Thanks to the publishers at W.W. Norton and Company for a chance to read the novel early in exchange for an honest review!


Wow… who knew I could grieve a cockroach this deep?

If you’re looking for a tight plot, magic systems, rules on what happens in the afterlife, truly this isn’t the book for you. If you’re open though to a dreamy rumination on grief, trauma, and love in a New York City that eerily sounds like the early months of the pandemic, run - don’t walk.

This is a book I might need to read one more time to understand what happened. This is also feels like. book that I could read numerous times and still not really make sense of why a headless dude just lives in their apartment complex, why some dead folks come back as ghosts and others don’t, and why a cockroach’s ghost passing into the next life just broke me.

At its core, “How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster,” is about love. Yes, there’s inexplicable acid rain, a grumpy grandfather coming back as a ghost, and other elements that don’t have a clear answer, but that might just be the point. Leung’s novel mirrors the absurdity of everyday life through some of these nonsensical elements, and it might just be what you’re looking for if you too are grieving a long lost love or just generally a little lost in today’s chaos.

Leung’s prose, especially its rich sentimentality, acts as a kind of balm. Nothing makes sense, but who cares? Let’s just talk about how amazing it was to be loved by the people who are no longer in our lives, and try not to get scorched by whatever’s going on outside.

I loved this book and was enthralled with the writing. I loved the character study. Would read more from the author!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

In postapocalyptic NYC apartment building, ghosts and humans grapple with life, death, and love.

I won't act like this isn't a weird book, and I'm sure a lot of the weirdness will turn some readers off. I mean, a ghost cockroach? A headless man who is somehow still alive despite his lack of head? Acid rain that only falls on Tuesdays? Yeah, it's weird, and maybe even sometimes feels a little silly. But at its core, the heart of How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster centers on the beautiful tragedy of the human experience. I found myself thinking, by the end, that perhaps this is the only way to grapple with the feeling of living through unprecedented times; that the current experience of life is so surreal, so normal and yet so abnormal, that any story trying to capture that feeling needs a healthy amount of ghosts and headless people to be successful.

Leung's writing is also achingly beautiful and atmospheric, a perfect vehicle for the content of this story. Though I did occasionally find it hard to keep up -- to remember who we were following, to trace the shift from one character to another, one moment to the next -- I think overall this is a debut that will stay with me for quite some time.

Happy Pub Day Review!

I am going to start by saying this book is not going to be for everyone.

This is probably one of the more bizarre books I’ve read. There’s world ending acid rain, a headless man, and a cockroach companion. You definitely need to be open minded and leaning into weird things for it to all make sense. Lucky for me, I am a HUGE fan of weird and really enjoyed this one!

This story has darkness and really ponders tough questions while also having moments that are lighthearted. That’s life though so I liked it. The characters process grief and loss and love and sentimentality and found family.

I really found this book emotional and also weirdly hopeful. It also made me think a lot about ghosts and I have to say, I am a believer.

Well. This is a most unusual novel and one which takes a bit of patience and willingness to just go with it. While Mira might be a centerpiece, each chapter highlights a different person (or cockroach) and the effect the acid rain which hits New York every Tuesday has had on that individual. There's a ghost cockroach, a headless man, a lovelorn Mira and others. I'm not sure how to describe it except to say that it's experimental and intriguing- enough so that I wonder how this was pitched and sold to the publisher. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. One I admired more than enjoyed. For fans of literary fiction.

[arc review]
Thank you to NetGalley and W.W. Norton & Company for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.
How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster releases October 22, 2024

Set in a post-apocalyptic NYC, where acid rainstorms ravage the city and leave the five boroughs under militant guard, Leung poses the question: Is love possible in times of crisis?

With pov’s ranging from a radio host, ghosts, a headless man, and cockroaches, this seemed like it would be an interesting and original concept, but it didn’t quite work for me.
I found the latter half with Sad and Mal to be much more enjoyable as the story started to become more pronounced, delving into grief. However, reaching that part was an uphill battle through confusing streams of consciousness.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. Unfortunately this book did not work for me. I really love weird stories like this, and was extra excited because I also love post-apocalyptic books, so this seemed tailor made for me. However, it was a bit too weird even for me, and I could not get into the plot at all.

How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster contains a rich, post-apocalyptic world centered in New York where acid rain has devastated the city and everyone is striving for connection with world around them. Throughout the novel, we follow the love across generations and timelines, ranging from a ghost cockroach to the main character, Mira, Many of these love stories absolutely broke my heart, and never did I expect I would care so much for a cockroach, however, I found the storyline at times did not fully hold my attention. This is definitely a vibes book and at times I didn't know if I was quite cool enough to get the book. That being said, I would recommend the book if you're looking to explore a full world with unique characters and think about how love transcends our circumstances.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company for the advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC! Leung’s debut releases in the US from WW Norton on October 22nd, 2024.

How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster by Muriel Leung is a hauntingly lyrical meditation on love, survival, and the human connections that tether us in times of crisis. Set in a post-apocalyptic New York City ravaged by acid rain, fires, and military checkpoints, Leung’s novel follows Mira, a woman separated from her partner, Mal, and struggling to build a life with her mother and the other residents of their apartment building. As the city around them collapses, the characters confront both the literal and emotional ghosts of their pasts, asking what it means to love, grieve, and find community in the face of disaster.

Leung’s prose is achingly beautiful, weaving a dreamlike, ghostly atmosphere with fragmented, evocative sentences that mirror the disorientation of living in an unrecognizable world. The writing is introspective and deeply existential, delving into themes of grief, memory, and the weight of trauma that haunts both the individual and the collective. The novel’s obsession with ghosts—whether literal, metaphorical, or emotional—adds layers to its exploration of how the past clings to the present, making it difficult to move forward. Through Mira’s journey and the alternating perspectives of her neighbors, Leung paints a vivid picture of community care and the resiliency required to survive the apocalypse together.

The book’s themes are richly complex, examining love and loss in equal measure. At its core, How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster questions whether love is possible amidst chaos, and how relationships, both chosen and familial, offer solace in the darkest times. The novel’s characters are beautifully flawed, all of them grappling with their own sense of isolation, longing, and fear of abandonment. Mira’s desperation to reunite with Mal, despite her burgeoning relationship with Sad, speaks to the powerful pull of unresolved grief and the ways in which love can become a haunting force in itself.

While the novel’s structure, with its shifting perspectives, occasionally feels disjointed, Leung’s world-building is immersive and poignant. The apocalyptic setting provides a perfect backdrop for the novel’s reflective and existential musings on the fragility of human connection. Though plot takes a backseat to atmosphere and emotion, the novel shines in its exploration of how people find meaning, hope, and even love in the face of unnameable disaster. I found myself enchanted by Leung’s characters and her haunting, poetic prose. Ultimately, How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster is a poignant and thought-provoking novel that leaves a lasting impression, reminding us of the resilience of love and connection even in the darkest of times.

📖 Recommended For: Readers who enjoy introspective and poetic prose, those fascinated by post-apocalyptic settings, fans of stories centered on community care and chosen family, and anyone who appreciates existential reflections on love and loss.

🔑 Key Themes: Survival in Crisis, Ghosts and Haunting, Love and Grief, Community and Isolation, The Fragility of Human Connection.

Content / Trigger Warnings: Alcohol (minor), Blood (minor), Sexual Content (minor), Fire (minor), Grief (minor), Suicide Attempt (minor), Bullying (minor), Death (minor), Domestic Abuse (minor), Alcoholism (minor), Child Abuse (minor).

This was such a good, crazy book! I love the chaotic energy and how it is a post apocalyptic vibe book, the world is ending, there is poisonous rain coming down, the main characters are with ghosts, and it is a love story after all. It was so interesting and it kept me intrigued from the beginning!!!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

It’s post-apocalypse Brooklyn, and Mira and Mail are in love. The earth is raining toxic waters and the planets a disaster so when Mira and Mail break up, Mira moves back home seeking comfort. But while she finds some consistency - her ma and neighbor, Lucinda, are there, the place is also filled with ghosts, both literally and figuratively. There’s a man with no head named Sad, and the ghost of a cockroach who is a pal to all.

I enjoyed the various characters with their quirks and individually peculiar personalities. Outside was horrifying, but within the building there is love and even hope. I liked how the characters were revealed little by little until the end, when I kind of understood where things stood.

There’s a lot going on yet at times things felt slow paced and I wondered what would happen next, and how long before it happens. This is kinda a dark book, with a certain heaviness to it, but it made for a good read. I’m sure there was symbolism and meaning that flew right over my head and that’s okay. For what I got out of it, it was worth the read.

Wow, what a beautifully written, zany, emotional novel. The end of the world has come with acid rain every Tuesday and Mira is navigating a life fraught with strangeness. Despite the wild circumstances that make the setting of the apocalypse, this is a story of engaging with emotions. Grief, love, anger, loss, and contempt all come into play in this sci-fi, apocalypse, city, life examination mashup.

Suspend some of your questions and roll with the punches (why does that guy still exist without a head? How can he think with no brain? How do cockroaches build a motel?), and enter Leung's world. By the end of this book, I was truly gutted.

More like 3.5 stars. Incredibly original premise and confident style, I just didn't fully connect with all of the characters and sometimes the conceit felt too precious.

Thank you for the DRC. I got to 46% and decided I had read enough to know this book was not for me.

This started weird, got weirder, and stayed that way. Usually I can handle some weirdness, am even drawn to it, but this world didn’t seem to have any rules. There were distant echoes of themes that I could pick up—the experience of grief over loved ones, circumstances changing, parent-child relationships, immigration and gentrification, even the social ramifications of tragedy-induced isolation (pandemic, anyone?), and, as the title suggests, falling in love. It was hard for me to see through the headless man, the oversized roach ghost, etc. to get to the meat of the story and these themes though. I thought about putting it down multiples times, but then the POV would change and I’d give it another chance. Finally at 46% I asked another reviewer I knew who’d read this whether anything seemed to “come together” by the end, and getting a “no” for an answer, I decided it was time to call it quits. The prose was quite lovely at times, but again, this book was not for me.

First and foremost, thanks to Negallery and W.W. Norton and Company for this e-ARC in exchange of an honest review.

I need to be 100% sincere with this review. I really didn't enjoy it. I tried to not only understand but to engaged with the story but it was too odd for me to enjoy. While the concept is intriguing and different (hence the 3 star review) I don't think the "plot" or the writing style was for me.

I have to say, so much of this book, you have to be okay with just going with it. Just read it and feel it and appreciate it. Read it like you would a poem because that is what it is. It's a love letter to love, and all the feelings that go with it. Once I gave up trying to understand, and instead just read it to experience it, I liked it much more. I love how the world is actively falling apart due to climate disasters, and yet humans remain, continue, keep going and don't bat an eye, shedding so much of their shields and simply existing with the same concerns, like love and fear and guilt. I'm still not sure how I feel about this book, I just know that I didn't hate reading it, and it was beautiful, and sometimes that's more than enough.

*How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster* is a wonderfully quirky and moving read. Set in a post-apocalyptic New York City battered by acid rains, the story follows Mira as she returns to her family’s apartment building, seeking comfort and connection.

What makes this book stand out is its blend of magical realism and heartfelt storytelling. Mira’s journey unfolds through various perspectives, including a headless man named Sad and the ghost of a contemplative cockroach. These unusual characters and viewpoints come together to form a tapestry of love, grief, and resilience.

The narrative feels both inventive and natural, with its whimsical elements—like the ghostly cockroach—adding depth without feeling gimmicky. It’s a book that manages to be both comforting and heartbreaking, capturing the essence of human emotion in a world that’s anything but ordinary.

A very complex story about love, grief, and the human condition. This book was a little "weirder" than I like but I could totally see this being appealing to a certain audience. It was heartbreaking and eye opening and really shows even after the apocalypse humans are all the same.

I was only able to read 15% of the book due to ebook arc formatting issues but I very much enjoyed the writing style and set up. I constantly forgot Shin was a cockroach and each time I remembered it I had to laugh. The book was absurd and odd but also heartfelt and dark. I would love to continue this once it is released or I can access a ebook that is correctly formatted (I was given a Kindle ebook via NetGalley for review) Thank you!

This book was a bit fragmented, which makes sense after reading the acknowledgements pages about where different chapters/stories were published prior to this novel format. So, maybe more work could be done to draw the various stories in this book together better. I was very confused for the first 80 pages, and by the end of the book I was still more confused than I like to be when finishing a novel. Were we supposed to know that some of the characters are ghosts before the bit where we learn Shin's story? Stuff like that, once I caught on, made the story come together more, and overall I did enjoy reading this one. The steamy intimate scenes between consenting cockroaches were rather ... unexpected. I look forward to seeing how my fellow arc-reading friends react to this book.