"With a fresh voice, biting humor, and piercing observations about human nature, Kevin Nguyen brings an insider’s knowledge of the tech industry to this imaginative novel. A pitch-perfect exploration of race and startup culture, secrecy and surveillance, social media and friendship, New Waves asks: How well do we really know one another? And how do we form true intimacy and connection in a tech-obsessed world?"
I will read anything Celeste Ng recommends!

Lucas and Margo both work at a start-up, where they have developed a close relationship, based in large part to the ways they both feel like outsiders at the company. For Lucas, insecure in life and at the company, Margo is at the center of his world and he goes along with her plan to steal the company's data as an effort to get back at the company. Then, Margo dies suddenly in what seems to a car accident and Lucas must figure out what do with the data on his own. As he tries to decide what to do, he learns more about Margo's life outside of work -- discovering a secret life that he knew nothing about, making him question how well he knew Margo in the first place.

This is a well-crafted story examining several interesting topics, including friendship in the social media era, the tech industry, economic insecurity, and young adulthood.

Highly recommended!

If there's one thing I love, it's a heist novel. If there's one thing I don't love, it's a novel where nothing really happens. And here lies that book, in the intersection of these two defining factors.

Based in the tech-world after a heist-gone-wrong and the death of his best friend and co-conspirator, Lucas is left to pick up the pieces, and figure out what *actually* happened.

While this premise sounds like an easy thriller, it felt a bit sluggish, and often times a little too on the nose for my tastes.

Thank you to Netgalley and One World Books for advanced access to this title!

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. Some have called it a mystery, and I wouldn't really call it that, so much as a coming-of-age novel that takes place after the main character has already physically come of age. Nguyen writes about maneuvering relationships, friendships and your career in your early twenties in such a relatable, poignant way.

This book was a modern and edgy debut! It is well-written, biting and personal. Loved getting to read new and interesting Asian American literature.

I stay on the lookout for mystery/suspense/thrillers written by authors of color, and when I heard Jeff and Rebecca recommend it on the Book Riot podcast, I immediately requested it. (So much the better that it's a debut). While this wasn't the book I was expecting, there was a lot to like about it. This is a slow burn that took a minute to get in to, but I connected with the characters and appreciated the struggle. Margo is a Black programmer and she's brilliant at what she does- but her work is often overlooked. Lucas is an Asian at the firm, but he's a low-paid customer service rep who's dissatisfied with his lot in life. They decide to commit an act of revenge and steal their employer's customer data base- but things get cut short when Margo suddenly dies in a car accident. Lucas is drawn to her secret life and becomes obsessed with all the things he did not know about his friend. If you're going in to this looking for a thriller, you'll likely be disappointed. There are more musings about life and what might have been, choices we do and don't make, and how well you know the people in your life. It's hard to describe this one but I enjoyed the start up tech setting and deep character development.

I had such high hopes for this book, but sadly, I don't know if I was the target audience. To me, the book felt very disjointed and while I was really interested in the character Margo, the male protagonist fell a bit flat for me. There were so many different elements (and sci-fi elements) that kind of felt disjointed. Again, I think tech and sci-fi fans might really like this book and Nguyen had some bright spots as a writer, but I just don't think I was the target audience.

New Waves is a deep dive into millennial culture and expectations. It's about what happens when expectations do not meet reality. While the premise of the book focuses on the caper of Lucas and Margo stealing their company's database in an attempt to reclaim their power, the most successful core of the novel is in the character depictions and in the character study of Lucas.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

New Waves was general fiction that revolved around two friends Margo and Lucas, Lucas discovering more about Margo after her death, and coping with grief and loss. It was about technology and start up tech companies in 2000s, music, work and living in New York, and mainly friendship, loss and grief, racism at workplace and in society.

Writing was crisp and intriguing, both serious and witty at some point while trivial on another. It felt like I was reading documentary. Now from synopsis I guessed this might be a mystery, a techno thriller, (who tagged it mystery on Goodreads!) I thought Margo died because of data they stole or to keep Lucas safe or something. But that’s misleading. There is no mystery in this book, not anything like thriller. So don’t just get the book thinking you will have a mystery to solve. It is a pretty simple fiction about loss and grief and companionship.

New Waves was narrated from Lucas and Jill’s perspective. Both characters connected through Margo after her death. Lucas’ perspective told about how he met Margo, how they started working together, how he was coping after her death, how he met Jill and what they found in Margo’s laptop. Jill’s perspective showed her emotions, her writer’s block, her life before she met Margo and Lucas, what she talked to Margo, how she felt after Margo died, and what she thought about her and Lucas, how she found inspiration once again.

Characters were interesting and realistic but not exactly likable and were hard to connect. The plot and scenario actually made them interesting. The only interesting character died in first chapter.

Lucas didn’t have degree and still found job but didn’t appreciate it. He was aimless and passionless. Only thing he liked to do was chat with Margo, later sex with Jill, drink excessively, and wallow in loneliness and grief. I didn’t like his attitude and his mindset. I felt sorry for him that he had to face and experience racism at every level of his life. I know how it feels to be different from majority, not just in looks but in all other things but that doesn’t mean you hurt even those who cared for you or gave you opportunity. He messed in everything and with people who tried to help him and then turned all the failure in anger towards them. Most of the time he was boring character but some dry-wit scenario made him entertaining enough to keep reading.

Jill was full time author and was experiencing writer’s block. I liked her a little, she was at least better than Lucas. She had aim and goals, all she needed was inspiration and motivation that she received from Margo and after her death through her audio files. One thing I don’t understand about her is how she has money to waste on drinks if she claims to be broke?!

Her and Lucas’ relationship was okay. They lacked seriousness and love. They liked each other but it was not enough. At some point I thought, they might be together and help each other grow but they messed it too.

Margo was most interesting character. We know her from Lucas’ memories of her, from her chat with Jill and her audio files and all these three medium showed different side of Margo they weren’t aware of.

Lucas and Margo’s relationship showed what real friendship is and it takes whole life to know them and still there will be things about person that surprise you. You only know a person from what they share with you.

I didn’t know the meaning of title until I read it in book and googled it – popular pop music in 1970s and 1980s. There was a lot about music, piracy and TV shows and characters’ thought on it was interesting.

There were many layers in this book– technology and startup tech companies, misuse of internet and social media (This part was both serious and entertaining); Asian-American culture and discrimination they faced, gender inequality and companionship.

I loved some facts included in the book about face recognition technology and later its military funding (but here the year founded and its takeover was different. What I liked was Jill’s thoughts behind it. I don’t agree with her that the technology was racist in this but I agree the way government wanted to use it was racist), internet messaging that started in 2009, The longest record for running a marathon with the time of 54 years 246 days 5 hours 32 minutes 20.3 seconds (Lucas told whole story behind this longest record which was fascinating and real. What he was trying to say through it made me chuckle), and great Kanto earthquake (142,800 died in this earthquake, more than people died in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, combined! I didn’t know that and I liked what characters said about it).

Climax was unexpected. I didn’t expect Lucas mess things this bad. I couldn’t understand what he wanted in life. Jill’s development was good and I liked how she finally moved on in life and with her dead project. I liked reading what happened to Lucas after he messed things and what he did at the end. That last chapter, last story and insight of it was great.

Why 3 stars-

Plot and pace was bumpy. I lost interest in the middle of the book. I didn’t care about characters until climax. Characters were not impressive and I didn’t like them.

Though I liked those audio files they felt disjointed with the main story. There was no character development until climax. Lucas’ development was not full even after climax. He grew but not totally. I still don’t like him.

I don’t know why Jill was given whole chapter (and I tell you chapters are long, there are total 8 chapters in this book) in the middle of the book telling about her ex and her life with him. I would have preferred her story short and in conversation with Lucas, there was no need to switch narration. Again second last chapters with 6 detailed weeks of Jill’s life was too much.

Overall, New Waves was different read than usual. Some things I like, some I didn’t but definitely very observant fiction. This can be hit or miss so read excerpt first.

Funny, infectious, and highly perceptive. I thought that Margo and Lucas's relationship as coworkers was highly relatable, and illustrated systemic issues within New York startup culture. A great read, and I'm glad I got the chance to review an early copy.

New Waves by Kevin Nguyen is a bold debut and I highly enjoyed it. In real life I work in the tech industry so I am always fascinated by books that talk about tech. This was a 4/5 star read for me, I will be reading more from Kevin Nyugen in the future. Thank you, Spiegel & Grau for this gifted copy.

In New Waves, two friends who work together at a company steal some data, then a few weeks later one of the friends dies unexpectedly. There is a tiny bit of a "Was it really an accident?", but do not go into this thinking it's a mystery unless you enjoy being disappointed. It's more of an exploration of friendship and grief and moving on. But also layered in there is a love of science fiction. I think people who like character driven literary fiction and science fiction will really enjoy this. It's NOT science fiction just to be clear. I really enjoyed it.

La description qui parlait de heist gone wrong (braquage qui a mal tourné) m'avait fait penser qu'il s'agissait d'un livre policier. Elle parlait aussi du milieu de la tech et j'aurais dû me dire qu'on pouvait parler de heist en ligne. Les protagonistes préparent bien un vol dès le début du roman, "mais" il s'agit du vol de la base de données des utilisateurs d'une société. Donc, pas de voyous, ni individus louches. Juste Margo et Lucas, deux collègues employés dans une startup et compagnons de cuite. Margo, jeune femme noire, ingénieure informatique de talent qui refuse les compromis quand il s'agit de la qualité du travail. Lucas, le narrateur. Margo, la seule noire de la société, et Lucas, seul Asiatique de la société à occuper un poste subalterne (il est au service clients), deviennent amis. Ou plutôt, Lucas est en admiration devant Margo qui sait ce qu'elle veut, contrairement à lui qui semble se laisser porter. La seule grande décision qu'il a prise, c'est de quitter son trou de l'est de l'Oregon (et le restaurant de ses parents : son père est vietnamien, sa mère, chinoise) pour venir à New York. Excédée d'être sans cesse rabaissée par ses collègues sous prétexte qu'elle n'a pas l'esprit d'équipe et qu'elle ne cadre pas avec la culture de l'entreprise, Margo démissionne (avant d'être virée) et entraîne Lucas avec elle. Elle décide de voler la base de données de la startup pour la donner à un concurrent, en échange d'un poste pour elle-même et pour Lucas. Pris de remords, ils décident d'effacer le fichier et de ne plus en parler. Mais un jour, à la sortie d'un bar, Margo est écrasée par une voiture et Lucas se demande s'il s'agit d'un accident.

Raconté comme ça, le livre peut sembler quelconque. Et à la lecture, on peut trouver qu'il ne se passe rien. Moi, je suis tombée sous le charme. De Lucas tout d'abord. Qui cherche à nouer des relations qu'il n'a pas dans l'Oregon, quitte à les trouver en ligne, dans PORK, un groupe exclusif de mélomanes qui recherchent des enregistrements rares, les numérisent (en FLAC et surtout pas en MP3) et les mettent en ligne pour créer une discothèque, et se retrouve "orphelin" quand le groupe disparaît du jour au lendemain. De Margo, touchante dans son intransigeance et dans ses rêves, dont elle parle constamment, mais qu'elle n'essaie jamais de réaliser, et malgré son emprise sur Lucas. Quand ce dernier se rend compte que Margo était l'une de ses héroïnes du groupe en ligne disparu, avec laquelle il collaborait fréquemment, il est heureux de pouvoir cultiver cette amitié dans la vraie vie, même si la Margo en ligne, ouverte et optimiste, lui semble diamétralement opposée à la Margo du bureau, cynique et sceptique. Leur amitié peut sembler à sens unique : Margo parle et Lucas écoute, Margo décide et Lucas suit. Quand Margo disparaît, Lucas est perdu. En "enquêtant" sur sa mort, il découvre tout un pan de l'existence de Margo qu'il ignorait.

J'aurais aimé que Margo ne meurt pas et voir l'évolution de sa relation avec Lucas. Car, voici mon bémol, Lucas est obligé de passer par un troisième personnage pour en savoir plus sur son amie. Ce troisième personnage, bien que très intéressant, m'a souvent fait l'effet d'un intrus. Et c'est tout ce que j'ai regretté dans ce roman qui m'a beaucoup touchée. Le portrait du milieu de la tech est particulièrement réussi.

Ce qui m'a le plus marquée : la musique que recherchent Margo et Lucas sur PORK : des enregistrements de city pop (Hello Yumi Matsutoya!) pour elle, et de bossa nova (d'où le titre) pour lui.

Un coup de cœur !

Best friends Lucas and Margo work together at a tech startup in New York. But when Margo is fired, she talks Lucas into helping her steal the company's customer database. Shortly after, Margo dies in a car accident, and Lucas is set adrift. What does her death mean? What should he do with the information Margo left behind? And what happens now?

I was so intrigued by this book from the very first chapter. Some might feel that it's lacking in direction and plot, but I think that feeling of being lost is important in a story about grief. The tangled web that Margo's death left behind was realistic, even if it was painful to read. There's so much in this story to unpack on racism, sexism, microaggressions, grief, privacy, and what we leave behind. I really enjoyed Nguyen's writing, and I hope to see more of it in the future.

I think the problem with this book is that the jacket copy made it seem like the book was going to be more of a heist thriller, when in fact it was a character focused story about someone grieving the loss of their friend. Because of this misconception, I kept waiting for something to happen, for big truths to be unearthed. I think I would have enjoyed this book a lot more if my expectations had been set for what the book actually was.

I've been grieving the death of a friend for the past 6 months or so, and this book made me feel a lot less alone in that. There's a very peculiar way grieving happens with technology, and this book nails the surreal feeling of scrolling through your dead friend's old tweets/posts/emails and laughing at their jokes & then getting horrifically sad because you've read all of these a million times now and there will never be anything new from them to read. The way you rewatch old videos to listen to their voice over and over again, and it's simultaneously comforting and devastating. It really helped me put words to a lot of feelings that I've been struggling with, and I'm so grateful for that.
There's lots of other great things about this book too! - it got me listening to city pop, there's beautiful descriptions of niche online communities that foster beautiful friendships, the evil of tech companies & the racism of "neutral" algorithms which mirror the almost uniformly white developers making them, and bracingly realistic descriptions of modern relationships - but it really shines at tackling grief. Highly recommend.

"In New Waves, Nguyen tells a story of an Asian American — half Chinese, half Vietnamese — twentysomething working in the tech startup space just after the 2008 stock market crash. What is included is often just as important as what is not. The theory of omission. The bottom of the iceberg. Lucas Nguyen, male protagonist, was not line-driving into a blossoming future as an engineering mastermind but he was flittering about in his parents’ bed-and-breakfast before stumbling out of Oregon into tech as a customer service rep. And maybe it would have been more resonant to operate with this sort of Silicon Valley archetypal Asian male who codes at breakneck speed because he was born a mathematical genius, bred with discipline, and by such hard work, has climbed the ranks to become another version of the model minority in a technocratic American Dream. Instead, he strips away the stereotype-clad character lest we mistake economic rise with visibility of the Asian American ... "

Rest of review found on https://www.thelitpub.com/blog/a-ritual-of-grief-in-new-waves-by-kevin-nguyen.

A fascinating and cutting indictment of the Silicon Valley/Silicon Alley startup scene, with its overwhelming white maleness and illegal tendencies. Lucas is the kind of protagonist badly needed in contemporary fiction—an aimless, unmoored, not-model-minority and sympathetic Asian character. NEW WAVES is a quick read with not so much in the way of plot, but the characters were a joy to digest.

Such a good book that will have you thinking about what it means to exist as a person of color or race. Had me glued to the book until the last page. This debut author is off to a strong start and I can't wait for his next book. Happy reading!

The book made some obvious points about racism and sexism in the workplace and society in general, but I could only make it to about the 28% point of this book. If it was headed anywhere it was taking too long to get there. It also felt padded with nonsensical details. A man who spends all day on a computer asks in a bodega where to find a book store in NY and then “remembers” that there is a big store on Union Square. Seriously, that’s not how we find a store or a book in this century. This short book was too long for me. Perhaps one of my problems was that the blurb suggested techno thriller, when in reality it is a different beast entirely. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.