... brilliant ... There is dark humor in Luchette's work...as well as insight ... This amusing glimpse of 'authority' underscores the humility with which Agatha views the world, as well as the limits placed upon her. When she reveals her given name, Isabelle, to the reader, her identity begins to stretch, to become individualized and complex ... Luchette develops every person so fully, so effectively, that even those who briefly cross the page are memorable ... Luchette's ease with drawing characters is echoed in their ability to create images that are both ordinary and miraculous ... stunning, haunting prose.
[A] subtle, resonant debut novel ... One of many feats of narrative restraint that Luchette uses expertly throughout the book: Mundane turning points, muted as prayer, subtly plant the seeds of Agatha’s quiet journey to apostasy ... The power and pleasure of this novel lie in the slow blooming of desire from tiny seeds of doubt.
I picked up Agatha of Little Neon for its unusual subject and I got pulled in by Agatha's voice. Sharp and, by turns, melancholy and wry ... What's especially striking about Luchette's novel is that it affirms the age-old writing workshop wisdom of 'show don't tell.' Despite the fact that our narrator, Agatha, lives a contemplative life, she doesn't devote a lot of space to ruminations. Instead, every short chapter here is structured as a precise vignette dramatizing different incidents in her and her fellow sisters' lives from the mundane to the harrowing ... You don't have to be Catholic to connect with Luchette's nuanced and vivid story of a lonely young woman yearning for community and also yearning for everything she's had to give up to be part of that community. The nuns don't fly or sing or torment the helpless in Agatha of Little Neon, but they do make an indelible impression.
[A] focused and coherent debut ... Told in a forthright, clearheaded, and sensible first person, by a narrator who is eminently likable if perhaps a bit dull, Luchette’s début demonstrates that its author has mastered that first essential element of the craft—clarity of purpose and a precise motivation behind their work ... The simplicity ultimately serves its purpose, allowing the story of Agatha and her nomadic sisters to take center stage all its own, unembellished and unmolested. Luchette adopts a method all their own, intertwining form and content ... Agatha of Little Neon reaches that goal which all novels fundamentally pursue—saying something authentic and essential about the human experience—and does so with verisimilitude and the grace that comes with living simply.
The book is told in flashback, after Agatha has left her fellow-nuns, and the build-up to her departure is well-paced and convincing. Readers will appreciate Luchette’s finely observed characters.
[A] dynamic and resonant debut ... Employing short, clipped chapters and shimmering prose, Luchette garnishes each scene with tender and nuanced descriptions of longing and chastity, creating a lovely story of how cross-cultural exchange can foster hope and fruitful advancements. This is charming and remarkably thoughtful.
Luchette’s novel, her first, is structured in small chapters that feel like vignettes from a slightly wacky indie film. The book is frequently vibrant with resonant images ... But even though the book feels light, Luchette does not turn away from the responsibility of examining the darkness undergirding the institution of the Catholic Church. A charming and incisive debut.
