Tag: debut (Page 1 of 2)

Black Cherokee by Antonio Michael Downing | Book Review

January 5, 2026 / Monique

Black Cherokee by Antonio Michael Downing is a story about resilience. Set in the 1990s, Ophelia Blue Rivers is left to be raised by her Black grandmother, who is the widow of a Cherokee Chief and the descendant of the first freed Black woman in South Carolina. Grandma Blue is no nonsense and Ophelia has her head in the clouds. But the two manage just fine until Ophelia is old enough to go to school. Her Black-Cherokee mix makes her the target of bullies at the Cherokee school. She is moved to Stone River to live with an aunty through high school, but her Black-Cherokee mix makes her to target of bullies at the all Black high school. She manages a bit better in the gifted program at the primarily white high school, but finds herself falling in love with a white boy, much to the chagrin of her family.

At every turn, Ophelia is left to wonder what family means to her, and how she will create a sense of belonging.

Antonio Michael Downing is the host of CBC’s radio program The Next Chapter. This is his debut novel and I hope it’s not his last. The writing is fresh and spirited. Ophelia is complex, Grandma Blue–who’s short on words–is even more complex. The book has some Toni Morrison vibes. Morrison’s debut The Bluest Eye explored the psychological effects of internalized racism on a young Black girl in the 1940s. With Ophelia, we see the modern-day (1990s–yet very-present effects) of race and identity on one girl’s coming-of-age journey.

Pineapple Street by Jenny Jackson | Book Review

October 11, 2025 / Monique

Pineapple Street is a novel about generational wealth and how it affects the children of one particular family. The story is told from multiple perspectives: Darley, the eldest daughter who has traded her job and inheritance to raise a family with her Asian husband Malcolm; Cord, the prodigal son who is taking over the family real estate business and is married to middle-class Sasha, who is an artist and designer; then Georgiana, the youngest who is working in a non-profit while being weirdly tied to her wealthy friends and care-free lifestyle. Each of them has their privilege challenged in different ways, and although it’s not a wholly redemptive story it is a fun looky-loo at the upper, upper class.

I’m not sure the book stands up to its accolades but there are moments of cringe humour and a nod to Henry James and Jane Austen novels, in particular the focus on social commentary, especially in terms of the women in the novel and how they navigate marriage and social expectations. There is wit here too. It’s not a terrible book but I think it benefited from being written by a publishing insider and, whether intentional or not, that is its own meta commentary on wealth and privilege.

The Break by Katherena Vermette | Book Review

August 22, 2025 / Monique

The Break is a heart-breaking debut novel about the trauma of missing and murdered women. The story is set in Winnipeg’s North End and begins with Stella, a young Métis mother, witnessing a rape from her baby’s bedroom window. It’s winter, she is shaken, she has two young kids asleep (then crying), and she does call the police but is otherwise too frozen to take action.

The police take their time to respond and by the time they do, Stella feels ignored and dismissed by them and her white husband, who’d prefer to believe it was gang related and not their business. That said, one of the policemen, Officer Scott, is a Métis. He works to understand what is happening with this crime but never truly learns the full story.

Told through a series of shifting narratives, Vermette introduces the reader to Stella’s Kukum (grandmother) and her aunties (Lou, a social worker, and Cheryl, an artist). We are also introduced to Phoenix, a teenager who has slipped away from a young detention centre, and her uncle, a local drug dealer/gang member, both of whom are known to Lou and Cheryl’s children. Then through a series of connections we come to understand the true scope of this tragedy, the number of women who’ve died, and the intergenerational grief that continues to haunt this family.

This is a sad and shocking book to read but it also offers insights into the non-fiction stories about missing and murdered Indigenous women, the landfill search for the remains of First Nations women in Winnipeg, and “Every Child Matters.”

Discover more of Katherena Vermette’s novels on her website.

How to Solve Your Own Murder by Kristen Perrin | Book Review

July 16, 2025 / Monique

How to Solve Your Own Murder is the first book in the Castle Knoll Files. I unknowingly read book 2 first. In short, Annie is tasked with solving the murder of her great-aunt Frances in order to claim Frances’ inheritance. If Frances’ step son solves the murder, then he inherits. And if either of them fail, then Oliver the property developer gets his claws into things and a golf course is on its way to quaint village of Castle Knoll.

The story alternates between Frances’ teenage past—where her murder was predicted by a fortune teller—and the present day where Annie discovers and reads Frances’ background story in diary entries, along with all of Frances’ suspicions and research into who her own murderer will be. The structure is great because it allows the reader to piece things together with Annie while also getting some insights directly from Frances’ perspective.

There is a whole cast of quirky (and suspicious) characters, all with connections to Frances and to a past murder. Like all great mysteries, Perrin laces this one with red herrings and twists and turns.

I thought this book was a fantastic series starter. If you like Susan Juby’s quirky detective Helen Thorpe, Anthony Horowitz’s cosy mysteries, or the idea of an unlikely heir dealing with mystery and murder in a small British village, then give this series a try.

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green | Book Review

June 4, 2025 / Monique

Hank Green — co-creator of Crash Course, Vlogborhters, and SciShow, plus brother to John Green — has written a funny and poignant story about two 20-somethings who stumble into fame.

April May is coming home from work, late one night, and stumbles across a giant sculpture. It’s New York. Things like that happen. But this installation captivates her. It’s a 10-foot-tall Transformer style figure in a suit of armour. April convinces her friend Andy to meet her at the sculpture with his video camera, and they film April introducing “Carl” and upload it to video.

April has a rude awakening the next day when she learns that “Carls” have appeared around the world and every news media wants to interview her and Andy. The news is spreading so quickly that it’s tricky to deal with their new celebrity. But, Andy’s dad is a lawyer and since the news channels have used their video without permission, he is getting them, not only coverage, but cash. A lot of cash.

The novel is about the pressure April and Andy (although mostly April) have to deal with, the way it changes how they interact with other friends, and how they move through the world and make money. It’s a great social commentary on the vilification and adoration that influencers face.

Friendships are formed and lost. Great puzzles are solved. Good intentions devolve. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a great novel and a cautionary tale.

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley | Book Review

May 7, 2025 / Monique

Grounded in reality. Rooted in culture. The Firekeeper’s Daughter is a thrilling debut set in the heart of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

In The Firekeeper’s Daughter, Angeline Boulley introduces us to Daunis Fontaine—a bright, science-minded Ojibwe teen navigating the fault lines of identity, family, and community.

Daunis is barely recovered from her uncle’s overdose death when tragedy strikes again. This time her best friend is killed by an estranged boyfriend. Are the two deaths linked? What’s the deal with the new hockey kid who Daunis has been showing around town? Is he involved? Who else is? Daunis suddenly finds herself connected to an undercover FBI investigation into a new, lethal drug that is threatening her community. Daunis must use her wits, her cultural teachings, and her fierce loyalty to protect what matters most. What follows is a suspenseful, emotionally rich journey of self-discovery, betrayal, and ultimately, belonging.

Most of my favourite passages include the French or Ojibwe words Boulley includes in the story. But there are also lessons in Indigenous medicine and healing. In one passage, Daunis reflect on love and control, “real love honours your spirit. If you need a medicine to create or keep it, that’s possession an control. Not love.” There is so much in this story about love and how relationships an be manipulated or used as a form of control. But there’s also a lot about how love can inform our actions.

Boulley opens the story with a gripping scene that sets the stage for Daunis’ complex, brave, and deeply rooted relationship to her family and her community. She struggles to be formally recognized by her father’s Indigenous community while also struggling with her connection to her mother’s prominent white family. There’s a ton of nuance to the story’s larger theme, which I see as the gap between how we’re seen and who we truly are.

The Ojibwe language and cultural references are expertly infused into the story, giving readers a better understanding of Anishinaabe traditions, values, and community structures. For example, in Ojibwe tradition, a Firekeeper tends the ceremonial fire that honours the dead and holds space for ritual. By the novel’s end, Daunis has claimed that role. She is her father’s daughter. She belongs. It’s a powerful reclaiming of heritage and agency.

The Firekeeper’s Daughter is a fierce, moving, and suspenseful coming-of-age thriller that challenges stereotypes and reinforces pride of place and identity. If you crave strong, justice-driven protagonists, this one belongs on your shelf.

Deadly Game by Michael Caine | Book Review

February 11, 2025 / Monique

Deadly Game by Michael Caine (yes, the actor) is actually pretty good. Remember when Tom Hanks published his first novel? Well, this is kind of the same deal in that the guy writing is more familiar with being on screen. Both novels read like movie scripts in some ways. But again, both are pretty good, probably the name recognition helps too.

Caine’s novel is basically a cop drama with international intrigue around lost nuclear weapons. DCI Harry Taylor is the gritty copper who breaks the rules but is well loved. His team is always assigned the get-shit-done jobs, with a healthy dose of keep-quiet-about-it demands from the top. In this case, a box of uranium unceremoniously appears in an East London dump site. There’s a violent raid and the uranium disappears. DCI Taylor has a few suspects, each wild characters, and the trail takes him from London to the Barbados and back.

Some of the language feels dated. Some of DCI Taylor’s actions are dated. But overall it’s a compelling thriller. If you like Slow Horses the Shetland tv series, or police detective stories with some global issue/international intrigue, then set the bar lower but give this a go.

The Husbands by Holly Gramazio | Book Review

January 15, 2025 / Monique

Oh My God, What a Complete Aisling meets Groundhog Day. The Husbands is an absolutely hilarious novel about a woman who comes home from a hen party and finds a man in her London flat. Most alarming is that it turns out he is her husband. She has zero memories of him or getting married. As she panic scrolls through her phone, it becomes obvious that either he is an amazing spy who has infiltrated her digital life, as well as her flat, OR she is actually married. WTF.

My first thought was that poor Lauren has early onset dementia. But no. She has a magic attic. When one husband goes up, another comes down. Lauren filters through these men faster that you could swipe left or right on Tinder. There are a few keepers, but they only last a few days. The most promising one, Carter, inadvertently enters the attic and he’s lost to her forever. The least promising husband, Amos, appears a few times and he is as terrible as the Amos she broke up pre-magic attic.

Lauren has an infinite number of possible husbands but as she swaps one version of her life for another, the philosophical question arises: when will she stop looking for the best life and start living the one she has?

I thought this novel was really funny. The Husbands audiobook is a hoot. The narration is fabulous. The end of chapter 12 has a wonderful bit of back and forth between Lauren and two friends, one of whom is getting married. The dialogue is really cheeky and had me laughing out loud.

If you like Matt Haig’s The Life Impossible then you’ll enjoy this bit of romance meets magical realism. It’s a great debut from Holly Gramazio.

Read a sample or listen on Audible on Amazon.

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell | Book Review

January 2, 2025 / Monique

Impossible Creatures by Katherine Rundell was the YA novel for the 2024 holiday season. Every store was promoting it as “an instant classic.” I don’t know. I was willing to love it, but actually it was only ok. It did not capture me the way Harry Potter, Percy Jackson or even The Chronicles of Narnia did. But lots of people who read similar things that I like, did love it.

Impossible Creatures is magical adventure that sweeps young Christopher into a landscape of mythical creatures that he must help save with his new friend Mal. Along the way they meet useful adults, dragons, and other creatures who help them understand what is happening to the glimourie (the magical substance that supports life in this land) and how to save not just the magical world but also Christopher’s world.

The writing is functional. You are not struck with too much detail nor too little. But each character serves to advance the plot. It’s very linear, which is ok but definitely not the making of an instant classic. It’s no Philip Pullman. I’d recommend this for young readers (5-8) who are able to deal with older reader (8-12) storylines that involve a bit of suspense, death of a character and some violence but nothing close to Harry Potter or Percy Jackson. If you like the Dragon Masters series then this is a good next read.

I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue | Book Review

December 5, 2024 / Monique

I Hope This Finds You Well is a Canadian version of The Office. Jolene hates her job but she needs it. Her colleagues drive her mad and she does, what any reasonable employee does, she snarks about them privately. Well, maybe not privately enough. Jolene has taken to responding to emails with her actual thoughts typed below her professional response. She whites out the text so that it’s white on white and invisible to the recipient. Until one day, she forgets.

As expected, Jolene finds herself in a disciplinary hearing with her boss and the new HR guy Cliff. Cliff is tasked with putting monitoring software on her computer and running her through some mandatory training sessions. Thing is, Cliff makes a mistake and instead of dialling back what Jolene can do, she suddenly has access to everything. Everyone’s inbox, everyone’s chat, everyone’s shared drive is accessible from her computer. With the cheatcodes to office life, Jolene figures out how to win friends and influence people.

As Jolene is drawn into the drama of each of her colleague’s lives, she learns their secret fears and some of the motivations behind their actions. They say hurtful things about her, but she can’t resist reading everything and then adjusting accordingly.

You know as the reader that this is all going to bite her in the arse, but it is a hilarious adventure. Jolene has a ton of snark and her word sparring with Cliff in HR is top notch.

This is a sad book but also a laugh-out-loud book. I Hope This Finds You Well has a cast of characters found in any workplace and a list of puny chapter titles. It’s like getting the last donut at the office party and it’s your favourite flavour.

If you liked How to Pronounce Knife then this story reflects the same tender comedy about loneliness and love, and immigrant parents. If you like debut fiction or the eccentricities of second-generation Canadians or wacky coworkers then this work culture, semi-romcom set in Calgary is a satisfying read.