Amanda Montell’s deeply insightful book Cultish – The Language of Fanaticism –  is out everywhere now. It’s a fascinating look into the language of cults and the power of language as a persuasive tool. Cults have always been both intriguing and frightening in equal measure for most people – and the prevailing question remains what are their appeal for so many people to get people to enter. From the Manson cult to Heaven’s Gate, Jonestown and QAnon, Montell provides an immensely well-researched exploration of the language of cults, showing how the language can be similar with cults and MLMs.

Juicy and compelling in equal measure, Montell exposes the verbal elements that make a wide spectrum of communities “cultish,” revealing how they affect followers of groups as notorious as Heaven’s Gate, but also how they pervade our modern start-ups, Peloton leaderboards, and Instagram feeds. The book is incisive, darkly funny taking on the fanatical language applied to so many areas of modern-day society and groups. Montell’s thesis and structure is compelling and propulsive and this is one of the most readable non-fiction books we’ve read in recent years.

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Lucy Foley’s The Hunting Party and The Guest List were two of the best mystery thrillers from the last decade, now Foley returns with her new novel The Paris Apartment, one of the most eagerly anticipated novels of 2022. The Paris Apartment centres around Jess who makes a spur of the moment decision to visit her brother Ben in his apartment in Paris. When she arrives, there is no sign of Ben and the longer he stays missing, the more questions Jess has around Ben’s life in Paris and the apartment building in which he lives.

The Paris Apartment is much slower moving than Foley’s previous novels, but no less chilling. Foley has a unique ability to build an utterly creepy atmosphere from the off, in an utterly cinematic way. Her writing flows and is layered, twisting and turning in such a way that you remain unsure of the plot and the ending of the novel, almost through to the bitter conclusion. This novel is much more predictable than her previous thrillers (in our opinion) but no less enjoyable in the picture that it paints. What is the most compelling part of this mystery in particular is possibly the unique and distinctive cast of characters that Foley has created. It’s an immensely enjoyable read for any fans of the mystery thriller genre, but there was something missing that did not match the immense standard of her previous thrillers – still a worthwhile read.

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In March, Lizzie Damilola Black burn will release her new novel – Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? – a delicious, hilarious and relatable romantic comedy of a novel. The novel revolves around Yinka – a thirty-something, Oxford-educated, British Nigerian woman with a well-paid job, good friends, and a mother whose constant refrain is “Yinka, where is your huzband?” Yinka’s Nigerian aunties frequently pray for her to find a man, but Yinka has always believed that true love will find her when the time is right. However, when her cousin gets engaged, Yinka commences Operation Find-A-Date for Rachel’s Wedding. Aided by a spreadsheet and her best friend, Yinka is determined to succeed. Yinka is an unconventional and flawed heroine, but is that which makes her so immensely likeable. Blackburn writes with so much tenderness and wit in equal measure. It is a love story that explores just what it means to traverse two cultures and two ages.

Yinka, Where Is Your Huzband? is a hilarious and addictive comedy that shines a light on the experience of modern dating. Yinka is a tenderly painted character, yet the vast range of characters at play are painted with a similarly detailed brush that allows for layers of complexities in the story, not just taking on the theme of love, but of family, the trials of friendship and most of all self-love and empowerment. It is an addictive read from start to finish and a space to embrace the messy sides of yourself.

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Torrey Peters released her whipsmart debut novel – Detransition, Baby – in 2021 that earned immense critical acclaim. The novel revolves around three women – Reese, Amy and Katrina – grappling with impending motherhood. Reese nearly had it all in her loving relationship with Amy, but the only thing missing was a child. Then everything fell apart and three years on Reese is still in self-destruct mode, avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men. When Reese calls to ask if she wants to be a mother to his unplanned child, Reese finds herself intrigued. After being attacked in the street, Amy de-transitioned to become Ames, changed jobs and, thinking he was infertile, started an affair with his boss Katrina. Now Katrina’s pregnant. The three of them decide to form an unconventional family and raise the baby together. The novel centres around the complexity of these relationships, particularly how these manifest in discussions of gender.

Detransition, Baby is an immensely charming novel – funny, smart and messy. Above all, it is full of emotion, showcasing the complexity of these kinds of relationships but it is not contrived. Peters delivers the novel with immense tenderness. More than anything, the novel will broaden public understanding of transness without “teaching”. The novel is filled with wonderful and joyful characters and it is overall an immensely enjoyable and delightful book.

Pick up a copy here.

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Even though The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and Daisy Jones and the Six have earned widespread acclaim and viral success, one of her earlier backlist titles is well worthy of recognition. One True Loves is a startlingly powerful novel about loss, heartache and the true meaning of love. The novel centres around Emma Blair who marries her high school sweetheart, Jesse. They build a life for themselves, leaving their hometown in Massachusetts and pursuing a life of adventure and travel. On their first wedding anniversary, Jesse is on a helicopter over the Pacific when it goes missing. Emma is heartbroken, quitting her job and moving home in an effort to put her life back together. Years later, now in her thirties, Emma runs into an old friend, Sam, and finds herself falling in love again. When Emma and Sam get engaged, it feels like Emma’s second chance at happiness.. until Jesse is found – alive. With a husband and a fiancé, Emma has to now figure out who she is and what she wants, while trying to protect both men who she loves deeply. 

One True Loves is a novel of immense power, unpicking the depths of heartache and the true meaning of love, including what it really means to let someone go. It’s beautifully and propulsively written, as ever, by Taylor Jenkins Reid who is a master of these kinds of works.

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Josie Silver’s novel One Day in December was a sensation that is now widely beloved by any romance novels fans. One Night on the Island is a stunning stand-alone novel that will sate the appetite of every fan of Silver’s. The novel centres around dating columnist Cleo who is looking for her ‘flamingo’ – whose boss insists she goes on a ‘self-coupling’ ceremony on a remote Irish island – and Boston native Mac, who is looking for a place to heal after the demise of his marriage and to get in touch with his roots in order to find some clarity. When a mix-up with bookings means that they have both booked the same cottage on the same dates, the duo are forced to co-habitate while waiting for the weekly ferry to arrive. After initial hostilities, the pair begin to find comfort in each others presence, even whilst having clearly delineated ‘chalk boundaries’ between them. They begin to confide in each other – in a game each night where they tell each other three things – and begin to lay their hearts on the line.

What follows though is more than just a strangers to lovers romance, it’s a gorgeous story of empowerment, finding one’s own joy and discovering one’s self when all the noise of modern life is stripped away. Josie Silver writes with so much warmth and heart and the dialogue sparkles on every page. Silver has an awe-inspiring ability to build deeply flawed and human characters within iconic settings – the female supporting cast of the novel was powerful and beautiful – and the Irish landscape is a perfect accompaniment to this windswept romance. Her writing is simply sublime, sweeping you deep within this magical world. 

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A Court of Thorns and Roses – the first novel in Sarah J. Maas’ acclaimed series. It tells the story of Feyre – a mortal – whose survival rests upon her ability to hunt and kill – the forest where she lives is a cold, bleak place in the long winter months. When she spots a deer in the forest being pursued by a wolf, she cannot resist fighting it for the flesh, but killing the doe comes at a hefty price. Feyre is dragged to a magical kingdom for the murder of a faerie, there she discovers that her captor, his face obscured by a jewelled mask, is hiding many secrets. Feyre’s presence at the court is closely guarded, and as she begins to learn why, her feelings for him turn from hostility to passion and the faerie lands become an even more dangerous place. Feyre must fight to break an ancient curse, or she will lose him forever.

The novel is a perfectly crafted novel that sweeps the reader into this delightfully crafted world. A Court of Thorns and Roses is a magnetic novel that sweeps the reader into this magical realm. This is the kind of novel that can convert any novice reader of fantasy fiction.

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The Kiss Quotient is a delightful light, witty and sexy romance that is largely devoid of cliche. The novel centres around Stella Lane, who believes that maths is the only thing to unite the universe. Although she is excelling in her job, she has inexperienced in the dating department. Stella has Asperger’s and French kissing reminds her of a ‘shark getting its teeth cleaned by pilot fish’. In order to get some dating experience, she hires an escort – Michael Phan. Following a lesson plan – from foreplay to missionary – she wants Michael to teach her to be good at sex and ultimately to date. Before long though, Stella doesn’t just appreciate Michael in bed, but begins to crave his company too.

More than anything else, the novel shines a spotlight on the experience of those with autism. It’s a sweet novel that normalises the experience, rather than sidelining those with autism to background characters, as is so often done in novels and films. The result is a wonderful, sweet novel worthy of attention.

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Two years on from the release of their concept record III in 2019, The Lumineers will return this Friday with their new record Brightside, a sweetly melancholic yet hopeful project comprising just 9 songs. It’s a powerful start to 2022 for the band, a remarkably layered and powerful project that brings back the band’s unique ability to build detailed visual vignettes both sonically and lyrically in each song that come together in the tapestry of the entire record to build a complex and beautiful work of art.

Produced by longtime collaborator Simone Felice and produced, mixed, and engineered by David Baron over two sessions in winter and spring 2021 at Baron’s Sun Mountain Studios in bucolic Boiceville, NY, Brightside is the most joyous and spontaneous piece of work that the band have created thus far. Over the nine songs – created virtually – the band establish a hopeful note to start the year, beginning with the title track. “The song ‘BRIGHTSIDE’ was recorded in a single day,” says The Lumineers singer-guitarist and co-founder Wesley Schultz. “It’s like a 15-year-old’s fever dream, an American love story in all its glory and heartbreak. The last couple left, on the run from something and all alone…” That fever dream energy is infused across the rest of the eight songs that follow in a more stripped back, intimately joyful musical journey than their previous III, whilst using their signature sound – the gruff vocals of Schultz at the fore, with beautiful, emotive production. ‘AM Radio’ is up next, a stripped back and swaying pop ballad, with an immensely nostalgic hue. ‘Where We Are’ is an early stand-out, a quietly grooving and swelling melody – a track about believing that ultimately it will all be ok. ‘Birthday’ offers a jazzier, upbeat and quietly joyful feel – perhaps not their most lyrically clever but a lovely sonic moment of reprieve.

‘Big Shot’ is another easy standout, a powerful and poignant moment. Of the track, Shultz shares, “We are all big shots in our own story… and, now, we’ve all been humbled over the last 18 months. The “Big Shot” video was inspired by the 90s, and the storytelling music videos we grew up watching on MTV.” Vocally, it’s the most emotive moment on the record, a moment of reflection on our own status. Elsewhere, The Lumineers dive into a grittier rockier sound on ‘Never Really Mine,’ before a quieter piano lullaby moment on ‘Rollercoaster’ and a lightly 80s-infused sound on ‘Remington.’ The final track ‘Reprise’ is an upbeat, lightly anthemic track that will be a surefire hit in its live retelling – particularly given its ‘traditional’ Lumineers sound.

The tracks on Brightside are not overly produced, giving a raw and quietly contented feel to the entirety of the project. It’s a delightful moment to catch our breath after the past few years, in a quietly contented and joyful space of hope. Brightside will delight fans and music lovers alike.

Purchase tickets to the 2022 tour here.

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Hanya Yanaghiara’s 2015 novel A Little Life continues to stand the test of time as one of the most important, emotional reads of the last decade. Going into 2022, her new novel To Paradise was easily one of the most anticipated books of the year. For readers expecting the kind of emotional journey in A Little Life, one in which characters become family – loved for their failings and flaws as much as their strengths, To Paradise is not that. It seems unfair almost to the latter to compare the two novels, but given the seminal nature of both works from Yanagihara, comparisons are unavoidable. Yanagihara again proves her awe-inspiring ability to write an impressive work of fiction and portray emptiness and depression with a very real power, still To Paradise does not whack an emotional punch, owing in part to the unreachability of the main characters.

Standing alone, To Paradise is an awe-inspiring work of fiction – this you can not deny. Constructed in three sections – three stories of three centuries in a fictionalised American history. ‘America’ in this case, a deconstructed version of the USA we are familiar with today, in which different regions have been separated into different kingdoms. Yanagihara has thoughtfully and artfully constructed these sections, using emblems and themes to weave the parts together, rather than a through storyline. This idea though is not for everyone – there will doubtless be many readers who put down To Paradise – it’s an alright tome and given that it is in three separate parts, it does not move to the end with a propulsive force. However, in doing so, they will miss the magic of Yanagihara’s writing, her ability to give voice to contrasting and disparate characters, and paint a fictionalised, but eerily real picture of both a fictional historical realm and a dystopian society.

Part One tells the story of the bachelor David Bingham in 1893 New York who is being set up for an arranged marriage to Charles Griffith by his grandfather. However, David is drawn to a penniless but enigmatic music teacher, Edward Bishop and is forced to make the choice between a stable, gilded life in America with Charles or a potentially doomed love match with Edward. Part Two whisks forward to 1990s New York, another David Bingham lives with his rich, elder partner Charles – a partner at the law firm in which he is a paralegal. He is grappling with his relationship with his father back in Hawaii, letters from his father revealing the history of David’s life. The final section is the perhaps most emotionally-taxing, given the current climate. Part Three takes up most of the book. Set in 2090s New York, Charlie is a lab technician who lives with her husband in a semi-dystopian society riddled with different pandemics and illnesses. As she begins to understand her husband’s life, the reader is also told about her own family history, including her father’s fight against the State and her grandfather’s involvement in the quarantine camps of decades past. Each of these parts is a stand-alone novel in itself, brought together by the names of characters – Charles Griffith, David Bingham, Eden – and places, including Washington Square. At first, it seems that these motifs will draw the novel together, but it becomes clear that these really do little to serve the work as a whole, generally making these feel a little pointless. In all honesty, the first part of the novel is far more propulsive than the semi-dystopian final part, which is surprising given the currency of the issues at play in Part Three, and the endings of each part felt a little lacklustre.

Yanagihara’s talent is immensely clear throughout To Paradise, but it feels like she has just missed the mark to make this a really seminal work of fiction. Some of the side plots and fixations – a mother trying to save her twin sons while she falls prey to a new virus, confinements due to mental illness and the beginnings of an intended ‘cult’ like existence in Hawaii – seem almost more promising than some of the main plot lines with which the novel deals. If it is possible, To Paradise feels almost more unsettling, darker and more tense than A Little Life, yet it is definitely less accessible and is a novel that will not be universally loved. The central question remains, what is the ideal of paradise, is it possible and what will we give up in order to attain it? The answers may be contained within this mammoth novel, yet it is not immediately obvious.

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