"Nobody said it was easy
No one ever said it would be so hard"
Coldplay - The Scientist

The 21st Century is off to a rough start. End-stage capitalism's ladder rungs are few and far between. Every time you succeed in taking a step up, you soon discover it is decayed and failing. War, recession, deadly viruses, algorithmic social media, surveillance technology, lethal drugs, fires, floods - it is a fraught time for all, but most especially for those just starting out and living on the edge.

Devyn Defoe's propulsive debut novel "Burnside" brings it all into focus in a marvelously engaging way. It's a jungle out there - housing and health care are unaffordable, public transportation is ratty and unreliable, jobs are underpaid and exploitative, law enforcement is disinterested and distracted.

But you still have to eat, sleep, work, dream, and procreate. Defoe's characters are rich and varied, fully believable at being unbelievable. The writing is engaging, full sentences with rollicking clauses, followed by single sentence paragraphs, and laugh-out-loud dialogue. The periodic set pieces are cringy and compelling.

The Patriarchy is alive, but deeply unwell. The majority of the unnamed males are generally clueless at best, criminal and fatally dangerous, at worst.

Best to keep your head down and spirits up. It's bound to get better, right? Great work, Devyn Defoe.

Special thanks to Astra House and NetGalley for the eARC.

“We were all moving much too fast; there were leaves over our eyes blocking out the sun, and too many people were dying by the river”.

September is left with a scar from an encounter with a homeless man and the fear that he is stalking her. Our unnamed narrator, September’s roomate, describes the Bowl as a violent, dangerous place with many murders, as well as bizarre events involving the locals.

I was never bored while reading this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s like a fever dream or a car crash that you can’t take your eyes off of. It’s incredibly campy and wild. I believe it stalled at times, but that does not detract from the story. One thing that had me confused at first were the nicknames for everyone; almost every character is nameless, and it took time to get used to. Overall, this was an excellent debut; I devoured it in three sittings!

Thank you Astra House for the early copy!
and congrats to Devyn Defoe for this great debut!

Burnside will be out August, 4! 🪩

How well can you really know a person?

I loved Burnside. It’s a smoggy book full of unusual, charming characters at bars and in bookstores, people you encounter as the world burns.

This book reminded me of being very young and watching Waking Life for the first time (complimentary). Once I just let myself flow with it like a dream it finally clicked with me. It's an often uncomfortable reading experience with just enough glimpses of humanity mixed in with the death and despair that exists all around us in this world. There are many times where it feels like a dystopia until a token from our universe is slipped in, like a book from 1992, or someone talking about Porland, Oregon.

The main character takes a long time to find her footing: she has nicknamed everyone unlucky enough to tread across her path with something flighty and quick, something that describes the person they say they are, but not who they are. Everyone gets tokenized and Flanderized until she finally really meets Burnside. She starts to listen more after that moment.

What a strange read. It's an interesting, meandering ride.

Thank you Astra Publishing House and Netgalley for the early copy!

a strange little book about the preconceived notions that we as a whole have about people -- both those familiar and unfamiliar -- and the ways they come to develop. the synopsis makes this sound more comedic, but it's actually a very hazy, mundanely absurd story sprinkled with humor throughout, something more akin to bunny. like, yes, of course there's a town run by feral children in which any adult that ventures into it mysteriously disappears & fish that insist on exclusively watching sailor moon, why wouldn't there be? the kind of stuff that forces you sit there and think about whether it was some elaborate metaphor or if the author was just smoking something. or both.

other reviewers believe that the tanner comparison is wrong but i disagree! defoe's comedy tends to veer more into the nonsensical while tanner's is a bit more grounded in reality but the delivery is quite similar -- the brief history of claudia thursday vs woodworkers was something straight out of worry.

overall i thought that this was such a great debut! i'll be sure to keep an eye out for whatever defoe puts out next.

Thank you to Astra Publishing House, Devyn Defoe and NetGalley for this Advanced Copy!!

This is a dreamy, strange debut novel.
Beautifully written, it balances realism with an almost surreal, dreamlike quality that makes the story feel immersive, intimate and slightly untethered.

An unnamed narrator guides us through her life and through her lens it becomes clear the way we perceive others, and the way we are perceived rarely reflects the truth. The characters felt human and real and the observations are mostly subtle, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions much like the narrator.

Burnside feels less plot driven and instead provided an interesting exploration into the banality of life with a feminist undertone (at least that was my take away) Whilst the pacing on the slower side, it was atmospheric and very well written. I’d definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy literary fiction that prioritises atmosphere, introspection, and social commentary.

Review also posted to StoryGraph and GoodReads

I was provided an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and review, thank you to Astra House and the author for this galley!

If you like your humor dry as a piece of used 120 grit sandpaper lying for days in the Arizona sun, this one’s for you!(complimentary). I thoroughly enjoyed this read and found myself gleefully making my way through it in just a few sittings. Defoe has such a unique voice—sparse dialogue mixed with hilariously esoteric references. The publisher describes this debut as being perfect for fans of Emma Cline or Joy Williams, who I think are both apt comparisons. I’d also agree with those who’ve described it as Lynchian, the most direct comparison (to me) being Twin Peaks—especially for the mix of both dark and light humor, as well as the dreamlike quality that permeates the book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, would read again!

P.S. Poor possums):

Utterly dizzying, almost entrancing. Every time I opened this book, my head began to spin. Scenes spun into each other. Paragraphs never seemed to end. Burnside flares with fatigue and despair over the 21st century.

It is clear that this book is set in the 2020s. I absolutely love it when books date themselves. There’s subtle references to internet culture; there’s the absurd reality of a feminist juice shop that doesn’t pay its women workers well. Defoe criticizes the superficiality of the 2020s, linking this shallowness of human connections to neoliberalism and late stage capitalism. Our unnamed narrator, her best friend September, our narrator’s boss—they all exhibit individualism where it seems like their vision is funneled to see only what they want to see. Detachment is the consequence of neoliberalism.

Burnside is highly observant. And these plethora of observations prove that knowledge is a burden. Our narrator treads life with this paralyzed passivity. She’s taken by fatigue over global crises. There’s so much despair lingering in the thick paragraphs (which were unnerving to my eyes but an effective choice for the stream-of-consciousness narration). Our narrator is so cynical and I can’t blame her.

Besides being cynical, she is also avoidant. Despite having love for her best friend September, it’s clear that their friendship is complicated. I appreciate the nuance to girl friendships. Love, admiration, envy, resentment. Our narrator talks more about September than her own self. Yet, the majority of her frustrations are left to rot as unsaid grudges.

I’d recommend Burnside for those who enjoy slow-paced studies on what it means to be a human in the age of late stage capitalism. It begs the question: what actions are morally acceptable for survival? Defoe writes in such a descriptive and evocative manner that pairs well in making her criticisms on capitalism not sound preachy. Burnside prompts so much introspection. Reading this felt like a dream on repeat, where the details are fuzzy yet you can feel every single scene.

Dreamy, strange, and entirely propulsive, this debut completely sucked me into its chaotic, wildfire-plagued California setting. Following the bookstore-clerk narrator through a landscape of late-stage capitalism and paranoia kept me hooked from start to finish.