We’re counting down to Christmas with Team B’s books of the year. Each member of the Mr B’s team has narrowed down their choices to just their top 12 (or close enough!) Each week we will bring you different members of the team so you can compile a brilliant selection of new favourites to add to your Christmas list.
Rohan’s Fave: On Earth as it is Beneath by Ana Paula Maia
Deep in the Brazilian wilderness, a penal colony was built on desecrated land.
Having long failed to rehabilitate the inmates, the state announces its closure, but few will ever leave alive. The warden releases a few men every night – they will earn their freedom if they can escape his rifle. Rohan says: “Sharp, propulsive, and gritty. A beautiful gut-punch of a novel. Ana Paula Maia cements herself as one of the most exciting voices in South American literature.”
Rosa’s Fave: The Geographer’s Map to Romance by India Holton
Elodie Tarrant is an expert on magical disasters, and fazed by nothing –
except her fake husband Gabriel Tarrant, who she married for convenience a year ago. Elodie may know tornados and earthquakes… but she doesn’t know that Gabriel is secretly pining for her. When they’re accidentally assigned to deal with the same catastrophe, chaos ensues. Rosa says: “Hilarious and sweet, with whimsy, wit and wonder. Holton delivers with this Twisters-meets-Anne of Green Gables story.”
Charlotte’s Fave: Katabasis by R. F. Kuang
Haunted by her role in the gruesome death of her professor, Cambridge student Alice Law makes the
dangerous descent into hell to bargain for his soul. But the deadly obstacles she must overcome reveal she may know less about the truth than she realised. Charlotte says: “A carefully crafted tale that reminds us of the importance of friendship, forgiveness and staying true to your beliefs.”