Thank you NetGalley and Crown Publisbing for this lovely story.

Um.

😭🥹

What the actual heck. I loved this.

I was not expecting this from an arc. Honestly the entire book was really good, I wanted to read it often. But I think even if the entire book was trash apart from that last chapter alone, I still would’ve given it 5 stars.

It’s pretty short, but the author did a great job in so many ways. It’s well written, beautifully written really. The characters are really raw and real. It seems incredibly realistic of what could really happen to a mom of a child on the spectrum. As a dystopian lover, I really loved a story that considers this kind of family with her son’s needs being a very real thing to work through in the worse of times. I think we don’t get to see this kind of narrative in dystopians a lot. Whether that be mental/physical disabilities, neurodivergence, or really anything considered different from a “normal” person or “normal” human.

I think individuals that have a basic understanding or experience of autism will emotionally connect with the story more, but anyone could really enjoy this beautiful story. Beautiful, emotional, raw, thoughtful, but also with plenty of action and suspense sprinkled in.

Please read the synopsis and if any bit of it sounds like something you could get into, go for it!

💚

Thank you Random House Publishing and Ballantine books for this eARC!

This is the first book of the prequel series to Conform. You do not have to read Conform first but I would venture to say that Ariel is doing some genius level planning with these books and it would be my suggestion to read Conform first for that reason. I read Conform and absolutely loved it and wanted more. So I couldn’t wait to read Beneath to get some more history behind the world of Conform. But I loved this even more. Ariel has expressed that she is doing multiple trilogies to share this entire story and I’m thrilled for the puzzle and mastermind planning even though I can’t just binge it all right now.

When reading Beneath you might be confused as to a lack of obvious ties between it and Conform, but I know we got a taste at the end of the book and we’re going to learn so much more as both trilogies unravel before us.

Y’all I am not an emotional reader. I almost never cry in a book, but this had me shedding a tear a couple times. I’m not sure how she does it, but in 1 book of less than 500 pages I was ready to fight for this found family halfway through the book. I really connected with Sasha and understood her heartbreak. Throughout the entire book, I was asking myself “who would I be if I lost everyone I loved?” You would hope to never lose every ounce of your hope, but I think most of us would struggle with depression, anger, reluctance, withdrawal, etc.

The friendships, partnerships, and romantic relationships are everything. The action is intense and, on multiple occasions, I had no idea how things were going to play out. It was a book I wanted to finish in one day, but actively tried to put down because I really didn’t want it to end. I still read it in less than 48 hours. The cliff hanger was multi-layered and I want to reread it all right now. This is taking the cake for best book of 2026 for me.

Please read this. I don’t beg people to read books I love because I’m so scared they won’t love them like I do. But here I am, begging.

Just don’t tell me if you hate it.

Thank you Net Galley and Grand Central Publishing for the ARC!

This was an expected joy to read, but I didn’t realize I would have this much fun. Initially what drew me was the talking animals plot line. I have really enjoyed stories in the past where that comes into play.

What doesn’t this book have? There’s a few different kinds of humor and some hilarious banter. There’s some low stakes mystery and adventure. There’s a sweet, just blossoming romance. And there’s sentimental topics and deep reflective life lessons. Not a second of this book was boring to me.

The characters? I loved every single one. Henry, Molly, Yaryk, Gracie, especially the beta fish, real enemies to lovers there.

I am so glad I was given this ARC and encourage everyone to read this when it comes out on May 19th! It’s a fairly short read that will have you chuckling and smiling ear to ear and it might even get you on the edge of your seat a little.