Careless by Kirsty Capes review – a rare new talent
A teenager negotiates her way through the care system in this accessible yet profound debut
As Beautiful As Any Other by Kaya Wilson review – urgent and powerful trans memoir
A complex tide of emotions and ideas flows through Wilson’s generous and trusting contribution to individual and collective trans narratives
Alexandria by Edmund Richardson review – the quest for the lost city
The mystery of a trailblazing archeologist who faked his own death is finally unravelled
The Answer to Everything by Luke Kennard review – a very middle-class affair
A woman’s desire for escape from the stasis of domesticity is wryly observed in the poet’s tragicomic second novel
The Case of the Married Woman by Antonia Fraser review – justice delayed
This insightful and spirited biography of Caroline Norton, who helped to bring about the 1839 Custody of Infants Act, reveals the frustrated life of a powerful symbol of justice
Cruella review – De Vil wears Prada in outrageous punk prequel
Aspiring fashionista Cruella is out for her boss’s skin in a riotous 101 Dalmatians origin-myth set in 70s London, starring Emmas Stone and Thompson in dynamic form
Demon Slayer the Movie: Mugen Train review – an anime fever dream
Good, bad and powerful spells collide in this impressively animated romp that inspires touching reflections on life suspended
Paint Your Town Red by Matthew Brown and Rhian E Jones review – the Preston model
A gripping account of the community wealth-building scheme that turned a hard-up city’s fortunes around
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead review – parallel lives take flight
The stories of an early aviator and a 21st-century Hollywood star are deftly woven into an intricate, satisfying narrative
Stone Fruit by Lee Lai review – breaking up is hard to do
Lai’s debut graphic novel is a downbeat but moving exploration of the aftermath of a relationship
The Fortune Men by Nadifa Mohamed review – a miscarriage of justice revisited
Mohamed illuminates the inner life of a Somali sailor in 1950s Wales hanged for a crime he did not commit in this poignant retelling of a shameful event
Toddler Hunting and Other Stories by Taeko Kono review – sex lives of the quietly kinky
Written in the 60s, these disturbing but deft tales of Japanese women’s repressed desires are steeped in violence and masochism
Architecture: From Prehistory to Climate Emergency review – how energy shaped the way we built the world
Barnabas Calder’s engaging study of construction and its environmental impact is at its best when it doesn’t dwell on ancient masterpieces
What It Feels Like for a Girl by Paris Lees review – ketamine-laced coming-of-age memoir
The trans woman’s account of her eventful adolescence in the 00s is black comedy from a fresh perspective
In brief: The Dry Heart; The Road to the City; The Lost Café Schindler; The Golden Rule – reviews
Noirish tales of female desire and desperation, and a history of Jewish life in the Austro-Hungarian empire