The Stalker by Paula Bomer

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? This was one of Lit Hub’s most anticipated books of 2025, and any character marketed as “an Untalented Mr. Ripley” has my interest.

Why not 3 or more stars? Our titular stalker is as cruel and power-hungry as any Patrick Bateman, but without the resources and status to take his sadism to the next level. Doughty evolves not a bit over the course of the novel, so we spend 200+ uncomfortable pages in his self-aggrandizing brain, penis praise and all, as he manipulates, abuses, and exploits everyone around him. I couldn’t bear it.

Loop by Brenda Lozano, translated by Annie McDermott

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? Lost Avenue Books read this for its April book club pick.

Why not 3 or more stars? I loved the idea of Loop, how the speaker chronicles the experience of her lover being away in an unraveling à la Penelope’s shroud. The allusions to myth, the diary-like setup—there is much to admire here. For this reader, the patterns and repetitions were tenuous, and many of the recurring questions too precious in style for my taste.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? Multiple pals have recommended this to me, and hey, you gotta love that cover art.

Why not 3 or more stars? I offer my biggest gripe in the form of an alternate title: “Telling, and Telling, and Telling.” Indeed, the nod to Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy from Macbeth doesn’t quite work for this novel, which aims for the stars with a bazooka full of plot. As a reader, I struggled spending page time with Sam, a sniveling Jude St. Francis type who happens to be one of our protagonists. If you ignore the dialogue, the chapters that detail the creative process behind the games that Sam and Sadie build together make for some good reading.

On Earth As It Is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia, translated by Padma Viswanathan

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? My quest for contemporary Portuguese literature continues! When I learned this was shortlisted for the International Booker Prize, I put a hold on a copy from Multnomah County Library.

Why not 3 or more stars? In an isolated penal colony, the rules change when a warden loses his humanity. A book of few surprises in language or plot until the final pages, when a supernatural flourish vanishes as suddenly as it appears.

The Living and the Rest by José Eduardo Agualusa, translated by Daniel Hahn

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? In preparation for a trip to Portugal, I’ve been seeking out contemporary fiction in the language. I don’t remember how I became aware of this title, but I borrowed a copy from Multnomah County Library.

Why not 3 or more stars? Writers convene on the Ilha de Moçambique for a conference, then find themselves cut off from the rest of the world during a storm that seems to annihilate everything beyond the island. This strange, open-ended book embraces metafiction and thoughts on the creative process while navigating its apocalyptic subplot. While dreamy, its mysteries aren’t cohesive, and the disjointed ideas don’t quite add up to a satisfying read.

Last Day by Domenica Ruta

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? I like an end of the world yarn, and Last Day seemed to fit the bill. I borrowed a copy from Multnomah County Library.

Why not 3 or more stars? A large cast of characters and rituals populate Ruta’s novel centered on the last Last Day, a global holiday on May 27th in which everyone celebrates the world possibly ending. Like an anthology film à la New Year’s Eve or Love Actually, this sweetly earnest story is stitched together with suspiciously convenient links between characters. And there are multiple shamrock tattoos.

Wild Dark Shore by Charlotte McConaghy

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? The reliable East City Bookshop recommended McConagy’s first novel Migrations, a book I devoured in record time, so I am always excited to see this Australian author’s name on a new cover.

Why not 3 or more stars? How I wanted to love Wild Dark Shore. I find mesmerizing the powerful and complicated women of McConagy’s novels, as well as the sensuality of her writing. The scaffolding simply shows too much in this one, and the unconvincing shifts in voice, chapter breaks, and melodramatic schlock (“it doesn’t matter where I end and she begins”) kept my eyes rolling.

The Midnight Shift by Cheon Seon-Ran, translated by Gene Png

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? Aside from the hot pink cover, I was drawn to the prospect of a vampire tale and the hospital as hunting ground.

Why not 3 or more stars? Detective Su-Yeon investigates a spree of suicides among a hospital’s older patients and encounters Violette, a vampire-hunter who suspects foul play. The Midnight Shift toggles between Su-Yeon’s story and the struggles of one of the hospital’s nurses, while doling out Violette’s back story in fragments. Though entertaining, the novel lacks in vampire lore to round out the narrative, and our characters remain one-dimensional to a conclusion befitting of the CW.

The Suicides by Antonio Di Benedetto, translated by Esther Allen

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? I mention the NYRB Classics Book Club enough for it to be the obvious source.

Why not 3 or more stars? A reporter investigates a story on the nature of suicide, haunted by the realization that he’s approaching the same age at which his father took his own life. Written in 1969, this circular and dark novel proves to be a tough read thanks to the narrator’s constant mistreatment of women and generally obnoxious company. Photographer Marcela offers an interesting foil, and I would have preferred to read a whole book about her.

The Rest Is Silence by Augusto Monterroso, translated by Aaron Kerner

2/5 stars

How’d I find it? The NYRB Classics Book Club, of course.

Why not 3 or more stars? This takedown of Mexico’s literary elite comes in the form of a collection of ephemera about the self-important (and fictional) critic Eduardo Torres, darling of the town of San Blas. The book’s wry humor (including excerpts from Torres’ vacuous writing) excels, but the gag tires out early.