A droll holiday tale that’s surprisingly relevant to these politically divisive times.
In this novel, a gay man tries to solve the mystery of a life-altering fixation on Christmas that afflicts evangelical Christians.
Matt Daughtry, a law associate in Chicago, isn’t a fan of Christmas. It means visiting his conservative Christian parents in Charlotte, North Carolina, where the inflatable Santa Claus on their lawn sports a MAGA hat. Adding pressure, Matt’s bringing along his new boyfriend, Grant. Luckily there’s a fellow sufferer, Matt’s sister, Elise. She’s the first to notice something odd: Their parents are hoarding massive quantities of fruitcakes and eggnog purchased from an evangelical app/marketplace, MerryNet. After Christmas, while their mom and dad continue Santa and Mrs. Claus cosplay, trouble erupts around the United States. Long lines snake from gas stations; airports are understaffed; and store shelves are bare. People refuse to work, convinced that every day is Christmas and “Christmas is for family.” This mysterious condition is dubbed “Christmas Syndrome.” Researching MerryNet’s parent company, Endomatrix, a client at his law firm, Matt finds a licensing agreement with a third party, whose algorithm appears to have little oversight. Elise, camping out at Matt’s condo, discovers important contacts. But Matt fears prying may end his high-paying job, and maybe the world’s improving—with conservatives decommissioned, Democrats push through gun control and wider abortion access. Yet as his parents stop paying their bills and mortgage, Matt realizes he must act. Though Corbin’s premise initially seems absurd, its transformation into a parable slowly emerges. Meanwhile, the likable characters banter wittily and reveal three dimensions. Deeply supportive, Grant still includes spice with his sugar, describing Matt as having “the fashion sense of a frat boy,” but also “a big heart.” Matt and Elise continually joke about their parents, but the real harm of their stressful upbringing shows. Elise may have an eating disorder while Matt obsessively deep cleans and vapes. The locale of Charlotte is peripheral (Grant jokingly suggests visiting its NASCAR Hall of Fame) but Chicago takes on a larger role. “Jingleheads” form loose bands on the city’s streets, “clutching brown bags of holiday spirits,” as uncollected garbage piles up. The engaging story is an unconventional holiday read, but delivers its sweet moments.
A droll holiday tale that’s surprisingly relevant to these politically divisive times.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781735438566
Page Count: 396
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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 debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.
A high school senior pursues an affair with her teacher.
Seventeen-year-old Waldo, the narrator of McCurdy’s fiction debut, lives in Anchorage, Alaska, with her mother, though she’s long been the parent in their relationship. She heats her own frozen meals and pays the bills on time while her mom chases man after man and makes well-meaning promises she never keeps. Waldo blows her Victoria’s Secret wages on online shopping sprees and binges on junk food, inevitably crashing after the fleeting highs of her indulgences. Mr. Korgy, her creative writing teacher, has “thinning hair and nose pores”; he’s 40 years old and married with a child. Nevertheless—or possibly as a result?—Waldo’s attraction to him is “instant. So sudden it’s alarming. So palpable it’s confusing.” Mr. Korgy professes to want to keep their friendship aboveboard, but after a sexual encounter at the school’s winter formal that she initiates, an affair begins. Will this reckless pursuit be the one that actually satisfies Waldo, and is she as mature as she thinks she is? Waldo is a keen observer of people and provides sharp commentary on the punishing work of female beauty. Readers of McCurdy’s bestselling memoir, I’m Glad My Mom Died (2022), will surely be curious about the tumultuous mother-daughter relationship, and it is one of the novel’s highlights, full of realistic pity and anger and need. (“I want to scream at her. I want her to hug me.”) Unfortunately, the prose is often unwieldy and sometimes downright cringeworthy: When Waldo tells Mr. Korgy she loves him, “The words hang in the air in that constipated way they do when you know that you shouldn’t have said them.” Waldo frequently lists emotions and adjectives in triplicate, and events that could be significant aren’t sufficiently explored or given enough space to breathe before the novel races on to the next thing.
A debut novel with bright spots, but unbalanced and lacking in finesse.Pub Date: Jan. 20, 2026
ISBN: 9780593723739
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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