By Karlie Shoffner
April has many new books coming out, and there are so many that I am excited to read. From thrillers to romances, there are so many books in so many genres that look like great reads. Here are the four I am most thrilled about.
Ascension by Nicholas Binge
A mysterious, enormous mountain has appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, and no one can explain why it is there. Scientist Harold Tunmore is sent to investigate the mountain, but nothing can prepare him for what he will experience there. As Harold and his team climb the mountain, they begin to realize that something is wrong with it. Time slows down and their memories begin to fade. Paranoia begins to spread rapidly through the crew, and yet they still continue their journey to the top. The combination of science fiction and horror in this novel is what brought my attention to it. I read a novel earlier this year that featured a blend of these two genres, and I thought that it was well done, so I imagine that this one will also make for a good read. Though the setting is different, I still think that a mysterious mountain makes for a good setting in a horror novel. The novel is also told through Tunmore’s unsent letters to his family, and so this will allow readers to play around with the idea of not knowing what is real and what was the protagonist’s imagination.
Blind Spots by Thomas Mullen
The entire world went blind seven years ago. Humanity now sees the world around them through a device that downloads visual data right to their brains. Mark Owens, a homicide detective, is in charge of a murder investigation where the only witness claims the killer was blacked out of her vision. Similar murders occur, and Owens must work to find a murderer while he can’t even trust what he’s seeing. I immediately wanted to read this novel because it plays around with such an important sense and what happens when it can no longer be trusted. I also wanted to know more about the backstory of this world; why did everyone go blind, and how did they create the technology that allowed people to see again? I also just wanted to read the novel simply because it is a mystery, and I like that genre. It will be interesting to see unreliable senses added to a mystery novel since any clues a reader might pick up on may turn out to be totally false, thus making the ending hard to guess.
Happy Place by Emily Henry
Harriet and Wyn had been the perfect couple for years until they broke up six months ago for reasons unknown. Their friends still don’t know the truth, something that hadn’t been an issue until it came time for their friend group’s annual getaway to a cottage in Maine. It’s the last year they will be able to take the trip, and Harriet and Wyn don’t want to ruin it by telling their friends they broke up. The two decide to lie about still being together just for one week to let the trip stay happy and memorable. Normally, romance isn’t a genre I read. But I enjoyed the last book I read by Emily Henry, Book Lovers. I usually find characters in romance novels to be a bit over-the-top, but Henry is able to write characters that I become attached to and don’t grow annoyed reading about. If she is able to do that again in this novel and create a believable romantic situation–which I fully believe she is capable of doing–then I will definitely enjoy this novel.
The Last Word by Taylor Adams
Emma Carpenter is house-sitting an old, isolated beachfront home in Washington. No one is around except for her dog Laika and the old neighbor, Deek. While there she reads a horror novel that she posts a one-star review for. The author himself, H.G. Kane, gets into an argument with Emma over the review. Strange things begin to occur to Emma, and she soon begins to suspect that the author is stalking her. She learns his other stories focus on murder and stalking, and this only worsens her fears. The premise of the novel intrigued me as it is always interesting to read thrillers with obsessive antagonists. It also intrigued me, being a reader and sometimes writing reviews myself. As a reader, it left me wondering how personally authors take the reviews we leave and how obsessive they can get about the bad ones.
There are so many good novels coming out in April, so it was difficult to pick just four that I am excited to read. These were the novels that I wanted to read the second I finished reading their descriptions because I knew they all offered something that I enjoy reading in novels.
You may also like this
