Fiction – Page 2 – Ring Reads

‘Lost Souls’ Examines Love and Grief in Many Forms

A large bubblegum-pink moon sits in the background amidst a dark blue sky. Partially covering it are golden clouds and a large cloud-like shape in black that evokes a tear between worlds. In the lower right-hand corner is a small illustration of a bicycle.

Each seeker of these meetings into the afterlife represent relatable facets of grief, and love, letting the book, and reader, consider these emotions in many ways.

‘Doll Parts’ Blends Timelines, Narrators, and Genres

A closeup black-and-white photo of a young white woman with light-colored hair and a lot of mascara looks up at a point somewhere to the right of the cover. The title and author are scrawled across the front in bubblegum pink text.

The mysteries and deaths and drama in Doll Parts are merely details to that time-worn tale of lasting, if not always active, friendship.

‘Orchard’ a Twisty Mystery in Small-Town Appalachia

The cover of The Witch's Orchard by Archer Sullivan, with the title and author in white sans-serif text in the fore of a dark photo of indistinct apples and twigs.

Annie is a delight of a modern-day PI, with all the crustiness and baggage of any private dick in the genre, though Sullivan manages to make her feel more human than trope.

‘Ghost Fish’ a Slim Novel with a Punch

The cover of Ghost Fish, featuring the title above and the author below an image of an orange-ish fish diving into teal-and-orange waters.

Opening up this slim novel gives the feeling of unknowingly sinking into cool, deep water; closing brings you back to the surface, gasping for air.

‘Alchemy’ Is As Sweet As Its Flowers

The cover of The Alchemy of Flowers, featuring a large keyhole containing the title and author name, which is surrounded by dark florals.

Resau’s descriptions are lush, making the scent of jasmine or lavender, the feel of a refreshing stream, or the taste of a character’s cooking almost come off the page (or the phone screen).

Moreno-Garcia’s Latest a ‘Bewitching’ Tale

The cover of The Bewitching, featuring black filigree in the fore of a dark green background. A pale hand tinted green reaches up for a gold bird surrounded by sewing pins. The cover is between hand and bird, also in gold.

The Bewitching expertly weaves the supernatural and the pedestrian together across generations into something rich and haunting in all the best ways.

‘Fortune’ Pits Truth Against Reputation in Murder Mystery

The cover of Tricks of Fortune features a bright red background with indistinct black tarot-style cards and gold four-sided stars in indistinct constellations. The title is in white and black text, and the author's name, Lina Chern, is in black text.

Rather than being simply a vehicle for plot, Chern’s writing sings with artful composition and delightful turns of phrase that not only make reading easy but pleasant, too.

‘Creek’ a Spooky Summer Tale of Grief and a Curse

A painting of semi-stagnant water with leaves and grasses on it. In the background, we see bones floating (skull, what looks like a tibia, what could be an ulna). In the foreground, a white teenage girl with wet medium-brown hair has half of her face above the water, as if she's about to stand up or go under. The reflection in the water is of a skull.

In the same way grieving is often harder on anniversaries and holidays—times when things feel the same as always except for the loved one’s absence—Glory’s haunting of the titular town feels perfectly fitting in a metaphorical sense well before it becomes literally true.

‘Nightmare Box’ Tinged With Real-Life Horror and Fictional Justice

A bright yellow background with a pair of brown hands lifting a blue lid on a pink box. Monstrous eyes peer out from within while black goop drips down the side of the box.

There are few happy endings in The Nightmare Box, though it does seem that Gómez intentionally left off on one of the more optimistic stories—an unexpected choice but one that ultimately informs the way we leave The Nightmare Box: Fully aware of the horrors, but pressing forward nonetheless.

‘Bat Eater’ Brings New Fears to Pandemic Lockdown

A realistic-looking bat with flowers on its back and its wings outstretched flies diagonally across a black backdrop. The title, Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng, is in large white font in front of the image. Smaller and at the bottom in green text is the author, Kylie Lee Baker.

Bat Eater is a marvelous friendship bracelet of plot threads that sometimes take turns and sometimes work in tandem but are always engrossing, and all feel like facets of a terrifying and claustrophobic world.