An overstuffed but absorbing novel about the price of fame.
A troubled rock star struggles with the double whammy of drug addiction and cancer in Knudsen’s novel.
On the night of what’s supposed to be her last show ever, struggling musician Sky Black runs into a 17-year-old boy named Sam behind Vancouver’s Imperial Theatre, in an alleyway home to “the destitute and addicted.” Though she already has plenty to deal with—an agonizing pain in her throat, the impending end of her career, and a heartbreak she can’t shake—Sky, three years into addiction recovery herself, sees something in Sam and invites him to watch the show. As it turns out, Sam isn’t the only unexpected guest that night: Rod Birk, an executive from Space Monkey Records, stops by and is immediately captivated by Sky’s performance. Birk rushes to sign her to the label, injecting new life into her career. Sam, who happens to be a talented guitarist, joins Sky’s band and is swept up in the excitement. Sky even begins to reconnect with Joe, her ex-boyfriend and former bandmate. But just as everything seems to be falling into place for her, she’s diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. Against medical advice, she refuses treatment in order to keep performing. The pain and stress of her condition, coupled with the ceaseless demands of her newfound stardom, push her ever closer to her previous excesses. Knudsen’s novel is tense and unrelenting; the author masterfully creates an immersive, claustrophobic atmosphere as Sky’s health, relationships, and sense of self become increasingly strained. Sky remains a likable, if flawed, protagonist throughout, and readers will find themselves rooting for her even as she makes questionable decisions. Though the story is engaging, however, it’s not particularly innovative—the plot is fairly formulaic, and the supporting characters, namely Sam and Joe, are underdeveloped. In trying to incorporate both of their storylines, Knudsen falls short in affording either ample attention, lessening their emotional impact.
An overstuffed but absorbing novel about the price of fame.Pub Date: July 11, 2024
ISBN: 9781068850523
Page Count: 326
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fans of Stockett’s bestselling debut will love this engaging follow-up.
Stockett heads to Mississippi for another historical novel about feisty women.
This time, perhaps recalling criticisms of cultural appropriation in The Help (2009), she sticks to feisty white women, with one exception. The setting is Oxford in 1933. For two miserable years, 11-year-old Meg has lived in “the Orphan,” a county asylum for parentless girls. Chairlady Garnett—a villain so one-note she’d twirl a mustache if she had one—makes it her mission to ostracize the older girls she deems unadoptable, stigmatizing them as offspring of the “feebleminded” mothers who abandoned them. She particularly has it in for smart, sassy Meg, who refuses to believe her mother’s mysterious disappearance was deliberate. Elsewhere in Oxford, Birdie Calhoun comes to visit her sister Frances, who married a wealthy banker, to ask for money on behalf of their mother and grandmother back in Footely. Frances isn’t thrilled by this reminder of her impoverished small-town origins. But she’s trying to climb up in Oxford society by volunteering at the Orphan, the asylum’s books need to be done before the state inspector shows up in a few weeks, and Birdie is a bookkeeper. Having neatly arranged to keep Birdie in town and draw these two storylines together, Stockett goes on to spin a compulsively readable yarn with enough plot for a half-dozen novels. Birdie and Meg become friends, Meg is adopted despite Garnett’s best efforts, Meg’s mother turns up at the Orphan demanding to know where her child is—and that’s less than a quarter of the way through a long, winding narrative that keeps piling on more dramatic developments until all loose ends are neatly, if hastily, wrapped up in the final pages. Stockett might be making a point about Southern women facing facts and standing up for themselves, but mostly this is just a satisfyingly twisty tale that should make a great miniseries.
Fans of Stockett’s bestselling debut will love this engaging follow-up.Pub Date: May 5, 2026
ISBN: 9781954118812
Page Count: 656
Publisher: Spiegel & Grau
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
Simply charming.
A lovable gaggle of competitive quilters attempts to defy the odds.
The ladies of the Ogden Quilters Association are gearing up for another Simpton Family Quilting Extravaganza, and this year’s nationwide competition is extra special: It’s taking place just an hour away in Smithfield, Utah. For Betty Lou Dearden, OQA’s leader and most faithful member, who never misses a Wednesday quilting night and delights in reading the bylaws, this is a dream come true—a chance to put Utah quilting on the map. But beneath her bubbly surface, Betty Lou is struggling—longtime member Leera Smeeth has been passive aggressively shooting down Betty Lou’s ideas and attacking her sense of self for years (see: a particularly biting comment about her beloved peach bathroom); her children rarely visit; and her husband’s health is declining. And to top it off, OQA is down a member since Terry Blackfoot left following the oft-referenced but never explained “needle incident.” OQA’s remaining members—flighty but lovable Lucy Jones; dependable Diane Williams and her roommate, Alice Flagstaff; and innovative Candace Braithwaite—need more support. Enter Byron Grant, a gay sewing store manager who deals in rumor and gossip as much as in thread and batting, and his best friend, shy, artistic Rob, both younger than the youngest OQA member by about 30 years. Don’t worry, there’s nothing in the bylaws expressly prohibiting men. And so this quirky group of artisans attempts to dethrone the always-winning, clearly evil Logan Quilters Society (“We don’t hate anyone!...We just don’t prefer to associate with cheaters”), all the while wrestling with interpersonal conflict, trauma, and, let’s face it, a few tacky ideas. The plot is silly and largely predictable, but McCann’s prose is bursting at the seams with humor and genuinely tender, touching moments. You’ll root for these misfits from Page 1.
Simply charming.Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2026
ISBN: 9798890920461
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Torrey House Press
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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