I was hooked from the first page, wanting to know more about the narrator and what her story was. I was kept on the edge of my seat by the foreboding tone of the book and the suspense of what would happen next. This will be a perfect beach read!

From the start of "The Paper Wasp," there seems to be something lurking just out of sight, hidden from view, left unspoken. That feeling never left me, and I spent the rest of the book trying to put a name for exactly what that thing was: Desire? Jealousy? Mental illness? Acampora creates a dreamscape interlaced with ambition and yearning, which--as a midwesterner who has been lulled into the dream of California more than once--I could certainly relate to. I saw more of myself in Abby than maybe I'd like to admit, even in her darker moments. The relationship between Abby and Elise is skillfully drawn, pulling together all of the emotions of a close-to-the-point-of-toxic female friendship, including need, admiration, and resentment. But though I found "The Paper Wasp" a generally engaging read, I couldn't help but feel that it ultimately fell somewhat flat. The ominous undercurrent left me continually guessing where and how the betrayal or deceit would manifest, and there seemed to be several plot threads that just lapsed or fizzled. Acampora's writing also shone where there was something concrete to write about: the most esoteric parts of the novel--describing the Rhizome, or Abby's dreams--were sometimes hard to follow. But I also felt that the weaving nature of Abby's storytelling (and the second-person point of view) were part of an attempt to put the reader somewhat off-kilter, to have us seeing things in the slightly askew way that Abby did. I found that a strangely enjoyable sensation. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advanced reader copy.

2.5 stars.

To be fair, the synopsis is a good indicator of what the story is about. I was interested in the premise since I'm fascinated by interpersonal relationships, "dark" characters, and art; the novel delivers all these things, but through the eyes of a fundamentally unlikable narrator — not an issue in and of itself, but Abby's internal monologue is repetitive and a little predictable, which for me <i>is</i> an issue. The progression of the novel felt more like a long flat hike than a build to a strong, satisfying ending; the different elements (ulterior motives, dream scenes, schemes, etc.) didn't really mesh well together.

That said, I do think readers of thrillers and "dark" contemporary will enjoy this, because it's an engaging read with interesting characters.

Abby has high hopes for a career making movies but she’s still living at home with her parents and working at a local supermarket. She keeps all magazine and newspaper articles about her friend, Elise, who has gone on to become a movie actress. She meets Elise again at a school reunion and is thrilled that Elise not only remembers how close they were but wants them to become close again. Elise gives Abby her phone number, swearing her to secrecy, and tells her to give her a call if she’s ever in LA. Abby steals her parents’ credit card and surprises Elise in LA where she finds an Elise more vulnerable than Abby imagined. Abby is pulled more and more into Elise’s world. When things begin to shift in their relationship, Abby’s desires and ambitions take a strange turn.

I’ve always been attracted to books about obsession. This one satisfies in that regard. Abby’s obsessions with Elise makes for an absorbing read. Abby is a character who at first I felt sympathy for but she soon becomes a much darker character. The end gave me chills as unbelievable as it was and played out as obsessions so often do.

On the negative side, a large part of this book is about dreams and their meanings. Abby believes she has dreams that foretell the future and that when she dreams of people, they are actually there and that they are dreaming the same dream. I had a hard time staying focused during these forays into fantasy. Abby actually becomes a member of the Rhizome, an organization who interviews its members about their dreams. It was very strange and I can’t say I enjoyed these sections of the book much.

While parts of this book were well worth the time spent, as a whole it didn’t leave much of an impression on me and is not one that I would recommend. It felt a bit too much like a Young Adult or Chick Lit, although on the dark side, for me.

This is an unusual read that won't be for everyone (and I admit to having struggled a bit in spots) but it's worth your time. Talk about a toxic female relationship- and an unreliable, unstable narrator. Abby and Elise meet again at their 10 year high school reunion and Elise, casually (and it turns out unwisely) invites Abby to visit. Abby's living on the margins and Elise is a rising Hollywood star. Abby's obsessed, not only with Elise, but also with Auguste Perron. When Abby gets to California and stays with Elise, things get, well, a bit weird. Not everything is perfect in Elise's world. Abby has strange dreams. All well written, all intriguing. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is a slim volume for fans of literary fiction.

I liked the premise of the book, 2 high-school girls re-connected at a reunion. Abby, still stuck in their small town and Elise living a fabulous life in Hollywood.

The story was written from Abby’s point of view. I thought it was well written.

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

I received this from Netgalley.com for a review.

When Abby encounters Elise again at their high school reunion, she is surprised and warmed that Elise still considers her not only a friend but a brilliant storyteller and true artist.

Good story. It's told entirely in Abby's voice which gives the story (and reader) a very slanted view. I couldn't figure out Abby's motive and that kept things off balance.

4 stars

While I really liked the premise for this book, the writing style was just not for me. The writing was beautifully done, but it just didn’t draw me into caring about the characters.

I don’t know where to begin or end. The writing was brilliant. The characters indelibly flawed. The mood was confusion and desperation combined. What a head trip.

***3.5 Stars***
Publication Date: June 11, 2019

I wanted to like this so much more than I did. Elise and Abby were close high school friends that end up seeing each other again after some time at their high school reunion. Elise has become a successful actress while Abby is just a weird insecure girl. Elise tells Abby she should come visit her in Hollywood, which I took as just being nice and not truly meaning but of course Abby shows up at her doorstep shortly after. (She’s just weird and lonely begging for friendship and success) The relationship from there is dark and very intriguing. I couldn’t figure out where things were going to go. It felt as if Elise was embarrassed of Abby and didn’t really want her there. Then the ending just fell flat for me. I mean it wasn’t a bad ending but there was so much build up I expected something more that I can’t put my finger on. Don’t get me wrong Lauren’s writing is excellent. I would read another book from her in a heartbeat but this just wasn’t the ending I wanted. Sometimes my favorite books are the ones that make me angry and maybe the more I stew on this my rating will increase because I do keep thinking about it and what I really wanted to happen, therefore I do recommend giving this a read!

Special Thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for allowing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Alright friends, I did it again. I judged a book by its cover and decided to read The Paper Wasp by Lauren Acampora because I thought the artwork was absolutely beautiful. I finished this debut novel last week and am still thinking about it, which to me, is the mark of a good book.


The story follows two childhood friends, Abby and Elise, who reconnect in their late 20s at their high school reunion. Abby, after having dropped out of college, has been living with her parents and working as a cashier. Elise, on the other hand, is a successful Hollywood actor.

Right away you (the reader) know that something isn’t quite right with their relationship. Sure, they’ve drifted apart—this is normal for people to do after high school—but Abby still seems to know everything about Elise. The entire story is told through Abby’s perspective, and it quickly becomes evident that she has some sort of obsession over Elise. She’s been keeping tabs on her and her career in a way that no normal fan would.

At the reunion, Elise invites Abby to come visit her in California. She remembers that her childhood friend has unique artistic abilities, and thinks a change of scene would help her for a while. Abby has always been able to create vivid artwork based on her dreams, which comes into play later in the novel. After hearing the invitation to visit, Abby surprises everyone when she uproots herself and spontaneously arrives at Elise’s house.

From this point on, The Paper Wasp begins to explore their friendship (again, only from Abby’s point of view). It looks at their surface-level friendship—two girls hanging out, having drinks at a restaurant, giggling about boys—as well as the sometimes dark aspects of female friendship: jealously, resentment, and lies.

The writing is very vivid, almost lyrical at times, and extremely detailed. It’s easy to get lost in the author’s writing. As a reader, there was no shortage of fuel when it came to picturing characters or settings. The writing style is by far the best part of this book. It will leave you in a dreamy state, which is powerful, given what happens later on in the story.

The author has an incredible way with words, and evokes imagery in the reader’s mind without them having to strain their imagination at all. I didn’t even have to think twice when picturing scenes in this book because everything was so beautifully obvious. This is one reason why I think The Paper Wasp would be a great book club pick; discussing imagery throughout the novel would no doubt be interesting.

I’ll admit the plot is a little strange, and when I finished I had that sense of “what did I just read?” It starts off well, but quickly spirals out of control. This might sound off-putting, but I think it perfectly reflects both characters, and how their lives begin to change once they live together. As I mentioned, it is the kind of story that leaves you thinking for a few days afterwards.

I’m not entirely sure who I’d recommend this book to. It would likely make for some wonderful book club discussions, but only if the readers are truly invested. If you enjoy modern literary novels, give this book a try. Or, if you want something that will leave you thinking, it’s worth picking up.

The Paper Wasp will be available on June 11, 2019, and can be bought wherever books are sold. Thank you to the publisher for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley.

I could not finish this book. Gave up after location 25% on Kindle. Could not relate to the story at all.

I've been processing this book for weeks, and it's still haunting me.

I've never read Acampora before, but after this, I honestly think I'll have to pick up everything she writes.

To start off, I thought I was reading a mental breakdown, since there are so many switches in the stream of consciousness. Abby switches back and forth between childhood and premonitions and the "now". It reads as a letter to Elise, her childhood best friend, the light to Abby's dark. And Abby is dark. She's the goth me who isolated herself during film school, honestly.

Only my heroes in film school were like...Kevin Smith. Abby's hero is Auguste Perren, an artiste cult filmmaker. His institute, the Rhizome, reads as a thinly veiled version of Scientology, only less creepy/disturbing. And only slightly less.

Elise is a dumpster fire of a human being, and we get the idea early on that she's a shallow woman. Not to the point of extreme cruelty, but she treats Abby differently than other women she interacts with. 

Overall, I was impressed by this story. I thought it was going to be something vastly different from what it actually is. I give The Paper Wasp 3.5 (rounding up to 4) masks.

I admit I have been curious about this story as soon as I first saw the cover of The Paper Wasp, and I've been looking forward to pick it up ever since. I know it sounds like a cliche, but the phrase 'it's not you, it's me' is actually quite a good representation of my feelings about this story. Even though the blurb itself sounded intriguing enough to have my interest piqued immediately, I'm afraid the actual story ended up being not exactly my cup of tea. Of course these feelings are subjective and The Paper Wasp is by no means a bad read, but I'll try to explain why it wasn't a right fit for me. It's hard to put my finger exactly on the why, but I think a lot of my lack of connection to the story had to do with the writing style. The writing and tone of The Paper Wasp was too aloof and cumbersome to my taste and it almost felt as if it was trying to hard to be overly complicated and 'literary fiction worthy'. I can appreciate lush writing and wonderful phrasing, but in this case I don't think this particular writing style matched the premise of the story.

The Paper Wasp basically focuses on toxic relationships and the interaction between Abby and Elise. Other characters are in play, but these two women are in the spotlight and the focus is on their relationship and character development. The thing is, I really didn't like either of them and for a character-driven story this makes it a lot harder to stay invested. The whole Perren angle is used to give the story a surreal air and it can be said that makes the story more unique, but I personally found it to be mostly confusing instead. Abby is a strange strange character, and while I love my quirky and unique characters, she is particularly hard to like. The superficial Hollywood cliche character in Elise is equally difficult to connect with... And these feelings didn't change as I got to know them better. The ending definitely came as a surprise, but I'm not sure if it was a good surprise this time around. In fact, I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the facts and how the plot was developed... Between the overly cumbersome writing style, unlikeable characters and an unconvincing plot development, sadly The Paper Wasp wasn't my cup of tea. But I also know that the right person will love spending time with this story.

It took me a while to really get into this one. The writing style is a bit different and it was difficult for me to get accustomed to it. It was just okay once it got going. Not a book I'll reread, but not horrible either.

This is a portion of the original review on my blog Trails of Tales
There are some books….

You read them and say

“Well that was nice”

Then put it back in you bookshelf and call it a day.

And then there is ‘The Paper Wasp’
The reason ‘The Paper Wasp’ by Lauren Acampora unreservedly drew me into it’s whirlpool of exploration of human instincts is the striking depiction of the shift in the dynamic between Abby and Ellise.

Abby’s dependency and obsession for Ellise, craving for her attention, dramatically turns into a need for control and manipulation. A sordid picture of vacillating extremes of emotional complexities.

The scrutiny of Abby’s psyche is so immaculately detailed that I really do wonder how much the author would have had to immerse herself in the creation of Abby’s character.

A significant aspect of ‘The Paper Wasp’ is the focus on Abby’s visions. Her visions are a testament to Abby’s genius as well as the disturbance within her. Lauren Acampora has beautifully used Abby’s artistic sensibilities to give the readers a sense of the myriad of emotions trapped inside her.

A story that explores how human insecurities can submerge themselves in darkness, ‘The Paper Wasp’ capably hits you, and it hits you good.

Do give it a read but not on a day when you are in the mood for happy and comfortable. You need to be prepared to be shaken up

One of my favorite things to read about are toxic women friendships. It's sort of like book crack to me and it brings to mind last years Social Creature or more recently Necessary People which are two books that have become favorites of mine so requesting The Paper Wasp really was a no brainer for me.

We have two childhood best friends that grow up in a small town in Michigan, Abby and Elise. As high school approaches the two begin to drift apart as Elise decides to pursue her dream of acting. Eventually the two no longer speak at all but that doesn't stop Abby from obsessing over Elise.

Fast forward several years and we find that Elisa is now a very successful actress living in Los Angeles while Abby is a supermarket cashier that still lives at home with her parents creating art in her bedroom. She hoards every magazine and article she can find on Elise and follows her life with a close yet critical eye.

Abby's mother convinces her to attend her 10 year high school reunion and here she reacquaints with Elise who, while tipsy on wine, tells Abby next time your in LA, look me up and we'll catch up. Much to Elise's surprise when Abby calls to tell her she's at LAX with nowhere to go. Elise reluctantly takes her in for what she believes to be one night.

As Elise and Abby catch up over dinner and wine Elise is reminded of how close they once were and how lonely her life has now become and convinces Abby to stay, live with her, and to be her personal assistant and Abby is over the moon. This is what she has wanted for all these years but sometimes you should be careful what you wish for.

This had all the elements that I love but I'll be honest and say that this one fell flat for me and I know exactly why it did. The dream sequences. These just didn't work for me at all. Abby is a believer in lucid dreaming and she takes these dreams to paint pictures and stories but, my gawd, reading about her dreams was like dropping acid and having a really bad trip and I just couldn't wait to be done. The ending I also found unsatisfying. 3 stars!

This isn't a case of quality but more of a book not being a good fit for me. Acampora's writing is impeccable and I will gladly seek out more of her work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Meet Abby, a sensitive, highly intuitive, creative loner, working at a local grocery store.
At a highschool reunion she catches up with Elise, her childhood friend, now an upcoming Hollywood actress.
In a haze of alcohol the woman exchange numbers, and some time later Abby finally finds the courage to give up her petty existance and travel to Los Angeles. Elise hires her as a personal assistant and for a while things look rosy.
The book deals with the dynamics between an authentic dreamscaper and a shallow actress.
Their friendship is pushed and pulled by a dominating Elise, who has no clue about how to be her own true self.
We move with Abby from dreamscape to dreamscape, the weird and the wonderful, the love and the hurt, until detachment sets in and Abby finds her way out.

The Paper Wasp is a fast and furious read, the writing stunning beyond belief. The characters are indepth and totally recognizable. Throughout the dreamscapes the reader gets a sense of what's coming, and when it finally does, it's miraculous.

Thank you Netgalley and Grove Atlantic for the ARC.

Abby had a promising art career to look forward to after high school but finds herself still living at home with her parents and working as a cashier.  She spends a lot of her time flipping through the magazines by her register hoping to spot her former BFF Elise, who is quickly gaining popularity as a Hollywood actress.

Abby learns that Elise will be at their ten year high school reunion and she decides to attend in hopes of speaking with Elise once again.  She's surprised to find that Elise remains kind and warm as ever, praising Abby's art and confiding she hopes they can be close again one day.

Abby surprises Elise soon after the reunion when she calls her from the airport to say she's in California without a plan.  Caught off guard, Elise invites Abby to her home but her uncertainty soon turns to happiness to have someone in which she can confide.

Abby is only too happy to accept Elise's invitation to stay at her home.  She quickly realizes that Elise's professional career is thriving but the young actress is lonely.

Acting as a supportive friend, Abby is soon part of every aspect of Elise's life, even becoming her personal assistant.
Masking her jealousy and ulterior motives, she becomes the only person Elise can trust, ultimately leading to a dark finale.

"I let you believe the world awaited me with the same hunger it awaited you. But the truth was that, as you were born to be seen, I was born to crouch in the shadows. I was the hidden source, quietly generating the scenes you played out. I knew this, even if I didn't yet recognize mine as the superior gift." *

The Paper Wasp is a chilling book.  What starts as a seemingly average tale of a woman down on her luck who does some relatively innocent social media stalking to keep up with a more successful former friend becomes a story of obsession, ambition, and finally psychotic behavior.  Some of the events seem random or unimportant but they eventually come together for the ending.  Sprinkle in a dash of magic realism in the form of premonitory dreams/visions and you have a rather odd novel.  
I like odd, mostly because it's so open to interpretation.

Thanks to Grove Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  The Paper Wasp is scheduled for release on June 11, 2019.

*Included quote is from a digital advanced reader's copy and is subject to change upon final publication.