Review by Booklist Review
Acclaimed author Suma imagines a utopia, the Neves, where women and children live without fearing the presence of men. When she's 13, Talia, who has only known this world, gets taken from her sanctuary in the Neves and is sent to live with her aunt's family, where she develops culture shock. Feeling alienated by people who perceive her mom, Pola, who murdered her attackers, to be a cult leader, her only desire is to visit Pola in prison and return home. Now 16 and the night of the school's homecoming, she finds her disdainful cousin, Lake, walking back after being assaulted by her boyfriend. An unexpected bond forms between cousins, who set their differences aside and go on a journey that teaches them to trust each other in times of need. The novel puts readers in the shoes of Talia, her mother, and the women in the Neves who are criminalized for fending off male abusers. Readers will be wholly invested in the struggling mother-daughter relationship as Talia continuously aims to please her seemingly apathetic mother. A compelling story about survival.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A teen recovered from an off-grid Catskills commune of female fugitives struggles to adapt to society in this evocative and empowering novel from Suma (A Room Away from the Wolves). After committing murder and arson to avenge her own rape, Pola Lasker takes her infant Talia and decamps to the Neves, an abandoned mountaintop hotel that she transforms into a secret haven for those seeking to escape cruel men. There, Talia thrives in the care of found family, believing the forested refuge offers mystical protection from outside harm. When Talia turns 13, authorities apprehend Pola and send Talia to live in the Hudson Valley with Pola's estranged sister. Having received instructions from a Neves resident to stay put until further notice, a forlorn Talia spends three years awaiting a signal. But when it finally comes, the road home isn't what she expected. Suma's fiercely feminist offering unfolds from Talia's somewhat alien-feeling perspective, her first-person narrative snaking along a nonlinear timeline to add context and resonance. Intersec- tionally diverse, insightfully rendered characters and their complex, continuously evolving relationships ground the tale, while a surreal setting and sensate prose impart an otherworldly air. Ages 14--up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (May)
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Review by Horn Book Review
This psychological mystery with hints of a feminist utopia taps into and explores contemporary live-wire issues: gender warfare, abuse, power, vigilantism, and disillusionment with society. The novel opens in dark wilderness with an ambush by "the law" on feral-seeming thirteen-year-old Talia and her mother Pola, a "dangerous" fugitive who's arrested on the spot. In the present day, sixteen-year-old Talia lives with her maternal aunt's family; she's misunderstood and desperate to return to the isolated community where she was raised. Flashback sections cover life at the Neves, an abandoned hotel at a once-grand Jewish resort hidden in the Catskills, as it grows into a self-sustaining commune and an underground haven for abused women and daughters. Teenage Talia's story line in the "flatlands" centers on a search for truth and understanding regarding Pola's crimes, Aunt Rachele's intentions, her cousin Lake's increasingly traumatic romantic relationship, and what really happened at the Neves. Elements of magic and surrealism dip in and out of the storytelling, furthering the dizzying nature of Talia's narration -- clouded by naivete, brainwashing, or something less worldly. Suma's (A Room Away from the Wolves, rev. 9/18) novel is an emotion- more than plot-driven story, with plenty in which readers will luxuriate: the lush atmosphere and breathtaking setting of a modern fairy tale; the alluring pipe dream of this feminist community; and catharsis in the cast of antihero(ine)s' modes of revenge and self-determination. Katrina Hedeen EftekhariMay/June 2025 p.99 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A teenage girl must come to terms with her haunting past and mundane future. The book opens "somewhere in the Catskill Mountains," as 13-year-old Talia is forcibly removed by the police from the mystical community of women where she was raised and sent to live with her estranged aunt and cousins. Adjusting to the outside world proves challenging for Talia, who has spent most of her life in the wilderness, growing up in an abandoned hotel called the Neves alongside a group of women who were scarred by unimaginable cruelty. At 16, Talia still yearns to contact her imprisoned mother despite their complicated relationship and struggles to connect with her family and classmates. Her ultimate goal is to return to the Neves and reunite with the women who raised her. Told in alternating timelines, the narrative weaves together Talia's childhood memories and her present-day struggles. Talia reflects on the systemic inhumanity women face, uncovering the events that drove her mother to flee society. These themes echo in the experiences of her cousin Lake, whose story parallels Talia's mother's. The prose is poetic and haunting, though the plot occasionally feels thin, relying heavily on Talia's introspection. However, her evolving relationship with Lake is particularly compelling, offering a nuanced exploration of what it means to believe women. Talia and her mother's family are Jewish; there's some racial diversity in secondary characters. Feminist and captivating.(Fiction. 14-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
