Wanting: A Novel

by Claire Jia

A novel of envy and longing that asks how far we’ll go for a friendship, a romance, and a dream

Ye Lian is thriving in Beijing. She has a well-paid job and a nice boyfriend, and she plans to marry and move into a luxury high-rise apartment. She’s wanting for nothing—until her childhood best friend, Luo Wenyu, comes whirling back into her life after a decade in California with seemingly everything. Lian’s own reliable choices are suddenly thrown into high relief.

As the two rekindle their friendship, Wenyu reveals a shocking secret about a past love, pushing Lian to question her own relationship. Then the dark side of Wenyu’s enviable life emerges and threatens everything Lian and Wenyu have built for themselves. They must choose between the stable known and the frightening unknown that may have devastating and unexpected consequences.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, China, Friendship, Asian Literature, Adult

Audible Audio

Published July 1, 2025

About the author

CLAIRE JIA is a writer from the Chicago suburbs. She has written on TV shows such as Zombies: The Reanimated Series, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, Fresh Off the Boat, and Gangsters of Shanghai. She co-wrote the 2024 Peabody Award-winning video game We Are OFK. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Reductress, The Establishment, The Rumpus, and more. Her parents are from Beijing, and there’s nothing she loves more than haggling for stationary in a chaotic Beijing marketplace. She peaked at age sixteen, when she became the All-State Illinois Shotokan Karate Club Kihon Green Belt Champion. Today she lives in Los Angeles with her friends.

Reviews

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing style of this book took me a little time to get used to, but once I adjusted to it, I was immersed. A unique novel about two friends who grew up in China, one who goes to the United States for university and the other who stays. After many years the two reconnect, and though their renewed bond seems easy and strong at first, a shared secret threatens to unravel what they’ve both spent many years working toward.

I liked how this book tackled these characters’ desires for upward mobility and success both within the context of China and the U.S. There’s commentary about anti-Asian discrimination in the U.S. and the costs of trying to assimilate, though Claire Jia shows that societal inequity isn’t just a U.S. issue. When the plot of this novel got going, the drama was almost delicious in how scandalous it felt. There was something almost sinister, yet simultaneously shimmering, about this book’s vibe, though not in an unpleasant way necessarily. And I appreciated the hopeful ending that wasn’t too saccharine and carried an appropriate amount of bittersweet resolution.

Would recommend for fans of realistic fiction and drama between friends and lovers. I made the mistake of playing a tennis match until 10:30pm so I’m up at 3am writing this review, though this book was welcome and entertaining company in my misadventures of staying up too late tonight.

[BookOfCinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

WOW..... I cannot stop thinking about this book. Claire Jia did a brilliant job of getting to the heart of
"Wanting" especially in this generation.

This book is layered and explores friendships in such a unique way. Please read.

[Morgan Wheeler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire Jia’s debut novel, Wanting, is a striking exploration of envy, longing, and the roads not taken. Through the intertwined lives of Ye Lian, Luo Wenyu, and Song Chen, the story examines how our choices shape us—and how, no matter how much we have, we often find ourselves wondering, what if?

I really enjoyed this novel, especially its honest portrayal of girlhood and the emotional turbulence that comes with hitting a quarter-life crisis. Jia captures the way life can feel like a constant comparison game, where the grass always seems greener on the other side. Having spent my 20s living abroad—immersed in different cultures, learning languages, and making friends from all over the world—I could deeply relate to the mindset of these characters. Even now, I sometimes find myself reflecting on the paths I didn’t take. Did I make the right choices? Could things have been different?

One of the novel’s strongest elements is its emotional depth. The longing and uncertainty that linger beneath the surface of Lian and Wenyu’s friendship feel incredibly real. The novel resonates because it taps into a universal feeling: the idea that, no matter where we end up, we sometimes question if it’s enough.

My only critique lies in the book’s structure. The narrative felt like one continuous flow, without clear breaks or pauses, making it feel like a long, run-on chapter. While this may have been an intentional stylistic choice, I found myself wishing for more structured moments to breathe.

That said, Wanting is a solid four-star read for me. It’s an evocative novel that would make for a fantastic discussion among friends, especially those who have ever questioned their own life choices.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tin House Books for the free eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

[Regan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tear on my cheek and a wistful smile on my face through the final pages! a beautiful novel about the decisions we make and don’t make and how they transform our lives!!!!

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a book entitled Wanting, the reader is not left with that feeling. The characters are not only full of life, but full of jealousy, yearning and desire. It's the grass is always greener on the other side and no one is satisfied. What was especially well done was the section with the architect, Song Chen, meeting his wife in the US and then their return back to China. It worked so well with the intense friendship of Liam and Wenyu. This was such a satisfying read.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

[Tiff · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the rawness of this novel — Lian, Wenyu, and Chen are deeply flawed and riddled with the human condition of wanting that fells us all. Who among us hasn’t made a fool of ourselves to try to impress, or said one thing and meant another, or done something questionable for money, or lost touch with a loved one through a combination of envy, resentment, and apathy? Beyond the themes of friendship and love, I appreciated the sharp and tender observations about contemporary China and its unique culture as well as the not-so-enviable parts of being an influencer.

What will Claire Jia write next? Can’t wait to read more of her emotionally resonant and humorous prose.

[Stephanie Bivens · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘Wanting’ is a novel full of introspective characters all pondering some version of the same question: What if I had chosen differently? Whether in choice of partner, career, location, friendships, or any number of factors, wondering “what if” is a universal experience that Jia captures beautifully in her character arcs. Ultimately, as in life, Jia’s characters are left to deal with the consequences (and sometimes, wreckage) of their decisions and their chosen paths. Parts of the ending felt a little flat to me, but at the end of the day, this was a worthwhile read and would be great for a bookclub discussion. Thank you to Edelweiss and W.W. Norton for the ARC!

[Jessica]

Thanks to the giveaway organizers for this book! Will update once I receive it.

[emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ☆

there’s something very sally rooney about this, but with more depth and flavor. full of interesting reflections on life in contemporary beijing, the cultural relationship between china and the united states, and the tenuous relationship between present desires and an uncertain future.

i loved the writing style in wanting, the ways in which jia allows the reader to really dwell in the characters’ thoughts. it’s a quiet novel, slow and introspective, perfect for the “sadgirl” litfic crowd itching for something a little more fresh.

[Neha Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is such a beautiful expose into what lies on the other side of our wanting - our desires, longings, worries, and pedantic schedules of life. All of us struggle to want that which we cannot have or that which is placed just barely out of our grasp. The longing for something else does not really go away with time or age, only morphs into other desires or festers into a fetid scar. Almost every aspect of human relationship is explored in this book - friendship, familial, romantic, marriage, in-laws, workplace, all of these aspects of our lives are explored.

This book reminded me a lot of Sally Rooney’s writing style in that there is a lot of emotional depth and emotional mining into these characters. But this is the supremely better work in my opinion. Where Rooney looks mostly on human relationships of people in their early to late 20s in a romantic lens, Jia looks at all aspects of human relationships and all ages. The story also looks at wanting in every aspect, from human connection, to excitement in one’s life, to success, wealth, accolades, and more. There is not a single character here who is objectively “good” or easy to root for - all are deeply flawed and make a serious of seemingly innocuous decisions throughout time that lead to devastating consequences. In the end it’s undetermined whether everyone learns their lesson or gets what they deserve, but that’s exactly what life is.

I am so glad I read this book and am even more excited to purchase it once it is finally published. Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and the publisher, Tin books, for letting me receive an electronic ARC in exchange for a honest review.

[Mariella · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Is it still loneliness if everybody feels it?"
"I think it is still loneliness. [...] That's what's sad. So much loneliness in the world, and we can't help each other"

I'm a little bit in awe of this book and intimidated by this review because this is a book that I feel like has deeply understood me, yet I am unsure I understood it.
There is a deep sense of longing in this book, not for a better life necessarily, just for the life you didn't pick. Jia says it herself, it is not a feeling unique to China or America, it is a fact of the modern human condition and that is precisely what Claire Jia captured in this book.

The writing is beautiful yet simple, not dwelling to long on the details of the world around the characters but still painting a clear picture of it.

I loved how much China was in this book, one could argue that that is a given in a book set in China but it somehow still stood out to me, that place that is so far away and so different to where I live and yet the people are the same. Claire Jia decides to highlight things that are thought or spoken in English, using italics which I thought added so much to the character's! When they would choose to communicate in their native tongue vs. when they wouldn't added another layer of depth to them.

The only thing that I couldn't get behind was the tone/temporary genres shifts. The book opens in a very thriller-y kind of way with a rich people event where something was clearly amiss. Then we continue on in a very meandering literary kind of tone and don't circle back to this more thrilling tone until almost the end. In my opinion the book could've held it's own purely sticking to the literary genre expectations and I found this shift kind of jarring/out of place.

Overall this was a great book I probably never would've picked up if it wasn't for the HRCYED new releases prompt and I am very glad I got to read it!

[Elena L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ye Lian and Luo Wenyu were once childhood best friends however they drifted apart. After twelve years, Wenyu, a Youtube influencer, comes back into Lian's life when she and her white fiancée are buying a lavish house in Beijing.

This book is all about yearning - yearning for the youth as the reminiscent of symbols (karaoke, Jay Chou,...) has its mark on people's hearts; yearning for stability that comes from wealth and impressive marital status; yearning for private joys that seem erased by the passage of time but still linger; yearning for American dreams in different ways. The story is a gripping examination of the possibilities, the choices one make and the 'what-ifs' that haunt these characters and often take shape.

Jia does a great job at drawing textured and flawed characters, whose messiness composed of their jealousy, insecurities and ambition might not make them the most likable, yet they are easily relatable. As the characters are trying to ascend into (elusive) greatness and status, the narrative brings out blatant desires and judgments that defy their cultural values and friendships. The part two, with the introduction of an unrelated architect, unravels deeper layers as the paths converge.

"What would it be like to get something you'd actually yearned for?"

With confident prose, WANTING is a quite impressive debut that emotionally explores envy, longing and what seems like a strong friendship. I am eager to see what Jia writes next.

[ I received a complimentary copy from the publisher - Tin House books . All opinions are my own ]

[Eve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unfathomable that this is a debut! Really enjoyed this and the reminder that inaction is action.

[Sarah Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is definitely going to stay with me. Jealousy, future plans vs pipe dreams, how friendships shift over time and what defines loyalty. I actually appreciated the perspective shifts across sections of the book, and the author’s commentary on italicizing use of Western English.

[Eileen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Claire Jia's Wanting is about wanting. What do we want? Why do we want it? Jia explores this theme by showing friendship, familial, business, professional, and romantic aspects of several relationships. Luo Wenyu has become a successful online influencer in America. She is engaged to a rich American. Ye Lien, her childhood best friend, had dreamed of attending college in America, but ironically attended college in China and now works for a company that prepares Chinese students for college in America. Lien's love life is centered on a family-approved almost ten year relationship. Chen and Fan had their college educations in Illinois, but returned to China after his failure to find professional employment and her affair with her mentor. Chen becomes a builder of luxury homes and Fan finds work. The main characters' lives start to change again after Wenyu and her boyfriend come to China to build a house. Chen is her builder and needs to bribe an official. He ends up having an affair with the official's secretary. To add to the complexity of the plot, Lien has an improper relationship with a student, Wenyu and her high school boyfriend rekindle their romance, and Fan takes a trip to America that Chen believes is a return to her lover. Yes, the plot starts to resemble a sitcom. But the plot shifts to include danger and deception. As the book comes to an end, readers will probably feel that they have been exposed to an exploration of social commentary and ethics. This is definitely a thought-provoking read.

[Sam Cheng · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jia sections her debut novel, Wanting, into three parts. In part 1, Lian and Wenyu rekindle their grade-school friendship after experiencing a twelve-year interlude, largely brought about because of unsynthesized jealousy of each other. Lian’s family is a part of the upper middle class; growing up, she’s naturally obedient, respectful, and follows the path her ambitious parents set out for her: upward mobility in society to reach the upper echelon. Wenyu’s parents are separated, and she breaks rules and speaks out of turn. However, as women in their late twenties, their roles begin to switch. Moving to California in her teen years, Wenyu becomes a well-known YouTube personality, showing her viewers a day-in-the-life of a Chinese-born woman in America. She returns to Beijing for her wedding to her white fiancé, where the successful newlyweds will build a house and settle down. Wenyu’s presence reawakens Lian’s desires for more, galvanizing Lian to begin an emotional affair with one of the students she tutors in English.

In part 2, we gain an entirely new perspective. Song Chen is Wenyu’s architect in Beijing. He struggles to keep his marriage afloat, hoping that completing this building project will finally secure his future with his wife and plans for retirement. In part 3, Wenyu’s affair with her high school boyfriend comes to light, Lian blows up her relationship with her partner, and Chen’s house and future security burn in a fire.

Wanting explores the idea of contentment, changing one’s circumstances, and the lengths one goes to obtain happiness. Evidently, one’s ability to process jealousy is a key pillar in the novel: Wenyu and Lian long for different aspects of the other’s core or natural tendencies; Chen harbors jealousy towards one of his wife’s university professors; and the superfan wants to imitate Wenyu’s climb to fame and fortune. Perhaps these themes do not greatly interest me at the moment, and with the addition of the book’s glamorous setting, I didn’t enjoy Wanting as much as I hoped. Moreover, the upper class’ regard for the sparkly paired with the unlovable main characters didn’t mesh well for me.

[Amy ☁️ (tinycl0ud) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot remember the last time I read something so absorbing and so obviously a 5-star read without providing escapism. If anything, the events are kind of a bummer: one main character ends up back in square one, and the other loses quite literally everything in one fell swoop. This is not uplifting and far from healing but strangely, as the double narratives closed one after the other, I felt buoyed. One summer of their lives is nothing in the grand scale of decades of a life lived but I think the author succeeded in making it feel defining without feeling final.

I initially thought that the title referred to desire, what people sought after in life, but as the novel progressed, I realised it could also be taken to mean what they lacked, what they found wanting in themselves, their lives, and in others. Is it lack that produces desire, or desire that produces lack? What all the characters have in common is that they are all running away from something even if they believe they are running towards a goal. America may be the land of dreams and opportunity, but it is also the land that dashes them. Remaining in China is no walk in the park either, and aside from luck, not much else separates the rich from the poor in terms of a mutual hunger for social mobility.

Lian reconnects with Wenyu/ Vivian, who moved to California and became an American Youtube star. Their relationship is complicated, built on years of repressed envy and resentment but also genuine love and understanding. They both start affairs outside of their relationships and this shared secret underscores their renewed friendship. Wenyu's luxury apartment project is starting to feel like an extension of her performance online; Lian is still condo-shopping but starting to wonder if she should settle down. At the same time, Wenyu's parasocial stalker starts blackmailing them. Wenyu's builder is on the brink of divorce after decades of marriage, and out of residual pettiness towards his wife's long-past infidelity, he starts an affair with a politician's secretary. Everything comes to a head at Wenyu's housewarming party.

Similar reads:
• 'Five Star Billionaire' by Tash Aw
• 'Free Food for Millionaires' by Min Jin Lee

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A biting, voracious tale of friendships and confusion. I get such a strong connection with the characters, they really feel like fellow humans I understand & empathize with - like a life of their own that will survive my reading of their story…

“She listened to her classmates gossip about Wenyu, how she’d really done it this time, how she was an attention seeker, how she wanted to get kicked out because she was so stupid. Lian listened and did not say anything. She was a silver herring, used to traveling in a school, fish bodies forming an iridescent snake traveling upstream to their destination. She would always go where the river took her.”

[Posey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5 stars. Thank you NetGalley and Tin House Books for an ARC of this novel-- what a pleasure to have been able to read this months ahead of its official publication, seriously.

In few other books I've read have I felt so... seen--- and not in a physical sense but psychological and even emotional way. As the title frames it, this book is about wanting, both from other people but even just from ourselves- independent of other people, and what we give, take, and forgo in pursuit of.... something. But what is that 'something'? Is it something about how other people perceive us, is it about self-perception, is it about possessing something or not needing to possess something? Is it one thing or many things? Lastly, is it about actually obtaining something or is it simply the pursuit of a goal? Whatever the answer, I was enraptured by Claire Jia's writing in her characters and their lives, the thoughts she cleverly poses to a reader.

Along with the great philosophical puzzle 'Wanting' put before me, the composition of the story and its pieces were magnificent to experience. There was a clarity to 'Wanting's narrative though it didn't show its cards all at once nor all-too-soon; and there were so many smart parallels and well-done continuities between various characters and in the narration.
All to say, I loved this book-- even as an ARC!-- and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I read it again in its finished form come July.

[mad]

timing of this read felt serendipitous. lately i've been been witnessing my parents from a new vantage point as i ponder where to build my life in my 30s and deal with financial problems that unveiled a lot about my family. first chinese new years in taipei in 8 years

reading wanting felt like staring at a petri dish view of the webs between the past two generations of chinese trying in america. traces of countless dreams dissolving like foam in the ocean, dry marks of yearning and regret, wet ideals and desperate mistakes shriveled into some pattern that represents the dignity we each maintain as human beings, the people we want to stay connected to to remind ourselves of what's left, the staleness life exudes when we fear the truth... i could see it all from a birds-eye view by the novel's completion. and yesterday at a temple in tainan i witnessed exactly this

"On a clear day, they could see the little curlicues of incense floating upward from the temple, hordes of people crowding into its halls and lighting up a ten-kuai wish, wishing for just this: a home in the sky with someone they loved"

—

"He was trying, and that was the most anyone could ever hope for from another person"

"Greatness is elusive, it is not meant to last long; even when you attain it you spend the rest of your life trying to keep it ... Greatness always end, with time, with distance, with death. But ordinary is ever lasting. Ordinary is the morning light. Ordinary is a wave to your neighbor, ordinary is the fact that Robert got to hold his granddaughter two months before he died. Ordinary is our son, our wonderful son. My mother wanted me to be proud of who I was already, someone ordinary. She did not want me to wager the worth of my life on what I could achieve, on who I could become. I was already her beloved daughter, her ordinary daughter, and now i finally understand this"

"Why was it so hard to leave a mark on that country? Despite every struggle, every victory, every concession you made, in the end America was always unchanged by you, and yet you held the years inside like a cancer, just like a cancer, until it spread over your entire body and in the end took you for its own. America didn't swallow you whole, no— it chipped away at you, tiny nibbles at a time, until you were gone."

"Perhaps love was but a frivolous addition to the hefty work of staying alive"

"We all think about what we want with our lives. But I chose this a long time ago. And I want to stick with it"

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

conflicted on this. On one hand the writing felt like the author was trying to fit as many GRE words into a novel and the dialogue was SO hard to get through sometimes bc it was just so.. cheesy😭but on the other hand it was very much not predictable (idk in a good way or not) and described so many feelings I have about love and ambition and upward mobility and ofc about being Chinese and caught between two cultures. and loved how women were portrayed here as the ones who are more ambitious and reflective and controlling in there relationships while the men are the ones who need the approval of their partners (which I think is accurate!)
I also liked the portrayal of the friendship between wenyu and lian, esp the realization that being around each other pushed them to be bolder and explore their maybes. But ultimately the temporary and cyclical nature of their relationship is not their real life, and the boldness they feel near each other does not mean that that type of lifestyle is sustainable or how they should live their lives.

[Fizzah · Rating 4 out of 5]

“In this moment Lian realized there were things about Wenyu only Su Mingzun would ever see—only men would ever see—and she’d be forever locked out, peering at Wenyu through a window.”

Contrary to the blurb, this novel is much less about friendship than greed. Reading about Lian and Wenyu’s perception of one another, I wondered whether envy is a part of every relationship and at what point it becomes destructive. The novel reminded me that in the pursuit for more, we should not lose gratitude for what we have. It also made me wary of idolizing people, rekindling failed relationships, and evil eye—all in all, lessons that felt very applicable to the 20’s when many of us are still constructing our social circles.

Perhaps the only character in Wanting content with what he has is Zhetai, Lian’s gentle boyfriend and perhaps my favorite character. Eyes on his birdie, he minds his own business but still winds up hurt :/

Of course Wanting is not without its weaknesses, especially as a debut novel. Some purple prose results in a disorienting word salad (e.g. shamrock” for green and “clementine” for orange). The middle also starts to drag but Jia makes up for it with a climactic third part.

[Camille B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Claire Jia’s Wanting is a sharp, psychologically tense debut about those who have and those who don’t—materially, emotionally, linguistically. It captures the exhausting labor of translating yourself as a woman, a migrant, a daughter etc. and how female friendship can be both sustaining and suffocating.

The mid-book narrator shift might surprise some, but I thought it was a smart lens into the harsh reality of doing business in China and the slipperiness of the so-called American dream abroad. Even as a non-Chinese speaker, I appreciated Jia’s play with language. The italicized and underlined sections mimicked the fragmentation and emotional charge of switching between tongues.

The novel reminded me of My Brilliant Friend in how it captured the layered, obsessive friendship between Ye Lian and Luo Wenyu, and of Five Star Billionaire for its portrait of wealth and recklessness among Asia’s elite.

This novel had me muttering on a plane (“What?? No!!”) and left me thinking of that line from The Great Gatsby: “I hate careless people. It takes two to make an accident.” Jia’s world is full of people crashing anyway.

[Molly Wicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved reading this book! Having turned 30 this year and caught myself often thinking about how the choices I made during college impact my life now, I found the characters relatable and complex.

I also really enjoyed learning about life in Beijing. Having only ever lived in the US, I found each character’s relationship within China, and between China and America quite eye-opening.

It turns out that it doesn’t seem to matter too much where in the world you are, or how old you are, we’re always wanting and wondering!

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating novel about envy and how we all think the grass is always greener. I don’t want to give anything away, but I did really enjoy this, it was fun to jump between the different interconnected storylines and to see everyone weave their own lies.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A slow burn but worth it. I almost put this book down and I’m so so glad I didn’t. Very impressive debut novel

“…failure can come for anyone, anywhere……All I have is the choice I made.”

“…that’s the thing about hope - it grows fast” and isn’t that just the most wonderful news?

[Sonia Y · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book filled with vapid characters whose lives I wish to never lead

[Maya Sophia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed two thirds of this book, it was the middle section told from the perspective of the architect that I didn't feel particularly interested in. Lian and Wenyu were compelling characters with humor and flaws and I wanted to know more about them, which I couldn't say the same about Song Chen. I understand why his perspective was there and it did all come together, but I found his woes to be far less interesting than Lian and Wenyu's. Beyond that, though, there's great tension and an exploration of female friendships and the themes of "wanting" and what a person will do to get what they want was well done.

3.5 stars