss for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Owens family has been cursed in matters of love for over three-hundred years but all of that is about to change. The novel begins in a library, the best place for a story to be conjured, when beloved aunt Jet Owens hears the deathwatch beetle and knows she has only seven days to live. Jet is not the only one in danger—the curse is already at work.

A frantic attempt to save a young man’s life spurs three generations of the Owens women, and one long-lost brother, to use their unusual gifts to break the curse as they travel from Paris to London to the English countryside where their ancestor Maria Owens first practiced the Unnamed Art. The younger generation discovers secrets that have been hidden from them in matters of both magic and love by Sally, their fiercely protective mother. As Kylie Owens uncovers the truth about who she is and what her own dark powers are, her aunt Franny comes to understand that she is ready to sacrifice everything for her family, and Sally Owens realizes that she is willing to give up everything for love.

Master storyteller Alice Hoffman revisits the Owens family in her spellbinding conclusion to the Practical Magic series. Hoffman's writing is bewitching and unforgettable, as are her characters—they are vivid, incredibly crafted, and fully fleshed out. 

Magical. Beautiful. Mesmerizing. Steeped in the history of witchcraft, The Book of Magic is a stunning celebration of mothers and daughters, sisters and brothers, and anyone who has ever been in love. 

Complete with magical recipes, conflict, and witchcraft, this gift of a novel can be read as a standalone, but you will want to devour all of the books in the series. Hoffman is at her finest and you will be under her spell. 

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ALICE HOFFMAN has a BA from Adelphi University and an MA in creative writing from Stanford University.

Hoffman's first novel, Property Of, was written at the age of twenty-one, while she was studying at Stanford, and published shortly thereafter by Farrar Straus and Giroux. Since that remarkable beginning, Alice Hoffman has become one of our most distinguished novelists. She has published over thirty novels, three books of short fiction, and eight books for children and young adults.

Her novel, Here on Earth, an Oprah Book Club choice, was a modern reworking of some of the themes of Emily Bronte’s masterpiece Wuthering Heights. Practical Magic was made into a Warner film starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman. Her novel, At Risk, which concerns a family dealing with AIDS, can be found on the reading lists of many universities, colleges and secondary schools. Hoffman’s advance from Local Girls, a collection of inter-related fictions about love and loss on Long Island, was donated to help create the Hoffman Breast Center at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, MA.

Hoffman has written a number of novels for young adults, including Aquamarine, Green Angel, and the New York Times bestseller The Ice Queen. In 2007 Little Brown published the teen novel Incantation, a story about hidden Jews during the Spanish Inquisition, which Publishers Weekly has chosen as one of the best books of the year.

Her works have been published in more than twenty translations and more than one hundred foreign editions. Hoffman's novels have received mention as notable books of the year by The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, The Los Angeles Times, Library Journal, and People Magazine. She has also worked as a screenwriter and is the author of the original screenplay “Independence Day,” a film starring Kathleen Quinlan and Diane Wiest. Her teen novel Aquamarine was made into a film starring Emma Roberts. Her short fiction and non-fiction have appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe Magazine, Kenyon Review, The Los Angeles Times, Architectural Digest, Harvard Review, Ploughshares and other magazines.

She currently lives in Boston and New York. 

Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger

A special thank you to HarperCollins Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Think twice before you swipe.

Intrigued by his picture on a dating app—a dark handsome stranger—they go on a date at a downtown bar. Wren thought it was just going to be another hookup, but it quickly becomes so much more. With their powerful connection, she is falling for him hard. Is it love?

But then he stands her up and disappears—profiles deleted, phone disconnected. Adam ghosts her.

Maybe it was her fault. Did she shared too much, too fast? But then Wren learns that there were others before her. Girls who also thought that they were in love only these girls went missing. She had been looking for a connection, but now she's looking for answers. Chasing a digital trail into his dark past—and hers—Wren finds herself on a dangerous hunt. And she's not sure whether she's the predator—or the prey.

In this online dating match turned deadly cat-and-mouse game, Unger delivers a captivating thriller of secrets, obsession, and vengeance.  

Wren is a complex and engaging character who is harbouring secrets of her own. Last Girl Ghosted is written in first-person narration and utilizes dual timelines to flesh out the story. Also lurking in the background, and just as unsettling as the plot, is the pandemic. The only negative in this riveting thriller is the length—there are times where the narrative is repetitious and it creates unnecessary bulk.   

With perfectly crafted characters and just enough plot twists, that are both believable and propulsive, Last Girl Ghosted is utterly captivating.   

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LISA UNGER is a New York Times and internationally bestselling author. Her books have been published in thirty languages, sold millions of copies worldwide, and have been featured on “Best Book” lists from the Today show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, People, Amazon, Goodreads, and many others. 

Unger lives on the west coast of Florida with her family.

Eight Perfect Hours by Lia Louis

A special thank you to Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

On her way home from her college reunion, 30-something Noelle Butterby is stranded on a highway in a blizzard. She's alone and is without food, drink, or a working charger for her phone. Everything seems hopeless that is until Sam Attwood, a handsome American stranger also trapped in a nearby car, knocks on her window and offers assistance. What follows is eight perfect hours together. 

Parting ways, the two strangers think they'll never never see each other again. But it seems that fate has more in store for them. As the two keep serendipitously bumping into one another, they begin to realize that perhaps there truly is no such thing as coincidence. 

Eight Perfect Hours is a fated love story that with its weightier topics of loss, grief, and mental health transcends the romance genre and becomes more of a contemporary offering.

Louis' writing is witty yet tender. She truly has an ear for dialogue and imbues the narrative with feeling and charm. This serendipitous love story has a strong and vibrant cast—Noelle and Sam's chemistry is palpable and has incredible emotional depth. 

The fated lovers trope works exceptionally well as do the subplots with Noelle's mum, brother, best friends, and father. Louis fully fleshes out her characters and readers will be just as vested with the supporting cast as with the main players. It is a slow-burn romance that gains momentum as the story goes on. 

Beautifully written, Eight Perfect Hours will make you believe in the power of fate.

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LIA LOUIS was the 2015 winner of Elle magazine’s annual writing competition and has been a contributor for a blog for aspiring writers. She previously worked as a freelance copywriter and proofreader and is the author of Somewhere Close to Happy and Dear Emmie Blue.

Louis lives in the United Kingdom with her partner and three young children. 

The Younger Wife by Sally Hepworth

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. 

Stephen Aston is getting married to Heather. Not only is she the same age as one of his daughters, but he is still married to his first wife, who is living in a care facility with dementia. But he'll take care of that easily by divorcing her.  

Tully and Rachel Aston look upon Heather as nothing but an interloper. She's the same age as Rachel, and even younger than Tully—clearly she's a golddigger and after their father's money. But Heather has secrets that she's keeping close, and her own reasons for wanting to marry Stephen. 

With their mother unable to speak for herself, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family's secrets, the new wife, and who their father really is. But will this unleash the most dangerous impulses...in all of them?

The Younger Wife is completely binge-worthy. With its dynamic plot, this twisty domestic thriller explores one family's secrets, lies, and compulsions. 

Told from multiple points of view—Tully's, Rachel's, Heather's, and another important character (no spoilers)—The Younger Wife is perfectly paced and expertly plotted. Hepworth employs her opening hook as the scene that unfolds at various points in the story. Her writing is enthralling and addictive and her characters are layered and complex. 

With an ending that will completely blindside the reader, this is Sally Hepworth at her best. And do yourself a favour and be sure to read the Author's Note.

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SALLY HEPWORTH  is the author of seven books, most notably The Mother-in-Law and The Good Sister. She has been featured in media outlets that have included USA Today, The New York Times, and The Sydney Morning Herald.

Hepworth lives in Australia with her family.

Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins

A special thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When Lux McAllister and her boyfriend, Nico, are hired to sail two women to a remote island in the South Pacific, it seems like the perfect opportunity. Stuck in a dead-end job in Hawaii, and longing to travel the world after a family tragedy, Lux is eager to climb on board The Susannah and set sail for an adventure. She’s also quick to bond with their passengers, college best friends Brittany and Amma. The two women say they want to travel off the beaten path, but like Lux, they may have other reasons to be seeking an escape.

Shimmering on the horizon after days at sea, Meroe Island is every bit the paradise the foursome anticipate, despite its mysterious history of shipwrecks, cannibalism, and even rumours of murder. But what they don’t expect is to discover another boat already anchored off Meroe’s sandy beaches. The owners of the Azure Sky, Jake and Eliza, are a true golden couple: gorgeous, laidback, and if their sleek catamaran and well-stocked bar are any indication, rich. Now a party of six, the new friends settle in to experience life on an exotic island, and the serenity of being completely off the grid. Lux hasn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in years, yet here on Meroe, with these fellow free spirits, she finally has a sense of peace.

But with the arrival of a skeevy stranger sailing alone in pursuit of a darker kind of good time, the balance of the group is disrupted. Soon, cracks begin to emerge: it seems that Brittany and Amma haven’t been completely honest with Lux about their pasts––and perhaps not even with each other. And though Jake and Eliza seem like the perfect pair, the rocky history of their relationship begins to resurface, and their reasons for sailing to Meroe might not be as innocent as they first appeared.

When it becomes clear that the group is even more cut off from civilization than they initially thought, it starts to feel like the island itself is closing in on them. And when one person goes missing, and another turns up dead, Lux begins to wonder if any of them are going to make it off the island alive. 

Reckless Girls is a wicked gothic suspense novel set on an isolated Pacific island with a dark history. 

Primarily told from Lux's perspective, there are flashbacks with different narrators to flesh out the characters and their backstories. Hawkins also employs the use of letters, emails, and old diaries to give context to the island and its history. 

The strengths of the story lie in the compelling narration and atmospheric setting. Meroe's remote location is the perfect choice of setting—its isolation adds another layer of tension.

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RACHEL HAWKINS is the New York Times bestselling author of multiple books for young readers, and her work has been translated in over a dozen countries. She studied gender and sexuality in Victorian literature at Auburn University and The Wife Upstairs was her first adult novel.

Hawkins currently lives in Alabama.