Tag:

Magical Realism

Review

The Children

by Jeff Ayers

Book of the Week March 19, 2026

Guinevere and her brother, Ennis, have grown up in the shadow of their mother’s success. Edith Sharpe wrote five books in a magical series called The Ninth City, and they are beloved by millions. Their mom used their names for the main characters, and Guinevere and Ennis pretend to love the comparisons between them and their fictional selves. They’re often asked how wonderful it must be to have Edith as their mom, but the truth is that they had a horrible childhood of neglect and fear. They’ve kept their mouths shut for years, and now Guinevere has written a memoir about her childhood that is almost entirely fiction. Ennis works as a famous artist, and the two of them haven’t talked since a night when everything changed. When Guinevere learns about her brother’s newest exhibit, titled MOTHER, she worries that Ennis will reveal secrets that she’s not ready to have public. She begins to remember more as her life starts to unravel. Can she confront her brother and convince him to stay silent? Albert’s novel balances the line between gothic horror, high-stakes thriller, and a dark fairy tale. She uses words like a paintbrush, creating vivid images that will haunt the reader long after. Wow.—Jeff Ayers

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Review

Death and Other Occupational Hazards

by Dodie Ownes

Death has gone on vacation here and there, but after she hears about a sabbatical while on a trip across the River Styx, the Boss agrees to her request for a break. Her sister Life gives her the chance to live in human form so she can understand humans better. Now Delara, working as a paralegal at a second-rate law firm in London, is shaken when she discovers an Unplanned Death caused by vampire fish—after all, it’s her department, and the Boss will not be happy if he finds out. She left the temp in charge—is that the problem? Of course, Life is all over Delara, asking how her creations could be snuffed out without regard for the Plan. The days of simply putting folks on the Boat could be over if she cannot find out how this aberration has occurred. No longer in a black sack and carrying a scythe, Delara is hot to get to the bottom of the issue when charming parasitologist Marco enters the investigation. Debut-author Dapunt fills this rollicking story with sideways glances at the afterlife, the underworld, and the Human Communications Director (HCD, aka Jesus). Beyond the central murder mystery, the novel explores themes of life and death, love and relationships, the meaning of existence, and human emotions. Satirical, funny, and packed with wry observations on how humans approach death, and life.

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Review

The Storyteller’s Death

by Henrietta Thornton

Fraught connections between different worlds hold together this coming-of-age tale: connections between Puerto Rican families in the United States and their homeland; between the past and the present; between the real world and one made of stories. As the book opens, its shy protagonist, Isla Larsen Sanchez, is visiting her mother’s native Puerto Rico. Back in New Jersey, “everyone [looks] so colorless, like the underbelly of a fish,” but at least there she can do her own thing. The island, however, is overflowing with color but also with cheek-pinching aunts who expect proper behavior from a young lady with “not one drop of blood…that is not European.” Over the years, as she spends every summer in Puerto Rico, Isla comes to realize that her oh-so-pure blood may have given her…well, she’s not so sure it’s a gift. She sees visions of tales the cuentistas, storytelling women in her family, have told her—but only after their deaths. When one story involves a murder, and Isla finds that she can be physically hurt by weapons in the visions, readers find themselves dropped into a combination of magical realism, terror, and mystery, all wrapped in a shroud of family secrets and dubious honor. This rich story about stories can work as a crossunder, meaning it can be enjoyed by young adults as well as adult readers; Toni Morrison fans will particularly enjoy the otherworld-tinged drama

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