All the Worst Humans by Phil Elwood review – confessions of a cleanup man
A former PR looks back on a career spent whitewashing ‘foreign baddies’
Orlando, My Political Biography review – Woolf’s trans hero gets a 21st-century mashup
Tricksy documentary spin on 1928 novel weaves fact and fiction to reconsider and reimagine the time-travelling story for our time
Why Are You Shouting? by James Womack review – tales of the metropolis
This rich fourth collection by James Womack ponders the fraught relationship between place and dweller – and our craving for connection
Bonding by Mariel Franklin review – a comprehensive vision of a devastated society
Populated by tech and pharma hustlers, this bold and highly impressive debut novel has its thumb right over the sore spots of modern life
A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder review – this very modern Nancy Drew is a hoot
Expect leaked nudes, fake texts and Ouija board mayhem as our young sleuth Pip investigates the mysterious deaths of two kids from her school. It’s such perfect fun you won’t even care about the plot holes
Sexed by Susanna Rustin review – the fraught battle for feminism
A historical overview of the often chaotic fight for equality in Britain celebrates the pioneers who elbowed their way into male-only spaces
Blue Lock the Movie: Episode Nagi review – football anime gets the battle royale treatment
From Terminator-eyed strikers to flame-wreathed shots on goal, no bombast is too much in this feature-length extrapolation of Muneyuki Kaneshiro’s popular series
On the Couch: Writers Analyze Sigmund Freud review – the shrink’s shrink engagingly examined by Siri Hustvedt, Susie Boyt and others
Authors reassess the legacy of the father of psychotherapy in a lovely grab bag of essays
Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner review – an old-fashioned maximalist rush of storytelling
Inspired by the real-life abduction of a wealthy businessman, the second novel from the Fleishman Is in Trouble author is a lip-smacking tale of family, wealth and self-destruction told with relish
The Lasting Harm: Witnessing the Trial of Ghislaine Maxwell by Lucia Osborne-Crowley review – a voice for the powerless
In this painful, candid book, a reporter with a history of abuse sits in on Ghislaine Maxwell’s trial, identifying bias in all its forms and dramatising the lives of the victims
The Language of War by Oleksandr Mykhed review – what role for the artist in times of catastrophe?
Covering the first 13 months of Russia’s invasion, this fury-filled, important account by the Ukrainian writer turned soldier addresses the difficulty of illuminating war with words
Monumenta by Lara Haworth review – Serbian house of horrors
A deeply political debut novel, fizzing with ideas, examines the difficulties of memorialising the past in a region riven by conflict
In brief: Storm Pegs; Beautiful Days; A Travel Guide to the Middle Ages – review
An engrossing memoir of life on Shetland; a varied set of short stories about all-American antiheroes; and how medieval tourists got their kicks
Coming of Age: How Adolescence Shapes Us by Lucy Foulkes review – deep dive into the teenage mind
An academic psychologist’s insightful and compassionate study of adolescence is expertly presented, plotting out harmful as well as helpful transitions into adulthood
Yorùbá Boy Running by Biyi Bándélé review – a historic hero
The Nigerian writer and film-maker’s last work explores the life story of the enslaved Samuel Àjàyí Crowther, in a novel of triumph over adversity