The Best Books for June 2023

Sav Henry is finding her way. She’s finally feeling comfortable with her identity as a bisexual, she has friends she can actually be herself with, and she even has an exciting new crush. The young, charismatic sophomore is feeling as though she’s beginning to grasp the best that college has to offer: friendship, infatuation, new scholarly interests, and hilarious mishaps. But when Sav receives an invite to her childhood friend Izzie’s wedding, life stops. Sav is reminded of the traumatic experience she had at the hands of the bride’s brother, and how it ultimately ended her relationship with Izzie. Now she has to decide what to do about Izzie’s wedding, and whether she’s ever truly addressed the trauma she experienced on that one night. Haley Jakobson’s debut novel, Old Enough, is an entertaining and quietly moving narrative about friendship, sexual assault, and remembering that what we owe ourselves comes before what we owe anyone else.

It’s a requirement of any summer reading list to include one book that takes place during the warm summertime months. And with a cast of lovable characters, Keah Brown’s latest book is a perfect addition. The novel follows a high school student named Andrea who’s been through a lot, including a surgery, so she has some time to make up. Although she is always exhausted, she’s determined to make summer the best season ever, along with her best friend, Hailee. But as Andrea is trying her best to focus on completing their long list of activities, she is simultaneously trying to quash her strong feelings for Hailee. Andrea knows she loves her best friend in more ways than one, and occasionally wonders if Hailee has also ever considered what they could be. So, while trying to get Hailee out of her mind, she decides to distract herself with the very charming George. With love triangles, unspoken feelings, and prose that feels as comforting as a best friend, Brown knocks it out of the park with her latest book.

In Andrea Bartz’s new book, The Spare Room, “three’s a crowd” takes on a whole new meaning. The novel follows Kelly, a young woman reeling from a bad breakup and other forms of just plain bad luck. But she thinks the tide is turning when her wildly successful friend Sabrina offers her a room in her gigantic home. Sabrina is also married to the very handsome Nathan. What starts as a respite from a tough time grows into an opportunity for the trio to experiment together (in a variety of ways), which evolves into something that could possibly be sinister and very dangerous for Kelly. The novel is delightfully salacious and rampant with suspense and sex, and there’s a reason why Bartz is known as a hitmaker in the field.

It’s tough when the people closest to you change, and it’s even tougher when you find yourself feeling a little jealous. Meet Kathleen. Things are not going well for her — she just broke up with her partner, she’s feeling professionally stunted, and she has to move back in with her mother. When she returns home, she finds her mother, Marissa, happy, something she’s not used to from her childhood. Marissa is falling in love and even becoming professionally fulfilled as she starts her new job in Silicon Valley. As Kathleen finds her own new job in a type of therapy called touch therapy, her whole understanding of relationships and love changes. As the mother and daughter duo reflect on their very different circumstances, they wonder just how much they know and accept about each other, and whether their relationship has the room to grow.

Sometimes the one who got away is the person we needed most. Will and Rosie are familiar with that sentiment as two teenagers who can’t help but be entirely captivated by each other. But even as they try to get lost in each other, life, tragedy, and time continually impede any budding romance between the two. As they grow older, though, they can’t help but let their minds, and hearts, wonder what could have been. Are we destined to forever be connected to certain people? Claire Daverley’s new novel will certainly make you wonder.

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Katie Tamola is a freelance writer who grew up in Manhattan. Find her on Twitter @katietamola.

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