This week's new releases are a mixed bag — queer love in the Italian sun, an oil rig thriller with a gutsy heroine, and a ghost train from Matt Haig. Here's what our critics thought.

At Sea: Oil rig thriller with

a bite

Y.M. Abdel-Magied's At Sea follows Zainab, a Sudanese Muslim woman tapped to lead an offshore oil rig on the Australian coast. She's an expert driller and a toolpusher — that's the supervisor on a rig — but she's used to taking shit from male coworkers. When she becomes their boss, the misogyny and mistrust get worse. Then she discovers corporate secrets that could cause a catastrophe bigger than the Deepwater Horizon spill.

Our critic calls it a "tense, hard-boiled survival adventure" with a seamless critique of life-denying social forces. ($32.99, Canongate)

The Midnight Train: Haig's latest magical parable

Matt Haig is back with The Midnight Train, another philosophical fantasy in the vein of The Midnight Library. This time, octogenarian entrepreneur Wilbur Budd dies suddenly after a call from his ex-wife, then wakes on a steam train guided by a figure from his past — Mrs Agnes Bagdale, who founded the bookstore he turned into a commercial empire. The train lets him revisit past selves, but he can't interfere. He realises how much love his ambition cost him. Our critic says it's "clever, swift, charming" — though it delivers its carpe diem message wrapped in sentiment. ($34.99, Canongate)

Nymph: Queer coming-of-age in Italy

Sofia Montrone's Nymph is a sun-drenched debut set in the Italian countryside. We meet Leo at age 10, bristling against her mother, close to her brother Max, adoring her father who tells her Greek myths. She works at her grandmother's hotel, filching treasures left by guests. Years later, she's back for another summer. Misfortune has hit the family, but she meets Dolores, an American girl, and their affection deepens into love.

Our critic calls it a "sensual queer Bildungsroman" with shades of Call Me By Your Name, drawn with vivid authenticity. ($34.99, Text)

How to Love the World: Stuck under

a tree

Ilka Tampke's How to Love the World has a unique premise: Nellika Werner, a mother of teenagers, goes bushwalking after a row with her kids. A massive branch falls on her, pinning her to the forest floor. One narrative strand follows her agonised present, observing the bush. Another gives backstory — intergenerational damage, family violence, and why she's so quick to anger. The novel weaves in colonialism, patriarchal violence, and ecological destruction.

But our critic warns: "There's only so much that can happen when the book's central figure is stuck under a log." It tests patience. ($34.99, Summit Books)

"There's only so much that can happen when the book's central figure is stuck under a log."

Also out this week: non-fiction from Mary Beard and Sarah Wilson. Check the shelves.