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March is coming to a close and the first whispers of spring are in the air! With warmer weather approaching, the thing I’m most looking forward to is getting outside to enjoy some sunshine and a good book. (Although I think the season for beach reads is still quite a ways off here in Vermont.)

In the meantime, here are my favorite titles among the books I finished this month:

Beasts of Prey
By Ayana Gray
★★★★

Koffi has spent most of her 16 years tending to dangerous animals at the infamous Night Zoo, where the city of Lkossa’s lowliest residents are sent to work off their debts. But just as she and her mother are about to finally settle their bill and leave the zoo for good, a careless mistake sets off a chain reaction that leaves the zoo in charred ruins and their debt higher than ever. Horrified at the prospect of a life of servitude, Koffi strikes a deal with her master: If she can bring him the Shetani, the vicious beast that has terrorized the Greater Jungle of Lkossa for nearly a century, he must grant her family’s freedom in return. As she sets off on her quest, Koffi soon crosses paths with Ekon, a would-be warrior whose false step when the Night Zoo went up in flames cost him his budding career as a Son of the Six. Ekon is after the Shetani, too, convinced that slaying the beast is his only way back into the warrior temple’s good graces. The pair form a tenuous alliance and set off into the mysterious Greater Jungle, completely unaware of the dangers — and magical forces — they’ll encounter within.

Though I adored the mystical, intricate worlds of fantasy books as a kid, it’s been quite a while since I picked up a fantasy read. Beasts of Prey was a gripping and inventive reintroduction to the genre. Drawing inspiration from Pan-African folklore and mythology, the world Gray has created is vivid and immersive, while never confusing the reader with too many unfamiliar names or terms. I particularly loved the descriptions of the magical elements of the Greater Jungle and I can’t wait to find out how the magical storylines continue to develop in Gray’s next book. This read is a great example of effective world-building, especially if you are writing a fantasy book inspired by a non-Anglo Saxon culture.

I Killed Zoe Spanos
By Kit Frick
★★★★

After spending too many of her high school days black-out drunk, Anna Cicconi is looking for a fresh start. So she jumps at the chance to spend her last summer before college nannying on the beach in the Hamptons. But not long after she steps off the train from Brooklyn, Anna learns she bears a striking resemblance to a local girl, Zoe Spanos, who went missing just six months before Anna arrived. Anna can’t help but be curious and soon finds herself bingeing Missing Zoe, a podcast about the case created by teen journalist Martina Green. Then she starts to experience strange flashbacks — fuzzy memories of places she’s never been, and people she’s never met. The visions plant the seed of doubt, and Anna begins to wonder if she could somehow have been involved in Zoe’s disappearance. When Anna ends up behind bars (don’t worry, I promise that’s not a spoiler!), Martina starts to dig deeper, and the revelations she uncovers are more than she ever bargained for.

This book, which is loosely inspired by Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca, held my attention from the very first page, and I finished it within only a couple of days. With multiple timelines and perspectives, it’s a meticulously-constructed mystery that had me pondering different theories right until the end. Beyond the puzzle of the plot, I Killed Zoe Spanos touches on themes around grief, guilt, family and identity, and Frick’s writing is both accessible and richly descriptive. I particularly recommend the audiobook version of this title — it’s a full-scale production that brings each of Martina Green’s podcast episodes to life with music, voice actors and mock interviews.

The Ugly Cry
By Danielle Henderson
★★★★½

Growing up, Danielle Henderson knew she was different. She was one of the only Black kids in her small upstate New York town, on top of the fact that she didn’t have the same kind of family or home life as her classmates at school. Henderson’s memoir traverses her childhood and adolescence, dynamically weaving together the experience of being raised primarily by her grandparents, her early exposure to slasher horror films (her grandmother’s favorite genre) and the messy, magical process of learning how to be yourself. At the root of it all is the fierce, fiery love of her sharp-tongued grandmother and the courage it gave Henderson to spread her wings. Perhaps best known as the creator of Feminist Ryan Gosling and co-host of the film podcast I Saw What You Did, Henderson has also written for the screen (“Maniac,” “Dare Me,” “Divorce”) and publications ranging from Vulture to Cosmopolitan to Esquire.

What I like most about this book is that Henderson’s unique voice practically pulsates through every single line. And she doesn’t waste a word, either; the writing is punchy, poetic and just plain fun to read. At once heart-rending, comical and deeply insightful, her memoir is a raw meditation on family, survival and self-discovery. For writers, The Ugly Cry is a masterclass in how to craft a memoir with a narrow, defined focus that also spans long periods of time — and how to approach difficult subjects with humor and sensitivity.

What were your favorite reads this month? Reach out and let me know! I’ll be back in late April with my next round of recommended titles.

Happy reading,
Meg