The Shape of Dreams

One of Bustle‘s “Most Anticipated Books of Winter 2025-26”

“Sweeping and emotionally charged. . . . With its blend of social urgency, lyrical prose, and moral clarity, The Shape of Dreams positions Reynolds once again as a vital voice in contemporary American fiction—one unafraid to confront injustice while honoring the resilience that binds communities together.” —Harlem World

“The Shape of Dreams is a powerful prayer, a novel that indicts the injustice for which there is no quick solution. Centered on three women, this wondrous read is set in Spanish Harlem in the mid-eighties when crack arrived, the Mets won the championship, and a young boy is found beneath a pile of trash, murdered and nearly forgotten. Filled with all that makes a community home, April Reynolds’s novel moves at a spellbinding pace, a song of furor and tenderness that will leave its mark.” —Walter Mosley, bestselling author of the Easy Rawlins series

“Set in East Harlem in the mid-eighties, at the dawn of America’s crack epidemic, April Reynolds’s The Shape of Dreams is ostensibly the tale of a child’s tragic murder and a mother’s desperate quest for justice. But like all revelatory novels about New York, it also tells the secret history of a community, of its neighborhood’s written-off eccentrics who are also its eyes and ears, of its all-too-fallible leaders tasked with holding it together, and its denizens trying to forge dignified lives without losing their humanity in their struggle to survive. Vivid and heartbreaking, unyielding and gritty, it is, in the end, about the alliance of three unforgettable women who refuse to succumb to the overwhelming forces determined to rob them of their agency. A story, then, for right now.” —Adam Ross, author of Playworld

“Intense and dreamlike, The Shape of Dreams is a vivid portrait of a community reckoning with violence, addiction, and surveillance in 1980s Harlem. In captivating prose, April Reynolds asks us to consider what we owe our children and each other in life’s darkest moments.” —Leila Mottley, author of Nightcrawling and The Girls Who Grew Big

“The Shape of Dreams offers a loving tribute to Harlem and the restorative power of female friendship while exposing the tiny soul fractures sustained by good people trying to get by in a broken world. With exquisite grace and reverence, Reynolds explores the inevitable heartbreaks of motherhood and wearying loneliness as the three women at the novel’s center seek justice for a murdered son. Reynolds captivates as much as she reminds us that in the midst of unspeakable tragedy, the strength of the human spirit endures. Elegant, powerful and truly unforgettable.” —Laura Warrell, author of Sweet, Soft, Plenty Rhythm

“Gritty. . . . bittersweet. . . . a vision of triumph despite overwhelming odds.” —Thane Tierney, BookPage

“Captivating. . . . Vividly drawn. . . with sharp, enduring voices. . . . Reynolds transports the reader to a gritty world blighted by urban decay yet full of resilience and strength.” —Booklist

“Engrossing. . . Reynolds deftly weaves. . . a crafty murder mystery in the multihued form of an urban symphony. . . with poignant warmth and unflinching precision.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Reynolds paints a vivid portrait of East Harlem during the Reagan era. . . . Without losing track of its well-developed characters, the novel morphs into a gripping whodunit, as the neighbors try to solve [a boy’s murder] while the police drag their heels. Readers will savor this rich tableau of a resilient community.” —Publishers Weekly