"A five star review of a stunning novel that I will recommend to no one. It’s so smart, so sad, so captivating, a character study of a brilliant neurodivergent 10 year old girl in a dystopian LitFic. Vera is half Jewish and half Korean, she has a younger brother Dylan. Her father edits a failing publication he wants to sell to an investor, but he is stressed and drinking alcoholically. He is fighter with Vera’s stepmom (who she calls Anne Mom) as they navigate a political climate looking to diminish voting rights.

Vera continually adds to a list she doesn’t understand. It is so fascinating to see this world through her eyes. They have self driving cars and limited autonomy, it’s a post Trump America struggling with the aftermath of a decline in democracy and freedoms. It is challenging to see this world through Vera’s eyes; because while precocious, she is still ten, and this is the world she was born into. I know I missed a bit of the world building in my desire to immerse into Vera’s viewpoint. I really liked how the first person narrative puts idioms into quotations so she can be clear to the reader. I found that to be endearing and sweet.

Vera means faith in Russian. She has faith in her father, her stepmom, in her education, and in her future. She is hopeful although we are not. She loves her AI best friend chess game. She doesn’t know to be worried about what we are worried about.

It’s brilliant and although Vera is endearing, it doesn’t exactly make you feel good. It’s not a pleasure to read. That said, it is a world I won’t forget soon.

Five stars
**a best LitFic of 2025**

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. Book to be published July 8, 2025.

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"So thrilled to be granted an early copy of the latest from Gary Shteyngart, one of my absolute favorite observers of the world condition. As seen through the eyes of a precocious ten-year-old, who, by virtue of being half Korean half Jewish, is herself is an example of the new order, we are jettisoned into the crazy society of today. As with Rosencranz and Guilderson, we only hear half truths eavesdropped and only half understood, and are ourselves prone to misinterpretations. While I usually don't take to accounts related by youngsters created by adults, since it's Shteyngart, it proves worthwhile."

"Every time I thought I'd figured out where this book as going, it pivoted. At the risk of sharing any spoilers, I will be brief and unspecific in my review. This was my first ever Joyce Carol Oates novel and like others have noted, I was not prepared for, at times, the meandering storytelling though I really enjoyed the style for the most part. It took me a while to get into the book but once I did I needed to know how everything played out. I found some sections so deeply disturbing that I wanted to crawl out of my skin. Was this a modern retelling of Lolita? A murder mystery? A police procedural? Some other liminal fourth thing? Whatever it was, I was compelled to keep reading and will be looking forward to more Joyce Carol Oates novels in my future.

Thank you to Random House Publishing, Random House | Hogarth, and NetGalley for an advance ebook in exchange for an honest review."