A challenging but very real premise, thoughtfully explored.
A cruise that sets off just after Sept. 11, 2001, hosts several uneasy passengers.
Yun’s third novel is set on the Sonata, a stand-in for television’s “Love Boat” of the 1970s and ’80s, here hosting a themed cruise where passengers can hobnob with former cast members of the show, renamed Starlight Voyages. The five-day cruise begins on Sept. 16, switched at the last minute to embark from Boston instead of New York, sailing round-trip to the Bahamas. The discomfort of trying to take a lighthearted vacation at this point in time causes some passengers to try to back out, but the insurance policy specifically excludes refunds due to “acts of war.” The three main characters include Doug, a white erstwhile hottie who played the show’s bartender, sober after years of debauchery and with little memory of his supposed heyday—though the cold treatment he receives from a female cast member suggests he was even worse than he remembers. Franny is a successful Korean American estate lawyer who has brought her family to celebrate her mother’s 70th birthday, but her generosity has no impact on the tension and coldness of the group. Lucy is a Black MIT senior in the middle of recruiting season whose white roommate invited her to join her family trip at the last minute, all expenses paid; soon she can’t imagine why she accepted. Putting the Love Boat and 9/11 in the same sentence, much less the same novel, seems a risky business, but Yun makes it work by embracing the awkwardness and absurdity of the fact that life must go on, even the bizarrely amped-up version of life lived on a cruise ship, with its ice sculptures and food garnishes and ridiculous “traditions.” In the liminal space between the “before” and “after” of unfathomable tragedy, each of her nuanced characters will have an opportunity to move past some of their self-imposed limitations. Yun’s sensitivity to the subtle and not-so-subtle operation of race, sexuality, gender, and privilege adds texture, and a final section previewing the aftermath of 9/11 widens and clarifies the novel’s perspective.
A challenging but very real premise, thoughtfully explored.Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9781668200599
Page Count: 352
Publisher: 37 Ink/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
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
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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