This was a fun, escapist read involving mysterious beautiful French people, secret societies, and a metaphorical fountain of youth as Courtney, traveling to celebrate her 31st birthday with her old roommate and frenemy in Paris, is invited to the country by a woman called Salomé, and for reasons, decides to go.

It's about a dance club and an immersive reality game and art and artists, and the novels read a lot like art journals themselves. I had a lot of fun reading the related ephemera, newspaper pages, certificates, etc., which paid off from the first page when a magazine article served as an introduction to main character Ari Regon with a recap of some of the first two novels.

Part of the fun of Dead Weight by Hildur Knútsdóttir is that Unner feels like a real person. She is a likeable narrator overall even though she doesn't like cats and is sleeping with a married man - though that almost makes her more sympathetic as she seems to sincerely believe "their marriage is over" and that "it's complicated" because of the kids.

Where the Soul Goes is sad, funny, depressing, and hopeful at turns, and I recommend it for anyone who wants to be immersed in a world — in this case, the culinary arts world of an alternate 1980’s U.S. — and who love strong character building and beautifully constructed sentences.

Hunger by Choi Jin-young is one of the most beautiful and depressing horror novels I’ve read in a while, and “worrying” was a constant emotion, as it is when your existence is all about figuring out how to afford to keep living.