I’ve never read Mary H.K. Choi before, but it would seem her YA novels are well-loved. Pool House (Flatiron 2026) is her debut adult novel. It’s an extremely well-written novel, with a bit of a bite to the dialogue and characters that drew me in even though the plot isn’t one that would typically hold my attention.
The novel alternates POV from 20-year-Stevie, her mother, Moon, and Adam. Moon is an out of work actress and she is struggling to afford the mortgage on their extravagant house. Her and Stevie have been using the home for short term rentals and sleeping in the pool house. Stevie has long-lived in the pull of her mother’s orbit, and she cannot shake it. When Mac, her mother’s on-again off-again situationship and sitcom husband, the only man who played any sort of paternal role in Stevie’s life, dies, Stevie and her mother are thrown together in their grief and confusion. Moon calls her sitcom son, Adam, who rushes to her side – he too longs for her orbit and pull – and Stevie’s jealousy rears its head. The three create an interesting triangle of conflicting and varied relationships; I didn’t like any of them all that much, but it was indeed a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from.
Choi’s writing is what makes this novel the success it is.
A Girl Named Tommi 