A drama rooted in injustice and mental health plays out over many years in rural Arkansas in Mary Elizabeth Pope's stark debut.

In 1926, Coralee Harper returned to her family home after a failed first marriage shortly before her brother, Buddy, was killed by the sheriff. Coralee "always could see things," so at first it wasn't a surprise when she would see Buddy in the yard at night. She worked, married Earl Watkins and tried to move on. But as the years go by, Coralee begins to show other erratic behavior, in addition to seeing Buddy again. Earl comes to believe that the only way he can make sure Coralee and their son are both cared for is to have Coralee committed to a mental hospital. Her sanity hearing puts her before Judge Leroy Harrison, who, as a young lawyer, defended the sheriff who killed Coralee's brother.

The Gods of Green County is a harsh tale of people put in conflict by their searches for justice and mutual welfare. Judge Harrison wants to atone to Coralee for not giving her brother justice all those years before, but is torn over whether she would be a danger to herself and others if not committed. Stumbling across a new lead on a witness, he uses every tool he has to uncover what really happened when Buddy died, but the cost may be surprisingly high. This bleak novel about the dangers of power will grip readers from beginning to end. --Kristen Allen-Vogel, information services librarian at Dayton Metro Library

Miriam Toews's novels (Women Talking; All My Puny Sorrows) are filled with clever, darkly humorous women on the run, fighting and persevering. In her eighth, Fight Night, precocious nine-year-old Swiv narrates the story of Grandma, Mom and her, revealed in letters never meant to be mailed.

Toews's characters, who span three generations and whose characteristics will be familiar to her fans, exude hope and ferocious determination; they navigate quirky plot twists and hilarious dialogue. Tenacious, spirited Grandma, who survived a stifling religious upbringing, "has one foot in the grave" but retains her boisterous sense of humor. Mom is in the last trimester of what Grandma calls a "geriatric pregnancy," causing her to go "scorched earth" emotionally. Swiv, conveniently suspended from school ("Madame said I had one too many fights"), looks after Grandma, who loosely home-schools her in their tiny Toronto apartment.

Swiv's dad is missing; his whereabouts, "the sixty-four-thousand dollar question," Grandma says. For a letter-writing project, Swiv is telling their story to Dad, while Mom and Grandma write to the baby. "You're a small thing and you must learn to fight," Grandma advises.

With Swiv's frequent italicizations and conversations without quotation marks, Fight Night is absurdly funny. Yet Toews's endearing women fiercely defy adversity as a team, one readers will cheer right through to the poignant, loving ending. --Cheryl McKeon, Book House of Stuyvesant Plaza, Albany, N.Y.

A gripping coming-of-age story set in 1948 propels the character-driven The Savage Kind, which explores the unresolved sexual attraction between two teenage outcasts, quiet Philippa Watson and opinionated Judy Peabody. John Copenhaver's second novel (after the Macavity Award-winning Dodging and Burning) captures the awkwardness of teenagers grappling with identity and a need to belong.

Philippa recently moved to Washington, D.C., with her loving father, a lawyer with JAG (Judge Advocate General's) Corps, and kind stepmother; Judy maintains a volatile relationship with her adopted parents. The girls' initially tentative friendship deepens, fueled by their love of Romantic poets, classic literature and a mutual infatuation with Christine Martins, their perceptive and beautiful English teacher at Eastern High. Returning a book to Christine's apartment, Philippa flees after seeing the teacher and a half-dressed man in bed. Philippa is unsure if she witnessed an affair or an attack. Then Christine abruptly resigns, and the body of a student with whom she had fought is found. Philippa and Judy go all Nancy Drew to find out what happened, especially since the student's murder echoes the unsolved killing of the Peabodys' biological daughter.

The teens' growing sexual awakening and hunger for romance deepen Copenhaver's solid character studies as he shows two complicated, brilliant young women wrestling with pending adulthood and sexuality. A prologue by an anonymous voice, points of view from each teenager, along with diary entries, add to the tension: Whose remembrances are to be trusted? The finale becomes unwieldy, however, with a few too many turns. Still, Copenhaver excels in shaping characters on the cusp of acknowledging they are gay in The Savage Kind. --Oline H. Cogdill, freelance reviewer 

Last Girl Ghosted by Lisa Unger is an electrifying thriller for the modern age featuring a young woman searching for true, sustaining love in a dating climate cluttered with casual hookups and limited attention spans.

Wren Greenwood has overcome a tragic childhood to build a successful life for herself as an advice columnist with many fans. She hosts a popular podcast and lives in a beautiful, dilapidated brownstone in Manhattan. With no family and only a few close friends, her past is neatly boxed up and shelved away in her hometown of The Hollows outside New York City. When she meets Adam on the dating site Torch, their immediate connection blossoms into blissful romance--until just a few months later, Adam ghosts her, all traces of his digital existence erased. Desperate to find the man she thinks might be the love of her life, Wren stumbles into a dark mystery that forces her back to the haunting past she's tried all her life to escape.

Unger's fans will enjoy meeting Bailey Kirk, the handsome private detective whose investigation of a missing-persons case sets him on a spectacular collision course with Wren. A bestselling author, Unger (Confessions on the 7:45; The Stranger Inside) continues to thrill readers with fresh, original stories built around a familiar exploratory theme: Can one really escape one's past? What happens to the traumatized child when they grow up? Last Girl Ghosted will be happily devoured by readers with an appetite for titillating murder mysteries crafted with a contemporary spin. --Shahina Piyarali, reviewer

YA author Roshani Chokshi (The Gilded Wolves) makes her adult fantasy debut with Once More Upon a Time, a lighthearted, romantic fairy tale novella about second chances.

When Imelda, one of the 12 famous dancing princesses, falls in love with Prince Ambrose, her father gives the happy couple a part of his realm called Love's Keep. To ensure the prosperity of this particular domain, the king and queen must always remain in love. "Far too much pressure," the narrator tsks. Sadly, a tainted heirloom tomato poisons Imelda at their wedding brunch, and the witch who sells Ambrose a healing spell asks a high price: their love. Without it, Imelda and Ambrose lose Love's Keep after a year and a day. Then the same witch reappears and offers them a deal: if they retrieve a vial of her favorite potion, she'll give them each their dearest wish. The former lovers set off with the help of an enchanted road, a wisecracking cloak that believes itself to be a horse, and "some granola. One can never go amiss in life with some granola." Not to mention a fair amount of emotional baggage between them. As they battle their foes together, though, Imelda and Ambrose find themselves in the one danger neither wants to risk: falling in love with each other again.

This short, charming fable is packed with tongue-in-cheek humor and astute reflections on the sacrifices and risks that come with love as free-spirited Imelda and self-conscious Ambrose reconnect. Mimicking oral storytelling techniques, Chokshi's playful narrative invites readers to relax into a delightful adventure of twice upon a time. --Jaclyn Fulwood, blogger at Infinite Reads

In The Death of Jane Lawrence, Caitlin Starling (The Luminous Dead) skillfully blends medical and magical horrors in a deeply unsettling historical gothic fantasy. As the story begins, Jane approaches small-town doctor Augustine Lawrence with a proposal: a literal marriage of convenience in which she will manage his practice and he will provide her with the security she needs as a mathematically gifted young woman with limited prospects. Augustine spends his evenings at his family's abandoned home, Lindridge Hall, so Jane will sleep above his clinic and their relationship will be amicable but strictly professional.

Unfortunately, they quickly come to care for each other, bonding one day over the glistening, twisted intestines of a dying patient. And then, despite Augustine's prohibition, Jane has to spend the night at Lindridge Hall, kicking off a series of disturbing revelations and terrifying encounters. As it turns out, her new husband has a dead wife--and she's not a peaceful sort.

As with so many gothic novels, the house in The Death of Jane Lawrence is a forbidding setting, possibly full of malevolent spirits, possibly just dark corners and spiderwebs. The magic system Starling builds is gruesome, brimming with visceral descriptions, macabre rituals and disturbing situations; this balance of horrors both real and fantastical makes for a truly chilling read. The reality of early 1900s medical treatment--including bleeding and risky internal surgeries--are presented alongside and often entwined with the unknowable terrors of playing with magic and death. The Death of Jane Lawrence is a grisly, repulsive, compelling read for anyone looking to be properly frightened. --Suzanne Krohn, editor, Love in Panels

Identical twins--20-something sisters who are both successful bakers--switch lives in The Holiday Swap, a fun and quick-witted first novel by Maggie Knox (pseudonym for authors Karma Brown and Marissa Stapley).

The story launches days before Christmas in sunny California. Charlie Goodwin, a noted Paris-trained pastry chef, is embroiled in a network reality baking show. Her program--Sweet & Salty, produced for two seasons in Los Angeles and cohosted by Chef Austin Nash--is facing the threat of replacement with another show slated to feature only one chef. Charlie and Austin, who leaves Charlie feeling more "bah-humbug than merry and bright," embark as judges on a 12-days-to-Christmas countdown, where 12 amateur bakers compete for a $25,000 prize.

After a shelving unit tips over, giving Charlie a concussion that strips her of the ability to taste and smell, she is ordered to take it easy. But how can she possibly rest with her show and job on the brink of peril? Afraid to tell anyone of her sensory malfunctions, Charlie secretly enlists the help of her lifelong confidante, her identical twin, Cass, who steps in to save Charlie in her hour of need, agreeing to swap lives temporarily--and covertly. 

Knox assembles a memorable cast and whips up inventive switched-lives scenarios filled with a host of mishaps that double the fun. Delightfully romantic plot twists further sweeten this lighthearted, feel-good story with a message that is sure to make rom-com readers hunger for whatever Knox decides to dish up next. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines

How to Be Golden by Paula Bernstein (Love Is All Around: And Other Lessons We've Learned from The Mary Tyler Moore Show) is an enjoyable tribute to beloved TV icon Betty White. It's a tasty and fast-paced biography, supplemented with pop quizzes, advice (her exercise regime: "I have a two-story house and a very bad memory, so I'm up and down those stairs"), notable quotes ("The older you get, the better you get. Unless you're a banana") and trivia (White played Rose Nylund on four different TV series: Golden Girls, Golden Palace, Empty Nest and Nurses).

White is a true television pioneer, with an entertainment career spanning over nine decades. How to Be Golden is publishing three months before White's 100th birthday. In 1949, she became a regular on the TV variety show Hollywood on Television and took over hosting duties in 1952; that live show ran six days a week in a five-and-a-half-hour time slot. Also in 1952, she formed a production company to create and star in the sitcom Life with Elizabeth. With that sitcom, she earned her first Emmy Award. White was 51 when she joined The Mary Tyler Moore Show, little dreaming that she'd still star in two more long-running sitcoms (Golden Girls, Hot in Cleveland). White won her seventh Emmy when she hosted Saturday Night Live at age 88.

This breezy tribute focuses on White's career rather than personal life. Her 18-year marriage to Allen Ludden is covered in eight paragraphs. Fans will delight in the buoyant writing, fun facts and pleasing book design layout. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant

Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson (An Enchantment of Ravens) is a splendidly dark story of a reclusive young woman struggling to control a powerful revenant.

Artemisia, like all Sighted people, is vulnerable to possession. As a child she was controlled by a spirit which left her so badly scarred--physically and emotionally--she wants only a cloistered life in the convent, "tending to the dead." There she and the other novices are tested for their ability to sense ghostly entities and Artemisia discovers she has "an extraordinary talent for wielding relics." When possessed soldiers attack, Artemisia is tasked with watching over the convent's "greatest weapon": the holy relic of Saint Eugenia, a finger joint from the Sister of the Gray Lady of Death who martyred herself to "bind a Fifth Order spirit to her bones." To save the Sisters now, Artemisia takes the bone's fettered revenant into her body. She is able to wield it successfully, despite its great power, and decides she must use it to learn why a rising number of Dead are attacking the living. Artemisia is forced to trust the revenant, a dangerous--and sarcastic--entity she has no idea how to control.

Rogerson's third YA novel contains a wonderfully ghastly mythology, and a plot that crackles with tension. Reluctant "Saint" Artemisia charges forth in her quest to solve the mystery and save humanity, even as her beloved solitary existence is wrenched from her grasp. At its heart, Vespertine is a satisfying friendship story about the ability to trust other people--and revenants--enough to share one's burdens. Vespertine is an excellent bet for fans of Robin LaFevers's Assassin Nuns and Garth Nix's Old Kingdom. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author

Barry Lyga's Time Will Tell is an intricately plotted, thrilling YA murder mystery that dissects universal anxieties around being and belonging, love and sexuality, friendship and family life.

The story begins in present-day Canterstown, Md., when friends Liam, Elayah, Marcie and Jorja go on a hunt for a time capsule that was buried by their parents in 1986. Soon after unearthing the capsule and exploring its contents, the group finds a bloody knife and a note that reads, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to kill anyone." This shocking discovery launches the group into an intense investigation to discover the killer's identity. Unbeknownst to the teens, the killer is alive and well and will go to great lengths to make sure the secret never gets out.

Time Will Tell is a story driven by uncertainty. There is the central question of the murderer's identity, but there are also the myriad uncertainties of daily life, which the teens must learn to deal with. Alternating between past and present, Lyga provides a deep, even voyeuristic, look into the lives of his characters. He examines the ways in which they are affected by enduring societal ills like homophobia and racism, and uses podcast transcripts, text messages and social media feeds to explore more contemporary difficulties like information saturation and online gossip. Perhaps most compelling, Lyga launches an attack on rose-tinted nostalgia, instead electing to probe the complexity of memory, reminding the reader that, "Memory... could be sunshine, and memory could be a blade." --Cade Williams, freelance reviewer and staff writer at the Harvard Independent