This story doesn’t take the reader anywhere, but the mood it creates will stick in the mind.
A cynical outcast keeps a diary of his misadventures in Kim’s debut novel.
In 1998, Franklin Ya lives in the small desert town of Kristie, California. Estranged from his Korean immigrant parents in Texas, Franklin feels disconnected from his heritage, preferring all-American anonymity. Having flunked out of college, he works at a video store and spends his free time smoking, drinking, and watching hours of movies and TV reruns, recording his observations in a journal. He begins an affair with Dani, his best friend Jing’s girlfriend, which collapses under the weight of his false promises. By the end of the year, he has alienated everyone in his small circle of friends, and is completely cut off from everything except the noise on the TV. The novel begins with Franklin recounting, with prurient satisfaction, the deaths of people he knew in high school (“he sinks through all that blue-green to end up the most useful thing he’d ever been in his life, food for fishes. His final memory was probably a couple of big biceps and one really pretty girl, the sum total of Marco’s life”); the narrative maintains this bleakness until the end. There is no journey of self-discovery here—Franklin seems as oblivious to his passion for movies and his writing habit as he does his undiagnosed depression. The prose does an excellent job of capturing the claustrophobia and anxiety of ennui. Franklin is a difficult character, indifferent to the point of immorality, with a tendency to stalk and spy on women. He views the cultural heritage of his parents as a burden, which he shrugs off. He tells lies (like pretending to be a screenwriter and agreeing to move to LA with Dani) which fizzle out into silence. Although most of his friends end up leaving their dead-end small town, Franklin shows no motivation to do so, even when he’s the only one left. Late 1990s pop culture serves as a throughline, with movie synopses, fast-food menus, and lists of porn stars peppered in among the journal entries. The last decade of the 20th century feels cheap, plastic, and empty here, much like the protagonist.
This story doesn’t take the reader anywhere, but the mood it creates will stick in the mind.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 258
Publisher: manuscript
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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