2 Books Like Miss Bristol Rents a Room

Some writers pull you into their story so easily that you have no time to notice how quickly and deeply you’ve become immersed. Usually, this happens due to exquisite writing or a compelling plot. Sometimes, the reader is treated to both. When the story being told is also magically imbued, the immersion feels much like an invisible spell cast by irresistible words—a literary incantation, if you will. Within such conjurations, single phrases—sometimes disarmingly simple—evoke the most profound emotions. Consider an early observation made by the narrator in Doina Ruști’s exquisitely literate and magical novel, The Book of Perilous Dishes:
“What sadness there is in clothes that no one will wear anymore!”
Within the context of a most remarkable scene, this simple phrase evokes emotions beyond what should be warranted while creating an atmosphere impossible to dispel. At this point, the reader is already spellbound, immersed, and utterly engaged.
The plot… show more.

One approaches a book like The Dreadful Dawn by Colleen A. Parkinson with varying degrees of trepidation, including the enticing subject matter—the promise of an end-of-the-world zombie apocalypse—and the cautious apprehension of all those movies and streaming series that have engraved their unyielding expectations and clichéd certainties into our skulls, not to mention the books on which they are based. However, those initial concerns are easily and quickly put to rest upon surrendering to this author’s skillful writing and narrative skills. The dystopian elements of Parkinson’s engaging immersion into civilizational collapse are familiar in a weirdly comfortable way—we recognize the territory—but her characters are unique, irresistible, fascinating, and unforgettable, and the reader becomes entirely invested in their personal destinies. Beware the power of this fictional seduction, however, for Ms. Parkinson is unflinching in her dispensation of providence and fate.

A key component of Colleen A. Parkinson’s compelling novel, The Dreadful… show more.