"The biggest criticism I can muster for Like Real People Do is the irrelevant Hozier reference in the title. Beyond that, this is a near-perfect romance novel packed with lovable characters, chemistry all around, and well executed representation of various underrepresented identities. For everyone aching to feed their appetite for hockey romances, this is a must-read." The full review can be read at: https://readbya.substack.com/p/like-real-people-do-2022-e-l-massey

"I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself is one of those dystopian stories that unnerve you more and more as you realize how in-reach its fictional world is to our reality. In a world where the prison industrial system is scrapped in favor of a system of shame and surveillance, those who are convicted of a crime are given an additional shadow, stripping them of their rights and subjecting them to public ridicule. Gone are any semblances of rehabilitation or forgiveness. This story e

"Chloe Brown has spent much of her adulthood being fussed over by her well-meaning family and not a lot of time living her life to the fullest. After nearly being hit by a drunk driver while on a walk, Chloe questions the way she has been living her life and compiles a list of ways she wants to “get a life.” Two months later, she has moved out of her family’s mansion, into her own apartment, and is ready to vigilantly tackle the next items on her list. To do so, Chloe enlists

"When I attended an author event with Tiffany Crum, she said something that made this book click for me, “I wanted more thrill in my romance, and more romance in my thrillers.” This mindset seemed to guide her in creating this book, which is a heavily character-focused thriller about two survival/comedy podcasters Benny and Joy, in the aftermath of Joy’s sudden disappearance with her husband Xander. Readers are then given a dual perspective of Benny grappling with Joy’s disap

"Just off the plane at LAX, Sara Hussain, in this dystopian novel, is stopped by TSA and told that a governmental algorithm has computed that she is at an elevated risk of committing a crime. They are convinced that Sara is a danger to her husband, corroborated by unknown factors, principally her dreams. Unable to clear her name of crimes she has not committed nor has she been charged with, Sara is put into a “retention center” filled with women similarly being imprisoned bas

"Dev is a producer on a fairytale-based reality dating show that Dev is relentlessly convinced is a show about love. Dev is also really good at what he does. He knows just how to create a scene and coach the talent to make good television. This season, he is the only one entrusted to be the handler for the new “prince” Charlie. Charlie is a conventionally attractive tech millionaire who awkwardly stumbles his way through life and is very much not selling his role as prince ch

"In How to Tell When We Will Die, Johanna Hedva explores a large breadth of topics through essays surrounding disability, kink, and their incompatibility with capitalism. They combine theory with personal anecdotes creating a dynamic writing style that discourages passive reading. Hedva, at times, projects a dissecting analysis onto unwilling subjects and leaves gendered dynamics in their described interpersonal relationships unchallenged. For this reason, Hedva may sink in a

"The niche yet prolific genre of the unhinged road trip novel just got its newest edition with Make Sure You Die Screaming . In this bizarre novel, the newly nameless main character embarks on a grief and alcohol fueled journey to track down and kidnap their estranged father. By their side is their new best friend Yivi, a self-described “garbage goth” on the run from her murky past—and also a cowboy in a tan sedan. Together, they make an unstoppable and utterly insufferable d

"A Day in the Life of Abed Salama is a non-fiction book that utilizes a narrative prose akin to a fiction novel to tell the story of a tragic bus accident just outside of Jerusalem involving a school bus full of Palestinian children. Through this accident, the author examines the systems of oppression against Palestinians that enabled this accident and exacerbated its severity. This is done primarily through the story of Abed Salama’s journey to track down his son after the

"Spanning multiple decades and three countries, Against the Loveless World follows Nahr, the daughter of Palestinian refugees in Kuwait. Nahr's main concern is providing for her family, by any means at her disposal. Her plans of being her family’s savior, however, are uprooted by Sadeem Husain’s invasion of Kuwait and the displacement of Palestinian Kuwaitis that follows. From there, Nahr is torn between her identities that stretch across borders and pushed out of each place

"Natural Beauty is a commentary on the beauty industry and Eurocentric beauty standards that utilize body horror and aspects of speculative fiction told through the lens of a daughter of Chinese immigrants after she is presented with a new opportunity to pursue the American dream that her parents wished for her. This unnamed protagonist begins working for an exclusive beauty company known for their experimental beauty treatments, dismissing the dark theories circulating the

"Midway through this book, I noted, “Where they lack in communication skills, they make up in horniness.” However, I don’t fault the book for falling into this dysfunctional trope because the novel really was so much more. This can largely be attributed to the main character, Eva, who is a Black single mother who experiences chronic migraines and has made a career for herself writing erotic romance novels. Eva is chaotically complemented by the love interest, Shane, a Black m

"Open Water is a contemporary love story written in second person POV and a striking lyrical prose. It follows two unnamed main characters, both Black and British, both young artists—a photographer and a dancer—who meet at a party through a mutual. This first interaction, however, they “negate as too brief an encounter.” Their true first encounter is a meeting at a bar where they agree to undertake a project of photographing Black creators. This sparks the beginning of their