The Hounding is a new novel by Xenobe Purvis full of mysticism, skepticism, and general uproar over rumor and gossip that will have consequences for an entire village.
There’s something strange about the five Mansfield sisters. The village has been plagued by a strange pack of dogs that never seem to be around at the same time as the sisters. When someone claims one afternoon to have seen them transform from girls into dogs, it sets off a chain of events that shrouds the whole village in low key hysteria.
The message this novel shares with The Crucible is an important one, even in our ‘modern’ times. Spreading lies and half truths or things you don’t know for sure has consequences and will have outcomes you won’t see coming.
I loved the telling of this tale. The writing itself was beautiful to read. It was an atmospheric almost fairy tale style read that I found immersive and interesting. It is technically historical fiction being based sometime in the 18th century, but it reads so smoothly I’m convinced readers of all genres will enjoy it.
It’s a lingering sort of tale – the type of story that will live in your mind far longer than the time it takes to read. The kind that makes me think I’ll get something new out of it no matter how many times I read it. Brilliant.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: The Hounding Author:: Xenobe Purvis Genre:: Historical Fiction Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co. Length::240 pages Audio Length::6h 24m Audiobook Narrator:: Olivia Vinall Published:: August 5th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
I was this today years old when I learned what auto-fiction is. A fictional story using elements from the author’s real life. To be honest, I didn’t even catch that’s what this was until I saw every other review mentioning it. Apparently the ending was an actual break in the fourth wall! Now that I am aware of the format I am….confused?
I liked the concept of this novel: a bit of a mid-life crisis brought on by an ex-husband writing her into his most recent book painted in a bad light. I enjoyed a lot of the storytelling, even forgave some of the more…egregious aspects. Perhaps it is the intention of a novel like this to leave the reader in the uncomfortable space of questioning what exactly about the pages they just read is real and what is devised for literary intrigue. I hope to god the cat is in the later category.
Hmm. I’m flummoxed.
I think you might enjoy this book is you are an enthusiast of strange and unique writing. If you like the complicated, thought provoking, uncomfortable sort of book. But also, maybe, like me, you will rather think of it as a metaphor for some of life’s more devastating emotional blows and the way they affect us.
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: If You Love It, Let It Kill You Author:: Hannah Pittard Genre:: Auto-Fiction Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co. Length::304 pages Audio Length::7h 36m Audiobook Narrator:: Allyson Ryan Published:: July 15th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 3.5-Stars
A tree falls in the woods, and all three of your adult children are standing beneath it. You dive forward to remove one from danger, but the tree never falls, and the child you went to save was decidedly not the one nearest you. There is no hiding what happened. Nothing at all, and yet something. Something none of them can unsee, unknow, and Patrick cannot undo.
Meet the Fisher’s. It’s not often the whole family gets back together in the same place at the same time now that they’re all grown, but it is Vivienne’s seventieth birthday, and her three daughters and their family’s have come to stay for a few days at a unique glass house for the celebration. Once everyone arrives, they gather for pictures, which is how the sisters ended up in the path of the falling tree. After, from their father’s reaction and because of their sudden forced proximity, old resentments start to boil back to the surface, and secrets being held close.
I absolutely loved Fran’s first novel Amazing Grace Adams. I loved everything about that story, and I can see after reading this second release that she is very interested in family dynamics and the human response to trauma (some big, some small). The thing I admired most about The Accidental Favorite is the exploration of how the most subtle moments in a family, or any relationship really, can have ripple effects that resound through personalities and time.
The novel itself is quite subtle. The metaphor of the glass house is so interesting, and big things do happen throughout the novel, but the meaning largely hides between the lines.
I am such a fan of Littlewood’s writing and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next!
Note:: I received an early copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
Details
Title:: The Accidental Favorite Author:: Fran Littlewood Genre:: Contemporary Fiction Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co. Length::320 pages Audio Length::10h 45m Audiobook Narrator:: Fiona Button Published:: June 24th, 2025 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
The thing about life is we can’t see very far ahead of ourselves. We don’t know what will happen or who we’ll meet or how we’ll feel. All we have is potential. All this potential we hoard and cling to like it will be the thing to carry us, ultimately, to happiness, to fulfillment, to stability. The real truth is that life is what you make of it, and if you’re not careful, you’ll never really live it at all.
George has a Holden Caufield complex. Or, at least the same one as Holden. He’s stuck in his head far too much, he has grandiose ideas and passes judgment on everyone around him like he’ll win money for it. Except he doesn’t. He never has any money because he won’t get off his ass to do anything unless he convinces himself it has some sort of higher meaning unless and until he absolutely has to. And when he does have to do something, he will do anything to put it off. When he gets the slightest bit uncomfortable, he will reject whatever thing has done the wrongdoing or come back at it with teeth bared, even when he knows he’s wrong. His whole life is an identity crisis, and I’m not even sure he knows it.
This book is almost stream of consciousness, in the third person. We follow George through his mediocre life, glancing moments here and there — sometimes, okay, often, quite mundane moments. He has some formative experiences as a kid, he gets a philosophy degree, he flounders, and he doesn’t stop floundering. He lets others take care of him like he doesn’t understand it costs them something to do so. He has a longtime on and off again girlfriend called Jenny who he feels no passion for and is far too patient with him (girl, you deserve so much better). He tries to write a book. He sometimes gets the most random jobs. He often knows he is insufferable.
I know it might sound like I didn’t like this book very much, but that’s untrue. This is the type of book where you get out what you put into it. If you don’t come at it with a certain level of discernment as a reader, you probably won’t like it. George isn’t all that likable, but things he thinks and experiences, and things he encounters through the people he meets have lessons to teach us, and opportunities for us (as readers) to learn something about how we perceive the world, whether we agree with George or oppose him. There are plenty of takeaways pressed into these pages.
The writing is excellent. I love the level of detail we’re privy to, coloring George’s experiences. Like Holden Caufield, George is critiquing everyone and everything around him, while playing himself cool. It’s a very specific vibe, and Greathead nailed it. The audiobook narrator, Blair Baker, did an excellent job, too.
I was provided an advanced readers copy of this novel to read from netgalley & the publisher in exchange for an honest review. On netgalley this is categorized under both Literary fiction and humor/satire. I kept waiting for something funny to happen (not that George isn’t funny), but if this book belongs in that category at all, it is certainly on the satire side. It didn’t really come off that way to me.
Choose this book if you are a fan of literary fiction. If you like the structure of Catcher & the Rye and are interested in a modern twist on its main character. I think I’ll be carrying George around with me for a while.
Details
Title:: The Book of George Author:: Kate Greathead Genre:: Literary Fiction Publisher:: Henry Holt & Co. Length::272 pages Audio Length::9h 17m Audiobook Narrator:: Blair Baker Audiobook Publisher:: Macmillan Audio Published:: October 8th, 2024 The Litertarian Rating:: 4-Stars
Have you ever had a bad day? Bad week really. Months, even. Or a decade, if we’re being honest. Grace has. And she’s kept it together, mostly, through most of it. But you can only hold together for so long once your vessel is cracked and leaking and you refuse to acknowledge it.
Grace Adams is a mess. A perimenopausal, hot-flashy mess, stuck in a traffic jam that is preventing her from reaching her estranged daughter’s birthday party. Everything has gone wrong lately. Everything. And just maybe if Grace can deliver the custom inside-joke birthday cake she had made to the party she was never invited to, her daughter would forgive her. Her ex-husband might forgive her. Everything might take a step back in the right direction. But she can’t get there if she’s stuck in the misery of traffic until it’s over. So, as a hail-Mary last-ditch effort, she opens the door of her car and walks away from it. Right there, in the middle of traffic, and foots it the rest of the way to the bakery. This is only the first of many questionable decisions Grace makes that day.
The genius of this story is in the revelations. While the present Grace is on a frantic quest to fix everything she thinks she’s broken in one desperate grand gesture, we’re traced back through the steps that led her to such a desperate moment. The magical meeting of her eventual husband at a linguistics conference, their unconventional courtship and marriage, the family dramas they’re forced to navigate, the trials of new parentship, partnership, and beyond. Each petal is pulled back and back and back until we get to the real hurts that Grace and her family are struggling with. And they’re big ones. Heart shattering. I sobbed for…a long time…as I read through the last chapters. Right there on the couch, while my family watched TV. This book is devastating and beautiful and the writing is so lovely and clever. Here are some of the quotes I underlined:
A message that has made him fizz inside with what? Laughter?
She has doughy skin that makes her look like one of the pastries she’s selling.
The uncensored cover.
They stand without speaking until the woman has moved past. As if in tacit agreement that their conversation is private, a secret between them.
If she could, she would walk out of any room that she was in.
Grace is hugging her knees to her chest and listening to the hypnotic suck and pull of the filter system.
This is a great book, and it was a pleasure to read. Fran Littlewood has delivered a story that is witty, passionate, and a little bit manic. It explores depths of love and forgiveness and grief that won’t soon be forgotten. I love all of it. The title, the cover, and the gift that is the prose.
I would recommend this book to women around Grace’s age. A woman who’s seen it all. Marriage, children, the chaos of it all, and the monotony of it too. The routine. The staleness. That, I think, is the audience who will get the most out of it. Who will understand her. But of course any fan of literary fiction might enjoy it. It’ll probably make you cry, so try not to go into it with a fragile heart.
