‘The Names’ by Florence Knapp:

Florence Knapp’s novel “The Names” stands out as one of the best debuts I’ve read in years. The 2025 release asks a simple question: what is in a name? The novel centers on the youngest child in a family plagued by the father’s domestic abuse of the mother, Cora. Uniquely, the story is told through three separate storylines, each a distinct reality differentiated by the name Cora decides to give her youngest child: Gordon, Bear and Julian.

“The Names” highlights the jarring disparity between the son’s fate and the family’s fate, simply based on the name alone. Different family members live and die, and the family connections that survive are all dependent on which name is put on the youngest child’s birth certificate.

Knapp’s expertly crafted novel moves the reader by rendering the emotional intensity of sibling relationships and the heartbreaking effects of domestic abuse. Her writing is brilliant and holds the reader utterly absorbed in the son’s different realities. The book is also disturbing and heart-rending, and will stay with the reader long after they finish the last page. Out of the numerous novels I read during the summer, “The Names” stands out as easily the most thought-provoking and unique.

‘The Wedding People’ by Alison Espach:

Alison Espach’s New York Times bestseller is a darkly hilarious story centered around Phoebe Stone, who, at her mental and emotional rock bottom, arrives at a Rhode Island inn with no bags in hand and no plan to return to Missouri. Phoebe quickly realizes that she is the only guest at the resort who is not part of a lavish, ludicrously expensive wedding.

Espach’s novel explores the unexpected, close relationship that blooms between the unflinchingly honest Phoebe and the absurd bridezilla Lila. The novel is full of expertly executed humor and explores a surprising friendship, illicit attractions, grief and the scars of heartbreak.

The dynamic between the bride-to-be and her mother, bridesmaids and soon-to-be stepdaughter is captivating, and just like Phoebe, the reader will not be able to turn away. “The Wedding People” draws readers in with its uncommon honesty, brilliantly composed characters and sharp writing.

I found Espach’s novel to contain the perfect balance of entertainment — especially through jaw-dropping wedding toasts — and emotional complexity. It’s a fun beach read, but with more depth than that classification would suggest.

‘Blue Sisters’ by Coco Mellors:

“Blue Sisters” centers on three sisters. A year after their fourth sister’s death, they find themselves on different corners of the globe, all three of them battling their grief and attempting to come to terms with their drastically altered lives. The three women — Avery, Bonnie and Lucky — are plagued by their sister’s death, the ghost of growing up with their parents and their family’s crippling history of addiction.

Lucky, the youngest of the four, falls deep into alcoholism and distances herself from her modeling career in Paris. Bonnie, a former professional boxer, tries to help Lucky battle her addiction, all while coming to terms with her deep connection to her former boxing coach. Avery, a recovered heroin addict turned lawyer, leaves her home in London after her marriage implodes. Eventually, the three estranged sisters find themselves back in their childhood apartment in New York City.

I found “Blue Sisters” to be profoundly moving and a prime example of how prioritizing the emotional study of a novel’s characters can render a novel brilliant. From the prologue, it’s clear that Mellors’ writing is in a league of its own — it instantly held me in its grip. I had the chance to meet Mellors at Jenna Bush Hager’s Read With Jenna book festival in May and listen in on her thoughts about her most recent novel. What struck me most was a specific dynamic she wanted to hone in on: balance. The Blue sisters were accustomed to a dynamic of four for almost their entire lives. Now that they have become three, everyone’s life has been thrown off kilter.

“Blue Sisters” is heavy and makes the reader face the realities of addiction, failed parenting and grief. Mellors’ exploration of her characters and each sister’s perspective on their estranged relationships and memories of their beloved sister, Nicky, is expertly done. It’s an intense read but a worthwhile one.