An intriguing but uneven love story.
Desai’s novella written in verse focuses on a romantic relationship.
As Desai’s book opens, Wayne Jones, an aspiring poet, is doing laundry at the House of Suds in Chicago (“not the place to launch a fishing / expedition”). He finds a fallen article of clothing and asks a woman at the laundromat, Elaine Jones, if it belongs to her. They remark on the fact that they have the same surname, and they strike up a relationship, beginning with the customary mixed perceptions. “Considering his less than considerable attempts to win her,” Elaine reflects, “she’s convinced he must think she sleeps with everyone.” Despite their contrasting personalities (“he bites off / more than he chews, she chews more than she bites”), their relationship progresses quickly to sex, bickering, and beyond. In over 60 pages and 10 sections, the author moves his story from their first giddy moments to their descent into acrimony (“Wayne,” Elaine says at one point, “you can’t expect me to account for myself / by yelling at me”). Desai finally catches up with them years after their relationship has ended, when Elaine’s a widow and Wayne’s a Byron scholar. “I know more about Byron / than about anyone else,” he boasts to Elaine, “and more than anyone / else about Byron.” The slim novella also features the author’s explanation that he’s written the story in a modified version of Gerard Manley Hopkins' “Sprung Rhythm” (Desai refers to it as “a happy medium between blank and free verse”). The poetic approach makes the ambitious work consistently engaging to read (and, as Desai rightly points out, to read aloud). The author offers many rich details about the two lovers and the arc of their relationship. But the story itself is unsatisfyingly thin, mainly because Wayne remains so condescending (“If you bothered,” he tells Elaine, “you might understand”) and sexist (“He knows what he knows: women / need domesticity like men need to mark the world”) that it’s never believable that poor Elaine would bother with him at all. Innovative versification can only do so much.
An intriguing but uneven love story.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9798323608416
Page Count: 103
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Reads like an easy Saturday morning.
A gruff musician and a lively puppeteer join forces to revive a beloved children’s show.
Beverly Lark is a 1970s-style entertainer. With Farrah Fawcett hair and a penchant for bell-bottoms, you might think she’d stepped right out of an old TV show—and in a way, she has. Beverly carries on her grandfather’s legacy by lending her voice to TV’s beloved fuzzy blue puppet, Bernie Bird. But with budget cuts to her nonprofit variety show, Beverly desperately needs to find a way to revive her career and Bernie’s popularity. Rock star Griffin Harvey is Beverly’s complete opposite—where she brings laughter to a room, his music is often overshadowed by his brusque, brooding personality. Since Griffin secretly received custody of his 2-year-old daughter, Ava, he wants nothing more than to stay out of the spotlight, but his management is pushing for a new album and an international tour. Yet the only songs Griffin can eke out are songs for Ava...songs for kids who like Bernie Bird. Then, when Beverly and Bernie appear on a late-night talk show with Grammy nominee Griffin Harvey, everyone’s talking about their chemistry. Hoping to cure his writer’s block and help revitalize her career, Griffin and Beverly agree to work together to create new Bernie content. Holed away in Beverly’s cozy Elk Grove, North Carolina, hometown, it’s easy for them to forget they come from completely different worlds. Will the magic between them stay long after the song is over? Olivia’s latest romance is a testament to the friendly, pleasant worlds she creates, including a quirky cast of characters from Beverly’s family and a sweet single-father storyline. Fans of grumpy/sunshine tropes will devour Griffin and Beverly’s slow-burn relationship like Elk Grove’s famous pancakes, and will feel that every longing glance or touch is well earned.
Reads like an easy Saturday morning.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9798217187102
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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