CityBeat is partnering with Under Cover Book Club on a book-based scavenger hunt in Cincinnati. Every month, the Under Cover Book Club will hide books around the city for you to find with clues posted on social media and CityBeat will publish short reviews of those books to give you a taste of what’s to come. These are the reviews of the books — Casualties of Truth, Junie and Listen to Your Sister — that will be hidden in February.
February is Black History Month, so I chose titles that illuminate the incredible talent of Black authors. These works are moving and powerful, offering insight into the unique challenges and triumphs within the Black community. You can find your own copy by participating in February’s hunt, which will take place on Saturday, Feb. 22, starting at 11 a.m. in Findlay Market. Stay tuned for clues and coordinates. Happy hunting!
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma
Casualties of Truth by Lauren Francis-Sharma is a gripping and deeply introspective novel that explores privilege, morality and the haunting nature of the past. The story follows Prudence, whose carefully built life is shaken when a dinner with her husband’s colleague reunites her with Matshediso, a figure from her past. As memories of her time as a law student in post-Apartheid South Africa resurface, she must confront buried traumas and the unsettling truth about her own sense of justice. I was completely drawn into Prudence Wright’s world — one that appears picture-perfect on the surface but is riddled with long-buried secrets.
There is so much layering of past and present, and The Truth and Reconciliation hearings provide a powerful backdrop for Prudence’s own reckoning. The writing is sharp and immersive, balancing emotional depth with page-turning suspense, and the story overall left me unsettled in the best way. Casualties of Truth is a thought-provoking exploration of guilt, redemption and the choices that define us.
For readers of: Kate Atkinson, Celeste Ng and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Atlantic Monthly Press ᐧ 272 pages ᐧ Feb. 11, 2025
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine has such a raw beauty that absolutely captivated me. Not only is the story a beautiful piece of historical fiction, but there are also supernatural elements that add an eerie twist to every choice Junie has to make. When a looming marriage threatens to upend life on Bellereine Plantation, sixteen-year-old Junie makes a desperate choice that awakens her sister’s restless spirit. As she uncovers the plantation’s buried secrets with the help of Caleb, a coachman she grows to trust, Junie must decide what she’s willing to risk for love and freedom.
Junie’s quiet strength comes from the stark, uncompromising truth of enslavement, creating a tension that kept me completely immersed in her world. Eckstine crafts a narrative that is both haunting and profoundly moving, and her prose is wildly vivid. I was enthralled and horrified by Junie’s journey, feeling every moment of her sorrow, resilience and determination with a visceral intensity.
For readers of: Toni Morrison, Yaa Gyasi and Jesmyn Ward
Ballantine Books ᐧ 368 pages ᐧ Feb. 4, 2025
Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel
Give me a story that includes complicated family bonds, mix in some mounting tension and a heaping spoonful of a creeping sense of dread, and I will eat it up in one gulp. Listen to Your Sister by Neena Viel is a delicious psychological thriller that explores the sacrifices we make for the people we love. At 25, Calla Williams is stuck playing the reluctant guardian to her reckless teenage brother, Jamie, while their middle brother, Dre, has disappeared from the responsibility he once promised to share. When a protest gone wrong forces them to flee to a remote cabin, Calla realizes the nightmares that have haunted her for years aren’t just dreams — they’re a warning, and now, they’re coming to life.
Viel’s emotional storytelling is punctuated with a gripping undercurrent of horror. The sibling dynamic feels authentic and raw, making every moment of fear and desperation hit even harder. The thin line between dreams and reality that we all experience are beautifully blurred, leaving me questioning what was truly happening and what was just in Calla’s mind. It made the horror feel all the more real, as if the terror could slip into my own life at any moment.
For readers of: Paul Tremblay, Rory Powers and Stephen Graham Jones
St. Martin’s Griffin ᐧ 352 pages ᐧ Feb. 4, 2025
Learn more about the Under Cover Book Club by visiting undercover513.com. The Under Cover Book Club will reveal more clues about their monthly scavenger hunt on their Instagram page.
This article appears in Jan 22 – Feb 4, 2025.
