RaveThe Los Angeles Review of BooksTo read Steph Cha\'s compelling and risk-taking new novel is to be submerged in tragedy and to appreciate the herculean effort needed to pull back from the brink of spiraling disaster ... Shawn is my favorite character, but there are many complex and well-rendered African Americans in the novel ... Cha uses an intimate third-person voice throughout the novel, and with half the book being about Black folk, I was surprised that she would attempt something so audacious and weirdly fearless ... Cha is striving for that and is willing to take great risks to achieve it, and she is largely successful ... That Cha is drawn to contend with voices that don’t strictly represent her cultural heritage, while taking head-on one of the most devastating events in Los Angeles history, is admirable as well as ambitious ... Cha is a remarkably generous writer. Through understanding and empathy, she reveals how difficult it can be to reconcile — yet sometimes, somehow we do.
