Patricia Lockwood writes herself as a character and a real person so well. Her writing makes almost no sense, but the vibes are obvious. I barely know exactly what happened here, but I get it? I love the cast of characters (her family irl) she surrounds herself with and the way she writes them as so real and so like caricatures. As ever, I want her to write a million more books. I also miss her Twitter.

Patricia Lockwood’s Will There Ever Be Another You is a genre-bending exploration of grief, illness, and the peculiarities of memory. This auto-fictional work follows Lockwood’s experiences with long-COVID, blending personal and literary references with her trademark blend of the absurd and poignant. It opens with a reflective, third-person narrative, drawing from her earlier novel No One Is Talking About This, and transitions into a kaleidoscopic first-person exploration of mental and physical displacement caused by illness.

The novel unfolds in three parts. The first, “Fairy Pools,” focuses on the aftermath of a family tragedy, while the second, “The Changeling,” chronicles Lockwood’s experience with long-COVID, describing both its disorienting physical symptoms and the cognitive dissonance it triggers. The final section, “The Artist is Present,” sees Lockwood grappling with the complexities of self-representation through writing, blurring art, reality, and the process of reclaiming one’s identity after illness.

With references to literary figures like Susanna Clarke and Damon Galgut, as well as her own experiences with book prizes and literary events, Lockwood’s narrative becomes a meta-commentary on the act of writing and the elusive nature of self. It’s a work that challenges convention, often disorienting yet deeply reflective, and ultimately celebrates the complex process of rebuilding oneself—emotionally, mentally, and creatively—after profound upheaval. Lockwood’s unique style remains as sharp and inventive as ever, making this a compelling, if occasionally bewildering, read.

I adored Lockwood's last novel but this one was a bit too...woozy for me. The narrator's lost in a COVID haze and while the novel was purposely disjointed it felt too untethered in its point of view.

A Covid "novel" unlike any other.

I put "novel" in quotes because there does seem to be quite a lot of autobiographical information in here, and the book really defies classification. Some of it reads like a fever dream, part of Lockwood's long Covid-induced brain fog. I haven't read Priestdaddy yet, but from what I know of it, this story is a continuation, and we get a summary of its contents in this one.

Sometimes it's funny, with Lockwood the queen of putting words together you've never seen in print before in your life. Other times it loses its way and is hard to follow, which partly works as a symptom of brain fog but can be alienating to the reader.

Five stars in parts, three overall.

lockwood is such a talented writer, her prose is unlike anyone else's. i wasn't a huge fan of the book's structure or narrative form (parts of the middle section seem like short essays that don't really connect to each other), but honestly her voice is so good, it doesn't matter. i will definitely re-read this.

Perplexing and frustrating, not sure if I truly understood what the author was crafting here. I wish readers could post reviews without a rating as I'm not sure it feels fair for me to rate it. I did finish the book! But I went back to the book description at least three times in the process of reading it to try to better understand what was going on. It felt like there was a distinct disconnect between the book description and the actual contents.
To me, it feels incredibly experimental. I read a lot of unusual fiction, but this was a huge challenge to follow the flow of the narrative. It was perhaps meant to be that way - an embodiment of the way that long COVID can affect the brain and capacity to function. It felt almost incoherent at moments. The scattered references to both popular culture and literary canon were difficult to unravel - some seemed as if they were trying to be funny but I'm not sure it came through for me personally. I felt that the author was working through real situations that may have happened with experiencing long COVID and traumatic health situations with her partner. Putting those experiences into fiction would be so challenging. Much respect for the author who is clearly creating something one-of-a-kind here, just not the best fit for this reader!

Great book from the writer of no one is talking about this. Fresh perspective and unique take on what she set out to do. Cannot wait for this to come out and be discussed by a whole bunch of readers.

A disorienting and fascinating reading and an apt follow up (and a sequel of sorts) to No One is Talking About This. Absolutely recommend to any Lockwood fans.