Review: Private Rites by Julia Armfield

A square crop of the front cover of Private Rites by Julia Armfield. There is a topless woman facing away towards open door into a red void.
This cover design is from the first publishing which was in June 2024 by the publisher Fourth Estate. The edition I read is from December 2024, published by Flatiron Books and has a more subdued painterly cover. I find this cover to be more striking.

The first time you lose a parent, a part of you gets trapped there, trapped less in the moment of grief than in the knowledge of the end of childhood, the inevitable dwindling of the days.

page 84, Private Rites by Julia Armfield
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Review: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid

A square crop of the front cover of Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid.
This is the cover used in the US/Canada versions of Atmosphere. In some ways I prefer the grandiosity of the UK/European cover but this cover image looks better in the blog post layout.

“I’m excited,” Vanessa said, closing the gap between them. “I want to take you everywhere. And do everything with you. And ask you every single question that’s been on my mind for months. And I want to know when you knew what was happening between us and I want to tell you when I knew. And I want to hold your hand in a quiet corner and I want to lie in bed and hear your heartbeat through your chest. I want to bring you coffee in bed. And I want to hear you tell me anything you’ve always wanted to tell someone. Because you know that you’ve met someone who desperately wants to listen.”

page 175, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
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Review: The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah

A square crop of the front cover of The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah.

Family. That was the word that came to mind as Loulie took in the domestic scene. It gripped her heart like a vise, made it difficult to breathe. She had become accustomed to–preferred–living a solitary life, but it was easier to forget what she had lost in the cities where the families were scattered and hidden. Sitting around this campfire, she could see the interconnectedness of the lives around her–and she could see herself sitting in the heart of the web, adrift.

page 253, The Stardust Thief by Chelsea Abdullah
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