Nikole's Reviews

Killingly sends you on a somber journey to recover Bertha Mellish, an odd yet promising student at Mount Holyoke College, who disappeared out of thin air. This novel is full of shocking reveals, ulterior motives, and beautiful literary prose. Although it is a work of fiction, Katharine Beutner based this dark academia mystery off of a real disappearance in the winter of 1897. The tragic scenario resonates now, in the aftermath of Roe v. Wade being overturned, more than ever.  —NIKOLE

This supernatural tale grabbed me by the throat and dragged me under. What begins as a simple story of two sisters reuniting for their father’s funeral transforms into a haunting exploration of the family’s dark past, their island’s monstrous origins, and the hidden powers that have been growing inside them. This novel is strange, engrossing, and a wonderful exploration of how both trauma and love surpass the physical realm and change us from within.  —NIKOLE

As lovers of art, as feminists, as humans with morals, and as artists ourselves, how do we look at the work created by monstrous people? This is the conundrum Claire Deberer finds herself struggling with in this deeply personal and brutally honest book. Deberer makes me, a female filmmaker and film enjoyer, feel heard—at least now I know someone shares my confusion, my conflictedness, about how to appreciate art when the artists themselves are flawed (terrible, sometimes) people.  —NIKOLE

Lorrie Moore’s newest novel, while small in size, is mighty in content. Set during a nostalgic trip to the East Coast in 2016, it tackles the big unknowns that were and are still at the back of our minds: the purpose of death, the purpose of life, will the Cubs win the World Series, and more. The prose within is witty, ironic, and at times downright absurd in all the right ways. This is a ghost story for the modern reader who aches, who grieves, for a time when life was much more simple. 

—Nikole

This novel made me feel as if I was having a heart-to-heart talk with my own mother, a woman whom I’ve never fully understood. Cruz delivers a fully flawed and loveable character in your lap and lets you melt into her. The nuances of being a single mother, a senior citizen, and an immigrant in the wake of the Great Recession are entirely entangled in Cara Romero’s life, and you will want nothing more than to keep listening to her talk. 
—NIKOLE

This novel is a beautiful example of how different people can shape our lives, no matter how long they played a role. Kim’s book follows the story of forgein travelers Henrik and Fumiko, with sections that focus on the time before, during, and after Fumiko’s death. Although there is no linear narrative to hold the pieces of Henrik’s journey together tightly, the themes that flow from one to the next connect this novel in a surprisingly wholesome way. —Nikole

Witches is a truly captivating novel. Lozano’s story comes to life as two women, raised worlds apart, discover their true positions of power within their equally, yet incredibly different, patriarchal settings. This is a beautiful dive into rich South American culture, with a specific magnification on those who do not conform to gender norms. This is for readers who themselves are skeptics, believers, healers, psychics, or spiritualists. —Nikole

Gutierrez’s novel gave me so much more than I expected, with its beautiful and thoughtful examinations of motherhood, marriage, and the ethics of true-crime journalism, all in the setting of an intricate and thrilling mystery. As a true-crime lover and a fan of literary prose, this novel is one of my new favorites and a definite recommendation to anyone looking for a deep story to get lost in.  —Nikole

My words cannot do this novel justice. What Casey has written is lyrical beauty, discussing the deepest emotions of women institutionalized in Paris’s Salpêtrière hospital, their experiences only partially fictionalized. The various portraits Casey paints give justice to the forgotten women, their forgotten lives and forgotten emotions, who were locked away and hidden by history. Each page teems with the emotional release these women were denied; each page is brilliant ecstasy. —Nikole

The bond between three women is put to the absolute test as their weekend retreat becomes the most terrifying vacation of all time. The Long Weekend promises a twisted mystery with an unexpected conclusion, a continual tense atmosphere, psychological thrills, and complex characters with unique life experiences. —Nikole