Sensitive and powerful ... The women in This Is Where the Serpent Lives are sharply drawn, but their roles are more circumscribed ... The magic in This Is Where the Serpent Lives is the up-close work. Mueenuddin makes the reader care about the romantic relationships, and the pages turn themselves ... A serious book that you’ll be hearing about again, later in the year, when the shortlists for the big literary prizes are announced ... I wish it were more unbuttoned.
Mueenuddin’s characters are vividly drawn, and though his prose is spare, it also offers phrases of great beauty ... Has that kind of ambition and captures its world in the same exhilarating and unsparing way.
Imagine a shattering portrayal of Pakistani life through a chain of interlocking novellas, and you’ll be somewhere close to understanding the breadth and impact of Daniyal Mueenuddin’s first novel ... Mueenuddin’s writing is always fluent and often very funny. He brings the smells and tastes of Pakistan to vibrant life ... If I had a criticism it would be that the four narratives give no space to a female outlook ... Looks set to be one of the standout novels of 2026.
A sweeping parable ... Mueenuddin is a sort of literary magician in his delivery of this: he can work at all scales. There’s delightful line-by-line skill that brings the reader close to the detail ... It’s a rich stew of kindness betrayed and moral ambiguity that makes the reader angry and helpless; lots to think about, lots to feel. Expect to see this novel all over the prize lists later this year.
