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Kittentits
“ Molly is one of the greatest young female characters I’ve had the luck of reading since I picked up Joy Williams’s The Quick and the Dead back in 2000 . . . I TRULY LOVE THIS BOOK!!!!!!” —Gillian Flynn, Gillian Flynn Books
A feral, heart-busting, absurdist debut about Molly, a rambunctious and bawdy ten-year-old searching for friendship and ghosts.
It’s 1992, and ten-year-old Molly is tired of living in the fire-rotted, nun-haunted House of a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action with her formerly blind dad and grieving Evelyn. But when twenty-three-year-old Jeanie, a dirt bike–riding ex-con with a questionable past, moves in, she quickly becomes the object of Molly’s adoration. She might treat Molly terribly, but they both have dead moms and potty mouths, so naturally Molly can’t seem to leave Jeanie alone.
When Jeanie fakes her own death in a hot-air balloon accident, Molly runs away to Chicago with just a stolen credit card and a sweet pair of LA Gear Heatwaves to meet her pen pal Demarcus and hunt down Jeanie. What follows is a race to New Year’s Eve, as Molly and Demarcus plan a séance to reunite with their lost moms in front of a live audience at the World’s Fair.
A surrealist and bold take on the American coming-of-age novel, Holly Wilson’s debut is about the interstices of loss, grief, and friendship.
A feral, heart-busting, absurdist debut about Molly, a rambunctious and bawdy ten-year-old searching for friendship and ghosts.
It’s 1992, and ten-year-old Molly is tired of living in the fire-rotted, nun-haunted House of a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action with her formerly blind dad and grieving Evelyn. But when twenty-three-year-old Jeanie, a dirt bike–riding ex-con with a questionable past, moves in, she quickly becomes the object of Molly’s adoration. She might treat Molly terribly, but they both have dead moms and potty mouths, so naturally Molly can’t seem to leave Jeanie alone.
When Jeanie fakes her own death in a hot-air balloon accident, Molly runs away to Chicago with just a stolen credit card and a sweet pair of LA Gear Heatwaves to meet her pen pal Demarcus and hunt down Jeanie. What follows is a race to New Year’s Eve, as Molly and Demarcus plan a séance to reunite with their lost moms in front of a live audience at the World’s Fair.
A surrealist and bold take on the American coming-of-age novel, Holly Wilson’s debut is about the interstices of loss, grief, and friendship.
353 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 21, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 655 reviews
June 10, 2024
This book is like if Junie B. Jones knew about hard drugs and said “fuck”
March 5, 2024
Jeanie shakes her head and says Kittentits, you are so totally busted. You are so totally broken. It’s all over you, she says. Think about it, she goes. You floated in her nine months which in baby-time is forever. The beat of her heart was the first sound you heard. She was the universe you soaked in and the one you clawed out of and you lost her so early it formed you completely, so completely it’s invisible because it’s all you’ve ever known. But I can see it, Crotchtard.
I am a fan of the transgressive, trash-talking female trend in recent novels — it can be cathartic to read about women loosening their girdles and refusing to act ladylike — and while it might be off-putting to see a ten-year-old curse and fling around words like “tard” and “lesbo” like Molly in Kittentits, when you come to understand that her antisocial behaviour is guarding a crushed and neglected heart, it’s the distance the reader has to travel between unlikeability and understanding that makes this a special and worthwhile journey. Layer on some surreal and absurdist elements — this is a novel with ghosts and miracles, puppets and wax dummies, a psychic cowgirl in an iron lung and feuding conjoined twins — and I can see how this wouldn’t be for everyone; but it was for me. I am a fan of just this sort of thing: interesting, out-of-the-box storytelling that reveals something true and relatable about being human; I was surprised and intrigued on every page and ultimately moved; I am delighted to have had this introduction to the work of Holly Wilson. (Note: I read an ARC through NetGalley and passages quoted may not be in their final forms.)
The day Jeanie comes old fat Evelyn comes in, says No sass talk today, Molly, this is what you’re wearing. Meaning these side-striped shorts, this puff-painted shirt she puff-painted. Spongy letters floating across my nips saying Welcome, Welcome. Yellow puff bees buzzing around the letters, my nips. All this for Jeanie, the first Resident Friend since the fire, our first Resident Correctional Friend ever at the fire-rotted, nunhaunted House of Friends: a Semi-Cooperative Living Community of Peace Faith(s) in Action. I’d like to barf oceans on this shirt. I’d like to make some whiny kid put it on then barf on it while Jeanie watched and the whiny kid cried. That’s how you welcome someone the day she gets out of prison. That’s how you make her feel at home in her new halfway house where for eighteen months the state of Illinois requires her to live.
As a baby, Molly Sibly lost her mother in a drunk-driving accident; and due to her father’s unending grief, she effectively lost him in that moment as well. Raised in a Quaker “House of Friends”, and home-schooled by a well-meaning but clueless fellow resident (Evelyn, who is dealing with her own loss from a recent tragedy), Molly is restless and lonely with one real life friend, a pen pal who never responds, and a nodding relationship with the Goth librarian who sets up the TV/VCR combo in the library’s media room so she can watch an old video of her mother’s college performance as Nina in The Seagull. When Jeanie — a twenty-three-year-old dirt-bike-riding ex-con — is sent to live at the House of Friends, the fact that she immediately nicknames Molly “Kittentits”, shares smokes with her, and enlists the girl’s help in some dangerous capers, will make Molly feel seen and valued as an equal. And when Molly realises that what links all of her friends together is the tragic loss of their mothers, she conceives of a plan to hold a séance (or necromanteion) at the upcoming Chicago’s World Fair (a phantasmagoric version of an event once planned for 1992, but which was never actually held in real life).
There are many weird and absurdist details in Kittentits (which may not be to every reader’s tastes), and while the extreme language used by both Jeanie and Molly could admittedly turn a reader off, there is an intriguing scene in which Molly explains how encountering foul-language graffiti when she was seven was electrifying, “a baptism, an inauguration, a legit holy gift,” explaining:
This is how I learned what’s what. How to be a little girl in the world and be seen and heard. To live a life of glory that dignifies your suffering. It’s all about talking, it’s about how you speak. If you want to be badass and powerful you have to know the right way to speak. I wasn’t born knowing and neither were you. I had to learn and it wasn’t gradual, it was all the sudden. A lightning strike, a thunderclap, a slap on the cheek.
And I do find something intriguingly feminist in that — the loosening of the girdle and demanding to be seen and heard at a time when Molly’s only remaining parent was literally blind to her and her needs — and it was interesting that every time Molly drops an f-bomb in casual conversation, the adults around her sigh and say, “You shouldn’t talk like that,” but no one is actually engaging with her, let alone parenting the girl. At least Jeanie (horrible role-model with dubious intentions) is speaking the same language, and this sets Molly on the raucous path to find her mother and herself.
I’m the ghost-friended badass who snuck into Mombie’s dressing room, I’m a preteen hellion who emits her own scent: the awesome stink of a girl who bites, the blood-muddied funk of the bramble cats! In Grandpa Hack’s Horror Mirrors each mirror shows you killed a different way, but no matter the mirror, no matter the wound, no matter stabbed all over, tractor-crushed, or drowned, I look wild and dirty always, a dirt bike gang’s kitten. Someone waiting to sink rabies into the steak of your neck.
I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the journey; thanks to Stephanie for putting this on my radar!
May 23, 2024
NOPE NOPE NOPE. I never DNF advanced copies, but I simply cannot and will not finish this book. The writing is terrible, the language is foul (coming from someone who curses often, but I can't stand the R slur every two sentences, especially from a 10 year old's mouth), and the characters are atrocious. I usually will say a book just isn't for me and to go ahead and give it a try, but this time I'm very strongly recommending you avoid.
February 4, 2024
Kittentits was a wild ride in ways I wasn't expecting. Told from the perspective of a 10-year-old girl named Molly, we are provided with a unique and hilarious perspective of her understanding and perception of the outside world.
While she did feel a little too 'grown-up' at times given the language, perhaps she was beyond her years given the circumstances of her life.
What I really liked about this was the various subjects Wilson touched on — family, friendship, abandonment, grief — all through the eyes of a child.
Molly was a memorable character and will be one I think of often. Thanks to the publisher for the eARC, and I look forward to whatever else Holly Wilson has coming next.
While she did feel a little too 'grown-up' at times given the language, perhaps she was beyond her years given the circumstances of her life.
What I really liked about this was the various subjects Wilson touched on — family, friendship, abandonment, grief — all through the eyes of a child.
Molly was a memorable character and will be one I think of often. Thanks to the publisher for the eARC, and I look forward to whatever else Holly Wilson has coming next.
May 14, 2024
big ups to Dreamscape Select and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this one via audio.
this comes out May 21st, 2024.
--
oh boy, i shouldn't have just assumed that this was a flashy title meant to draw a reader in.
i got about 7% into this book and stopped. within that 7% the following things happened:
- a 10 year old talked about her nipples
- a 10 year old pulled a used tampon out of an adult
- a 10 year old calling people "lesbo" multiple times
- this same 10 year old and adult excessively used "fuck" and variants of "retard". i stopped counting at around 20 usages.
this was all in the first 7%.
i like satire and i don't really mind stuff that's gross (melissa broder has done this super well). but what we have here is a super edgelord book about a ten year old that doesn't act, speak, or think anything like a ten year old and an author who woke up and decided to set their story in the 90's so that they could use their book as a vehicle to say as many slurs and offensive things as possible.
at the end of every bad/mediocre review i do try to say who this book would be for and the truth is, i don't know.
what i read gave me the same feeling that i get reading some of gillan flynn's work - artless, unnecessarily edgey and offensive, and ultimately soulless. great news, though - after deciding this i found out gillian flynn apparently loved this one. that tracks! i wish i had known that prior. maybe this is for fans of hers, idk.
anyway, this will be a book for someone, but it wasn't a book for me.
signed,
a lesbo
this comes out May 21st, 2024.
--
oh boy, i shouldn't have just assumed that this was a flashy title meant to draw a reader in.
i got about 7% into this book and stopped. within that 7% the following things happened:
- a 10 year old talked about her nipples
- a 10 year old pulled a used tampon out of an adult
- a 10 year old calling people "lesbo" multiple times
- this same 10 year old and adult excessively used "fuck" and variants of "retard". i stopped counting at around 20 usages.
this was all in the first 7%.
i like satire and i don't really mind stuff that's gross (melissa broder has done this super well). but what we have here is a super edgelord book about a ten year old that doesn't act, speak, or think anything like a ten year old and an author who woke up and decided to set their story in the 90's so that they could use their book as a vehicle to say as many slurs and offensive things as possible.
at the end of every bad/mediocre review i do try to say who this book would be for and the truth is, i don't know.
what i read gave me the same feeling that i get reading some of gillan flynn's work - artless, unnecessarily edgey and offensive, and ultimately soulless. great news, though - after deciding this i found out gillian flynn apparently loved this one. that tracks! i wish i had known that prior. maybe this is for fans of hers, idk.
anyway, this will be a book for someone, but it wasn't a book for me.
signed,
a lesbo
June 26, 2024
the amount of racism and weirdly sexual things the author wrote about a ten year old is disgusting. not only is this book not good—there are slurs (racist, homophobic, ableist) every other page. if you need slurs to make your writing more interesting, then maybe it's just not that interesting in the first place!
hearing a ten year old say "tard" or the r-slur every other page—along with lesbo, fat, fucking, cunt, etc is just BORING. if you're gonna have an annoying "edgy" main character, at least make the story and writing interesting. using vile language for shock value was unique about 30 years ago.
i'm so fucking glad i didn't win an ARC of this novel. it's awful.
hearing a ten year old say "tard" or the r-slur every other page—along with lesbo, fat, fucking, cunt, etc is just BORING. if you're gonna have an annoying "edgy" main character, at least make the story and writing interesting. using vile language for shock value was unique about 30 years ago.
i'm so fucking glad i didn't win an ARC of this novel. it's awful.
March 13, 2025
It's like I'm crossing not my eyes, but my whole entire body. Like, all at once, I'm in every single place I've ever been. Like, right now, I'm now-Molly, while inside House of Friends, it's still then-Molly. Stupid f-cking then-Molly... Now-Molly and then-Molly and watching-Bruce-get-put-in-the-ground-Molly... They're all alive at once, every single Molly. I hate them and love them and they're all so f-cking dumb! (7:16:19)
I listened to the audiobook of this book, which is absurdly brilliant, thanks in large part to the audiobook narrator, Stephanie Willing. The book itself is brilliantly absurd. Molly, the ten-year-old narrator of this novel, fills the pages with her sprawling inner monolog. Considering what an ignorant little cuss this character is, I found it challenging to hang out in her self-obsessed, myopic head. However, despite finding the narrator of this book unlikable, I also cared about her. She's an unloved, mentally ill ten year old. That was me, once. I have space in my heart for this child.
I wasn't able to take notes on this one because I had to concentrate so hard on the action, which is definitely confusing and directionless. But in this case, I considered these traits I normally find ruinous to a book to be a challenge to exercise my empathy–with people not at all like me. And with myself.
I plan to read this again. I think I want to read this one with my eyes, as hard as that will be. I'll update this space accordingly.
For now, I recommend this book for fans of experimental fiction, character driven stories, and accurate mental health rep.
Thank you to the author Holly Wilson, publishers Zando, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of KITTENTITS. I found an accessible copy (audiobook) on Libby. Read by Stephanie Willing. All views are mine.
---------------
I listened to the audiobook of this book, which is absurdly brilliant, thanks in large part to the audiobook narrator, Stephanie Willing. The book itself is brilliantly absurd. Molly, the ten-year-old narrator of this novel, fills the pages with her sprawling inner monolog. Considering what an ignorant little cuss this character is, I found it challenging to hang out in her self-obsessed, myopic head. However, despite finding the narrator of this book unlikable, I also cared about her. She's an unloved, mentally ill ten year old. That was me, once. I have space in my heart for this child.
I wasn't able to take notes on this one because I had to concentrate so hard on the action, which is definitely confusing and directionless. But in this case, I considered these traits I normally find ruinous to a book to be a challenge to exercise my empathy–with people not at all like me. And with myself.
I plan to read this again. I think I want to read this one with my eyes, as hard as that will be. I'll update this space accordingly.
For now, I recommend this book for fans of experimental fiction, character driven stories, and accurate mental health rep.
Thank you to the author Holly Wilson, publishers Zando, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of KITTENTITS. I found an accessible copy (audiobook) on Libby. Read by Stephanie Willing. All views are mine.
---------------
July 8, 2024
Hilarious and heartbreaking. This surreal trauma trip is probably not for everyone but once I got into it I was all in. Featuring: the early 90’s, the greater Chicago area, a profoundly angry little girl, Quakers, seances. Other stuff too.
October 22, 2024
From page one, Kittentits does not come across as a serious novel. It's crass and told from the perspective of a 10 year old (who can see ghosts?) that so desperately wants to be seen (as many young children do) by an adult in her life that really shouldn't be the object of her affection. And yet.... There are so many good nuggets and quotes timed so perfectly to get you to reflect on life, relationships, and how we present ourselves to the world in addition to the absurdity.
I loved every minute of this and will definitely be purchasing a copy when it's released.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved every minute of this and will definitely be purchasing a copy when it's released.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
June 6, 2024
wtf did I read? lmao
May 22, 2024
I am unsure what to rate this. I have absolutely no idea what the plot was. This book had zero plot, only vibes. And the tampon scene in the first few pages? What? Am I on mushrooms? Hmmm, maybe mushrooms would be a good idea while reading this trippy book. 🤷♀️
*WHY DID A TAMPON AD POP UP ON YOUTUBE WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS?!*
*WHY DID A TAMPON AD POP UP ON YOUTUBE WHILE I WAS WRITING THIS?!*
Want to read
April 15, 2024Words cannot express how badly I want to read this book.
Blurb: It's 1992 and 10-year-old Molly befriends 23-year-old Jeanie, who fakes her own death in a hot-air balloon accident, after which "Molly runs away to Chicago with just a stolen credit card and a sweet pair of LA Gear Heatwaves to meet her pen pal Demarcus and hunt down Jeanie. What follows is a race to New Year’s Eve, as Molly and Demarcus plan a séance to reunite with their lost moms in front of a live audience at the World’s Fair."
Sounds like a weird, wild ride. Besides which, THAT COVER and THAT TITLE! I am here for all of it. 😻
Blurb: It's 1992 and 10-year-old Molly befriends 23-year-old Jeanie, who fakes her own death in a hot-air balloon accident, after which "Molly runs away to Chicago with just a stolen credit card and a sweet pair of LA Gear Heatwaves to meet her pen pal Demarcus and hunt down Jeanie. What follows is a race to New Year’s Eve, as Molly and Demarcus plan a séance to reunite with their lost moms in front of a live audience at the World’s Fair."
Sounds like a weird, wild ride. Besides which, THAT COVER and THAT TITLE! I am here for all of it. 😻
July 30, 2025
I have no idea how to review a book like Kittentits. I’m totally at a loss for words with this book. I can definitely say that it’s unlike anything I’ve read before, that’s for sure.
The narrator is Molly, who is 10 years old and lives in a Quaker Friends house with her father and a woman named Evelyn in Calumet City, Illinois. Molly’s mother died when she was a baby, and Molly has cloaked her sadness over this loss and the yearning, yawning emptiness she feels inside with foul language and small, defiant acts of misbehavior. When an ex-con named Jeanie moves in, Molly quickly becomes obsessed with her – an obsession that leads Molly to circumstances beyond anything she ever imagined. At least she can trust her sweet LA Gear Heatwaves to get her where she needs to go – even all the way to Chicago, to the 1992 World’s Fair.
On one hand, this book is just as ludicrous as you’d expect for something with a title like Kittentits; but on the other, it was much more thoughtful than I expected it to be. I liked the first half of the book quite a bit; despite her brashness, I enjoyed getting to know Molly and felt like Holly Wilson really captured the idea of a child acting outlandishly to camouflage deep emotions she doesn’t know how to acknowledge or deal with. Molly is vulnerable despite her acerbic exterior, and I liked how Wilson explored what happens when a vulnerable child latches on to an unsafe (or at least unkind) adult and how those situations can spiral. There’s definitely some interesting character work and some thoughtful insights about friendship, grief, and loss. The world of the book is vibrant and lively.
The second half of the book, though – specifically the last third – kind of lost me. I wasn’t sure what was really happening or if the events were all in Molly’s head, which made me feel off balance, and eventually I decided to stop trying to figure it out and just go with it. Some of the more contemplative aspects of the book were lost in the absurdist direction that the plot took. In the end, Kittentits is a book I don’t think I’ll ever forget, but it’s not a book I’ll widely recommend.
The narrator is Molly, who is 10 years old and lives in a Quaker Friends house with her father and a woman named Evelyn in Calumet City, Illinois. Molly’s mother died when she was a baby, and Molly has cloaked her sadness over this loss and the yearning, yawning emptiness she feels inside with foul language and small, defiant acts of misbehavior. When an ex-con named Jeanie moves in, Molly quickly becomes obsessed with her – an obsession that leads Molly to circumstances beyond anything she ever imagined. At least she can trust her sweet LA Gear Heatwaves to get her where she needs to go – even all the way to Chicago, to the 1992 World’s Fair.
On one hand, this book is just as ludicrous as you’d expect for something with a title like Kittentits; but on the other, it was much more thoughtful than I expected it to be. I liked the first half of the book quite a bit; despite her brashness, I enjoyed getting to know Molly and felt like Holly Wilson really captured the idea of a child acting outlandishly to camouflage deep emotions she doesn’t know how to acknowledge or deal with. Molly is vulnerable despite her acerbic exterior, and I liked how Wilson explored what happens when a vulnerable child latches on to an unsafe (or at least unkind) adult and how those situations can spiral. There’s definitely some interesting character work and some thoughtful insights about friendship, grief, and loss. The world of the book is vibrant and lively.
The second half of the book, though – specifically the last third – kind of lost me. I wasn’t sure what was really happening or if the events were all in Molly’s head, which made me feel off balance, and eventually I decided to stop trying to figure it out and just go with it. Some of the more contemplative aspects of the book were lost in the absurdist direction that the plot took. In the end, Kittentits is a book I don’t think I’ll ever forget, but it’s not a book I’ll widely recommend.
August 5, 2024
It’s giving A24. It’s giving Welcome To The Dollhouse. It’s giving Todd Solondz. It’s giving white trash trailer park brilliance. It’s giving laugh out loud hilarious and awkward. It’s giving AWESOME!! Call me juvenile but I find pottymouth children so damn funny. Kittentits is a literary badass. 10 years old and she will destroy you.
Read it, if you dare. Don’t read it if you’re easily offended.
May 30, 2024
What a bizarre wonderful little book
May 20, 2024
Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Select for the ALC.
Simply how could I NOT request to read a book called Kittentits?! And that cover?? I was really excited to listen and review this, but I’m really bummed to announce it was a disappointment.
I simply could not get over how obnoxious the 10yo MC, Molly, was. As mentioned in a few other comments, it felt to me like the 90’s setting of the story was an excuse to have Molly and Jeanie and everyone use really insulting language, including an excessive usage of the r- slur (and a million variations of it).
I usually like some magical realism and surreal plot lines, but I was following along the story until maybe 30-something % and then things went off the rails and I had such a hard time understanding what was happening.
I’m sad to say it but I would not recommend this one.
Simply how could I NOT request to read a book called Kittentits?! And that cover?? I was really excited to listen and review this, but I’m really bummed to announce it was a disappointment.
I simply could not get over how obnoxious the 10yo MC, Molly, was. As mentioned in a few other comments, it felt to me like the 90’s setting of the story was an excuse to have Molly and Jeanie and everyone use really insulting language, including an excessive usage of the r- slur (and a million variations of it).
I usually like some magical realism and surreal plot lines, but I was following along the story until maybe 30-something % and then things went off the rails and I had such a hard time understanding what was happening.
I’m sad to say it but I would not recommend this one.
Read
June 15, 20242024 reads, #35. DID NOT FINISH. I wanted very badly to like this book; for one thing, just that title and cover art alone is the entire reason I picked up the book in the first place, once again proving the old adage, “You can’t judge a book by its cover, but you can decide what to read next by one.” Then after it arriving from the Chicago Public Library, I learned that it’s the latest title by a new imprint of the small press Zando, in which they asked the delightfully dark and weird Gillian Flynn (Gone Girl) to hand-pick a series of unknown experimental female authors who deserve more attention, which is an admirable project and one that deserves our support. Then there’s the engaging story concept itself, a subversive coming-of-age tale about a ten-year-old girl who has recently discovered cursing as her new religion, as she develops a fascination for a twenty-something juvenile delinquent who’s been forced by the courts to move into the sort-of co-op, sort-of halfway home where our hero Molly (the “Kittentits” of the book’s title) lives with her zany dad and even zanier housemates, the whole thing set in Chicago where I live, which is always a nice bonus. And if this wasn’t enough, there’s a bit of a slipstream alternative history going on here too; in the world of Kittentits, Chicago is about to host a World’s Fair in 1992 to celebrate the centennial anniversary of the famous one that first put them on the global cultural map, while no such fair took place here in our version of the multiverse.
But alas, there were just too many problems in this book for me to be able to get into it in any other way than a purely intellectual, stroking my chin while murmuring, “Hmm, that was clever” way, which perhaps reflects the fact that author Holly Wilson is a professional academe with a PhD in creative writing, which as we were just discussing a few weeks ago tends to be the death knell for the ability to write really engaging fiction anymore. The main problem is that Wilson has written this entire thing in an extremely experimental style, one that omits all quotation marks, is always dropping words you would normally find in real conversations, and really playing up the slang, in order to present this highly stylized prose that’s simply difficult to follow along with; then she marries it to the kind of “quirky unto infinity” milieu that became so big in the popular culture in the early 2000s (think Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, etc.; and let’s not even get started on those fucking Skittles commercials).
That’s not bad unto itself, but unfortunately for Wilson, that endlessly quirky style really got played out among audiences by the end of that decade, meaning that she’s not far enough away from those years to present this as a retro-quirky novel but not close enough to those years for readers to be able to enjoy it unironically. Or I suppose I should say “enjoy it in an ironic way unironically,” which is a big part of why this style burned itself out; by the time Postmodernism wheezed out its last gasps before its death, right around Obama’s first Presidential win in 2008 which birthed our current Wokeism artistic movement, it had become so masturbatory and deadpan and self-referential, it was impossible to enjoy it anymore in any kind of simple, unironic way.
So, while I applaud Wilson for doing an excellent job at late-period Postmodernism, I have to confess that I simply don’t want to read even a single new book in that style ever again, which made me lose interest in this book quickly despite it actually being well-written (or at least as “well-written” as you can say about a book that’s deliberately trying to challenge readers to put it back down again, one of the biggest problematic side-effects of devoting your entire life to academic scholarly study of creative writing, that the obsessive desire to “out-fancy” your peers results in books that practically scream, “I DARE you to make it to the last page of this novel!”). That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should avoid it, but certainly you deserve to know what you’re getting yourself into before you pick it up.
But alas, there were just too many problems in this book for me to be able to get into it in any other way than a purely intellectual, stroking my chin while murmuring, “Hmm, that was clever” way, which perhaps reflects the fact that author Holly Wilson is a professional academe with a PhD in creative writing, which as we were just discussing a few weeks ago tends to be the death knell for the ability to write really engaging fiction anymore. The main problem is that Wilson has written this entire thing in an extremely experimental style, one that omits all quotation marks, is always dropping words you would normally find in real conversations, and really playing up the slang, in order to present this highly stylized prose that’s simply difficult to follow along with; then she marries it to the kind of “quirky unto infinity” milieu that became so big in the popular culture in the early 2000s (think Napoleon Dynamite, Little Miss Sunshine, etc.; and let’s not even get started on those fucking Skittles commercials).
That’s not bad unto itself, but unfortunately for Wilson, that endlessly quirky style really got played out among audiences by the end of that decade, meaning that she’s not far enough away from those years to present this as a retro-quirky novel but not close enough to those years for readers to be able to enjoy it unironically. Or I suppose I should say “enjoy it in an ironic way unironically,” which is a big part of why this style burned itself out; by the time Postmodernism wheezed out its last gasps before its death, right around Obama’s first Presidential win in 2008 which birthed our current Wokeism artistic movement, it had become so masturbatory and deadpan and self-referential, it was impossible to enjoy it anymore in any kind of simple, unironic way.
So, while I applaud Wilson for doing an excellent job at late-period Postmodernism, I have to confess that I simply don’t want to read even a single new book in that style ever again, which made me lose interest in this book quickly despite it actually being well-written (or at least as “well-written” as you can say about a book that’s deliberately trying to challenge readers to put it back down again, one of the biggest problematic side-effects of devoting your entire life to academic scholarly study of creative writing, that the obsessive desire to “out-fancy” your peers results in books that practically scream, “I DARE you to make it to the last page of this novel!”). That doesn’t necessarily mean that you should avoid it, but certainly you deserve to know what you’re getting yourself into before you pick it up.
February 8, 2025
This is a book that makes you wonder what on earth you are reading for the most part because it veers into the absurd and absolutely ridiculous with a 10 yo talking and acting in a way that's downright uncomfortable and offensive!
But, beneath that, the yearning and vulnerability of a lonely 10 yo who misses her mother a lot and wants a chance to see her tugs at the heartstrings in a most relatable way.
It is 1992 and Molly lives with her father in a Quaker House of Friends. When Jeanine, an ex-con comes to live in the house after being released from prison, Molly is fascinated by how bold and badass she is and begins to follow her around and try to impress her. Jeannie gets up to all sorts of very questionable activities until she escapes in a hot air balloon! Molly, in the meantime, is obsessed with the Chicago Worlds Fair and the prospect of meeting her penpal Demarcus who lives in Chicago too. Running away from home and discovering that Demarcus is a ghost living in a sad apartment under the bed of a woman who is kept alive by an iron lung and conducts seances does nothing to dampen her spirits. She is drawn by the idea of necromancy helping her to see her mother again and goes about figuring out how to achieve that while being a part of Jeannie 's and Demarcus' shenanigans.
Molly is a very smart and independent 10 yo. She's also really lonely and grieving the loss of one parent which the apathy of the other does not help. She is looking for attention and clings to whoever gives it to her. Amidst all the over the top things that are said and done in this book, the sadness of this child came through really well and I related to her so much. I wanted her to get what she was so desperate for, despite knowing what is possible and each time her sprightly facade cracked to reveal the sorrow it was hiding I wanted to hug her. I felt protective towards her and wanted her to be happy and with people who would keep her safe.
I do believe that this book would have been a lot better with some scaling back of the most absurd parts and the language though I get that it was all meant to define the personality that Molly developed as a cloak for herself.
The fact that the real Molly came through despite my reservations about the rest made me glad to have read the book as it definitely evokes a lot of emotional reactions and reflection despite the conflicting feelings about the parts I found to be a bit too much. It is a challenging read and one that will evoke strong negative reactions and so it is maybe not for everyone.
But, beneath that, the yearning and vulnerability of a lonely 10 yo who misses her mother a lot and wants a chance to see her tugs at the heartstrings in a most relatable way.
It is 1992 and Molly lives with her father in a Quaker House of Friends. When Jeanine, an ex-con comes to live in the house after being released from prison, Molly is fascinated by how bold and badass she is and begins to follow her around and try to impress her. Jeannie gets up to all sorts of very questionable activities until she escapes in a hot air balloon! Molly, in the meantime, is obsessed with the Chicago Worlds Fair and the prospect of meeting her penpal Demarcus who lives in Chicago too. Running away from home and discovering that Demarcus is a ghost living in a sad apartment under the bed of a woman who is kept alive by an iron lung and conducts seances does nothing to dampen her spirits. She is drawn by the idea of necromancy helping her to see her mother again and goes about figuring out how to achieve that while being a part of Jeannie 's and Demarcus' shenanigans.
Molly is a very smart and independent 10 yo. She's also really lonely and grieving the loss of one parent which the apathy of the other does not help. She is looking for attention and clings to whoever gives it to her. Amidst all the over the top things that are said and done in this book, the sadness of this child came through really well and I related to her so much. I wanted her to get what she was so desperate for, despite knowing what is possible and each time her sprightly facade cracked to reveal the sorrow it was hiding I wanted to hug her. I felt protective towards her and wanted her to be happy and with people who would keep her safe.
I do believe that this book would have been a lot better with some scaling back of the most absurd parts and the language though I get that it was all meant to define the personality that Molly developed as a cloak for herself.
The fact that the real Molly came through despite my reservations about the rest made me glad to have read the book as it definitely evokes a lot of emotional reactions and reflection despite the conflicting feelings about the parts I found to be a bit too much. It is a challenging read and one that will evoke strong negative reactions and so it is maybe not for everyone.
May 28, 2024
The title Kittentits is a nickname given to the main character and it hints at her duality. A ten-year-old with a vulgar streak, a Jane Eyre dropping f bombs amidst accidentally poetic observations, a little girl running away from trauma and headlong towards trouble.
The first person narrative is equal parts confabulation and conflagration in that the narrator is unreliable and fire follows her wherever she goes. And even though I didn’t find the children in this book all that believable for their ages, a novel doesn’t have to be believable to be a great story. In fact, maybe it’s better when it’s just on the edge. The characters are only lightly rooted in reality and become increasingly supernatural in the surreal style of David Lynch.
Carnivalesque is the best way to describe both the 1992 World’s Fair setting and the plot. But it’s not just any fair, it’s like Luna Luna, the 1987 West German carnival made in collaboration with artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí and Keith Haring. I visited the recently reconstituted version of the Luna Luna park in Los Angeles funded by Drake and other art world investors. Sadly, it was all roped off rides that have become priceless to art collectors and worthless to carnies. If Kittentits were running the show, we’d all be taking joy rides on that Basquiat ferris wheel and vomiting all over the Keith Haring merry-go-round. Holly Wilson’s writing combines the best of this high-low-experience of high brow surreality and greasy funnel cakes.
I received an digital advance reader copy from NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books in exchange for an honest review.
The first person narrative is equal parts confabulation and conflagration in that the narrator is unreliable and fire follows her wherever she goes. And even though I didn’t find the children in this book all that believable for their ages, a novel doesn’t have to be believable to be a great story. In fact, maybe it’s better when it’s just on the edge. The characters are only lightly rooted in reality and become increasingly supernatural in the surreal style of David Lynch.
Carnivalesque is the best way to describe both the 1992 World’s Fair setting and the plot. But it’s not just any fair, it’s like Luna Luna, the 1987 West German carnival made in collaboration with artists like Jean-Michel Basquiat, Salvador Dalí and Keith Haring. I visited the recently reconstituted version of the Luna Luna park in Los Angeles funded by Drake and other art world investors. Sadly, it was all roped off rides that have become priceless to art collectors and worthless to carnies. If Kittentits were running the show, we’d all be taking joy rides on that Basquiat ferris wheel and vomiting all over the Keith Haring merry-go-round. Holly Wilson’s writing combines the best of this high-low-experience of high brow surreality and greasy funnel cakes.
I received an digital advance reader copy from NetGalley and Gillian Flynn Books in exchange for an honest review.
June 10, 2025
A girl is an island.
I loved every second of this. I’m obsessed with weird little molly.
She uses wild profanity to feel more adult/ put up this wall to protect herself and takes on characteristics of wild people she connects with. All she wants is to be seen and to make a connection with someone. She’s a lil badass and needed to be grounded 100%.
The side characters are just as interesting and F up. I mean … ghost? A lady in an iron lung? A goth librarian? I mean iconic.
(I did have issues with some of the language in the novel… like using the R word over and over … but I think it’s used in a way to show how out of touch molly is she’s using it on purpose for shock value to seek attention)
BIGGEST and only complaint- Molly did not feel like a 10 year old girl. I don’t understand why that age. She felt more 13/14/15.
THANK you Netgalley for the Arc. Can’t wait to get myself a copy and reread this.
Reread- oh sweet Molly ! ⭐️
I loved every second of this. I’m obsessed with weird little molly.
She uses wild profanity to feel more adult/ put up this wall to protect herself and takes on characteristics of wild people she connects with. All she wants is to be seen and to make a connection with someone. She’s a lil badass and needed to be grounded 100%.
The side characters are just as interesting and F up. I mean … ghost? A lady in an iron lung? A goth librarian? I mean iconic.
(I did have issues with some of the language in the novel… like using the R word over and over … but I think it’s used in a way to show how out of touch molly is she’s using it on purpose for shock value to seek attention)
BIGGEST and only complaint- Molly did not feel like a 10 year old girl. I don’t understand why that age. She felt more 13/14/15.
THANK you Netgalley for the Arc. Can’t wait to get myself a copy and reread this.
Reread- oh sweet Molly ! ⭐️
May 29, 2024
I beg your finest pardon?
May 11, 2024
First off, many thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this book as an audio ARC! I greatly appreciate it!
Look at that cover! Read that description! See Gillian Flynn vouching for this book! I had such high hopes for it!
Alas, they were dashed by the most obnoxious character voice I have ever come across in my life. And I've read a lot of books with teenage main characters, so I'm used to obnoxious main characters. The fact that this kid is ten makes it even worse. No ten year old talks like this, and if they do, they need some serious help. Even without the rampant, completely unnecessary r-slurs, the writing is just so, so bad.
The story itself had potential, and that makes it even worse, because what a waste!
One out of five stars for Kittentits. Biggest disappointment of the year so far.
Look at that cover! Read that description! See Gillian Flynn vouching for this book! I had such high hopes for it!
Alas, they were dashed by the most obnoxious character voice I have ever come across in my life. And I've read a lot of books with teenage main characters, so I'm used to obnoxious main characters. The fact that this kid is ten makes it even worse. No ten year old talks like this, and if they do, they need some serious help. Even without the rampant, completely unnecessary r-slurs, the writing is just so, so bad.
The story itself had potential, and that makes it even worse, because what a waste!
One out of five stars for Kittentits. Biggest disappointment of the year so far.
August 21, 2024
do u ever read a book and think ugh I wish I wrote this
gold stars around for Molly. I went into this blind and when I first started I thought it was going to be a hilarious fun read and it WAS but it’s also a special weirdo book you can’t POSSIBLY imagine what’s gonna happen next and Molly despite being the most earnest, funny narrator maybe ever is heartbreaking and full of emotion. Ugh I love it and I hate saying this bc it’s so annoying but this one is for the girlies who get it
gold stars around for Molly. I went into this blind and when I first started I thought it was going to be a hilarious fun read and it WAS but it’s also a special weirdo book you can’t POSSIBLY imagine what’s gonna happen next and Molly despite being the most earnest, funny narrator maybe ever is heartbreaking and full of emotion. Ugh I love it and I hate saying this bc it’s so annoying but this one is for the girlies who get it
June 9, 2024
Hilarious metaphors. A unique voice. A potty mouthed ten year old embarks on a hero's journey with a ghostly sidekick in search of their dead mothers and revenge on her formerly idolized, recently released from prison best friend and her separated siamese twin. The grail is a wax arm holding a tiny Bible. A wild ride.
August 19, 2024
I can excuse a ten year old swearing on every page but I draw the line at no quotation marks
June 1, 2025
😱🤯 One divide by zero stars. if this isn't the best book I read all year then I am in for a really big treat because I literally can't imagine a better book. I am seriously asking myself if this is my new favorite book ever. every page is an absolute delight. literary joy bombs exploding left and right. and a plot that never lets you go. (wax museums, iron lungs, seances, ghosts, hijacked dirigibles, conjoined twins (one is evil!), attempted sororicide, Quakers, inner city penpals, bolt cutters named Donna, fishes barfed upon, necromancy, and more!)
I can't wait to reread it, this time on paper and highlight all the fantastic turns of phrase that I couldn't capture on the audiobook.
the cover art perfectly portrays the mood of this book. you'll know what I mean if you read it.
the audio book narrator deserves a GD academy award.
ignore the naysayers' reviews. this book is like the art people look at and say, "it looks like a kid painted it" and they don't even realize what they're seeing.
Holly Wilson, if you're reading this, I swear if you keep writing I will buy anything you publish and sacrifice a cheeseburger of thanks to Pontus (or any other pagan deity of your choosing) in your honor.
Characters - 7/5!
Writing quality - 7/5!
Story/plot - 7/5!
Ending - loved it
logophilic* - she's 10, of course not
Unputdownable - yep
Deeper meaning - shrugging emoji
Suspense - yes
Humor - absolutely
Memorability - highest
Originality - very
readability - high
audio book? - I can't emphasize enough how good the audio narration was
I would recommend this book to: it's not for everyone.
March 14, 2024
big thank you to netgalley and zando for the ARC!
kittentits was a lot of things—absurd, strange, unsavory, gross, offensive, scabby kneed and unwashed. but also charming, unputdownable, surprisingly moving. there are a lot of grimy layers to scrub through to get to heart of the thing; there's goldfish swimming in toilet bowls filled with vomit and cowgirls in iron lungs and ghosts with artist dens under the kitchen sink. there's 10-year-old molly with the mouth of a sailor and a rebel's spirit, there's badass, dirt bike riding, cig smoking ex-con jeanie and her evil (ex-)siamese twin sister mombie. there are flames, death, rebirth, and an unexpectedly emotional conclusion that left me wishing i could stay, please, for just a little longer, please. and when you finally get there, to the heart of it, !!!!!!!! it's like !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i can see why people wouldn't like this—it's not for the faint of heart, it is spit in your face rude and unforgiving but it is so full of Life! grief and loneliness and love and reckoning and coming of age and life after death. an entire universe of down and dirty, real-life Stuff. i'm being intentionally vague because kittentits is the kind of story where you just have to dive in and see for yourself. cannot wait to read more from holly wilson
kittentits was a lot of things—absurd, strange, unsavory, gross, offensive, scabby kneed and unwashed. but also charming, unputdownable, surprisingly moving. there are a lot of grimy layers to scrub through to get to heart of the thing; there's goldfish swimming in toilet bowls filled with vomit and cowgirls in iron lungs and ghosts with artist dens under the kitchen sink. there's 10-year-old molly with the mouth of a sailor and a rebel's spirit, there's badass, dirt bike riding, cig smoking ex-con jeanie and her evil (ex-)siamese twin sister mombie. there are flames, death, rebirth, and an unexpectedly emotional conclusion that left me wishing i could stay, please, for just a little longer, please. and when you finally get there, to the heart of it, !!!!!!!! it's like !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i can see why people wouldn't like this—it's not for the faint of heart, it is spit in your face rude and unforgiving but it is so full of Life! grief and loneliness and love and reckoning and coming of age and life after death. an entire universe of down and dirty, real-life Stuff. i'm being intentionally vague because kittentits is the kind of story where you just have to dive in and see for yourself. cannot wait to read more from holly wilson
May 15, 2024
A completely absurd (in the best way) coming of age debut set in the early 90s that follows Molly, a ten year old girl who can see ghosts, lives with her overly religious father, is grieving her dead mother and feels lonely living in an off the grid type Quaker commune.
Filled with a memorable cast of quirky side characters, stark humor and lots of emotional depth, Kittentits is definitely one I won't forget soon this year (I mean hello, that title and that cover alone!!). I also really enjoyed Molly's friendship with Jeanie and Demarcus and the way they each bond on completely different levels.
Great on audio narrated by Stephanie Willing, this book won't be for everyone but I liked it a lot and would recommend to fans of books like Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!
Filled with a memorable cast of quirky side characters, stark humor and lots of emotional depth, Kittentits is definitely one I won't forget soon this year (I mean hello, that title and that cover alone!!). I also really enjoyed Molly's friendship with Jeanie and Demarcus and the way they each bond on completely different levels.
Great on audio narrated by Stephanie Willing, this book won't be for everyone but I liked it a lot and would recommend to fans of books like Alan Bradley's Flavia de Luce series. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review!
July 5, 2024
I hesitate to say how much I loved this book because most of the reviews are like, "What kind of monster would even like this book, DNF," acting complete Evelyns. They're all like, "She's ten and she says the f-word," and "It's only set in 1992 so she can use slurs," and "I don't need to hear a child say 'nips'," but look, I was also ten in 1992 and we were unfiltered, insensitive idiots who did our best to glom onto terrible role models.
The truth is I loved this book so bad. It's so fun and absurd and completely unhinged.
The truth is I loved this book so bad. It's so fun and absurd and completely unhinged.
July 8, 2024
i don't think i've ever been so let down by a book i was dying to read based off of the *chefs kiss* greatest synopsis in history.
:(
i want to read the book that this was advertised as
------------
A feral, heart-busting, absurdist debut about Molly, a rambunctious and bawdy ten-year-old searching for friendship and ghosts.
give it to me.
give it to me now.
i think this book will save my life.
:(
i want to read the book that this was advertised as
------------
A feral, heart-busting, absurdist debut about Molly, a rambunctious and bawdy ten-year-old searching for friendship and ghosts.
give it to me.
give it to me now.
i think this book will save my life.
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