I am so excited to share the latest five star reads that I have finished in the past few weeks. If you are a fan of character-focused fantasy novels or literary fiction, then these next two recommendations are the perfect books for you!
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow is a standalone fantasy novel that follows a failed soldier and struggling scholar Owen Mallory who falls in love with the tale of Una Everlasting. This story sends Owen back in time across history where he and the lady-knight are destined to meet tragedy, but Owen wants to change that. He wants to rewrite Una’s legend, which will involve him rewriting history itself.
This novel left me stunned. The romantic prose was something I loved from the very first page, and the characters were fleshed out so well. Owen and Una had a beautiful relationship, and the switch to the second person was a choice I appreciated. Aside from the romance, the fantasy elements were also well fleshed out, and there was a good commentary on fascism and the importance of storytelling. This book will breathe life into you and I cannot recommend it enough.
My second recommendation is Real Life by Brandon Taylor. This literary fiction novel follows Wallace, an introverted Black queer biochemist who feels at odds in his Midwestern university town. He has left his family behind, however his childhood still haunts him. “But over the course of a late-summer weekend, a series of confrontations with colleagues, and an unexpected encounter with an ostensibly straight, white classmate, conspire to fracture his defenses while exposing long-hidden currents of hostility and desire within their community.” (StoryGraph.)
Much like the first book, the beautiful prose hooked me immediately. Wallace is such a complex main character that you will grow attached to, and his journey with grief/identity, trauma, and loneliness as an undergraduate student is one that I think most people will relate to. He is someone that is constantly getting screwed over by his peers, yet his peers believe they are the ones that receive the worst from him. His relationship with his classmate was also complex, and Brandon Taylor is a must-read author for everyone!
By Merryn Overbeck ‘28
Featured Image Source: Apple Books
