fiction
Unleashing the chick-lit tiger
Aniqah Choudhri reviews a very different kind of novel targeted at young women - one inspired by Angela Carter and horror films
Short is beautiful
In our series rounding up our reviewers' favourites of 2013, Hayley Ellis Jones focuses on the best short fiction she's read this year
A subtle story of sadism
Katherine Williams is intrigued by The Tattooist by Louise Black, a sinister insight into a controlling, cruel obsessive
The novel that narrates itself
Louise Crichton reviews AL Kennedy's compelling story about the mediums who trade on the hope of contacting the hereafter, The Blue Book, in which the book itself is a character
Past shirts and skin
My Education by Susan Choi addresses love and lust in the life of a graduate student. Katherine Wootton finds it gripping
To turn the body: a look at Xiaolu Guo
M. Lý-Eliot looks at the work of this exciting young novelist and her exploration of the themes of isolation, education and revolution
A compassionate brute
Dirty Work by Gabriel Weston investigates the difficult life of an abortion provider. Katherine Williams finds it complex and compelling
“Books are magic”: an interview with Ruth Ozeki
Claire Hazelton speaks to novelist Ruth Ozeki about writing, family, religion and more
A quiet scream – Jean Rhys’ Quartet
Zoe Apostolides discusses Rhys' unsettling first novel, exploring poverty and dependence
Life in gasps – Swimming Home
Deborah Levy's Booker-shortlisted novel haunts Zoe Apostolides for months
Teen fiction: a revolution?
The Carbon Diaries is an unusual Young Adult series with a feminist and revolutionary flavour. Ananya Wilson-Bhattacharya contrasts it favourably with The Hunger Games
The Boys
Feminists get Garth Ennis' The Boys all wrong, argues Francesca Lewis. The sexual violence and objectification of women are satirical tools highlighting the emptiness of the superhero genre, rather than misogynist wish fulfilment
Batwoman: Elegy
Debi Linton is impressed with J.H. Williams's outstanding artwork, showcasing a compelling super-heroine written with conviction and complexity by Greg Rucka
The Painted Lady
Sian Norris dissects the problems behind mistress narratives in historial fiction, and explains why Maeve Haran's The Painted Lady doesn't fall into the typical traps
The Sandman
Despite recent and notable successes, Neil Gaiman's seminal comic series still stands as his greatest achievement, writes Francesca Lewis
Ruth
Katherine Wootton examines how Elizabeth Gaskell's daring novel Ruth, a new edition of which is published this month, challenges our prejudices and suggests how it is still relevent today
