RaveAir Mail... riveting ... Cohen has a vivid eye for aesthetic details, even in scenes otherwise dominated by grisly action ... Cohen’s argument that the personal and political are intertwined, and that characters’ personal lives are shaped by global affairs, while compelling, occasionally feels a bit forced...But in other moments this framing shines, as she cites characters’ reflections on the dissolving borders between the personal and the political ... With the breezy scene-setting of a party reporter, the rigor of a scholar, and deep empathy for the humans behind these historic bylines, Cohen makes the correspondents come alive.
Fiona Mozley
PositiveThe Chicago Review of BooksElmet is a measured yet fiery debut that addresses epic violence, overturns gender expectations, and traces the coming-of-age of Daniel, a skinny, tender young man. The story weaves in and out of flash-forwards, which pop up often enough to lend the story a consistent sense of creep … Overall, Elmet glows as a heartbreaking and surprising contemporary Gothic novel. Original and sympathetic, the novel centralizes violence not as gratuitous fluff but as a necessary fact of life.
