PositiveThe Christian Science Monitor[Bulawayo] occasionally steps out of Darling’s story to survey the immigrant experience more broadly in short vignettes inserted between chapters...Though lovely, these segments float, disembodied, above the text in a way that is occasionally unsettling to the novel. Narrative omniscience, after all, is not what draws us to Darling’s story. It is in fact the opposite: her vulnerable, selfish, and utterly small consideration of the world … We Need New Names is a vibrant first novel, and though deeply rooted in the particulars of Darling’s story, tells a story that will resonate far more widely.
