Four Book Friday | Contemporary Debut Books
***Edit 4/16/17: As it turns out, this is not her debut book. Last Night in Montreal is. This is why you should double check your work, kids!
I'll admit, I'm in the minority on this one. I read and enjoyed Station Eleven, but I wasn't as big of a fan as some people seem to be. It falls under one of my favorite genres, post-apocalyptic, but it is much more about the aftermath and rebuilding of a society than the pandemic itself. Me, I like the buildup. Still, this was an extremely well done book and it's hard to believe it's a debut. If you prefer introspective character development over a fast paced plot, then you might like this. (It's also got a beautiful cover).
The Night Circus | Erin Morganstern
Fun fact about The Night Circus- much of it was written during NaNoWriMo. The Night Circus was fantastic. It was strange and so magical. Celia and Marco are two magicians who are in a fierce competition with one another to ... out magic the other. They travel around with The Night Circus, a circus that shows up random places and is there for one night only. I don't often enjoy fantasy, but this was so well done that I suspended my disbelief and enjoyed the hell out of myself.
The Silent Wife | A.S.A. Harrison
I liked this book. It was a well done thriller that takes a look into the dissolving relationship of Jodi and Todd. Jodi is a psychologist and Todd is a entrepreneur and a regular cheater. She knows about his misgivings but is an expert in denial. The book details what happens when an affair goes a little too far, and the aftermath that ensues. It doesn't have a ton of action and the characters are not likable, but somehow I was captivated. Sadly, Harrison only went on to write 3 more books because she died in 2013. You might like this if you're in a bad space in your own relationship, because chances are reading the disaster that is the two of them will make you feel slightly better about yourself.
In The Woods | Tana French
This feels like a bit of a cheater to name it as a worthwhile contemporary debut book, since it's book 1 in a series, but thats alright. In The Woods is book one of the Dublin Murder Squad Series- a fantastic group of crime book set in Ireland. What I like about the series is that some of the characters are consistent throughout, but they move from being lead to supporting, so the readers get to know a lot of the characters in many different capacities. In the mid 80s, a group of three children went into the woods and only one came out, unable to remember anything that took place. The found child, Rob, is now a detective in the Dublin Murder Squad and is forced to confront his past when another young girl turns up missing in the same woods. Any fans of crime that aren't afraid of a bit of gore would probably enjoy this.
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