Amazing novel. I believe it's a debut. One of the best books I've ever read in the last five years, and something I will be purchasing next month.

This book shows both the thrilling and mundane sides of life as a creative through the perspective of Jane, a writer who makes most of her living as a professor. The book is beautifully written and touches on a lot of complex subjects: professional envy, shame, creative exploitation, marital unrest, and multiracial identity. You want to root for Jane, and also tell her to get it together at the same time. Perfect.

"Every so often, a student would turn up in one of her classes, instincts fully formed, vision so urgent and necessary that it startled her awake. They would remind her of why she'd done it, why any of them did it, what they were after: a story as dark and clear as a mirror."

Big fan of Danzy Senna so it’s without saying that I was excited to get my hands on this.

Unfortunately though, there were a lot of ups and downs to the point where I found myself in a slump and found it difficult to finish at certain points.

It didn’t feel rushed, but at the same time I wanted more. She’s so talented and I appreciated the character’s backstories more than anything but the present tense story line was lacking something.

I absolutely LOVED this! It is both brilliantly told and wildly fun to read. Senna builds tension and nails pacing better than anyone. She makes scenarios that would be mundane in anyone else's hands feel like a life-death situation. This is my favorite book of 2024 so far; so thankful I got to read an early copy!

It's not too different from the topics Senna explores regularly, but it's a refreshing take on class and artists' dreams in Hollywood. When a novelist and writing professor seeking tenure pending publishing her next book ultimately flops, she looks to where all other writers in LA look to earn money: TV. The themes of relationships, desire, and money are aptly explored.

A really enjoyable dark comedy with a particularly sharp satire of the perils of Hollywood. Jane is the perfect lead, someone with a actually pretty charmed life who is not content with her lot and makes a regular string of bad decisions that consistently make everything more complicated and difficult. Yes, you will want to shake her constantly, but that's part of the fun.

It takes a while to get to the television stuff, but it's a short novel, and that's when it really kicks into high gear. I would love to read a bunch more books like this, with a fully developed world and a sharp observing eye. Jane and her family feel like real people; the kids never feel like they are just there for show. As usual, Senna has a very keen eye on issues of race and the particular conundrum of being biracial.

Danzy Senna keeps getting better. This book is a total joy and a wild ride. Senna captures the limits of reality before it tips into fully wild unbelievable chaos. She gets understated but also zany perfectly. She builds tension for her characters and her readers (almost like a thriller) and make the mundanity of life feel so high stakes. She doesn't get the credit deserves for her skill. Not to mention the ways she talks the world of mixed people seriously, she is unmatched.