A gorgeous folkloric novel of water and love... You should read this and you should also read Kerry's Swansong. It's a rare thing to see folklore woven into beautiful, tender human reality with such delicacy and skills

Kerry Andrew is that rare thing, a natural storyteller with one of those quietly confident voices that takes you by the cuff and leads you down unexpected passages. In the finest tradition of quest tales, Skin's protagonist sets out in search of one thing and ends by discovering quite another and both they and the reader grow a little as a result

Andrew's wonderful second novel is the deeply involving story of a difficult childhood, a search for a long-missing parent, how we view our bodies and the secrets we keep even from those who know us best.

A sweeping coming-of-age narrative whose on-point themes of gender and sexuality are embedded in evocative descriptions of London during the 1980s, and of boomtime Ireland a decade later

This evocative and sensitive tale is grounded by the authentic complexity of its characters... Inspired.

Artfully paced, with queer undercurrents, this novel is tender and totally enveloping.

An atmospheric creation... Skin stirs with references to water myths, from selkies and mermaids to sirens and cursed bodies of water.

I felt a real sense of loss when I read the last page. I didn't want this book to end. Andrew's writing is tender, beautiful, perfectly weighted. A writer we are immensely lucky to have.

A gloriously raw and watery adventure, fraught with fluidity, teen-angst and identity; an update of Ovid's transformations and Catcher in the Rye, re-gendered in the Hampstead ponds and the deeper waters, far beyond...

A brilliant, moving, tender, queer story. Highly recommended

An enchanting weaving together of mythologies and a meeting of worlds, all bound up with the power of stories and the fate of the ultimate book. Far-reaching and profound, this is a novel to lose yourself in

Every page is a declaration of love for story, for literature, for libraries

Savour and absorb the world Knox conjures

An ambitious, gripping, and multifaceted [novel], animated by a sharp imagination

A murder, a mysterious library and something called the Absolute Book feature in this fantastical new outing

A book about books, a psychological crime novel, a romance, a portal fantasy, a technothriller, a historical fantasy, and an allegory - this melding of modes and mixing of genres, this surfeit of stories, is The Absolute Book's greatest strength. Accomplished, exuberant, generous, original . . . readers will have few regrets

A tour de force. Ursula Le Guin would have loved this book

The power is in the skill and pace of Knox's storytelling, the perfect spinning of the intricate plot, the sharp dialogue and luminous evocation of place

A bibliophile's daydream

A propulsive parallel-worlds fantasy epic about the power of stories and storytelling

Contains multitudes, spanning the geographies of Canada, Britain and New Zealand; the cosmologies of fairies, demons and angels; and the genres of thriller, domestic realism and epic fantasy. Reading the book is like holding folds of shot silk to the light, finding green flash in something that looks purple, and appreciating how thoughtfully the warp and weft embrace each other. I'm in awe of it

A mind-blowing optical illusion of a novel. This grand ode to Story itself is one that begs for a reread

Full of intrigue, mystery, magic, and history, this is a fascinating read that is hard to put down

If you love a little supernatural magic and mystery, you will love this clever blend of myth, religion, folklore and reality, as the story draws the reader into the realm of faerie and demon, immersing us in a fantasy world where bliss can be found

One of those books which will never let you go. A beautiful, fantastic, ride that travels from one end of the earth to the other and beyond, Knox takes you on a journey that will amaze and astound you . . . The Absolute Book takes readers on a journey they won't soon forget. Fantastic and wondrous, it is a delight and will leave readers wistful for a world as magical as the one she's created

Epic and exquisitely written, this is a feat of fantastical world-building

The dream for any book lover - a story about the importance of stories and all the ways we pass them on

Where better to get lost than a mighty, make-believe kingdom reminiscent of Swift

Enchanting . . . Knox hits the mark