I have read most of Gary Shteyngart's books... he is very good at writing contemporary characters that are full of humanity and color. In Vera, or Faith he is somehow able to embody a neurodivergent 10 yr old girl who is trying to make sense of her family, her school, her community and her world at a time that seems dystopian and yet not that far removed from our current state. I felt as if we were along side Vera and all of her challenges. Excellent read, especially those who enjoy fiction with social commentary.

Thank you Net Galley for allowing me to have an ARC.

Though I wanted to like this book, it was not for me. Because it is told from the viewpoint of a young girl, the language was awkward to me. There were too many demographic and ethnic groups trying to get air time in the novel. I think for me it just might have been the wrong book at the wrong time. I thank NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC.

In a dystopian near-future, all is not well with the Bradford-Shmulkin family. The father, a somewhat well-known intellectual, is hoping to sell his struggling magazine. His wife is from a well-established family and frequently finds her husband exasperating. They have two children: Vera, the father’s daughter from an earlier relationship, and Dylan, their child together.

Sensing that her parents are drifting apart, Vera takes it upon herself to keep them together, all while trying to learn more about her birth mother and fit in at school at a time when the broader society seems to be coming apart.

This is a typically insightful and wryly funny novel from this author. Through Vera’s sharp, but still young, eyes, the book deftly portrays how the struggles of fitting in remain universal even amidst of a society that is undergoing significant change.

Highly recommended.

Vera, or Faith is about a very precocious but charming 10 yo girl growing up in Manhattan among challenging, funny, and sad family dynamics. Vera reads at a 9th grade level, sees everything, feels everything and wants things, including herself, to be perfect. Or at least worthy of Swarthmore. Growing up with a “famous” leftist father and a well-meaning but brittle WASP stepmother and doofus step-brother, Vera seeks to navigate several cultures, shaky parenting, and, worst of all, mean girl schoolmates. This novel is lively, touching, and fast moving and I can’t imagine anyone who has lived in New York or had parents or awkward schoolyard interactions not liking it.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Vera, or Faith.

I've never read this author before though I've heard of him.

I'm not a fan of novels narrated from a child's perspective; that's a very difficult POV to write from.

I liked Vera, her inner thoughts, her inability to understand idioms and metaphors, perhaps because of her cultural background.

I didn't like the narrative which was focused on racial injustice and the inequities of the political and social climate, not unlike what we're living through now.

I read to escape, to imagine, to learn, and I found parts of the narrative difficult to read, mostly because I didn't understand the point.

If the narrative had focused on Vera seeking her bio mom, making friends, spending time with her beloved aunt, navigating her own insular world and trying to understand her place in it, that would have worked.

But the complexities of her parents' issues coupled with the social and political climate Vera is growing up in and her biracial background made this a confusing read.

What's the takeaway? What am I supposed to learn from this? What is the author trying to say?

The writing style was okay, but that might be due to Vera's POV.

Not sure I'll read this author again.

Marital strife, political intrigue, precocious adolescents, chess robots and dystopian hellscape one step away from our own reality - this book has it all and is a masterfully written account of one child's take on the personal, national and global crisies that surround her.

I was unable to finish reading this book - I felt like the narration was obviously an adult trying (poorly) to inhabit the mind of a child, and that took me out of the reading experience. There were many aspects to Vera that I should have connected with, but was unable to due to the writing style.

Great writer but I really could not get into this story. Thanks for the opportunity to read but it was just not for me. Good Luck with the boo.

I love Gary Shteyngart's dark humor and cultural commentary masquerading as fiction. I still think about his 2011 novel "Super Sad True Love Story" and the way it satirized credit ratings and social media. So I approached his latest book, "Vera, or Faith," with high expectations. Our protagonist, Vera, is a precocious New York City 10-year-old who feels the weight of the world -- or at least her father's second marriage -- on her shoulders. For the first third of the novel, I feared the material was so dark that there might never be a note of sufficient humor or lightness to keep me interested. But the final section of the story delivered enough of that to redeem the project, I think. Shteyngart's bleak worldview is perhaps harder than usual to spend time with, given the state of *waves arms around wildly at 2025* but it's probably more important than ever. Here he's questioning, among other things, our obsession with AI, the intersection of media and money, and who counts as American.

This is an easy five-star for me! I think it is the first Shteyngart novel for me and I absolutely loved it. It's one of those books that you do not want to end and when you approach the last pages you're thinking, "No! Please don't take Vera away from me yet! I want more time with her!"
It's one of those books where practically every sentence is a treasure. And the story itself is creative and thought-provoking and dare I say immensely timely?!

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book. It's wonderful!

This book is like a breath of fresh air.  It is interesting, funny, serious, intelligent, forewarning, and thoughtful all at once.  Written from the vantage point of a ten-year-old Korean American prodigy, Vera (or Faith, as we learn) explains her life in the U.S. of the near future, where there is a national debate about whether white citizens should be given more rights than non-whites.  From a 10-year-old perspective, this theme is in the background, but it invades Vera’s life as she debates the issue at school, watches her mother host a political rally, and as she seeks to find her birth mother. Vera, or Faith is a delightful book that is fun to read, but in the context of paying acute attention to the undertones.  

Thank you NetGalley for an Advance Reader Copy.

It was so refreshing to read a new story and not something I have ever read before. As a voracious reader, it is challenging to find a new story. The dystopian nightmare (being female and crossing the borders between states!!), but yet a story of love and family. I'm glad Vera found her family and glad she found her true mom.

I have yet to read a precocious child character with anxiety, and I'm so grateful to Shteyngart for bringing me Vera. This book wrecked me, but I absolutely loved it.

I read and enjoyed the author's previous book, Our Country Friends. In that one, the characters took the spotlight, as in this new book, Vera, or Faith. He has repeatedly proven himself at making compelling, realistic, and often very funny characters. Although I enjoyed most of the characters, Vera is clearly the highlight. I loved the fact that she was constantly writing down words that were new to her, and often in a humorous way. Telling the story through Vera's POV is compelling and memorable.

It is set in the near future in what has become a completely broken country. This was an interesting twist that is so relevant. If I had only one critique, I would have liked to have dived into that aspect a little earlier. But maybe I did not see the more subtle signs of a degraded society earlier in the book.

Ultimately, I loved the characters and was intrigued by the setting and general premise.

This is an interesting novel. It is a short little read but packs a punch. I must admit, I have mixed feelings about the point of view being from the perspective of a young child. I normally don’t enjoy that but this book has a great message and the tone was very emphatic.

This book is a compelling look into an already complicated world via the eyes of child. Admittedly, I had a hard time getting past the fact that Gary Schteyngart chose to tell the story through a child's perspective. But as this story unfolds, the reader begins to see that Vera shares her world with a somewhat adult sense of humor or at the very least, Shteyngart tells the story in a way where the reader is in on the jokes so to speak.
This is a good book for people who like difficult relationships, messy, families, and complex characters.

3.75 stars

Not a long review but certainly an enthusiastic recommendation.

I'm a sucker for Shteyngart because his life story is very much like my own except he's become a prominent novelist. So the writing, the references, the sensibility are all deeply familiar and resonant. While these aspects leave me predisposed to liking whatever Gary puts out, it was the story that kept me going.

Overall, the book is delicious reading like opening up a box of cracker jack or kettle corn. Chewy, sweet, and difficult to put down. The perspective of a precocious 10-year old struggling with making sense of her world and her life is refreshing and the dad's post-Soviet grasping for success is familiar. I also like the slightly skewed world in which all of this happens...well not the world but the way its portrayed.

So give it a read. Shouldn't take more than a few hours

Liked it as much as Super Sad True Love Story. Interesting perspective especially when compared to his last novel. Will be purchasing.

Gary Shteyngart's signature style shines through in this quick read featuring Vera, a biracial 10 year old girl who is trying so damn hard each day in a version of the US that doesn't seem that farfetched at the moment. Vera's Korean mother isn't in her life, and she is raised by Anne Mom, her WASP-y stepmother (who seems to live with a hefty dose of guilt from her privilege) and her Russian Jewish father who is a larger-than-life character who demands all the air in the room. Then there's Dylan, her half brother, who is the bane of her existence. Vera feels tasked with the responsibility to keep her family together despite its myriad dysfunctions. She is also curious about her genetic mother. On top of all of this, she is a young girl who desperately wants to experience friendship. All of this on its own would make for a good story, but Shteyngart's version of a future that plays with geopolitical extremes adds a sickly fascinating layer to it all.

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 stars.

This one took me a while to get into. Vera, the 10 year-old narrator, is precocious, and loves learning new words and concepts. I appreciated the author's way of highlighting Vera's new acquisitions to her vocabulary. On the negative side, I always felt like I was missing something, like I was a step behind. The new modern USA was a little scary, and not explicitly explained, so learning about the new world was an ongoing activity.

I did like the author's sense of narration and dialogue -- it kept me invested and interested.

Overall, this was a little different, and pretty good. Would I read more from the author. Yes.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.