About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Adelle Waldman
Rave The New York Times Book Review Waldman applies her sharp sense for relational drama and dark comedy to the retail work space ... Waldman is skilled at building momentum and tension through intricacies of plot. The book shines whenever the group is together, concocting plans to better their working conditions, resisting and influencing one another in search of a shared sense of hope.
Madeleine Gray
Positive The New York Times Book Review The novel can be, at times, a bit tiresome and repetitive as she waits for Arthur. Hera’s distinctive, raw and brashly authentic voice, however, is charming enough to hold a reader’s attention. Gray skillfully blends a rom-com-like breeziness with incisive, nuanced commentary on societal expectations, modern disconnection, responsibility in relationships and selfhood
Sarah Rose Etter
Positive The New York Times Book Review Absorbing and sharp ... Ripe can feel repetitive...but Etter’s exquisite prose powers the book. There are also moments when one wishes that Cassie might seek more connection with others, might reflect a bit more deeply about those around her. However, Etter doesn’t grant us such easy ways out. Sometimes embracing the darkness is the only way to get through it.
Claire Stanford
Positive New York Times Book Review Engrossing and clever ... Stanford captures the allure, absurdity and menace of corporate spaces with wit and levity ... Evelyn\'s grief for her mother is a steady undercurrent throughout the book, and some of the more moving moments of the story come from Evelyn’s reflections on loss ... Just as we’re about to give up on this drifting character’s chance at happiness, the third act of the book delivers emotional resolve and warmth ... Stanford occasionally relies too heavily on motif to relay meaning...and on contrived scenes to stand in for character development. At times one wishes for more of Evelyn’s interiority, her philosophical analysis of and perspective on her various circumstances. But these fleeting moments do not take away from the book’s overall precision — the unvarnished prose, the astute observation. Stanford rewards the reader with many thought-provoking and eerie moments ... Anyone who has resisted fitting neatly into an algorithm will find a companion in Evelyn, and in this book.