Young Fools: A Novel

by Liza Palmer

Two women do the best they can to make something of their lives—even at the expense of their friendship—in a witty, emotional, and startling novel by the author of Family Reservations .

Helen Hicks may not have any friends, but she does have a prove her doubting, elitist parents wrong and become a literary sensation before she turns thirty. When she’s finally accepted into the esteemed Hayward Writing Intensive at twenty-four, Helen believes she’s right on schedule.

At Hayward, Helen meets Cherry Stewart, a free-spirited, ambitious kid whose eclectic tastes skew far more pedestrian than Helen’s, but as Cherry’s champion and mentor, Helen decides they’ll set the publishing world on fire and go down as one of the literary world’s most iconic duos.

But as Helen turns thirty with no debut novel in sight and a breathtaking case of writer’s block, she is forced to put her dreams on hold. Thinking Cherry shares her sad fate, Helen is shocked to learn that her best friend has not only finished and sold a novel in secret, but even more devastating it’s…genre fiction.

As Helen and Cherry’s yearslong friendship comes crashing down, Helen finally has the clarity and inspiration to take her own art to the next level. It’s going to get personal.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Audible Audio

First published September 9, 2025

About the author

Liza Palmer is the internationally bestselling author of Conversations with the Fat Girl , which has been optioned for series by HBO.

Library Journal said Palmer’s “blend of humor and sadness is realistic and gripping,..”

After earning two Emmy nominations writing for the first season of VH1’s Pop Up Video, she now knows far too much about Fergie.

Palmer’s fifth novel, Nowhere but Home, is about a failed chef who decides to make last meals for the condemned in Texas. Nowhere but Home won the Willie Morris Award for Southern Fiction in 2013.

Liza's seventh novel, The F Word, came out through Flatiron Books April 25, 2017.

Liza lives in Los Angeles and when she's not drinking tea and talking about The Great British Bake Off, she works at BuzzFeed.

Reviews

[layan ليان (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liza Palmer, you are a legend for writing this book.

I don’t even know how to describe how this book made me feel, but I’ll try :)

This is one of the most beautiful books I’ve ever read. And I don’t mean that lightly. I mean it. It felt like I was being cracked open and put back together with words.

I don’t know where to begin, but let’s start easy! This book is about two women: Helen and Cherry. One is controlled, ambitious, chasing literary greatness like her life depends on it. The other is free-spirited, unpredictable, and full of a kind of quiet fire. Their friendship starts as something creative and full of hope — and then, over years and heartbreak and secrets, it turns into something messy and complicated and incredibly real.

This book dives into what it means to be an artist, yes — but also what it means to be human. It’s about trying to make something of yourself, about how we define success, and what happens when we tie our self- worth to the dreams we’re too afraid to admit out loud. It’s about friendship, betrayal, jealousy, growing up, and holding on — and then letting go.

There are so many things this book talks about, ambition, friendship, aging, grief, art, love, and how we sometimes live as a reaction to life instead of living as ourselves. That hit me hard (Like truly hard, I was tearing up).

What I loved most, though, is how deeply human every character is. No one is perfect!!! No one is fully good or fully bad. Even the side characters — who only show up briefly — have so much depth and care put into them. You get this aching sense that every life in this book matters. Every relationship, every moment, every little heartbreak — it all matters.

Look, I really am not a crier over books, but this made me cry — not necessarily in a sad way — but still, it made me cry.

Also, I just have to say — Liza Palmer did something so specific and so brilliant in this book, I genuinely don’t even have the words. She’s a genius. Truly. I’m still speechless.

Anyway, I’m emotional atm.

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC. I’m so so grateful I got to read this early. And I can’t wait for the world to fall in love with it too.

[Angie Miale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel follows two women, Cherry and Helen. They are, at times, best friends. As a part of an exclusive writer's program called Heyward House, they are both colleagues but also competitors. Helen comes across as extremely self-centered, entitled, with a terrible attitude. Cherry comes across as a fighter and a good friend. The story is very meta as it appears to be about real life events and it makes you wonder how much is about real life. Helen and Cherry both plan to publish a novel and they assume they will be successful. Helen gets very angry, condescending and jealous of Cherry's success. Helen looks up to a woman named Tess because she is wealthy although she struggles with mental health and addiction.

Jealousy is such a gross, pitiful emotion. Helen uses Cherry's likeness in her fiction and really paints herself as being a better person than she is. Helen is super unlikable. But because the book is about fictionalized accounts of frenemies, it makes you really wonder if this is the author's own attempt to do the same. This is not a feel-good, heartwarming tale, and it is not dramatic, over the top. The negativity that Helen brings Cherry is mostly academic. There are no thriller-type plotlines. This is really a book about female friendship and how awful women can be. I did find it to be slightly misogynistic, I think women are better than this.

Audiobook review- the performance was great, the narrator was engaging and the narrative was easy to follow. This is great on audio and produced well.

Thanks to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the ARC. Book to be published 9/9/25

[Dasha Romanova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to #NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

If “fiction books about writing fiction books” was a genre, I’d read nothing else. Books that make me fall in love with writing all over again have a very special place in my heart.

At the core of this book lies friendship and ambition. Sometimes working to bolster each other, but often butting heads and creating ultimatums for the characters. It’s a book you’ll want to dissect while also (if you’ve ever considered yourself to be a writer) making you feel like you’re the one under the scalpel.

The way this book approaches friendship is beyond beautiful and in the same instance utterly devastating. Even with the jumps in time, I felt like I grew up with Helen and Cherry, watching their characters mature while staying true to their fundamental quirks.

One of my favourite passages: “It’s not that what Tess said was particularly groundbreaking; on the contrary, it was quite simple—childlike, even. She related every writer in attendance at Hayho to a little kid running around in a Spider-Man Halloween costume, earnestly fwipping webs as if they’re finally able to fully embody their whole self. And for a roomful of writers who’d like the story of themselves to be far more erudite and complicated, that one little anecdote enabled Tess Bayard to pierce through all their well-trained haughtiness and unmask them as just little kids with dreams of a life beyond their four walls.”

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Fools by Liza Palmer follows Helen Hicks and Cherry Stewart, two young writers who meet at the prestigious, week-long Hayward Writing Intensive. Their friendship is forged under the mounting pressure of trying to demonstrate potential in the literary world. They both have disparate backgrounds and experiences, which impact the ways in which they approach the workshop, people, writing, and life generally.

After that week, the story follows the two writers’ lives at various points during their careers and the events that unfold. Despite plans and aspirations, their trajectories are anything but straightforward. Can their friendship, and who they believe themselves to be, stand the test of time?

Liza Palmer deftly crafted the personalities and histories of both women. Even in the most imperfect actions and trying choices, I couldn’t help but hope for the best for the characters. Each character (including side characters) was decidedly human, at times unlikable, but gripping in a way that made me keep turning the pages and wanting to know more.

If you love bookish books, strong female main characters, ambition-driven action, and stories following friendships, this one’s for you.  Young Fools will be published on September 9, 2025, by Lake Union Publishing.  Liza Palmer is also the author of Family Reservations, The Nobodies, The F Word, and Nowhere but Home.

#youngfools #netgalley #generalfiction #womensfiction #bookishcharacters #storiesaboutwriting #lizapalmer #booksta #bookstagram #bookreview #ARCreview #advancedreadercopy #bookreviews #ARCreviews #strongfemalecharacters #ambitiouscharacters

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this coming-of-age novel about two writers who meet at a prestigious writer's retreat and become best friends in the pursuit of their dream: becoming published authors. Young Fools is sharp, emotional and introspective and sometimes it felt like Eliza Palmer was writing from inside my own brain.

I loved that this book stayed true to the platonic relationship between these two women, through the ebbs and flows of life. I think this would make a great book club book - there are elements of it that I would have loved to discuss with someone!

Thanks to #NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Elle Laine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cherry is invited to attend the grand Hayward Writing Intensive workshop, bright-eyed and full of energy and the hope that her work will be noticed. Helen is invited to attend the same workshop after finally being accepted. She knows it is her year and that she will be the aspiring author with a noteworthy work to take the grand prize of a year stipend just to write. An unlikely friendship is formed between the two women, but as the years go by, both Cherry and Helen make choices that alter their friendship forever.

Thank you Liza Palmer and Brilliance Publishing for the audio ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and a thorough review. All opinions here are mine and mine alone.

I really resonated with the characters in this story. Because the story was heavily character-focused, I, as the reader, got to know the inner workings of Cherry and Helen very well. The good, the bad, and the ugly were all on display for the reader. This made the book stand out to me. I greatly enjoyed following along as the years went by for Cherry and Helen.

This book was excellent as an audiobook! The narrator did an excellent job of giving life to Cherry and Helen as the book progressed. I definitely recommend this audiobook for readers who enjoy deep-diving into characters.

[Bethany · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen Hicks needs therapy. That is the theme of this story. Told in 3 parts, first, when Helen meets Cherry at the Hayward Writing Intensive, second, 10 years later showing where they are in their lives and careers, third, another 10 years after that showing how each of their lives and relationships have changed. Again, I am going to say that Helen needs to be in therapy. The relationship between Helen and Cherry was toxic and frustrated me at times. The jealousy and emotional co-dependence were too much. I did enjoy the dual POVs as it did add a lot to the story. The plot was engaging as I did not want to stop reading, but I could not get over the unhealthy friendship. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator did a great job.

[Sarah Jensen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Young Fools by Liza Palmer

🎭 Overview
Liza Palmer’s Young Fools is a razor-sharp, emotionally charged novel that delves into the messy, vibrant lives of two women navigating adulthood’s disillusionments. With her signature wit and unflinching honesty, Palmer crafts a story about friendship, ambition, and the bittersweet reckoning that comes when youthful dreams collide with reality. The narrative pulses with authenticity, blending humor and heartbreak as it explores what it means to grow up—or resist growing up—in a world that rarely matches our expectations.

✨ Key Strengths
💬 Dialogue & Voice – Palmer’s prose crackles with natural, whip-smart dialogue that brings her characters to life.
👯 Complex Female Friendship – The central relationship is richly layered, avoiding clichés to portray loyalty, rivalry, and unconditional love.
🎢 Emotional Rollercoaster – Equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and achingly poignant, the novel balances levity with deep emotional stakes.
🔄 Themes of Reinvention – A resonant exploration of identity and the courage required to redefine oneself.

⚠️ Considerations
⏳ Pacing – Some readers may find the introspective sections slower compared to the snappier, dialogue-driven scenes.
🎯 Niche Appeal – Those seeking plot-heavy narratives might crave more external drama over internal character arcs.

⭐ Score Breakdown (0–5 Stars)
✍️ Prose & Style → ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
🎭 Character Depth → ★★★★★ (5/5)
💔 Emotional Impact → ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
🌱 Thematic Resonance → ★★★★ (4/5)

Overall: ★★★★☆ (4.5/5)
A love letter to flawed, fierce women—stumbling toward grace with wine stains and wisdom.

🎯 Perfect For Readers Who Love
📖 Fleabag-esque humor meets Eat Pray Love introspection
👯♀️ Stories of complicated female friendships (e.g., Sorrow and Bliss, Firefly Lane)
🍷 Unapologetically human characters who make mistakes and own them

🙏 Gratitude
Thank you to NetGalley and Liza Palmer for the advance review copy. Young Fools is a triumph—a reminder that growing up isn’t about having answers, but learning to ask better questions.

(Note: Review based on an uncorrected proof; final publication may vary.)

[Nici · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to the audiobook was such an interesting (if confusing) experience.

On one hand, I didn’t enjoy the writing style as much as I’d hoped. There were instances of extreme telling that felt so heavy-handed (because they were), kind of philosophizing in a way more suitable for a character profile than the book itself. It completely took me out of the story every time because it felt like the other was explaining the character to me.
But on the other hand, the plot itself kept me engaged. The dynamic between the two women was complex and layered, their interactions felt authentic/realistic.
However, the Big Plot Twist was just endlessly confusing. [SPOILERS AHEAD!) I didn’t know which parts had happened to the “real Cherry” and which parts of book-Cherry were actually based on Helen. It wasn’t clearly defined at all and my enjoyment of the story plummeted. I think if this had been executed differently, it would have made this a 4.5 star read for me, despite not vibing with the writing style. But alas.
The narration was wonderful. No notes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for the audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review!

[Anna Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve been reading a lot of books about writers recently, which is what drew me to ‘Young Fools’, a novel that focuses on two writer friends as they try to chase (and catch) their dream before they turn 30.
We start out at an exclusive summer writing retreat, meeting our lead character Helen Hicks, a determined but neurotic ‘classically trained’ writer whose motivations for writing seem to be more about proving her parents wrong, than telling a story she is passionate about.
At the camp, she meets Cherry, a bubbly, working class 20-year-old who has no formal writing education and bangs out hilarious ‘whodunnit’ stories featuring dogs in thirty minutes, much to Helen’s shock.
In may ways, Helen is the ‘theory’ of writing, and Cherry is the ‘practice’.
It’s an unlikely combination for a friendship but, for first two-thirds of the novel, that is what Palmer takes us through – the various idiosyncrasies of this relationship, up to the point where Cherry tears up the script and sells a novel before turning 30.
Right at this point, the author switches from Helen’s POV into Cherry’s, and it works beautifully both to unveil a twist and also to emphasise a very writerly concept – that of the unreliable narrator.
As a wannabe writer myself, I loved all of the writer discussion, the depictions of the workshops and writer festival, and the various settings around book launches and events. Despite that however, it is our characters who drive the narrative and, as others have said, Palmer has created two lead characters who are so human I’m pretty sure I’ve met both of them.
I feel like the reader can relate to a lot of what both characters go through – from questioning friendships and their value, to debating your own self-worth. Everything in this book was wonderfully human and real, although I would have liked to have learned a little more about Helen’s background beyond the few remarks we hear about her parents. We never hear of them again after the writing retreat.
As I said earlier, I’ve read a lot of ‘writer books’ lately and they have almost exclusively been more biting, satirical works, slicing daggers through the industry and how it operates. This novel, for me, had a quieter feel to it. While it undoubtedly spoke to the publishing industry and its foibles, that aspect was secondary to the lives revolving around it.
It was less ‘Yellowface’ or ‘The Plot’, and more ‘Writers and Lovers’ or ‘Wonder Boys’, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
My thanks to Lake Union Publishing for an eARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

[Becca Wilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Fools by Liza Palmer is such an insightful book about being a writer and the creative process. Helen’s crippling self-doubt and inner critic, her hyper-awareness of not fitting in all while trying to remain aloof and act like she doesn’t care that she is an outcast…but also how she wants to write the perfect book and how these flaws prevent her from moving forward and finding success... All of these introspections were so painful and written with such brilliance and accuracy.

There is a snobbishness in the world of books, too, pitting literary fiction against any of the best-selling genres…a kind of backhanded attitude about writing ‘real’ books, which Liza Palmer also captures so well as Helen clings to her published short story and her almost academic approach to writing while putting down Cherry’s runaway achievements in writing popular thrillers.

But the most aching part of the story comes down to friendship and the jealousy that tears Helen and Cherry apart, each one feeling right and indignant about their positions in their dynamic. I admit, I didn’t always follow the narrative as Helen twists fact and fantasy and in this way the story lost me a little bit. However, it was such a good book that I was able to keep up well enough and savor this author’s deep and poignant writing.

Liza Palmer is one of my favorite authors and I always look forward to reading what’s new from her.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Darbin O’Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

dnf did not hold my attention.

[Sharondblk · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is about the friendship of two women who the reader is given no reason to like, or even care about. I was also given no reason to think their 'friendship' was anything more than co-dependence. They are unpleasant, their friendship is unpleasant, but it's all in a really low key, banal way. We spend a lot of time in Helen's head while she is being terrible (not terrible like stabbing kittens, terrible like centering herself and hating herself.
There is a twist 80 per cent in that didn't make anything better, although if I had to do this for a book club, at least it would provide something to talk about.

The dénouement continued the drama that I didn't care about. It's particularly odd that it's 30 years after the workshop where these people meet and they all seem frozen from that time. Gossiping about people that they only met for a week.

There's some bi-erasure thrown in for fun.


Tedious.

The narrator was pretty good though.

I was given and audio review copy from Brilliance Publishing via Negalley.

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Honestly…this one just didn’t land. I gave it a few chapters and tapped out. Nothing grabbed me, nothing pulled me in, and I didn’t feel compelled to stick around to see if it got better. Not for me.

[Blurb It Down Official · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Fools by Liza Palmer is biting, bold, and uncomfortably honest in all the best ways. From the very first workshop scene, I felt like I had been dropped right into the heart of a creative battlefield, where egos clash, friendships crack, and literary ambition pulses just under the skin. I was completely hooked.

The story follows Helen, the daughter of two academics, who arrives at a prestigious writing conference with a quiet sort of entitlement and a razor-sharp desire to win a fellowship and avoid the fate of becoming a professor like her parents. There, she meets Cherry, who doesn’t have the pedigree Helen boasts, but she can tell a story. What begins as an unexpected friendship spirals into a long, messy rivalry that unfolds over decades.

I’ll be honest: Helen made me cringe. Often. She’s smug, cutting, and frequently insufferable. But she’s also compelling as hell. I found myself rooting for her despite her worst instincts, and that’s a testament to Palmer’s skill in writing deeply flawed women with nuance and unflinching honesty. Palmer doesn’t shy away from showing the ugly side of ambition, envy, or even female friendship. And that’s what made this so refreshing.

The depiction of the writing world, especially the workshop dynamics, the subtle posturing, the unspoken power plays, was painfully real. If you’ve ever been in a writing program or surrounded by creatives in a competitive setting, this book will hit home in ways that are both nostalgic and deeply uncomfortable. Palmer captures it with surgical precision.

What really pushed this book over the edge for me was the twist. Without spoiling it, let’s just say Young Fools makes brilliant use of the unreliable narrator trope and delivers a punch you don’t see coming. The structure of the book is clever, and it constantly plays with your perception of who’s telling the truth and at what cost.

For readers who like:
- Stories about messy, complicated women
- Female friendship-to-rivalry arcs
- Academic and creative settings

Final Verdict
Young Fools is unlike anything I’ve read before. It’s a book that embraces discomfort, ugliness, and truth in equal measure. Helen is not easy to like but she’s impossible to look away from. I flew through this book in just a few sittings and found myself thinking about it long after I’d turned the last page. This was my first Liza Palmer novel, and now I’m eager to explore more of her work. If you enjoy darkly witty, introspective fiction about ambition, ego, and the blurred line between friend and foe, Young Fools is absolutely worth your time.

Grateful to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Liza Palmer for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this story in exchange for an honest review.

[Leighann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young Fools by Liza Palmer was released on Sept 9, 2025.
Helen and Cherry become fast friends at a writing retreat and later rivals as they fall deep into the envy and jealousy among the literati.
Helen Hicks has never felt like she had a true friend. She hopes that an exclusive writing retreat will help her feel at home in the world, for once. She might even meet “her people” and feel like a REAL writer. Helen is constantly seeking external validation, and she is a “writer’s writer” who knows how to play the game, critique scathingly in writing workshops, name-drop MFA programs, and write a polished literary short story. She is less accomplished in real life and relationships.
Enter Cherry, who seems more at home in the world and her true self than anyone Helen has ever met. They become friends at the writing intensive program, yet Helen is jealous of Cherry’s ease and ability to write easily. Cherry navigates growing up in poverty and feeling like a fish out of water among her literary peers at the workshop. Her natural talent shines, but she hasn’t attended college or learned to play the game..
As the years pass, Cherry and Helen live together in 1990s San Francisco, each of them navigating their own path as they struggle to live their idea of “the writing life” and eventually, publication. Cherry follows her heart and writes mysteries and Helen struggles with writer’s block, coasting on the same short story for years, afraid to try new things.
Their relationship develops from tense friendship to contentious rivalry when Cherry writes her debut novel (without telling Helen) and earns a book deal at auction. Then things turn dicey at a writing conference. The novel goes on to follow Cherry and Helen in 2005 and 2015, with a surprising twist you will not see coming!
If you’ve ever sat silently while a group of people critiques the hell out of your beloved short story, you will resonate with this book and characters!
Young Fools dives deep into the world of ultra-literary writing workshops, literary snobbery, with clear-eyed analysis and reflection. Even at her most flawed and annoying, I found something to relate to in Helen Hicks’ character. We’ve all felt left out, weird, and insecure, and sought out validation where we can find it. I loved Cherry’s character, who seemed effortless and talented on the surface, but she was developed into a well-rounded, real-person of a character as well. Young Fools has a lot to say about the nature of friendship and what truly matters in life.
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for the opportunity to read and review an eARC. You can find more of my book reviews on Goodreads, Instagram and TikTok @bookishbookjoy.

[Terri (BooklyMatters) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Filled with passion and angst, this is a book tailor-made for anyone who has ever aspired to write - or rather, to be a “writer” — a seemingly innocuous label that, for those in the literary “know”, carries an inordinate amount of weight. A label that can invoke literary snobbery, a scholarly bent, brimming with judgement, pomposity, and erudition. All of which can turn a dream so ugly — leaving those who aspire to simply write something great, something deeply intrinsic and pure, struggling instead in the shallows.

Helen Hicks is a “weird and off-putting” aspiring writer. When she meets Cherry Stewart, a somewhat gauche young woman with writerly stars in her eyes, the two form an unlikely friendship. Both of them are hell-bent on writing— a masterpiece (for Helen) and a jolly good read (for less academically-inclined Cherry). As attendees who have earned a place at an elite writing workshop, the women are there to learn, to critique others and to grow their own writing skills. Immersed with their peers in an intensive program, only one attendee will win the coveted price - an industry award which will deliver authoring mentorship and a cash stipend (along with a boatload of enviable glory) — all of which will significantly advance the road to true, identity-defining writer-hood.

Written in the alternating voices of Helen and Cherry, this is an introspective character-driven book, a yearning and achingly vulnerable peek into unbridled youth and urgency, envy and torment. Clever and thoughtful, both voices are utterly engrossing, sometimes repelling, and always interesting. With more than one trick up her sleeve, the author delivers an absorbing read, one which includes a wry critique of the publishing world, and a nostalgic look at longing — along with an underlying warning to each of us that lifelong dreams, once attained, are never truly as imagined.

A wonderful book, I enjoyed this one cover to cover, and look forward to reading more from this newly-discovered (for this reader) author.

A great big thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book. All thoughts presented are my own.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!
----------
Helen Hicks may not have any friends, but she does have a plan: prove her doubting, elitist parents wrong and become a literary sensation before she turns thirty. When she’s finally accepted into the esteemed Hayward Writing Intensive at twenty-four, Helen believes she’s right on schedule.

At Hayward, Helen meets Cherry Stewart, a free-spirited, ambitious kid whose eclectic tastes skew far more pedestrian than Helen’s, but as Cherry’s champion and mentor, Helen decides they’ll set the publishing world on fire and go down as one of the literary world’s most iconic duos.

But as Helen turns thirty with no debut novel in sight and a breathtaking case of writer’s block, she is forced to put her dreams on hold. Thinking Cherry shares her sad fate, Helen is shocked to learn that her best friend has not only finished and sold a novel in secret, but even more devastating it’s...genre fiction.

As Helen and Cherry’s yearslong friendship comes crashing down, Helen finally has the clarity and inspiration to take her own art to the next level. It’s going to get personal.
----------
This book gets off to a slow start, and at first I was struck by how very unlikeable I found one of the main characters. I understood that it was kind of the point of the story, but I kept waiting for there to be some kind of redemptive arc. - and I kept waiting...and waiting...and waiting. What I was enjoying in the book was the coming of age story of two young women in a new city as the strove to realize their lifelong dreams. The book felt kind of compulsively readable. In fact, I read most of it in one afternoon because I really was eager to find out just where it was going.

And then suddenly...BAM. There it was. My sticking with it had paid off, and I raced through to the end, finding myself fully satisfied with where the author had taken me, as Helen and Cherry journeyed through young adulthood and into their 40s and we got to see where they ended up in the present day.

[Leanne Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Palmer's last book, Family Reservations, was a favorite of last year and in my opinion, criminally underrated, so I was thrilled to get approved for a galley of her latest! Here we follow Helen and Cherry, two young women who meet at an esteemed writer's workshop in 1995. Both are struggling with feelings of inferiority, but for different reasons, and while very different personalities, they fall into a close friendship that lasts 10 years through the ups and downs of the long hard road to becoming published authors. When one of them reaches this goal before the other, everything unravels.

What I appreciate so much about Palmer is the way she writes complicated female relationships, both within families and friendships. She writes the good, the bad, and the ugly- and it's not always a pretty picture. This seems to turn readers off, and I think it's a shame. When Palmer writes an "unlikeable" female character, it's generally a woman who is both ambitious and very, very hard on herself- she isn't a bad person. Generally, the person she's doing the most harm to is herself- and Palmer does an excellent job of giving these women grace and recognizing their full humanity as they do a lot of self examination while seeking to make things right. I find it admirable when people do this in real life; it's hard work, and feel like Palmer does a realistic job portraying this.

My only quibble here, and made this less successful than Family Reservations for me, is that there are 2 major events we learn about late in the book that greatly impacted one of the characters during one of the time jumps that the book takes. (There are two 10 year leaps ahead.) Both of these events, in my opinion, deserved and needed far more time and attention to unpack. But this was another win for me and I'll certainly pick up her next book!

[Fran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literary Novel about Literary Friends and Follies

This is a very startling novel. Liza Palmer's newest centers around Helen and Cherry, two aspiring writers who meet at a writing intensive. In three sections, the changing narrators unveil how their relationship and their respective writing careers develop. In a tale of wasted potential, high hopes and false narratives, Palmer will keep you on your toes until the very last minute!

I enjoyed Stevi Incremona's narration a lot. At 10 hours, the audiobook is pleasant and never boring, the story easy to follow and the time jumps and point-of-view shifts easy to follow. I struggled with some of the dialogue and narration in the first section and had to wait until the very end for a satisfactory explanation as to why that was. The literary snobbishness and the sheer amount of daydreaming about success without any (apparent) effort going towards achieving it was quite disturbing (to me, as a writer).
However, it does all make sense and I genuinely think Liza Palmer has achieved what so many writers writing about aspiring authors fail to do. She captures the business and the people in it very well and does not hesitate to have her characters express their own biases and complexes somewhat truthfully. It's not exactly a humorous read, but an entertaining one regardless.

If novels with shifting plot and narrators, or unreliable/biased narrators are not your thing, do not pick up this book! If you need likeable narrators, this is also not for you. If, however, you are looking for a really wild ride with low stakes, this is all yours. Bonus: some definitive bisexual vibes from the two female protagonists (real or imagined, who knows?).

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2005, I attended an event at Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, and that’s where I discovered Liza Palmer and her debut novel, Conversations with the Fat Girl. I’ve been a fan ever since, so of course I couldn’t wait to read her latest, Young Fools, especially since it was about writers and writing (and so much more, including friendship, love, ambition, grief, letting go of the baggage we all carry, self-worth, and defining what “success” means to each of us).

Young Fools is about two writers, Helen and Cherry, who first meet in 1995 at a prestigious writing retreat. They are both there to prove to themselves and others that they are serious writers. Yes, they become friends, but they also become competitors. Honestly, from nearly start to finish, with the book spanning three decades (starting in 1995 when both women are in their 20s) I couldn’t stand Helen, because with a “best friend” like her, one who came across as entitled, manipulative, and self-centered, who needs enemies? When she chooses to “help” Cherry, it’s more about making herself feel good, and that grated on me. During the same time frame, Cherry was the one that matured and bloomed, and I loved going along on that artistic and personal journey with her. The angst and joy so many writers experience are wonderfully described. The secondary characters, starting with the other writers they meet at the writing retreat, are all multi-dimensional and beautifully written, as is the realistic, bold, witty, and sometimes heartbreaking or harsh dialogue.

There were a few times when I just wanted to stop reading (like I said…Helen), but the story took some really interesting turns, and I’m very glad I stayed with it. What a ride! Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC.

[Libra Mommy 19 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Helen and Cherry’s friendship is complicated. They are both writers attending the coveted Hayward’s Writing Intensive which is aimed to provide writers commentary support to those who have written novels and/or short stories. Their writings are critiqued by fellow writers and at the end of the Hayward’s Writing Intensive an award will be given to the writer who has the most promise and best written novel thus far.

Helen is an introvert and came from a prestigious family and Cherry an extrovert who was living off of food stamps – total opposites. Helen looked down upon Cherry as a writer because she did not attend college but surprised that she was invited to the Hayward's Writing Intensive. After Helen won the award, she took it upon herself to try to mentor Cherry and they became best friends as the years went by.

Tropes: Friends to Enemies, complex friendships

Helen and Cherry’s friendship was so complex. I was uncertain and questioning if Helen was really a friend to Cherry. I felt that she hindered Cherry’s progress in some ways because Helen did not want Cherry to be better than her. There was a lot of inner monologues of her internal struggle to fit in, to make friends, and the perception that everyone was her competition even Cherry, her so-called best friend. Cherry was in some ways right about hiding her work from Helen and having it published because Helen wouldn’t have been happy for her. The audiobook narrator beautifully portrayed the stark differences of Helen and Cherry in their tones and personality.

Thank you NetGalley and Brilliance Publishing for this audiobook copy in return for an honest review.

[Janet Fiorentino · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was thrilled with a chance to read and review “Young Fools” by Liza Palmer. Like the two main characters, Helen and Cherry, I’m a novelist, and so, a lot of this story I immediately related to.

Helen, a daughter of two professors, attends a writer’s conference, desperate to obtain a fellowship so she doesn’t have to follow in her parents’ footsteps and teach. There, she meets Cherry who, though lacks Helen’s pedigree, can still tell a story. The friendship turns rivalry takes the twosome through the next few decades. Both become published writers, but at what costs?

I found Helen utterly obnoxious but in a delightful way. She walks in to the conference knowing she is going to secure the fellowship and it doesn’t matter who she hurts in the process. It is laughable that the one item she publishes in the ten years that follow is a (most likely) pretentious short story. However, when Cherry finishes her novel (and finds both an agent and publisher), Helen continues to find ways to cut her friend down. Yet, you don’t have to like Helen to enjoy this story. I went through fiction workshops as both an undergrad and graduate and Palmer’s scenes of writers interacting rings true in a way that surprised me. I read this novel in a handful of days because I enjoyed it so much. Palmer also provides a couple of unexpected twists. (Remember the unreliable narrator).

Four and a half out of five stars.

Thanks to Liza Palmer, the publisher, and Net Galley for a chance to read and review this novel.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I adored Liza Palmer's earlier books. Young Fools is about friendship. friendship between the two main characters, Helen Hicks and Cherry Stewart.

The two meet at a writing workshop intensive nicknamed HayHo. Helen is really unbearable in the first part of this book, and I was close to putting it down a few times. Helen is maddening in that she thinks she's better than everyone else while having no real friends and being insecure, a hallmark of low self-esteem.

Cherry was a breath of fresh air, I really liked her a lot, despite what it seemed to be snobbish bias from Helen's point of view.
This book takes us from 1995, 2005, 2015, and finally 2025. A lot can happen in increments of 10 years.

The reveal towards the end had me questioning the obviously unreliable narrator and everything I had read. It was a very risky writing choice that made me debate whether it was a wise choice, to alienate, and betray the reader in such a way.

Nevertheless, this book is about friendship and not focused on romance. It's about writing as well. I would recommend borrowing from the library.

trigger warning for mental illness and suicide, drug addiction, not a main theme.

3/5☆

[Hannah Weiland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.2/5

Helen Hicks goes to the Hayward Writing Intensive after getting her MFA as a last stitch effort to prove to her parents that she can be a writer. There, she meets Cherry Stewart, a young woman without a college degree but with a natural ability to write better than all her peers. However, at the end of the intensive, when the $25,000 grant goes to the person with the potential to write an amazing novel, it goes to Helen. Helen takes this opportunity to her own apartment and invites Cherry to be her roommate, write alongside each other, and both become published authors! Fast forward ten years later, Helen has only an anthology of short stories to show for her grant, while it is revealed that Cherry has sold her first book at auction for a delicious price!. To Helen, this is unfair. She was supposed to be the successful one. She was the educated one. Why can't good things happen to her?

This was a different book than I am used to reading, but it was very enjoyable. I loved the dual perspective aspect of the book, but especially because each person's perspective was not always the most reliable as to what actually happened. The story showed the evolution of a friendship and what can happen to break someone's trust. Overall, I enjoyed this audiobook! Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

[Alanis Winters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for kindly providing me with an advance reader copy of this book.
This novel is a slow burn in the truest sense—while the plot is genuinely intriguing, the pacing, particularly in the first third, feels weighed down by excessive scene-setting and introspective detail. The focus on Helen’s inner world, though intentional and clearly crafted to emphasize her unreliability, at times came across as overly self-indulgent, making it a bit difficult to stay fully engaged early on.

That said, the second half completely turned things around. The narrative gains momentum, emotional depth sharpens, and the psychological tension intensifies in really satisfying ways. Both main characters, Helen and Cherry, are written with complexity and nuance, and I found myself sympathizing with them more than I expected—especially Cherry, who I ended up loving. Even Helen, whose perspective initially grated on me, grew more compelling as the story unfolded.

Ultimately, this is a sharp and thoughtful examination of envy, insecurity, and the fragile dynamics that can exist within female friendships. While not perfect, it left a strong impression and gave me plenty to reflect on.

[Swapna Peri ( Book Reviews Cafe ) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young Fools by Liza Palmer, and let me tell you—this book is drama with a capital D (but in the best way possible). We’ve got Helen: ambitious, awkward, and desperate to prove herself before thirty. Then we’ve got Cherry: wild, magnetic, and the kind of person who can take over a room without even trying. Throw them together at a high-pressure writing program, and sparks definitely fly—sometimes the good kind, sometimes the “oh no, she didn’t” kind.

What had me hooked was how real it all felt. Palmer doesn’t sugarcoat ambition or friendship—she shows the jealousy, the backstabbing, the “I love you but I also kind of want to beat you” vibe that makes female friendships so complex. And the way the story flips perspectives and leaps in time? It kept me second-guessing everything. Honestly, half the fun was trying to figure out whose version of the truth I could actually trust.

This book is messy, sharp, and surprisingly hilarious in places. It’s about writing, yes, but really it’s about what happens when ambition crashes into friendship and sets everything on fire. If you like your fiction bold, witty, and just a little bit chaotic—you’re going to love this ride.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Fiction
Vibes: 🏕️👯‍♀️📚💔⌛
Rating: 3.75⭐
Tropes: books about books / found family / best friend breakup / friendship over the years / dual pov
⚠️ TW: death of a parent, mental health

Another book I didn't really read the description before reading, seems to be working out for me since I haven't picked up a book that I haven't liked yet. This one was full of emotions, from an anti-social writer, Helen, going to a writer's retreat and meeting Cherry. At first, it seemed like Helen wanted to take Cherry under her "author wing". But it's definitely obvious that Helen doesn't want Cherry to outshine her in the writing world. Doesn't seem like the healthiest kind of relationship. The dual POV shows how two people can just grow apart by having their own lives and writing their own stories (literally) without thinking about the other person.

I love how the book jumps from 1995 to 2005 to 2015 to 2025. So much can change in 10 years and this really spelled it out. Makes me think about the friendships I've nurtured over the past couple decades.

I found myself slowing down my reading pace in the last bit of the book, but I managed to finish.

[Zoë · Rating 4 out of 5]

✍🏻✨Young Fools✨✍🏻

Young Fools by Liz Palmer
Pub Date: 9th Sept 25
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5

My ARC Review:

I wasn’t sure how I was going to rate this one, I spent the whole novel hating on Helen, the main character. She’s so brutal and an absolute narcissist!
But it sure made for a satisfying character arc.

I liked that this jumped ahead in 10 year blocks, starting with the beginning of Helen and Cherry’s friendship at Hayward for a week long writing workshop. And while I disliked Helen, I loved reading about Cherry and how she thrived following that workshop.

Without giving any little surprises away, there was a clever twist about half way through, that I loved, even though it confused me at first.

Among the many things I enjoyed about this book, was that it re-motivated me to get back to my own manuscript and start edits.

I highly recommend this, especially for writers at any stage in their hobby/career.

Thank you so much Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Cass Chloupek · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. I wasn’t in love with the concept to be honest. Both of the two main characters were very unlikable to me. Which is isn’t inherently a problem but I don’t like when characters completely lack introspection about anything. I mean both of them being willing to so easily walk away from a ten year friendship without so much as a conversation was just bizarre and I don’t think that’s how real female friendships work. The fact that they never even ended up talking about they why’s of it all was an enormous let down. And then to have such a throwaway at the end where they meet again was such a nothingburger. Lackluster execution to be honest. at no point was I rooting for either of the characters and that seems like a foundational problem in the pursuit of writing good novel. Ironically a lot of the critiques that various people had about Helen’s writing particularly with regards to its lack of depth is the critique I have of this book. a lot of fluff but not a whole lot that felt real.