Gripping, absorbing and brilliantly done. As you read you are captured by a flow of people and emotions. Each era comes to life.

An enticing amalgam of Downtown Abbey and Wuthering Heights… Truly memorable…immensely poignant…deeply sensitive.

A haunting debut... Ever since John Fowles’ The French Lieutenant’s Woman and especially AS Byatt’s Possession, there has been a vogue for novels that alternate between the Victorian age and our own. Nothing But Grass is a cracking addition to this genre.

Thrilling... combines the social engagement of David Peace with Robert Macfarlane's talent for describing the countryside in crisp, fresh language. From ghosts of the Civil War to the meaning of the miners’ strike, this is a beguiling tale about a rural England where questions of power and identity are as pertinent now as they ever were.

Cohu skilfully builds a narrative that reveals the reverberations of the Victorian past - and an enduring mystery - upon the present. He subtly details his characters' feelings, and though the consequences are tragic, they prove fertile material for fine fiction.

Cohu is a writer with a profound understanding of human frailty, and one of the most appealing things about Nothing But Grass is the dignity it grants its characters... There is real compassion in the way the book traces the effects of time on people’s hopes and dreams. These are, for the most part, ordinary working folk, the kind whose lives are rarely taken seriously by literature or in our cultural conversation; Cohu’s book is a powerful and necessary antidote to the tired elitism of so many metropolitan literary novels... Cohu’s insightful, moving depictions of both people and place illuminate what is an accomplished and memorable rural novel

Beautifully written and original

Lovely and unusual

Cohu’s strong characterisation and sure-footed feel for his territory endow Nothing but Grass with the sense of social, psychological and geographical strata being excavated.

Beautifully written, with memorable characters, sensitively handled moral issues and a storyline that lingers long after the final page. I loved it

A poignant story of prejudice, bigotry and one girl’s efforts to prove a man’s innocence

Shades of Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird loom close in Lauren Wolk's confident debut. Annabelle is every bit as determined and passionate as Scout Finch, but this is a plot that stays in the fields and farmhouses of the land . . . Sensitive and thought-provoking

Intriguing and powerful . . . an ultimately uplifting read, with hope for humanity at its heart

Gorgeous . . . Wolk’s novel stuns

The spare but hauntingly beautiful language paints every early morning walk to school, household chore, emotion, and rational and irrational thought in exquisite detail . . . Perfectly pitched to be used in classrooms alongside To Kill a Mockingbird

Powerful, complex and lifelike . . . Truly moving

Profound

The honesty of Wolf Hollow will just about shred your heart, but Annabelle’s courage and compassion will restore it to you, fuller than before. This book matters

Has the feel of an instant classic

Faulks, always good, describes the transaction between shrink and sex worker and you’re hooked. A touch of Graham Greene here.

Daring, ambitious and in the end profoundly moving, this is Faulk’s most remarkable book yet.

Like great American writers before him, he taps into the energy of a moment and makes you wish you had witnessed it … The verdict: believe the hype around City on Fire. Five stars.

Looks as if it might be the most propulsive New York novel since Bonfire of the Vanities.

His New York City is ablaze, with fireworks, trashcan infernos and the burning Bronx.

A fantastic achievement; mesmerising, addictive in a way that a book this long really shouldn’t be, and full of intrigue. Hallberg’s writing is clear, insightful, and accessible; for all that it runs to almost 1,000 pages, each sentence has been crafted just so.

An epic of New York…a kind of punk Bleak House.

This magnificent first novel is full to bursting with plot, character, and emotion, all set within the exquisitely grungy 1970s New York City...Graceful in execution, hugely entertaining, and most concerned with the longing for connection, a theme that reaches full realization during the blackout of 1977, this epic is both a compelling mystery and a literary tour de force.

The very-damn-good American novel.

A vivid immersive novel.

Clocks in at a cool 944 pages, but we breezed through it in no time. It’s the story of a shooting in Central Park and its effect on ‘70s New York – the city’s scuzzy, punky peak.

Glitzy, gritty storytelling.

An outstanding novel… what an accomplishment.

Ambitious and assured – and stunningly good.

An American epic…But don’t wait for the movie. There’s writing here that’s too good to miss.

The biggest and boldest novel of this generation

Approach as you would a box set or a Shirley Conran novel - in stages. It's glitzy, gritty storytelling that is worth sticking with.

A fantastic achievement; mesmerising, addictive in a way that a book this long really shouldn't be, and full of intrigue. Hallberg's writing is clear, insightful, and accessible; for all that it runs to almost 1,000 pages, each sentence has been crafted just so.

This year’s most exciting fiction debut is a wild ride through the grimy, glorious city of the 1970s...a book that is truly that great, rare thing: a wholly inhabitable universe, reflecting back our lives while also offering an exhilarating escape from them

Expert storytelling, lyricism and authenticity…Fans of Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch: you’re going to love this book

The hype is justified: this is the year’s must-read book

A gripping, atmospheric and authentic take on the decade when the Big Apple seemed almost rotten to the core

For almost a thousand pages, he swirls around a single tragedy — the shooting of a college student in Central Park — sweeping up tangential characters and making every one of them thrum with real life until the lightning strikes, the electric grid overloads and the city goes mad on that dark summer night in 1977.

The grit of the city provides an equal lure. As garbage blows, graffiti scrawls, and street fashions strut through Vinyl and City on Fire, who wouldn't swoon?

A vast cast of characters and intricate sub-plots, City on Fire has been compared to everything from Bleak House to the early work of Jonathan Franzen. Not to mention nods to Don DeLillo and Tom Wolfe.

Despite being a debut, it shows a technical maturity matched to a playful, sexy wit… A thriller, albeit an extremely clever and stylish one.

Imaginative debut… His eyes for the tiny things that make up life suggests better is to come.

This is one of those enormous books that might, if you’re luck, grab you and keep hold for days and days.

Gripping read.

The strength of The Girls lies in Cline’s ability to evoke both the textures and atmosphere of those painful in-between times… [Cline] is a powerful interpreter of ambiguous emotional vectors, and the catastrophic directions in which they can lead.

Cline’s real achievement is not so much the dread-filled journey to the book’s harrowing climax, however, but her vividly drawn central character and how she stumbles from invisible, impressionable bystander to unwitting accomplice… Cline is excellent at capturing the complex negotiations and compromises of girlhood… The Girls is a horror story for our times, a gripping and richly poetic account… Its ambition and reach are immense.

Vividly reimagines 1960s California… Cline’s portrait of teenage girl-dom is note perfect.

Dubbed fiction’s most exciting new voice… This page-turner is a powerful insight into the culture of gang mentality… The read of the summer.

Notable for its finely wrought prose, its piercing insight into the teen mind and the gorgeous way it relates terrible things. Read it before the movie is cast…and enjoy Evie for the wonderfully written creation she is’

Gets off to a quietly thrilling start… Her sentences are often strong and lovely, indicative of voice rather than merely of style.

Mesmerising novel… Impressive book’

First the heady language and sensuous descriptions will hook you, then the extraordinary story of free love, intoxication and violence… Remarkable debut… The Girls brims with intrigue… It’s the intimacy and intricacy of Cline’s prose and her sharp sense of humanity that makes the book shimmer with life… The Girls is a spectacular story.

Sun-scorched coming of age chiller… Brutally convincing.

If you’re only going to pack one book next to your swimming trunks this year, this is the one to go for… [Emma Cline] Has hit a home run with her first swing.

It’s disturbing…but you keep reading.

Wonderfully readable, and acutely observed, this is that rare thing: a beach novel of real substance.

The big holiday read of summer. Find a sunlounger and get started.

Subtly provoking novel… The strength of The Girls lies in Cline’s ability to evoke both the textures and atmosphere of those painful in-between times; the desperate rush to fill an emotional vacuum… Cline has a talent for capturing that uncanniness, the fault lines in our sense of our stability… she is a powerful interpreter of ambiguous emotional vectors, and the catastrophic directions in which they can lead.

Thrilling… Gritty, shocking and ever so readable; more than living up to the hype that greeted its initial sale.

Wonderfully readable, finely written and acutely observed.

One of the pleasures…is its immediacy… The book is a trancelike accumulation of intense adolescent feelings and myopic impressions… The setting is rendered both vividly and delicately… [A] Slender, absorbing book.

If you're only going to pack one book this year, make it this one.

This chilling story of fractured innocence is beautifully written in wonderfully descriptive, sometimes dream-like prose. A stunningly powerful, spellbinding cautionary tale.

Both in person and on the page Cline is wise beyond her years. I read the book with a biro underlining phrases that I wish I could write. I am no longer jealous, I am just in awe.

'I really enjoyed it... A compelling coming-of-age story... Cline focuses not on the murders themselves, but on the landscape of adolescence, accurately portraying the boredom and lassitude, the yearning and insecurities of that awkward transitional stage... Stunningly written, in fresh, youthful prose, expect to see The Girls on deckchairs, beach towels and best-seller lists over the coming months

Unnervingly perceptive … Part murderous thriller, part meditation on the vulnerability of teenage girls, it’s an exquisite, insightful and chilling read.

Unexpected and brilliant debut novel.

An intense evocation of adolescence…absorbing debut novel.

As gripping as a thriller, it’s a powerful exploration of hero worship of all kinds, and the shapes into which girls force themselves as they attempt to grow up.

This year's Miniaturist

A fantastic writer, her intelligence is extraordinary

Gripping novel… Cline’s debut is a real page-turner.

It is the language which elevates the novel to brilliance… Cline takes ordinary words and fits them together in patterns that shouldn’t work but…bring[s] a vibrancy to her prose that captivates.

Not the cheeriest summer read of the year, but it is one of the most powerful… Cline masterfully uses the sultriness of the season to explore the complex negotiations of girlhood.

Highly charged literary debut… Visceral, seductive and delicately seething, Cline articulates the labyrinth anxieties of adolescence and the importance of belonging with a personal, finely tuned prose and a restrained, drip-feed pace that belies her age.

A dark, erotically charged story of seduction, coercion and abuse emerges that has deliberate echoes of the Manson Family massacres in 1969… Cline brilliantly conveys the predatory cultural and sexual forces to which teenage girls are so often vulnerable. And her prose is completely to die for.

The Girls stands apart from other treatments of Manson.

Gripping, and highly impressive.

Sumptuous prose… Believe the hype: she’s one to watch.

The narrative is layered and complex, as even the young Evie seems to be an astute observer of human nature, who does not gloss over the less glamorous details, even in those she loves and admires. Throughout the novel, the fragility of the relationships are laid bare… [An] Immersive experience, both for the reader, and a narrator looking to reclaim some of her most vivid memories.

A gripping read.

Cline brilliantly captures the precise, sultry prose the vulnerable and highly-charged sensibility of adolescence in a hotly-tipped debut inspired by the Manson Family massacre that – for once – justifies the hype.

Eloquent, coming-of-age debut… I was quite sure it could never live up to the hype. How wrong I was… Well-crafted prose… This is a perceptive, insightful and beautifully written book on the often harsh realities of the formative teenage years and a telling truth of what some will do to belong and feel loved. It is a must-read.

It unsettles and disturbs in unpredictable ways. Above all, Cline is excellent on the female coffee table book adolescent psyche and the ways in which girlhood is so often an act performed for the opposite sex… The end result is gripping, and highly impressive.

An intense evocation of adolescence…set to be the breakout book of summer. Every page throbs with the threat of violence.

The writing is lush and surprising.

[It is] shockingly assured for a first novel.

Already I’m hooked… The writing style…is totally engaging – shrewd and observant but with a certain softness. I’ll report back when I’ve finished, but I think this will be a great summer read.

The Girls is compulsively readable… A strikingly accomplished debut. Evie’s voice shimmers with vivid metaphorical language… There are some truly breathtaking passages — lush and lapidary and full of startling imagery… A fierce challenge to our received notion of the 1960s as an era of peace signs, protest marches and free love, and [this] adds a note of profundity to this highly impressive first novel.

Emma Cline's The Girls is so brilliant.

A compelling novel… [A] nuanced and deeply drawn character study of teenage ennui and anger… In luminous prose, the novel maps Evie’s obsessive psyche… A compelling and startling new work of fiction. Ms. Cline brilliantly shows how far adolescent loneliness can push a girl in her desire to be loved.

[A] steamy hit.

[It] is so brilliant… The only thing more perfect about this book than Cline’s woozily dreamy prose is her timing.

The Summer read for you... Cline’s gorgeous novel is both stunning and shocking. We dare you not to devour in one sitting

[A] literary page-turner.

A startlingly intense, brilliant and brooding debut novel….written with luminous foreboding lyricism.

[It is] intelligent and thoughtful.

Cline’s portrayal of the fragile teen years and the power they have in shaping the woman you become will resonate with everyone.

Cline’s language…is splendid at conjuring pictures.

Cline - from California, where the novel is set, has crafted a distinct poetic timbre that devises similes galore to augment the imagery and the protagonist’s insight… Inspired, I look forward to reading more from this highly talented author. I will indeed re-Cline.

Cline’s structure…allows her to apply her acute observations about girlhood to today’s world.

The summer’s standout debut… A tense, febrile imagining… The Girls is a subtle, restrained and beautifully textured telling of one of pop culture history’s most luridly hideous moments, with a heightened, dreamlike quality that tips irrevocably into nightmare.

I read this in a single sitting a few months back, and it remains my favourite read of 2016. The writing is so beautiful; the sentences perfectly formed, cumulated in a plot that slowly draws you in… Eloquent, perceptive and insightful, you won’t be able to put this one down.

This book was sublime. I read it as the last of the sunshine faded into autumn and I felt transported into 1969 California.

[A] clever debut novel… Gripping.

Undeniably the dazzling fiction debut of the year, this brilliant American novel is a vivid evocation of California in 1969… It is the author’s luminous prose style that excels. Exhilarating.

A spellbinding, supremely evocative coming-of-age story

[A] compulsively readable debut [which] is a vivid examination of adolescence.

A fluent, engrossing debut novel.

The Californian setting is intoxicating, as laced with sunlight as filth, and its insight into the teenage girl’s mind is extraordinary.

A book of glistening prose.

Believe the hype; it is simply brilliant.

A shimmering tale of adolescence and sexual awakening written in prose that aptly feels almost hallucinatory

A haunting and gripping read.

Highly recommended if you’re in need of a good read.

Both shocking and subtle, its real power lies in the exploration of girlhood itself.

Brilliantly done… The year is 1969. Evie notices a group of scavenging girls – they belong to a nearby cult. And this cult is horrific. Think of the Manson family… A seriously excellent debut novel.

As Lena Dunham says, it'll both break your heart and blow your mind.

Through the story of the Manson family and their brutal crimes, Cline explores the intensity and loneliness of female adolescence with an impressive mastery of language.

A superb, chilling novel of doom-laden adolescence.

A thrilling, savage exploration of how a teenager gets sucked into a cult led by a Charles Manson figure.

The writing is so beautiful; the sentences perfectly formed, cumulated in a plot that slowly draws you in… Eloquent, perceptive and insightful, you won’t be able to put this one down.

Few books have such a dramatic effect on me but Emma Cline’s stirring debut The Girls is one I’ve never managed to get out of my head… This is a perceptive, insightful and beautifully written book on the often harsh realities of the formative teenage years and a telling truth of what some will do to belong and feel loved. It is a must-read and one that is more than worth sitting down with a second or third time.

The novel has a number of things going for it, from Cline's gorgeous prose to her knack for plot and timing, to her way of presenting Evie's electric, often jolting moments of self-recognition. But the aspect of The Girls that captivated me the most was how Cline channels that particular period in a girl's life when she is consumed with the need to be seen, to be known—by her mother, by slightly older girls, and most often, by men.

Thanks to Cline’s lyrical prose, which is at once as clear as the Californian skies of the novel’s setting and as evocative as a sunshine drenched Polaroid picture, The Girls perfectly captures the twilight years of the hippie era, where the rot of its seedy drug-fuelled underbelly shattered the dream of peace and love and culminated in a gruesome massacre that shocked the world.

The Girls exemplifies the uncomfortably thin line between healthy and unhealthy relationships