New fantasy and thriller book reviews

Fantasy, thrills and a love of reading are all on the new release deck this week. For more on these and all the titles featured here, visit bookshop.org/lists/summerville-reads-2025-top-book-reviews-by-summerville-journal-scene.

A Love Letter to a Reading Life

“Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books” by Hwang Bo-reum (ISBN 9781639737796, Bloomsbury Publishing, $27.99 hardcover, 240 pages)

Already beloved for “Welcome to the Hyunam-dong Bookshop,” author Hwang Bo-reum turns her warm, observant gaze inward to explore not what we read, but why we read. This collection of essays feels like settling into a quiet corner of your favorite bookshop or library, where time slows, and the simple act of opening a book becomes a kind of meditation.

Rather than offering prescriptive advice or curated lists, she meanders through the terrain of the reading life: the pull toward a bestseller when we crave connection, the thrill of wandering off-genre, the unexpected intimacy of falling for a character, and the ways reading and writing continually shape one another. Her reflections invite us to reexamine our own habits and hungers as readers.

What sets this book apart is its insistence on reading as a life practice – not a productivity metric or a competitive sport, but a deeply personal ritual. Hwang suggests that to read freely is to resist the pressures of capitalism’s constant forward motion. In these pages, reading becomes an act of reclamation: of time, of curiosity, of self.

Peppered with thoughtful book recommendations and moments of quiet introspection, this book is a balm for book lovers and a reminder of the simple joy of getting lost in a story.

Verdict: A celebration of reading that leaves us eager to reach for our next book – and more mindful of why we do.

Fame, Flowers and Fear

“The Close-Up” by Pip Drysdale (ISBN 9781668037935, Gallery Books, $28.99 hardcover, 352 pages)

Pip Drysdale’s “The Close-Up” is a high-voltage domestic thriller that turns the glare of celebrity into something chillingly personal. Zoe Ann Weiss arrives in Los Angeles with the usual mix of ambition and vulnerability: a debut novel that flamed out, a day job arranging flowers, and a romantic ghost from her past who becomes the kind of star that makes ordinary life feel obsolete.

Drysdale exploits that distance between private life and public persona with ruthless precision.

The novel’s engine is simple but terrifying. Someone is reenacting violent scenes from Zoe’s fiction in the real world, forcing her to question whether her art predicted the violence or invited it. The premise is a meta idea that feels contemporary to the bone – celebrity culture, viral scandal, social obsession and the way authors back themselves into corners with the very plots they imagine.

Zoe is well drawn as a conflicted, sympathetic protagonist – flawed but tenacious – and the slow unspooling of secrets around Zach, the charismatic bartender-turned-actor, keeps us second-guessing motives. The stalking plot occasionally asks the reader to suspend disbelief, but the emotional truth beneath the thriller mechanics – fear, betrayal, the hunger for a reclaimed identity – never wavers.

This one is suited for late-night reads when the lights are low, and you want the kind of suspense that keeps you checking the locks.

Verdict: A smart thriller about fame’s dark side – unsettling and hard to put down.

Dormant Gods, Deadly Secrets

“Fallen Gods” by Rachel Van Dyken (ISBN 9781649374677, Entangled: Red Tower Books, $32.99 hardcover, 528 pages)

(Note: This will be the Fab Fantasy Book Club pick at Main Street Reads for February, so it is 10% off the cover price there.)

Rachel Van Dyken’s “Fallen Gods” launches a new myth-infused fantasy with enough adrenaline, romance and Norse-inspired intrigue to keep readers turning pages long past midnight. This deluxe limited edition – a first-print collectible available only while supplies last – adds even more allure.

The novel follows a young woman raised to be a weapon. She’s sharp, loyal and bound to the ruthless god who also happens to be her father. Her mission is to blend into Endir University and steal back Mjolnir, a legendary hammer capable of shifting the balance between sleeping gods and mortal realms. Failure means annihilation for everyone she loves, but success may spark a war.

What she doesn’t anticipate is Aric Erikson, heir to the enemy. He’s a brooding student whose icy personality hides as many secrets as she does. Their chemistry is tense, electric and laced with moral conflict. As lies tighten, bloodlines reveal themselves, and the gods begin to stir, Van Dyken balances high-stakes action with a slow-burn romance that complicates every choice the heroine makes.

The worldbuilding offers ancient power simmering beneath modern settings and myth colliding with campus politics. The pacing is fast, the betrayals sharp, and the looming awakening of the gods gives the narrative a thunderous pulse.

Verdict: A romantic, myth-soaked adventure that delivers heart and havoc – suited for fantasy fans looking for their next obsession.

Shari Stauch loves all things Summerville and is a fierce champion of literacy in the Lowcountry. She is the owner of Main Street Reads (115 S. Main St.) and producer of the Summerville Book Festival. An avid reader, author and publisher, she serves on the boards of the Timrod Library, Summerville DREAM and the literacy committee of Summerville Rotary. Reach her at mainstreetreads@gmail.com.