Vapnyar, Lara

Geller’s latest is the fascinating story of a brilliant, emotionally volatile protagonist whose wicked humor appears in frequent asides made directly to the reader, along with a smattering of whimsical graphics, and Nina’s handwritten notes for her unrealized textbook. Smart, complicated, irresistible.

An intriguing take on the immigrant experience in New York from those who "made it" and those who didn't. Recommended for fans of Russian literature, novels about our digital lives, or modern literary New York writers such as Emma Straub. [See Prepub Alert, 3/1/16.]

Plodding, without depth or sincerity, forced and robotic, Vapnyar's latest isn't for readers who enjoy feel-good stories.