Fiction for the Soul: 6 Powerful Literary Novels

06 Jun 2025

Books don’t need explosions to leave a mark. These six novels dig deep into memory, love, regret, and everything unspoken. With lyrical stories and layered characters, they don’t just tell stories, they invite you to feel them. Prepare for books that will echo long after the final page.

Delivered

by James Mondesir

Release Date: May 15, 2025

Jean Valeur is a straightlaced NYU graduate student who finds himself on the wrong side of the law after a night with friends goes horribly wrong. Freed during the Rikers Early Release Program, he finds himself in Covid-ravaged New York City, where he must survive the challenges of a changed world, learn to forgive the friend who ruined his life, and embrace an uncertain future.

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Flashlight

by Susan Choi

Release Date: June 3, 2025

One summer night, Louisa and her father take a walk on the breakwater. Her father is carrying a flashlight. He cannot swim. Later, Louisa is found on the beach, soaked to the skin, barely alive. Her father is gone. She is ten years old.

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The Bones of Chester

by M J Lee

Release Date: May 29, 2025

When a skeleton is unearthed beneath Chester’s ancient walls, Detective Inspector Emma Christie and her team are called to what appears to be a long-buried relic of the past. But the bones tell a different story – one of violence not time.

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The Slip

by Lucas Schaefer

Release Date: June 3, 2025

Austin, Texas: It’s the summer of 1998, and there’s a new face on the scene at Terry Tucker’s Boxing Gym. Sixteen-year-old Nathaniel Rothstein has never felt comfortable in his own skin, but under the tutelage of a swaggering, Haitian-born ex-fighter named David Dalice, he begins to come into his own. Even the boy’s slightly stoned uncle, Bob Alexander, who is supposed to be watching him for the summer, notices the change. Nathaniel is happier, more confident, tanner, and even. Then one night, he vanishes, leaving little trace behind.

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Meet Me at the Crossroads

by Megan Giddings

Release Date: June 3, 2025

On an ordinary summer morning, the world is changed by the appearance of seven mysterious doors that seemingly lead to another world. People are, of course, mesmerized and intrigued: A new dimension filled with beauty and resources beckons them to step into an adventure. But, perhaps inevitably, people soon learn that what looks like paradise may very well be filled with danger.

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All Our Missing Pieces

by Sophie Ranald

Release Date: May 29, 2025

When Orla Clifford inherits her grandmother’s crumbling Georgian house on Damask Square, she sees a chance to rebuild her life while restoring its faded grandeur. But beneath its peeling wallpaper and weathered floors, the house holds more than just memories.

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