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UnderratedReads is devoted to discovering underrated books and under-represented authors. We highlight hidden gems from around the world–honest reviews only, never pay-to-play.
Category Archives: Modern Literary Fiction
The Hundred Waters – Lauren Acampora
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Grown people need friction to live.” Most people would think that Louisa Rader is living the perfect life. As the director of the town’s art center, this former model and photographer lives in a wealthy … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged aging, art, boredom, environmentalism, privilege, rebellion, wealth
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The Risk in Crossing Borders – William McClain
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “She kept coming back to the question of what to do with her life. Most people sorted that out in their twenties and thirties. What was wrong with her?” Yana Pickering is over fifty years … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged immigration, Lebanon, refugees, Seattle, Syria, transgender, war
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I Buried Paul: A Novel: Bruce Ferber
(Reviewed by Don Jung) #CommissionsEarned This is the story of forty-nine-year-old Jimmy Koslowski and his uncertain life as a struggling musician. It starts off with his family, where his father is an orchestra leader, and his older brother is a … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks
Tagged Beatles, music, rock music
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Love, Death & Rare Books – Robert Hellenga
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “I want to live life, not read about it.” That is what people kept telling Chicago bookseller Gabe Johnson, who came from generations of rare book dealers. With the growth of online bookstores, even his … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged bookstores, death, love, philosophy
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Songs by Honeybird – Peter McDade
(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) #CommissionsEarned “Find your focus and the story may write itself: music and drugs, race and gender, a tragic barn fire and a missing body. It’s all much more dramatic than one usually sees in a dissertation….” … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks, Romance
Tagged friendship, history, music, philosophy, Romance, sexism
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The Professor’s Wife – Marina DelVecchio
Reviewed by JD Jung) “She was not what she had promised, what she had led him to believe. And he couldn’t help but feel deceived. Tricked, somehow. Bitterness coursed through his bloodstream like an invisible worm consuming him from the … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged mental illness, Romance, sex, short books
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Seven Down – David Whitton
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned Why would someone agree to participate in a clandestine operation in which they knew nothing about? Would it be for the excitement, money, or for a totally different reason? This is the premise of the … Continue reading
Posted in Humor & Satire, Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged dark humor, Toronto
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A Season in Lights: A Novel in Three Acts – Gregory Erich Phillips
(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Less than a year ago, when the curtain fell after the opening night applause, I assumed the New York City I knew—and my place in it—could last forever.” A Season in Lights celebrates performers and … Continue reading
Posted in Modern Literary Fiction
Tagged artists., Broadway, Carnegie Hall, dancers, dreams, New York, pianists
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