A chilling, flawlessly executed, and emotionally taxing portrayal of a broken psyche.
A man addicted to social media depicts his frightening reality in Sarvas’ unsettling novel.
“I have nowhere to go, and too much to hate right in front of me,” announces the narrator, explaining why he walked away from his life in order to spend his days in a dark room, naked and glued to his computer screen. It’s not a sense of online community that keeps UGMan (his Twitter handle) from engaging with the real world (in fact, he calls other perpetually online users “mouthbreathers”); he is instead driven by compulsion and a deep-rooted anger at perceived enemies like a right-wing, bow-tied commentator or a duplicitous senator, just two on his ever-growing list of “Those Who Must Die.” Over the course of UGMan’s different tirades, narrative threads emerge, including unhappy memories from his childhood, the loss of his daughter and wife, and his ill-fated time playing guitar in a cover band—but UGMan’s reflections on the real-world connections he has lost are constantly punctuated by notifications pulling him back to the virtual. The senator he hates dies (“Much speaking ill of the dead, I note with approval,” he observes), and the right-wing commentator goes missing. Could this all have something to do with the only person ever to like one of his tweets? Is the FBI really looking for him, or did his sleep-deprived brain imagine that? UGMan never quite earns the reader’s sympathy, but Sarvas certainly earns respect for the stunning complexity of his protagonist—UGMan’s narration achieves great highs of wit and literary reference before plummeting down to the most basic references and internet-speak. That same rollercoaster is reflected in his fractured psychology; as UGMan ricochets from self-aware to complete delusion and paranoia, the reader also starts to question reality. The novel boldly avoids following any of the more predictable plot threads developing on the periphery of UGMan’s perspective—Sarvas has made UGMan’s acerbic mind the primary focus. It is a striking creation, but the novel’s relentless intensity leaves little room for readers to feel anything other than despair. As UGMan himself says, “It’s all quite unpleasant, isn’t it?”
A chilling, flawlessly executed, and emotionally taxing portrayal of a broken psyche.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9798988282983
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Itna Press
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.
An author is targeted by a fan who just can’t let her go.
Arden Bowie has had plenty of tragedy in her life, but now she’s finally on top. After her parents died when she was a teenager, she moved from Brooklyn to Ohio to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousins. She soon became part of their loving family and grew up to become a writer and bookseller. When her debut novel is published, she meets Dustin Dubecki at her first event. He showers her with praise, asks for writing advice, and wants to take her out for coffee. Arden tells herself he’s just a little awkward, but then he keeps showing up at her local events—and, even stranger, she’s sure she sees him lurking at her event in New York City. When he bursts into her apartment one night and assaults her, Arden’s calm life is shattered. Dustin gets a five-year sentence at a psychiatric facility; Arden spends most of that time rebuilding her sense of stability. Eventually, she moves to Oregon to start a new life where Dustin can never find her. But even though she has a beautiful home, a thriving career, a doting family, new friends, and even a potential love interest in a former cop named Gideon Riley, Arden can’t escape Dustin’s rage when his sentence is finally up. Roberts toggles between Arden’s point of view and Dustin’s, giving the reader occasional glimpses into his extremely twisted mindset. Although Arden’s attempts to escape Dustin are engrossing, the story stalls in the middle when far too many pages are dedicated to Arden purchasing and decorating a house. But the excitement picks back up when Dustin, a truly odious villain, re-enters the story. It’s also satisfying to see Arden grow into someone who refuses to be a victim, even as she deals with horrifying circumstances.
A particularly nasty villain heightens the stakes in this thriller about a woman learning how to be her own hero.Pub Date: May 26, 2026
ISBN: 9781250413581
Page Count: 432
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2026
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
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