The whirlwind of drama in the last act compensates for the uneven portrait of teen life.
The summer before college proves life-changing for two best friends.
The novel opens with catastrophe: In 1998, Mimi Truang is at the Philadelphia International Airport returning home to Vietnam when her toddler disappears. Instead of helping, immigration authorities detain and then sedate her as they send her back to Ho Chi Minh City. In the misery of the ensuing 17 years, she maintains hope she’ll find Ngan. The story then leaps forward to 2015, to Kit Herzog and Sabrina Chen, best friends who couldn’t be more different: Kit, the adopted Asian daughter of anxious white parents, is selfish and spoiled, while Sabrina, the obedient child of Chinese immigrant Lee Lee, lives happily as Kit’s sidekick. On a whim, Kit spends the summer in Japan while Sabrina stays in Philadelphia, working for college money and volunteering at an Asian legal aid clinic run by the impressive Eva Kim. In Tokyo, staying at a diplomatic residence with a family friend, Kit promptly falls for the diplomat’s son. While Kit posts enviable pics, Sabrina is having an awakening under the tutelage of Eva, while also falling hard for Kit’s ex, Dave Harrison. Much of the novel explores the micro- and macroaggressions Asian women experience in America. Although Kit’s money and mixed-race appearance largely shield her, Sabrina understands all too well what it’s like to be an immigrant’s kid. Kit and Sabrina’s searches for identity in the affluent white suburbs are meaningful explorations, but are hampered by the fact that these two Gen Z girls don’t really sound or act like teenagers. When Mimi returns to the U.S. with a list of girls who could be her daughter, though, the novel quickly transforms from a coming-of-age tale to something quite harrowing.
The whirlwind of drama in the last act compensates for the uneven portrait of teen life.Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9780593831014
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Pamela Dorman/Viking
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
SEEN & HEARD
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.
A lifetime’s worth of letters combine to portray a singular character.
Sybil Van Antwerp, a cantankerous but exceedingly well-mannered septuagenarian, is the titular correspondent in Evans’ debut novel. Sybil has retired from a beloved job as chief clerk to a judge with whom she had previously been in private legal practice. She is the divorced mother of two living adult children and one who died when he was 8. She is a reader of novels, a gardener, and a keen observer of human nature. But the most distinguishing thing about Sybil is her lifelong practice of letter writing. As advancing vision problems threaten Sybil’s carefully constructed way of life—in which letters take the place of personal contact and engagement—she must reckon with unaddressed issues from her past that threaten the house of cards (letters, really) she has built around herself. Sybil’s relationships are gradually revealed in the series of letters sent to and received from, among others, her brother, sister-in-law, children, former work associates, and, intriguingly, literary icons including Joan Didion and Larry McMurtry. Perhaps most affecting is the series of missives Sybil writes but never mails to a shadowy figure from her past. Thoughtful musings on the value and immortal quality of letters and the written word populate one of Sybil’s notes to a young correspondent while other messages are laugh-out-loud funny, tinged with her characteristic blunt tartness. Evans has created a brusque and quirky yet endearing main character with no shortage of opinions and advice for others but who fails to excavate the knotty difficulties of her own life. As Sybil grows into a delayed self-awareness, her letters serve as a chronicle of fitful growth.
An affecting portrait of a prickly woman.Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780593798430
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.
A struggling writer finds an unexpected muse when a mysterious man shows up at her cabin.
Petra Rose used to pump out a bestselling book every six months, but then the adaptation happened—that is, the disastrous film adaptation of her most famous book. The movie changed the book’s storyline so egregiously that fans couldn’t forgive her, and the ensuing harassment sent Petra into hiding and gave her a serious case of writer’s block. Petra’s one hope is her solo writing retreat at a remote cabin, where she can escape the distractions of real life and focus on her next book, a story about a woman having an affair with a cop. When officer Nathaniel Saint shows up at her cabin door, inspiration comes flooding back. Much like the character from Petra’s book, Saint is married, and he’s willing to be Petra’s muse, helping her get into her characters’ heads. Petra’s book is practically writing itself, but is the game she’s playing a little too dangerous? Does she know when to stop—and, more importantly, is Saint willing to stop? Hoover is no stranger to controversial movie adaptations and internet backlash, but she clarifies in a note to readers that she’s “just a writer writing about a writer” and that no further connections to her own life are contained in these pages—which is a good thing, because the book takes some horrifying twists and turns. Petra finds herself inexplicably attracted to Saint, even as she describes him as “such an asshole,” and her feelings for him veer between love and hate. The novel serves as a meta commentary on the dark romance genre—as Petra puts it, “Even though, as readers, we wouldn’t want to live out some of the fantasies we read about, it doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy reading those things.”
A dark and twisty look at just how far one woman is willing to go to find inspiration.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2026
ISBN: 9781662539374
Page Count: -
Publisher: Montlake
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2025
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