Contemporary Fiction Book Reviews

The complicated journey of life, through the eyes of an academic far from home, spills out onto the pages of High-Sensitivity-Based Mindful Awareness or a Schizophrenic Mind?: You are the Jury! by author Chandana Watagodakumbura. When Chelian gets the opportunity to travel to the western world – the fictional country of Astort – to pursue his Masters degree, he begins an existential journey that will take him countless miles over the course of two decades.

As the central character, Chelian maneuvers through a foreign land as best he can, confident in his own intelligence and creative streak, despite his inability […]

A Dream Come True is a work of inspirational fiction by Andrew Ramz that shows how something really small, wrought from one person’s love, has the power to become viral.

Nine-year-old Jaeden Phillips had neuroblastoma as a baby but was able to make a full recovery. Now, he’s back in the hospital with a lump in his stomach and he’s not feeling all that great. Even with all his relatives visiting him, and his mom and dad always there, things are not the same as being at home and being with his friends.

The only thing that gives him more […]

Author Thomas Duffy pulls back the curtain on mental health and overcoming trauma in a raw and challenging new novel, Social Work. The lines between any patient and healer can grow blurry, particularly in emotionally vulnerable spaces; this complex navigation takes center stage in the novel, leaning into discomfort and forcing readers to consider their own moral boundaries in authentic, thought-provoking ways.

Marc is an unemployed 28-year-old who recently failed to take his own life, while Lauren is a therapist who isn’t completely sure she has the heart for such an emotionally demanding job. Marc doesn’t think he needs help, […]