RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewExcellent ... Tshuma is nuanced yet explosive as she explores the intersection of science, identity and grief. The novel brims with insights about astronomy, technology and Indigenous folklore, and it thoughtfully questions how those ideas interact with race and heritage ... A smart, incisive novel that blends a gripping coming-of-age story with a poignant story about loss.
May-Lee Chai
PositiveThe New York Times Book Review... slim but powerful collection ... The collection depicts the toll of migration on families strained by physical distance and sacrifice ... Chai has a remarkable skill for building tension, masterfully arranging all the pieces on the board to hook the reader. For this reason, it is even more of a letdown when some stories end too soon, their falling action summarized too quickly and too neatly. In a way, though, these forced resolutions seem to reflect an underlying need in all of Chai’s characters. Far from home and family, they seek their own kinds of closure against the unknown.
Katie Hafner
RaveThe New York Times Book ReviewKatie Hafner’s taut and utterly delightful debut is a novel of multitudes. It is travel escapism, a family drama, a character study, social commentary on pandemic isolation and an incredible journey back to center. We are emerging from a period of forced introversion, and The Boys provides the perfect antidote. For anyone who now feels anxious about leaving the house or traveling abroad or re-entering the world, you will find, as I did, a kindred spirit in Ethan Fawcett ... From the breeziness of Hafner’s prose to the approachability of Ethan’s voice, the reader is lulled into a sense of safety, believing that Ethan has worked through his childhood troubles, has found his strength and stay in Barb, and will ward off any midlife crisis with mature confidence. In a character-driven narrative as well done as this one, I certainly expected Ethan’s worldview to be shaken — but no amount of preparation could have prepared me for what Hafner had up her sleeve ... Deftly and brilliantly, Hafner unfurls all the ways in which Spock-like Ethan will be tested ... There is a surprise at the center of this book, so original and unusual that I stopped pushing forward for a day to reread the first half again and check for inconsistency. Hafner doesn’t miss a beat ... In the hands of a lesser writer, the heartfelt family comedy-saga could have faltered, but Hafner remains in total control throughout. I cannot say more without giving the story away, so I will just say this: What a wonder of storytelling. I will be thinking of these boys for a long time to come.
Meng Jin
RaveThe New York Times Book Review... intoxicating ... united by a deadpan preoccupation with catastrophe ... Other stories are more expressive, piercing through to the beating heart of dysfunctional human bonds ... Allegorical and delightfully weird, the story reflects the inescapable paranoia of modern times ... Sentimental or not, the stories contain moments of undeniable tenderness ... Still sharp, full of Jin’s humor, these stories left me yearning for more from the characters — a testament to Jin’s ability elsewhere to evoke sincere emotion in her reader. This is a poignant and immersive collection by a writer with fine-tuned sensibilities and an elegant artistic vision.
Laurel Brett
PositiveThe New York Times Book ReviewBrett’s novel is a rare page turner that avoids the obvious traps ... These girls are their decade personified, multifaceted and difficult, but then so is Garrett, with his troubled past, his acid-fueled musings, his ambient lust— all woven together effortlessly, without excessive mysticism or nostalgia. In fact we’re so immersed in his adventure that we go long stretches without encountering a single Daphne. In these gaps I found myself taking stock of that era in American history ... I could have done without many of the metaphors for the Schrödinger girls ... The prose at times struck me as whimsical...if not logically faulty ... But perhaps any more rigor would ruin the story’s essence ... why not let Garrett indulge a little? His pursuit is maddening, because it should be.
Yukiko Motoya, trans. by Asa Yoneda
RaveThe New York Times Book Review\"In Yukiko Motoya’s delightful new story collection, the familiar becomes unfamiliar ... At face value, the stories are fun and funny to read, but weightier questions lurk below the surface ... The writing itself is to be admired ... Certainly the style will remind readers of the Japanese authors Banana Yoshimoto and Sayaka Murata, but the stories themselves — and the logic, or lack thereof, within their sentences — are reminiscent, at least to this reader, of Joy Williams and Rivka Galchen and George Saunders.\
