Featuring 407 Industry-First Reviews of Fiction, Nonfiction, Children'sand YA books KIRKUSVOL. LXXXVIII, NO. 6 | 15 MARCH 2020 REVIEWS N.K. Jemisin In The City We Became, the award-winning science fiction writer keeps breaking new ground p. 14 Also in the issue: Kevin Nguyen, Victoria James, Jessica Kim, and more from the editor’s desk: Great Escapes Through Reading Chairman BY TOM BEER HERBERT SIMON President & Publisher MARC WINKELMAN John Paraskevas # March is the dreariest month. We know that spring is around the cor- Chief Executive Officer ner, but…it can be a long time coming. If you’re fortunate, you might escape MEG LABORDE KUEHN [email protected] to a Florida beach or some other far-flung destination for rejuvenation. For Editor-in-Chief the rest of us, spring break may come in the form of a book that transports TOM BEER [email protected] us elsewhere, indelibly rendered through prose. Here are five titles, new or Vice President of Marketing coming soon, that the travel agent in me would like to recommend. But be SARAH KALINA [email protected] forewarned: There is frequently trouble in paradise. Managing/Nonfiction Editor ERIC LIEBETRAU Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin (Celadon Books, Feb. 18): The title refers [email protected] to the fictional Caribbean island where the Thomas family is on a vacation Fiction Editor LAURIE MUCHNICK at an evocatively described resort—“the long drive lined with perfectly ver- [email protected] Tom Beer tical palm trees,” “the beach where lounge chairs are arranged in a parab- Children’s Editor VICKY SMITH ola,” the scents of “frangipani and coconut sunscreen and the mild saline of [email protected] equatorial ocean.” Alas, this family vacation does not end well, forever altering the lives of Claire Young Adult Editor LAURA SIMEON Thomas, age 7 at the time, and Clive Richardson, an employee at the resort. In a starred review, [email protected] Kirkus called Saint X a “killer debut” with a “vivid setting.” Editor at Large MEGAN LABRISE Later: My Life at the Edge of the World by Paul Lisicky (Graywolf, March 17): Provincetown, [email protected] Massachusetts, has long been a vacationer’s getaway at the very end of Cape Cod as well as an Vice President of Kirkus Indie KAREN SCHECHNER accepting mecca for gay men and lesbians. In this memoir, Lisicky recalls his arrival there in the [email protected] early 1990s after being awarded a fellowship at the Fine Arts Work Center. But this period was Senior Indie Editor DAVID RAPP also the height of the AIDS epidemic, and Town (as the author calls it) is being devastated by the [email protected] disease. Of the book, Kirkus’ reviewer writes, “Lisicky does a fine job capturing the emotional Indie Editor MYRA FORSBERG ambience of a special place consumed by both joy and fear.” [email protected] The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel (Knopf, March 24): The titular Associate Manager of Indie KATERINA PAPPAS hotel of Mandel’s new book is situated on a hard-to-reach island off the coast [email protected] Editorial Assistant of northern Vancouver Island in Canada—a luxury retreat for the 1%. (Yes, JOHANNA ZWIRNER the building features enormous glass windows that play a role in the plot of [email protected] Mysteries Editor this puzzle-box novel.) A female bartender named Vincent and her drug addict THOMAS LEITCH brother, Paul, are working here when one of the hotel’s wealthy guests—the Contributing Editor hotel owner, as it turns out—takes notice of them. In a starred review, Kirkus GREGORY McNAMEE Copy Editor calls it a “strange, subtle, and haunting novel.” BETSY JUDKINS The Everlasting by Katy Simpson Smith (Harper, March 24): Rome— Designer ancient, medieval, Renaissance, and contemporary—is the glorious setting ALEX HEAD Director of Kirkus Editorial for this Kirkus-starred novel that follows four characters: a biologist, a prin- LAUREN BAILEY cess, a monk, and a saint. Presiding over them all is Satan, offering what Kirkus calls “weary, ironic [email protected] Production Editor comments” on proceedings in the Eternal City. “A compelling, beautifully rendered tale of passion HEATHER RODINO and pain,” writes our reviewer in a starred review. [email protected] Website and Software Developer Sharks in the Time of Saviors by Kawaii Strong Washburn (MCD/Far- PERCY PEREZ rar, Straus and Giroux, March 31): This is not the Hawaii of travel brochures. [email protected] Advertising Director Washburn’s first novel follows a family of real, working-class Hawaiians MONIQUE STENSRUD struggling to make ends meet and fierce in their attachments to one another. [email protected] Advertising Associate When the youngest boy, Noa, falls overboard during a boat trip, he is lifted up TATIANA ARNOLD [email protected] and rescued by sharks—taken as a sign from the gods of some special power. Graphic Designer Kirkus’ starred review: “Striking style, memorable characters, and a believ- LIANA WALKER [email protected] ably miraculous premise add up to a beautifully crafted first novel.” Controller Bon voyage—and happy reading. MICHELLE GONZALES [email protected] for customer service or subscription questions, please call 1-800-316-9361 Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/print-indexes Submission Guidelines: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/submission-guidlines Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Subscriptions: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/advertising- Newsletters: www.kirkusreviews.com/subscription/newsletter/add Cover photo by opportunities Laura Hanifin 2 | 15 march 2020 | from the editor’s desk | kirkus.com | you can now purchase books online at kirkus.com contents fiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ...........................................................4 The Kirkus Star is awarded REVIEWS ...............................................................................................4 EDITOR’S NOTE.....................................................................................6 to books of remarkable COVER STORY: N.K. JEMISIN .......................................................... 14 merit, as determined by the INTERVIEW: KEVIN NGUYEN ........................................................... 18 impartial editors of Kirkus. QUEERIES: SIMON JIMENEZ ............................................................24 MYSTERY .............................................................................................40 SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY ..........................................................51 ROMANCE ........................................................................................... 54 nonfiction INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ......................................................... 58 REVIEWS ............................................................................................. 58 EDITOR’S NOTE...................................................................................60 INTERVIEW: LESLIE GRAY STREETER ........................................... 66 INTERVIEW: VICTORIA JAMES .........................................................72 children’s INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ........................................................105 REVIEWS ............................................................................................105 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 106 INTERVIEW: DANNY RAMADAN ...................................................112 INTERVIEW: JESSICA KIM ..............................................................118 BOARD & NOVELTY BOOKS ............................................................ 157 CONTINUING SERIES ......................................................................164 young adult INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ........................................................167 REVIEWS ............................................................................................167 EDITOR’S NOTE.................................................................................168 INTERVIEW: SAMANTHA MABRY .................................................172 The lives of two teen girls—one in New York INTERVIEW: RIN CHUPECO ...........................................................176 City and one in the Dominican Republic— CONTINUING SERIES ......................................................................183 intersect in the wake of a deadly plane crash indie in Elizabeth Acevedo’s affecting verse novel INDEX TO STARRED REVIEWS ....................................................... 184 Clap When You Land. Read the review on p. 167. REVIEWS ........................................................................................... 184 EDITOR’S NOTE................................................................................. 186 Don’t wait on the mail for reviews! You can read pre-publication reviews as INTERVIEW: ELAINE KOZAK .......................................................... 192 they are released on kirkus.com—even before they are published in the magazine. Kirkus Reviews INDIE BOOKS OF THE MONTH ....................................................... 205 You can also access the current issue and back issues of on our website by logging in as a subscriber. If you do not have a username or password, SEEN & HEARD .................................................................................206 please contact customer care to set up your account by calling 1.800.316.9361 or APPRECIATIONS: JOAN DIDION’S PLAY IT AS IT LAYS AT 50 .. 207