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Dreamland by Olivie Blake: Hollywood gothic horror wrapped in occult secrets

Hollywood dreams have always come with a price, and in Dreamland, Olivie Blake imagines that price as a centuries-old curse lurking behind one of the film industry’s most powerful dynasties. Blending gothic horror, occult mythology, and sharp social commentary, Blake crafts an atmospheric novel filled with unforgettable ideas—even if its ambitious storytelling doesn’t always land as cleanly as its vision deserves.

Anya Morris has spent years believing she’s destined for something greater than working part-time in her family’s store while enduring her mother’s constant dismissal of her acting ambitions. When an unexpected invitation arrives from the de Witts—one of Hollywood’s most influential and enigmatic film families—it seems like the breakthrough she’s been waiting for.

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Stay Buried by Jennifer McMahon: A cozy folk horror steeped in small-town superstition

Jennifer McMahon’s Stay Buried embraces the eerie traditions of New England folk horror, blending supernatural folklore, family secrets, and atmospheric mystery into a story that feels tailor-made for readers who enjoy cozy horror with a gothic edge.

Jennifer McMahon has built a reputation for weaving together dual timelines, family mysteries, and unsettling folklore, and Stay Buried continues that tradition. Set in the isolated Vermont community of Boone’s Ferry, the novel alternates between 1919, when a mysterious illness threatens the town, and 2016, when two siblings inherit property tied to generations of family secrets. As past and present begin to converge, long-buried truths—and the superstitions surrounding them—refuse to stay buried.

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You’ll Love It Here by Natalie Sue: A funny, heartfelt novel about discovering the value of community

Sometimes the life you’ve been working toward isn’t the life that will make you happiest. Natalie Sue’s You’ll Love It Here is a warm, witty, and emotionally satisfying novel that explores burnout, grief, ambition, and the unexpected power of community. Releasing August 11, 2026, this charming contemporary novel delivers plenty of laughs while reminding readers that success isn’t always found where we expect it.

After the success of I Hope This Finds You Well, Natalie Sue once again creates an unforgettable cast of characters whose messy, ordinary lives become surprisingly compelling. While the novel follows a familiar emotional trajectory, it’s the rich characterization and heartfelt relationships that make the journey so rewarding.

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Queen Mab by Emily McBride: When motherhood becomes a fairy tale nightmare

What if the greatest horror isn’t that you’ve lost your mind—but that you’re the only one seeing the truth? Emily McBride’s Queen Mab follows twenty-three-year-old graduate student Madeleine, whose carefully planned future is upended after a traumatic childbirth ends in an emergency C-section. Instead of bonding with her newborn daughter, Maud, Madeleine becomes convinced that the baby has been stolen by the faeries and replaced with a changeling. As her husband, parents, and medical professionals dismiss her growing fears, Madeleine desperately searches folklore and literature for a way to bring her real child home.

This is now the third novel I’ve read in recent weeks that explores the aftermath of traumatic childbirth, and I’m definitely noticing a trend. The other two were Good Morning Means I Love You by Kendra Allen and With Friends Like You by Amy Chozick. These are three very different novels examining the same important subject from very different perspectives, and I love seeing contemporary fiction finally giving serious attention to what can happen after childbirth instead of treating birth as the tidy ending to a woman’s story.

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The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao Thai: A moving literary mystery about family, art, and identity

The Seekers of Deer Creek by Thao Thai is an emotionally rich literary novel that blends family drama, historical mystery, and a journey across continents into a compelling exploration of identity. While the search for a lost painting provides the novel’s momentum, the true mystery lies within a family’s silences and the stories left untold across generations.

After the death of their father, estranged sisters Vivi and Calla Nguyễn discover clues suggesting he wanted them to search for a long-lost painting by a forgotten Vietnamese artist. Their investigation takes them from Chicago to Wisconsin, France, and eventually Việt Nam, forcing both women to confront not only their fractured relationship but also the hidden history that shaped their family long before they were born.

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The Women in White by Sarah Pekkanen: A compelling blend of mystery and the paranormal

Sarah Pekkanen’s The Women in White offers an engaging blend of psychological suspense, historical mystery, and paranormal intrigue. While the novel explores unsettling ethical questions about scientific experimentation, it remains an accessible page-turner with crisp prose, short chapters, and enough twists to keep readers invested until the final pages. If you’re looking for a thriller that combines a decades-old conspiracy with supernatural elements while remaining easy to read, this one is well worth adding to your list.

The novel unfolds across two timelines. In 1964, Betty is a young newlywed whose greatest ambition is simply to be a good wife. That changes when her husband, Douglas, discovers that she possesses an unusual psychic gift. Hoping to advance his academic career, he introduces Betty to Dr. Trimble, a respected university researcher studying parapsychology.

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I Made You Up Inside My Head by Marta Pérez-Carbonell: A thoughtful novel about storytelling and truth

Some novels build their tension through action. Others build it through conversation. I Made You Up Inside My Head by Marta Pérez-Carbonell belongs firmly in the latter category, using a single overnight train journey to explore storytelling, memory, and the ethical boundaries between lived experience and fiction. While readers looking for a plot-heavy novel may find it slow, those interested in questions about narrative itself will discover plenty to think about.

At first glance, almost nothing happens. A translator named Alicia boards an overnight train from London to Edinburgh and shares a compartment with Terry, a professor whose latest novel has become the center of controversy, and Bo, Terry’s graduate student. During the long journey, the three exchange stories from their lives over food and drinks, gradually revealing old betrayals, painful memories, and uncomfortable truths.

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Getting Away with Murder by Shari Lapena: A deliciously entertaining domestic thriller

Sometimes you don’t need a novel that changes your life. Sometimes you just want a fast-paced thriller that grabs you from the first chapter and refuses to let go. Getting Away With Murder by Shari Lapena is exactly that kind of book—a thoroughly entertaining psychological thriller with an irresistible premise and enough twists to keep the pages turning until the very end.

Jill and Ted have built the perfect life—or at least the perfect image of one. Their gorgeous New York brownstone is more than just a home; it’s the centerpiece of the identity they’ve carefully constructed. When Ted loses the fortune that has been financing their lifestyle, they refuse to accept the possibility of losing everything they’ve worked so hard to acquire.

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City of Widows by Nadia Hashimi: A breathtaking portrait of survival under the Taliban

There are novels that entertain, and then there are novels that demand to be witnessed. City of Widows by Nadia Hashimi is firmly in the latter category—a sweeping, emotionally devastating, and ultimately hopeful story that puts human faces on the headlines many of us have long since stopped reading.

Nadia Hashimi tells an ambitious story that spans decades of Afghan history while remaining deeply rooted in the lives of individual women. The result is an absolutely riveting novel that is as suspenseful as it is heartbreaking. Despite its large cast of characters, dual timelines, and enormous historical scope, the story remains remarkably cohesive. Every thread contributes to a larger portrait of women fighting to preserve not only their lives, but also their dignity, their families, and their sense of self.

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With Friends Like You by Amy Chozick Is a Twisty Thriller About Motherhood, Trauma, and the Friend You Can’t Let Go

Childbirth is a harrowing experience, even in the best of circumstances. There is no escaping the pain, the blood, or the complete upheaval of your body. Then, after what is often a profoundly traumatic experience, you’re handed a brand-new human being and sent home with the expectation that you’ll somehow know exactly what you’re doing. Now imagine almost dying during childbirth.

That’s where Amy Chozick’s With Friends Like You begins, and it’s what immediately sets this psychological thriller apart from the crowd. Beneath its mystery lies a remarkably compassionate exploration of birth trauma, postpartum isolation, female friendship, and the desperate search for the version of yourself that existed before everything changed.

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