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Discipline: A Novel
Not yet published
Expected 20 Jan 26A taut, electrifying debut about a woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor, from a “lit world phenom” (Harper’s Bazaar)
“An exhilarating, exquisite book, full of an eerie intelligence and startling compassion . . . a pitch-perfect novel.”—Ayșegül Savaș, author of The Anthropologists
A BEST BOOK OF THE Bustle, Debutiful, Harper's Bazaar
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. Yet I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, she’s seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers, and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her that he’s read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his house, on a remote island off the coast of Maine, their encounter threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she’s imagined it.
A pristine and provocative high-wire act toggling the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive and the possibilities that lie beyond them, Discipline launches a spellbinding inquiry into the nature of art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
“An exhilarating, exquisite book, full of an eerie intelligence and startling compassion . . . a pitch-perfect novel.”—Ayșegül Savaș, author of The Anthropologists
A BEST BOOK OF THE Bustle, Debutiful, Harper's Bazaar
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. Yet I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, she’s seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers, and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her that he’s read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his house, on a remote island off the coast of Maine, their encounter threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she’s imagined it.
A pristine and provocative high-wire act toggling the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive and the possibilities that lie beyond them, Discipline launches a spellbinding inquiry into the nature of art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
203 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 20, 2026
11911 people want to read
About the author
Larissa Pham
9 books108 followersLarissa Pham is a writer living in Brooklyn. She has written for Adult, Guernica, The Nation and Nerve. Pham studied painting and art history at Yale University.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
October 6, 2025
It is lovely to see Larissa Pham blessing us with a novel. Like her nonfiction, the prose in Discipline is both lush and precise. There is a satisfying interiority to this novel and a fascinating structure as Christine goes on a book tour for her debut novel and then takes a detour to the Maine home of a former professor and lover who derailed her promising career as a visual artist. In some ways, this reads like a taut thriller even though it really is an elegant cerebral exploration of creativity and commitment to one’s craft and how when we don’t value our craft almost anything can rob us of it. The ending was particularly interesting. An admirable debut.
November 15, 2025
[4.5 stars] If you enjoyed Intimacies or My Nemesis, I think you'll really enjoy Pham's debut. There's something very special about literary fiction that leverages tension from the onset -- it reads like a thriller, and I was very curious to see how the central conflict would resolve itself.
Discipline is about a former artist whose ill-fated affair with a professor in her MFA program results in her withdrawal from the program and inability to paint again. She turns to writing to try and make sense of her experiences, and her not-so-fictionalized debut novel mirrors her own experiences. We follow her on a book tour where she reconnects with former classmates, lovers, and artists.
There's a lot of substance and nuance in Pham's analysis of power, agency, gender, and artistry. Her book is aptly described as an 'exorcism of the past', and in her introspection, we are presented with meaningful questions about the act of creation itself. Her decision to turn away from painting is mulled over throughout the novel, and unearths philosophical questions about how we express ourselves through art. Her decision to publish the novel was intended to be an act of catharsis, but she is faced with the mirror image: in fictionalizing her exploitation, has she reduced her trauma to nothing more than a performance?
Despite the slim page count, there's a lot of meat in this story that I'll be reflecting on. I did find the second part to veer slightly into cliche territory (with a somewhat predictable ending). Still, there's enough self-awareness from both Pham and the narrator about this that I didn't find it egregious by any means. I'll credit this book for getting me out of a reading slump - a knockout of a debut from a writer to watch.
Thank you to PRH Canada for the e-ARC!
Discipline is about a former artist whose ill-fated affair with a professor in her MFA program results in her withdrawal from the program and inability to paint again. She turns to writing to try and make sense of her experiences, and her not-so-fictionalized debut novel mirrors her own experiences. We follow her on a book tour where she reconnects with former classmates, lovers, and artists.
There's a lot of substance and nuance in Pham's analysis of power, agency, gender, and artistry. Her book is aptly described as an 'exorcism of the past', and in her introspection, we are presented with meaningful questions about the act of creation itself. Her decision to turn away from painting is mulled over throughout the novel, and unearths philosophical questions about how we express ourselves through art. Her decision to publish the novel was intended to be an act of catharsis, but she is faced with the mirror image: in fictionalizing her exploitation, has she reduced her trauma to nothing more than a performance?
Despite the slim page count, there's a lot of meat in this story that I'll be reflecting on. I did find the second part to veer slightly into cliche territory (with a somewhat predictable ending). Still, there's enough self-awareness from both Pham and the narrator about this that I didn't find it egregious by any means. I'll credit this book for getting me out of a reading slump - a knockout of a debut from a writer to watch.
Thank you to PRH Canada for the e-ARC!
October 19, 2025
ARC for review. To be published January 20, 2026.
3 stars
Christine is a former painter, now a first time author and she’s starting her book tour. Is it fair that she gets to have both artistic and literary talent? No. No, it is not.
Her book is a loosely fictionalized version of a weekend affair she had with a professor in her MFA program; this relationship affected her deeply and caused her to give up art completely and it totally changed nearly everything about her life and sense of self. While she is on the book tour the professor reaches out to tell Christine he has read the book.
I have to be honest, I didn’t relate to Christine very much. There’s no doubt the professor was wrong to take advantage of the situation, and there’s no telling how someone in Christine’s position is going to react to that, I guess, but Christine’s life and growth essentially stopped at that point. Over one weekend, it wasn’t even like the had a full on relationship. I felt like there must have been a lot of blank or hurting spaces that Christine brought to that weekend to have it affect her in the way that it did, for as long as it did. But I’m no psychologist, or anything useful, really. Interesting book (though there was a point I would have cheerfully killed Christine, I don’t care what she went through.)
3 stars
Christine is a former painter, now a first time author and she’s starting her book tour. Is it fair that she gets to have both artistic and literary talent? No. No, it is not.
Her book is a loosely fictionalized version of a weekend affair she had with a professor in her MFA program; this relationship affected her deeply and caused her to give up art completely and it totally changed nearly everything about her life and sense of self. While she is on the book tour the professor reaches out to tell Christine he has read the book.
I have to be honest, I didn’t relate to Christine very much. There’s no doubt the professor was wrong to take advantage of the situation, and there’s no telling how someone in Christine’s position is going to react to that, I guess, but Christine’s life and growth essentially stopped at that point. Over one weekend, it wasn’t even like the had a full on relationship. I felt like there must have been a lot of blank or hurting spaces that Christine brought to that weekend to have it affect her in the way that it did, for as long as it did. But I’m no psychologist, or anything useful, really. Interesting book (though there was a point I would have cheerfully killed Christine, I don’t care what she went through.)
September 7, 2025
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy!
I am particularly excited for the release of Discipline. I wasn’t familiar with Larissa Pham before reading this, but I think Discipline has the potential to be a big book in the literary community.
Discipline centers a disillusioned artist who claims she quit painting due to the misconduct of her MFA professor and the twisted relationship they had. The plot begins by following her as she talks to people around the U.S. on a book tour for a novel she wrote about the professor ordeal. I would describe her narration as cold and distant, but reachable through the prose.
I think the only thing I wanted more from this one was a clearer meditation on the protagonist’s difficult logic. As in, a clearer break of what she refuses to see in herself and others. For example, I couldn’t tell whether she knew what she wanted by the end of the novel or whether she actually knew why she quit painting. She was both detached and childish, which played more awkwardly for me than compelling.
At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting, though I feel it would be enjoyable over a longer period since the novel covers a lot of time. There are a lot of ways to interpret both the plot and the protagonist, so I’d be super interested in discussing this one with others. The sort of disconnected narration reminded me of Katie Kitamura’s writing, particularly Intimacies. It is my understanding that Pham has been mostly writing nonfiction, so I am excited to read more novels from her.
I am particularly excited for the release of Discipline. I wasn’t familiar with Larissa Pham before reading this, but I think Discipline has the potential to be a big book in the literary community.
Discipline centers a disillusioned artist who claims she quit painting due to the misconduct of her MFA professor and the twisted relationship they had. The plot begins by following her as she talks to people around the U.S. on a book tour for a novel she wrote about the professor ordeal. I would describe her narration as cold and distant, but reachable through the prose.
I think the only thing I wanted more from this one was a clearer meditation on the protagonist’s difficult logic. As in, a clearer break of what she refuses to see in herself and others. For example, I couldn’t tell whether she knew what she wanted by the end of the novel or whether she actually knew why she quit painting. She was both detached and childish, which played more awkwardly for me than compelling.
At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting, though I feel it would be enjoyable over a longer period since the novel covers a lot of time. There are a lot of ways to interpret both the plot and the protagonist, so I’d be super interested in discussing this one with others. The sort of disconnected narration reminded me of Katie Kitamura’s writing, particularly Intimacies. It is my understanding that Pham has been mostly writing nonfiction, so I am excited to read more novels from her.
November 15, 2025
This is a bizarre but beautiful book about a novelist whose muse in college was her professor. and she writes a novel about it. But odd things begin happening. As she looks back at her college years she realizes so many things she should have "seen" but refused to The most lovely line was, "The book stopped being an exorcism and became a project of craft and form." It's bewitching in its innocence and depravity but such an unusual novel that I thoroughly enjoyed it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
December 10, 2025
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. But I don’t know which one of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is a former painter and first-time author whose debut novel is a lightly fictionalized revenge fantasy that recounts the affair she had with her college painting professor ten years ago. Despite her literary success, Christine feels unsettled and adrift in her life, searching for a sense of purpose. And that’s when the painting professor reaches out to her after a decade of no communication, letting her know he’s read her novel and inviting her to his cabin in Maine.
I don’t know exactly why – maybe the use of the phrase “revenge fantasy” and the setting in a remote Maine cabin – but I was expecting Discipline to veer in the direction of a thriller. It doesn’t, although that’s not to say it’s without tension. Instead, it’s a cerebral, thoughtful portrait of a woman whose life was derailed and her desperate efforts to get back on track, even though she has no idea how to do so. It’s melancholy, poignant, and nuanced in its exploration of agency and art, performance and power.
The last third of the book, it must be said, becomes a bit cliché plot-wise, but both Larissa Pham and her protagonist have enough self-awareness to understand and acknowledge this – and it doesn’t by any means detract from the book’s message. In some ways, it enhances it. Discipline is a quiet but resounding war-cry about creation and healing – and the lingering consequences when an artist doesn’t create and doesn’t know how to heal. Thank you to Random House for the early reading opportunity.
November 6, 2025
Where to even start with this one... I was immediately drawn to Discipline's central conflict, prompting me to do something that I don't do often: read an ARC knowing next-to-nothing about the novel or novelist. I’ve now read the novel -- and I have to admit, it feels much longer than its modest page count. Without spoiling anything, I can tell you that this is a book about the way time changes the people we once knew intimately (and warps our recollections of them)... It's also about the destabilizing experience being young and full of promise, only to have these aspirations derailed, #MeToo-style. After a traumatic and shameful encounter with her much-older academic advisor, narrator Christine abandons her career as a painter and struggles to rebuild her life. When Discipline opens, Christine is now a writer and is promoting her first book: a "revenge fantasy" loosely based on this affair -- only Christine's protagonist humiliates and kills the older male professor instead.
Needless to say, I was primed to enjoy this novel based on its plot and themes. But the style/voice was a massive obstacle to my enjoyment. There's something about the overwrought and emotionally-sterile prose that kept me detached from the main character and the minor (then major) dramas she witnesses/experiences. The narrative sets up character interactions that should be taut and interesting, one right after another: an oversharing stranger, an ex-boyfriend, a college friend / artistic rival. But these conversations felt utterly lifeless to me -- missing crucial vulnerability or realism as everyone in the scene prattles on and on with the singular, artificial voice of an MFA student. And then they just trail off...
For the first half of the book, I thought to myself that, surely, this was intentional -- the stilted writing, and Christine's subtly judgmental vibe, and the way that these character interactions kept building up to nothing, no kairotic moment. I kept waiting for there to be a point to it all. I assumed the crucial switch-flip would come during a confrontation between the narrator and the old painter. But these chapters also fizzle. As soon as the narrator and the painter get into unpacking their conflict -- what happened, and what he intended, and how she feels about it -- something ELSE happens that diffuses or cuts away from the situation completely -- culminating in the ultimate cut-away, which I suppose is the novel's "climax." Beyond two paragraphs at the 97% mark, this reckoning fell totally flat to me. There's extremely limited character growth and insight, in my opinion.
Is it so wrong to want to see blood on the pavement after idling in several miles of traffic? That is why I, personally, read literary fiction: for that scene at the end, with the family around the Thanksgiving Day table, where the characters finally go completely aggro on each other. I don't want a short volley of gunshots, I want a nuclear fucking bomb. And, by the end of this, I just did not get it. The main character makes a series of baffling decisions. She claims to want answers but, at every juncture, evades getting them. She insists that she doesn't want revenge, despite writing a revenge fantasy. She fixates on the notion that she has become a completely different person from the woman who was spurned by this old man and quit painting, but... there's no evidence of this in the text. Why give up painting? Why write the revenge fantasy? Why agree to meet this man? There are no answers to these questions.
There are so many moments in this novel where, in response to another character's monologue, the narrator intones: "I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything." That about sums it up.
Needless to say, I was primed to enjoy this novel based on its plot and themes. But the style/voice was a massive obstacle to my enjoyment. There's something about the overwrought and emotionally-sterile prose that kept me detached from the main character and the minor (then major) dramas she witnesses/experiences. The narrative sets up character interactions that should be taut and interesting, one right after another: an oversharing stranger, an ex-boyfriend, a college friend / artistic rival. But these conversations felt utterly lifeless to me -- missing crucial vulnerability or realism as everyone in the scene prattles on and on with the singular, artificial voice of an MFA student. And then they just trail off...
For the first half of the book, I thought to myself that, surely, this was intentional -- the stilted writing, and Christine's subtly judgmental vibe, and the way that these character interactions kept building up to nothing, no kairotic moment. I kept waiting for there to be a point to it all. I assumed the crucial switch-flip would come during a confrontation between the narrator and the old painter. But these chapters also fizzle. As soon as the narrator and the painter get into unpacking their conflict -- what happened, and what he intended, and how she feels about it -- something ELSE happens that diffuses or cuts away from the situation completely -- culminating in the ultimate cut-away, which I suppose is the novel's "climax." Beyond two paragraphs at the 97% mark, this reckoning fell totally flat to me. There's extremely limited character growth and insight, in my opinion.
Is it so wrong to want to see blood on the pavement after idling in several miles of traffic? That is why I, personally, read literary fiction: for that scene at the end, with the family around the Thanksgiving Day table, where the characters finally go completely aggro on each other. I don't want a short volley of gunshots, I want a nuclear fucking bomb. And, by the end of this, I just did not get it. The main character makes a series of baffling decisions. She claims to want answers but, at every juncture, evades getting them. She insists that she doesn't want revenge, despite writing a revenge fantasy. She fixates on the notion that she has become a completely different person from the woman who was spurned by this old man and quit painting, but... there's no evidence of this in the text. Why give up painting? Why write the revenge fantasy? Why agree to meet this man? There are no answers to these questions.
There are so many moments in this novel where, in response to another character's monologue, the narrator intones: "I don't know what to say, so I don't say anything." That about sums it up.
September 21, 2025
Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for the ebook. A young novelist cobbles together a small book tour to celebrate her first novel, but also to get away from her real life and examine the huge turn her life has taken. Namely, that she was a much admired painting student, whose painting career came to an abrupt halt after she had a brief affair with an older professor who happens to be her largest fan. But no more. She eventually drops out of graduate school, switches to writing and failed relationships, that all led to this book, basically about her college life, except in this book, she kills her professor. Now retired from teaching, the professor invites her to Maine so they can talk. Feeling that maybe she needs this before she can move forward in her life, the author agrees.
November 4, 2025
3.5 stars
For some, hindsight is 20/20. For Christine, a look back is not enough. She has some major past issues that have made lasting impacts, so her approach to return to them through art and IRL is both brave and at least a little bit bonkers.
Christine's initial commitment is to painting, but that falls apart via a challenging encounter with a mentor/professor. She's forced to face this critical change in her life in several ways. By comparing herself to a former peer, she has an automatic measurement for exactly how far from her artistry she's fallen. There's also Christine's book, where she's used some very true-to-life inspo to not only engage her audience but to also process some of her personal challenges. And finally, there's a reckoning that may help her heal or could help her devolve into writing a revenge fantasy sequel.
I have a particular distaste for the mentor/mentee relationship turned gross because it's so common in life and in art, and I hate it. As a result, I had some challenges with this book, but those are more about me than about the writing or conceptualization. Since I'm a whole person, it's tough for me to separate the motif from the art. While this is her trauma to process as she likes, I also found Christine's outcomes frustrating.
What I love about this speedy read is the depiction of the tie between an individual and their art and how tenuous any part of our sense of self or identity can be when we have a challenging interaction with another person. There is some really impactful discussion here about Christine seeing herself literally and metaphorically, and that scene on its own made this worth the read (not that the rest didn't - this was just particularly well devised).
This book, like all literary fiction, isn't going to be for everyone, but there's an undeniable spark in this writing and a message that will resonate with the artists among us.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Madison Dettlinger at Random House Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
For some, hindsight is 20/20. For Christine, a look back is not enough. She has some major past issues that have made lasting impacts, so her approach to return to them through art and IRL is both brave and at least a little bit bonkers.
Christine's initial commitment is to painting, but that falls apart via a challenging encounter with a mentor/professor. She's forced to face this critical change in her life in several ways. By comparing herself to a former peer, she has an automatic measurement for exactly how far from her artistry she's fallen. There's also Christine's book, where she's used some very true-to-life inspo to not only engage her audience but to also process some of her personal challenges. And finally, there's a reckoning that may help her heal or could help her devolve into writing a revenge fantasy sequel.
I have a particular distaste for the mentor/mentee relationship turned gross because it's so common in life and in art, and I hate it. As a result, I had some challenges with this book, but those are more about me than about the writing or conceptualization. Since I'm a whole person, it's tough for me to separate the motif from the art. While this is her trauma to process as she likes, I also found Christine's outcomes frustrating.
What I love about this speedy read is the depiction of the tie between an individual and their art and how tenuous any part of our sense of self or identity can be when we have a challenging interaction with another person. There is some really impactful discussion here about Christine seeing herself literally and metaphorically, and that scene on its own made this worth the read (not that the rest didn't - this was just particularly well devised).
This book, like all literary fiction, isn't going to be for everyone, but there's an undeniable spark in this writing and a message that will resonate with the artists among us.
*Special thanks to NetGalley and Madison Dettlinger at Random House Marketing for this widget, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.
September 17, 2025
This book was a fascinating, thrilling, exciting, well written read. I love how we learn bits and pieces from Christine as she reflects on them. Her story and what she seeks now is so relatable. With references to art and through conversations with others she’s seeking answers and trying to work on herself. I was yelling at some of the decisions she made but that just made everything that much more relatable.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
November 26, 2025
thank you penguin random house for an E-ARC in exchange for an honest review!
what a beautiful book, and honestly a very unexpected one. i’ve found myself reading a lot about this kind of subject matter (both for school and just because) and this took me by surprise. the novel follows Christine, a painter turned writer scarred by her experiences with her professor while she was in grad school. this was a beautiful story told in a very raw way, which took experiences of depression and imposter syndrome and turned it into something absolutely worth reading. i saw myself in this character a lot, which i wasn’t expecting to, and allowed me to fall into the story even more. how do we categorize the pain imposed on us from situations that we are taken advantage of? how can we reclaim pieces of our identity that are lost or taken away from us through various trauma? i think these questions are answered in this novel.
this was really good, i really recommend it!
what a beautiful book, and honestly a very unexpected one. i’ve found myself reading a lot about this kind of subject matter (both for school and just because) and this took me by surprise. the novel follows Christine, a painter turned writer scarred by her experiences with her professor while she was in grad school. this was a beautiful story told in a very raw way, which took experiences of depression and imposter syndrome and turned it into something absolutely worth reading. i saw myself in this character a lot, which i wasn’t expecting to, and allowed me to fall into the story even more. how do we categorize the pain imposed on us from situations that we are taken advantage of? how can we reclaim pieces of our identity that are lost or taken away from us through various trauma? i think these questions are answered in this novel.
this was really good, i really recommend it!
January 2, 2026
4.5 my last book of 2025! ending on a very contemplative lit fic note reflecting on art, writing, and memory. 'discipline' has a few meanings, from punishment to self control to an academic study, all of which this book circles around. this felt like the right read for my contemplative year end moment, especially as i really start feeling in my 30s- i've been reaching towards the past and reconciling those memories with who i am today. how do we let certain moments define us and maybe control us? I had struggled with her earlier book Pop Song but the way she talks about art here felt more accessible to me - someone who kind of doesn't get how to look at and analyze visual arts- and served as a good window. i really enjoyed this. also kind of funny to read post katabasis- everyone is so traumatized by grad school!! this also had a real life 'i love maine' moment and listen, same!
"how we think: this wound feels like home, I will make my home in this wound. bTu I had done that. I had believed this wound was all I know"
"Either you will let me ruin your life or you will get on with it. What will it be?"
"how we think: this wound feels like home, I will make my home in this wound. bTu I had done that. I had believed this wound was all I know"
"Either you will let me ruin your life or you will get on with it. What will it be?"
January 4, 2026
Thanks PRH & Goodreads for this giveaway/ARC!
The premise gave me great intrigue, and Phram didn’t disappoint. The conversational style wrapped in Christine’s search for closure made for a thought-provoking and captivating read. A few times, during her earlier journey with past lovers and strangers, I reflectively sat in the beauty of everyday experiences we often think as mundane. Phram really captivated my attention. I’ll be curious to reread in the future after sitting with my thoughts on this one.
The premise gave me great intrigue, and Phram didn’t disappoint. The conversational style wrapped in Christine’s search for closure made for a thought-provoking and captivating read. A few times, during her earlier journey with past lovers and strangers, I reflectively sat in the beauty of everyday experiences we often think as mundane. Phram really captivated my attention. I’ll be curious to reread in the future after sitting with my thoughts on this one.
November 18, 2025
Larissa Pham’s “Discipline” is a book that offers an intriguing premise: “A woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor.”
Unfortunately, the execution never fully lived up to its potential for me. The plot, the characters, and the dialogue created a lot of distance and I felt like I was forcing myself to finish the story without being particularly invested in the plot. The lack of quotation marks—which I usually don’t mind—only added to this; the narrator’s thoughts are often tacked on in the same line as the dialogue, making it difficult to tell them apart.
Overall, this was a 3 star book for me and one than I’m not convinced I’d recommend. Huge thanks to Random House for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. “Discipline” will be available on 1/20/26 ✨
Unfortunately, the execution never fully lived up to its potential for me. The plot, the characters, and the dialogue created a lot of distance and I felt like I was forcing myself to finish the story without being particularly invested in the plot. The lack of quotation marks—which I usually don’t mind—only added to this; the narrator’s thoughts are often tacked on in the same line as the dialogue, making it difficult to tell them apart.
Overall, this was a 3 star book for me and one than I’m not convinced I’d recommend. Huge thanks to Random House for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. “Discipline” will be available on 1/20/26 ✨
January 7, 2026
3.75 stars
November 10, 2025
My favorite part about this book is: 1. The cover. My favorite part, but also the part that made me roll my eyes, is: 1. When Christine met many new people in the city and talked about life. The part I hated about this story is: 1. The lack of quotation marks in every conversation. WHY???? But either way, I felt that this was a beautiful book that perfectly captured the mood the main character was going through.
December 15, 2025
When a traumatic relationship destroys Christine's relationship to her art, she leaves painting behind for writing, thinking she can purge herself of the pain of her past. The ending mostly puzzled me, but otherwise I was along for the ride.
November 27, 2025
My exhaustion with this book is mainly due to the fact that I’m just tired of reading about relationships between women and their higher education professors. I just am! Even if the writing is technically good, and there’s interesting side characters, the story beats are the same. There’s a reunion, there’s resentment, there’s a woman left broken, watching an older man grow older and leave her with a new trauma. Christine, in this book, barely felt like a character. I understood the outlines of her life, but her growth stopped at a point in her life that predates this book’s events, making her feel deeply uninteresting. Consider this my lesson learned, I will not read books with this plot anymore.
December 31, 2025
Big thanks to Random House and NetGalley for sharing Larissa Pham’s new book Discipline. I previously read and loved Pham’s book Pop Song, a thoughtful and creative collection that played with genre in a unique and heartfelt way, examining Pham’s interests, passions, and love. What I found most compelling about her book was how full of emotion it was, and how candid and in tune she was in connecting her emotions to art, whether it was painting, films, or writing. Discipline finds Pham charting similar territory, but in fiction this time. There’s a scene at the end of Part I where Christine is in a paleontology museum in New Mexico, when she spots a huge piece of rock, looking “as though someone had just been working on it and stepped out.” Christine steps closer to look for a fossil, but realizes she doesn’t even really know what one might look like. I loved how Pham used this metaphor of excavating the past but still being unsure of what Christine is looking for in her past. We learn that Christine has just published her first book, but it came at a cost-the dissolution of her relationship. Her writing, which helped her navigate her own feelings after abandoning painting in grad school, has enabled her to find some sense of professional identity, but she still has more interrogation or excavation to do. This deep dive into her past, questioning her motives and actions, as well as those of her mentor, led her to keep her book from her boyfriend. It’s at this point in the book that the fossil seems to awaken her own questions about how her struggles to excavate her past caused this kind of fracture with her boyfriend. Additionally, I loved that each chapter in the first section of the book focused on a stop on Christine’s book tour and was connected to a meaningful painting. Even the Edward Hopper painting in the bar that Christine encounters allows her to reflect more on the model, Josephine Hopper, the artist’s wife who became “a secretary, a dancer, a woman waiting for an order of chop suey. But it’s always her.” Christine’s own reflection on this painting challenges our own perceptions of artists and their subjects, as well as the identities of female artists, since we learn that Josephine gave up her own career as an artist. In many ways, I saw Christine’s focus on the female subject and how women were like faceless supporting roles in Hopper’s painting like Christine’s own struggles to define herself through her art. It always seemed like the men in her life were trying to assume her roles rather than allow her to define her self or seek out her own identity. In addition to encountering meaningful art at these stops, Christine also re-connects with some old friends and loves, giving her the opportunity to revisit the past, while noting how much has changed. I loved this structure, and how Christine struggles with nostalgia and narratives, harboring a kind of resentment or jealousy at times for her friends and lovers who “learned how to package…previous suffering into neat narrative.” I feel like this is such an apt description of those kinds of mixed feelings young adults feel as their lives progress, and we’re left trying to make sense of our past decisions and choices. I really enjoyed how Christine’s book tour unfolded and each stop brought her in touch with art and past friends, which evoked these mixed and slightly uncomfortable feelings about her writing and her art.
While I loved the first part, I had some reservations about the surprising turn that the second part takes. I won’t get into it, but I really struggled with trying to rate this book. I ultimately gave the book 5 stars, but at first I rated it as 4 stars, averaging the rating between the two parts. However, I realized while the second part has some questionable decisions from Christine, I actually couldn’t put the book down. Although the dialogue is different—it felt shorter and choppier than the more in-depth conversations that Christine shares with her friends and new acquaintances in part I, I can understand how this dialogue takes a different tone. Furthermore, Part II is also part of Christine’s quest to excavate her past and search for meaning among the ruins and fossils. Furthermore, throughout the book, Pham’s poetic descriptions of the exterior and setting add to the mood and tone of the narrative. Those qualities of her excellent writing kept me engaged with Christine’s quest. It’s also why I highly recommend this book, and will probably revisit it at some point. I also think this would make a great book club pick since I would love to see how others responded to Christine’s own questioning of her decisions and choices, especially in the second part of the book.
While I loved the first part, I had some reservations about the surprising turn that the second part takes. I won’t get into it, but I really struggled with trying to rate this book. I ultimately gave the book 5 stars, but at first I rated it as 4 stars, averaging the rating between the two parts. However, I realized while the second part has some questionable decisions from Christine, I actually couldn’t put the book down. Although the dialogue is different—it felt shorter and choppier than the more in-depth conversations that Christine shares with her friends and new acquaintances in part I, I can understand how this dialogue takes a different tone. Furthermore, Part II is also part of Christine’s quest to excavate her past and search for meaning among the ruins and fossils. Furthermore, throughout the book, Pham’s poetic descriptions of the exterior and setting add to the mood and tone of the narrative. Those qualities of her excellent writing kept me engaged with Christine’s quest. It’s also why I highly recommend this book, and will probably revisit it at some point. I also think this would make a great book club pick since I would love to see how others responded to Christine’s own questioning of her decisions and choices, especially in the second part of the book.
November 23, 2025
Christine is on a book tour for her debut novel. She was, at one time, a successful painter. She’d won an award in college, plus a nice graduate school fellowship. But did she get it simply because of her relationship with a semi-famous, influential artist? Did it sour things with her college friend, whom she admits was a better painter? And how autobiographical is this novel of hers? Then, on her book tour, she gets a text from “the old painter”: A conversation. That sends her on a trip to Maine to have that little talk with him, and maybe figure out what happened to her life.
Sorry to give away a few plot points, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to describe things. Discipline takes place mostly in the tortured artistic soul of its protagonist. Christine doesn’t seem to be enjoying the modest success her book has brought her and instead ruminates about what emptiness writing seems designed to replace. She’s sad, a little beaten down. She seems ok in the physical sense, but it’s clear her life didn’t go the way she thought. She’s saved a bit by her youth and her writing career, but she doesn’t paint anymore. That she might’ve never had talent in the first place drives her crazy. And something happened in grad school that blew that all to smithereens. Most of the novel (the actual, not the fictional) focuses on that one thing, something that has to do with the old painter.
It's an interesting mix of conversation and introspection. It’s wrong to say this is a heady novel, stuck completely in the philosophical wonderings of the MC. There are observations and visits and swims in cold oceans. Tons of flashbacks, right in the middle of those interactions, so read it slowly or you’ll lose your place.
But Pham makes it clear: this novel is about artistic spirit. Yes, moderate trauma, or maybe just how small events can make huge changes. There’s a mourning throughout the plot of Christine’s loss of passion. She’s looking for someone or something to blame, and maybe her novel was a way of figuring that out. And maybe it rubbed a few people the wrong way.
But Pham does something impressive. Describing art is a tough thing in literature, and some of it went over my head. But when it connected, it was brilliant. I can generally just consider my emotions when I see great art, but Pham takes it much further. I didn’t feel like such an idiot listening to Christine, and I was able to, at some basic level, connect with her. This novel delivers the soul of the artist.
One comment: not sure the book summary matches the novel as well as it should. You might get the impression of a psychological thriller, which I don’t think this is. It’s just a good life-considering, emotional tale of a painter. That’s good enough for me, but I guess you don’t sell copies with that description. Whaddya gonna do.
A sharp, intelligent story of NOT making art and what that means for the human spirit.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Discipline by Larissa Pham is scheduled for release January 20, 2026.
Sorry to give away a few plot points, but I couldn’t figure out a better way to describe things. Discipline takes place mostly in the tortured artistic soul of its protagonist. Christine doesn’t seem to be enjoying the modest success her book has brought her and instead ruminates about what emptiness writing seems designed to replace. She’s sad, a little beaten down. She seems ok in the physical sense, but it’s clear her life didn’t go the way she thought. She’s saved a bit by her youth and her writing career, but she doesn’t paint anymore. That she might’ve never had talent in the first place drives her crazy. And something happened in grad school that blew that all to smithereens. Most of the novel (the actual, not the fictional) focuses on that one thing, something that has to do with the old painter.
It's an interesting mix of conversation and introspection. It’s wrong to say this is a heady novel, stuck completely in the philosophical wonderings of the MC. There are observations and visits and swims in cold oceans. Tons of flashbacks, right in the middle of those interactions, so read it slowly or you’ll lose your place.
But Pham makes it clear: this novel is about artistic spirit. Yes, moderate trauma, or maybe just how small events can make huge changes. There’s a mourning throughout the plot of Christine’s loss of passion. She’s looking for someone or something to blame, and maybe her novel was a way of figuring that out. And maybe it rubbed a few people the wrong way.
But Pham does something impressive. Describing art is a tough thing in literature, and some of it went over my head. But when it connected, it was brilliant. I can generally just consider my emotions when I see great art, but Pham takes it much further. I didn’t feel like such an idiot listening to Christine, and I was able to, at some basic level, connect with her. This novel delivers the soul of the artist.
One comment: not sure the book summary matches the novel as well as it should. You might get the impression of a psychological thriller, which I don’t think this is. It’s just a good life-considering, emotional tale of a painter. That’s good enough for me, but I guess you don’t sell copies with that description. Whaddya gonna do.
A sharp, intelligent story of NOT making art and what that means for the human spirit.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. Discipline by Larissa Pham is scheduled for release January 20, 2026.
December 7, 2025
Maybe it’s because this year marks 25 years since the release of Erykah Badu’s Mama’s Gun that I found myself humming Bag Lady while reading this new novel by Larissa Pham. Early on we are introduced to a suitcase which was mistakenly taken by another passenger at the airport on arrival. The need to get the suitcase back and its contents are natural, especially in Christine’s case who just returned back from one of her tour dates for the release of her new novel. A novel loosely based on an incident that took place years prior, one that involved her and her then art professor. As the pages unfold however, we see her creating distance from his profession often calling him “old painter”.
After she gets her suitcase back from the fellow passenger, we see her take this suitcase throughout the book, often unpacking and repacking as the story progresses. As her mind tries to rationalize what took place and she tries to piece together the happenings of that incident, we see her engaging with those she encounters, both from her past and present. Her mind is made up of loose memories and fractured feelings like articles of clothing ruptured across her unzippered luggage. She grapples with the truth and fights to find the answers to questions only the professor can answer.
Towards the end we see Christine continue to fight with the idea of unpacking her luggage or closing it, handle pulled, and wheels rolled in tow to her next destination. The emotional burden trauma can carry is found in her dealings with this suitcase similar to the lyrics of Bag Lady. What will be her solution? Will she find peace and healing in confronting the weight of her luggage? Can she return to herself once again?
I found the start of the book lacked a pull I often crave when picking up a new read. The beginning felt a bit lackluster and by the 20% mark it felt like a slow burn. The writing style was hard to push through as it felt a bit murky at times. In other instances Pham’s writing style felt intentional to really have the reader in the head of Christine. It felt like a long run-on story she was relaying to someone or maybe ultimately an internal conversation with herself. I wish there was more character development but I can visualize this being picked up for a limited series so there could be a future opportunity there.
This compact read carried a heavy topic that Pham was able to delicately address. I appreciated her descriptiveness especially through Christine’s love of art. Though her passion for the discipline was upended she was still so drawn to art and this was made clear through the details Pham decided to draw on.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the Advanced Readers Copy!
After she gets her suitcase back from the fellow passenger, we see her take this suitcase throughout the book, often unpacking and repacking as the story progresses. As her mind tries to rationalize what took place and she tries to piece together the happenings of that incident, we see her engaging with those she encounters, both from her past and present. Her mind is made up of loose memories and fractured feelings like articles of clothing ruptured across her unzippered luggage. She grapples with the truth and fights to find the answers to questions only the professor can answer.
Towards the end we see Christine continue to fight with the idea of unpacking her luggage or closing it, handle pulled, and wheels rolled in tow to her next destination. The emotional burden trauma can carry is found in her dealings with this suitcase similar to the lyrics of Bag Lady. What will be her solution? Will she find peace and healing in confronting the weight of her luggage? Can she return to herself once again?
I found the start of the book lacked a pull I often crave when picking up a new read. The beginning felt a bit lackluster and by the 20% mark it felt like a slow burn. The writing style was hard to push through as it felt a bit murky at times. In other instances Pham’s writing style felt intentional to really have the reader in the head of Christine. It felt like a long run-on story she was relaying to someone or maybe ultimately an internal conversation with herself. I wish there was more character development but I can visualize this being picked up for a limited series so there could be a future opportunity there.
This compact read carried a heavy topic that Pham was able to delicately address. I appreciated her descriptiveness especially through Christine’s love of art. Though her passion for the discipline was upended she was still so drawn to art and this was made clear through the details Pham decided to draw on.
Thank you NetGalley and Random House for the Advanced Readers Copy!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
📚Discipline
✍🏻Larissa Pham
Blurb:
A taut, electrifying debut about a woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor, from a “lit world phenom” (Harper’s Bazaar).
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. But I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, Christine is seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her he's read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his cabin, deep in the woods of Maine, what she encounters threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she's imagined it.
A delicately explosive high-wire act about the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive, Discipline is a terse triumph about art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
My Thoughts:
Discipline is a quiet, intelligent exploration of a woman gradually unraveling in the aftermath of her debut book’s release.. The writing is breathtaking, and the slow-burn suspenseful storyline kept me engrossed in the pages. A woman coming to terms with her past and learning to live without the weight of it. With beautiful prose, complex characters. For a novel driven by such a strong, tense, and emotional undercurrent, it reads with surprising calmness and restraint. Christine dropped out of her MFA program after an affair with one of her professors. Years later to help her process, she writes a novel based on the experience. When her book tour is winding down, she receives an email from her professor about her book and she must make a decision about confronting what happened. She eventually drops out of graduate school, switches to writing and failed relationships, that all led to this book .At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting,
Thanks NetGalley, Random House Publisher and Author Larissa Pham for the advanced copy of "Discipline" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#RandomHousePublisher
#LarissaPham
#Discipline
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️Trigger Warning: : Suicide and: Cancer
✍🏻Larissa Pham
Blurb:
A taut, electrifying debut about a woman forced to confront unsettling truths about herself, her past, and the life she rebuilt following a ruinous affair with her former mentor, from a “lit world phenom” (Harper’s Bazaar).
I have the sense that something is being drawn between us. Not drawn as in line but as in arrow pulled back. But I don’t know which of us holds the bow, and which of us faces the arrow.
Christine is on tour for her novel, a revenge fantasy based on a real-life relationship gone bad with an older professor ten years prior. Now on the road, Christine is seeking answers—about how to live a good life and what it means to make art—through intimate conversations with strangers, past lovers and friends.
But when the antagonist of her novel—her old painting professor—reaches out in a series of sly communiques after years of silence to tell her he's read her book, Christine must reckon with what it means to lose the reins of a narrative she wrote precisely to maintain control. When her professor invites her to join him at his cabin, deep in the woods of Maine, what she encounters threatens to change the very foundations of her life as she's imagined it.
A delicately explosive high-wire act about the fictions we construct for ourselves just to survive, Discipline is a terse triumph about art-making and rigor, intimacy and attention, punishment and release.
My Thoughts:
Discipline is a quiet, intelligent exploration of a woman gradually unraveling in the aftermath of her debut book’s release.. The writing is breathtaking, and the slow-burn suspenseful storyline kept me engrossed in the pages. A woman coming to terms with her past and learning to live without the weight of it. With beautiful prose, complex characters. For a novel driven by such a strong, tense, and emotional undercurrent, it reads with surprising calmness and restraint. Christine dropped out of her MFA program after an affair with one of her professors. Years later to help her process, she writes a novel based on the experience. When her book tour is winding down, she receives an email from her professor about her book and she must make a decision about confronting what happened. She eventually drops out of graduate school, switches to writing and failed relationships, that all led to this book .At only 140 pages, I was able to read this in one sitting,
Thanks NetGalley, Random House Publisher and Author Larissa Pham for the advanced copy of "Discipline" I am leaving my voluntary review in appreciation.
#NetGalley
#RandomHousePublisher
#LarissaPham
#Discipline
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
⚠️Trigger Warning: : Suicide and: Cancer
September 28, 2025
I received an ARC copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review on my Goodread's page. It is due out in January 2026.
This is the debut novel from this author, and it offers an intriguing premise. The story follows an artist-turned-writer who pens a revenge fantasy aimed at her former painting professor—a man she believes exploited her. When she embarks on a cross-country tour to promote the book, she’s confronted by the unsettling reality that the professor has read her work and has chosen to reach out.
At just over novella length, this is the kind of book you can devour in a single sitting (though I stretched it over two). While the premise initially drew me in, what truly impressed me was the execution. The author employs a clever structure: brief, vignette-like passages woven throughout that slowly piece together the protagonist’s past. This fragmented style mirrors the way memory itself works, layering history and hurt in ways that feel both intimate and unsettling.
That said, the central plot—particularly the trajectory of the revenge narrative—landed on a fairly predictable note for me. By the time the ending arrived, I found myself more invested in the atmosphere, the sharp observations, and the stylistic flourishes than in the resolution itself.
Still, this is a debut that signals real promise. It’s the kind of book likely to be praised for its craft, literary devices, and careful wordsmithing. Even if the storyline didn’t entirely surprise me, I appreciated the author’s voice and vision. For readers who enjoy character-driven, stylistically bold works, this slim novel will make for a quick but thought-provoking read.
This is the debut novel from this author, and it offers an intriguing premise. The story follows an artist-turned-writer who pens a revenge fantasy aimed at her former painting professor—a man she believes exploited her. When she embarks on a cross-country tour to promote the book, she’s confronted by the unsettling reality that the professor has read her work and has chosen to reach out.
At just over novella length, this is the kind of book you can devour in a single sitting (though I stretched it over two). While the premise initially drew me in, what truly impressed me was the execution. The author employs a clever structure: brief, vignette-like passages woven throughout that slowly piece together the protagonist’s past. This fragmented style mirrors the way memory itself works, layering history and hurt in ways that feel both intimate and unsettling.
That said, the central plot—particularly the trajectory of the revenge narrative—landed on a fairly predictable note for me. By the time the ending arrived, I found myself more invested in the atmosphere, the sharp observations, and the stylistic flourishes than in the resolution itself.
Still, this is a debut that signals real promise. It’s the kind of book likely to be praised for its craft, literary devices, and careful wordsmithing. Even if the storyline didn’t entirely surprise me, I appreciated the author’s voice and vision. For readers who enjoy character-driven, stylistically bold works, this slim novel will make for a quick but thought-provoking read.
November 14, 2025
“Discipline” is a well-written literary novel about the derailment of a painter’s career as the result of a brief affair with her mentor, a highly respected artist and professor. Although fiction, it sometimes reminded me of a memoir, especially since it’s told by the protagonist from a first-person point of view.
The book has much to say about innate talent, ambition, artistry, fulfillment, disillusionment, self-worth, self-deception, power imbalance, and even revenge.
The characters are deeply drawn, but perhaps not very likeable.
Although this is not a mystery, per se, author Larissa Pham does plant a number of questions about her characters that engaged readers will want answered, and she gives us an ending that’s somewhat surprising.
All in all, a good choice for anyone seeking a literary tale designed to invite readers to think, and perhaps reconsider their views, about the issues covered.
My thanks to Net Galley, author Larissa Pham, and publisher Random House for providing me with a complimentary electronic ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.
The book has much to say about innate talent, ambition, artistry, fulfillment, disillusionment, self-worth, self-deception, power imbalance, and even revenge.
The characters are deeply drawn, but perhaps not very likeable.
Although this is not a mystery, per se, author Larissa Pham does plant a number of questions about her characters that engaged readers will want answered, and she gives us an ending that’s somewhat surprising.
All in all, a good choice for anyone seeking a literary tale designed to invite readers to think, and perhaps reconsider their views, about the issues covered.
My thanks to Net Galley, author Larissa Pham, and publisher Random House for providing me with a complimentary electronic ARC. All of the foregoing is my honest, independent opinion.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to netgalley for this arc!
This book is one that will stay with me for a long time, often prompting random thoughts and references. We follow the main character, who is concealing a part of herself in her current life. During her book tour, she reconnects with people from her past, prompting her to reflect on who they were and who she was around them. The book offers a profound perspective on how different people can evoke various aspects of your personality and how unsettling it can be when others change while you feel unchanged. It effectively illustrates the main character’s journey through life, helping us understand her motivations. The book also conveys that our identity is shaped by our experiences, and imagining those experiences never happened erases a part of us, though that part never truly disappears, it just resurfaces in different ways. I loved this book for its introspective nature. It’s my first read by Larissa Pham, and I’m eager to explore more of her work because her writing was exceptional.
This book is one that will stay with me for a long time, often prompting random thoughts and references. We follow the main character, who is concealing a part of herself in her current life. During her book tour, she reconnects with people from her past, prompting her to reflect on who they were and who she was around them. The book offers a profound perspective on how different people can evoke various aspects of your personality and how unsettling it can be when others change while you feel unchanged. It effectively illustrates the main character’s journey through life, helping us understand her motivations. The book also conveys that our identity is shaped by our experiences, and imagining those experiences never happened erases a part of us, though that part never truly disappears, it just resurfaces in different ways. I loved this book for its introspective nature. It’s my first read by Larissa Pham, and I’m eager to explore more of her work because her writing was exceptional.
November 21, 2025
This book had so much potential, and there were moments when the slow, contemplative flow of the prose initially really drew me in. However, the plot, writing style, and characters ultimately proved challenging for me.
Although it’s a short novel, it felt much longer while reading. The story centers on the narrator revisiting people she once knew intimately, now meeting them again in the present and trying to reconcile who they were with who they’ve become. It’s an interesting premise, but the way it’s executed kept me at a distance. The narrative style holds the reader at arm’s length, and because of that, I struggled to feel invested in the characters or their journeys.
I found myself waiting for something meaningful to happen—some shift, some revelation—but that moment never really came.
In the end, while I admired the intention and the thoughtful tone, the writing style remained a major obstacle for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
Although it’s a short novel, it felt much longer while reading. The story centers on the narrator revisiting people she once knew intimately, now meeting them again in the present and trying to reconcile who they were with who they’ve become. It’s an interesting premise, but the way it’s executed kept me at a distance. The narrative style holds the reader at arm’s length, and because of that, I struggled to feel invested in the characters or their journeys.
I found myself waiting for something meaningful to happen—some shift, some revelation—but that moment never really came.
In the end, while I admired the intention and the thoughtful tone, the writing style remained a major obstacle for me.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC
November 23, 2025
“Discipline” presents an interesting premise—can what damages you also create something wonderful? Christine is a former painter turned writer on the eve of her novel’s debut. It was because of an affair with a professor while in a MFA program that Christine stepped away from art, but she ends up fictionalizing her experience in a novel. The novel itself focuses on her book tour and ends up with Christine reconnecting with the professor.
It's an interesting premise and the writing itself, while thoughtful, makes the reader feel distant from the premise and Christine herself. I wanted to feel more of a connection with Christine and her pain.
Don’t expect a thriller—this is not a revenge story. But Larissa Pham does portray how a young woman can take agency and not remain the victim.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for a chance to read and review this novel.
It's an interesting premise and the writing itself, while thoughtful, makes the reader feel distant from the premise and Christine herself. I wanted to feel more of a connection with Christine and her pain.
Don’t expect a thriller—this is not a revenge story. But Larissa Pham does portray how a young woman can take agency and not remain the victim.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and Net Galley for a chance to read and review this novel.
December 7, 2025
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher, for which I thank them.
“Discipline” is a novel by Larissa Pham. Okay, the cover is fantastic- and that’s what really pulled me into this book. I wish that the cover had lived up to the guts of this book. At 16% into this book, I realized that this wasn’t the book I thought it was going to be based upon the description - but I kept reading. The language was a bit too “literary fiction” for my taste and the writing style felt a bit more stylistically slow. I kept expecting something (maybe a revelation?) to happen … and it didn’t. I didn’t feel any connectivity to the main character - or any of the characters to be honest. I know that some readers have enjoyed this book much more than I did, so my recommendation would be to read their reviews. I don’t think that the summary of this book actually matches the book - this isn’t a thriller but more of an introspection of life - past and present.
“Discipline” is a novel by Larissa Pham. Okay, the cover is fantastic- and that’s what really pulled me into this book. I wish that the cover had lived up to the guts of this book. At 16% into this book, I realized that this wasn’t the book I thought it was going to be based upon the description - but I kept reading. The language was a bit too “literary fiction” for my taste and the writing style felt a bit more stylistically slow. I kept expecting something (maybe a revelation?) to happen … and it didn’t. I didn’t feel any connectivity to the main character - or any of the characters to be honest. I know that some readers have enjoyed this book much more than I did, so my recommendation would be to read their reviews. I don’t think that the summary of this book actually matches the book - this isn’t a thriller but more of an introspection of life - past and present.
December 10, 2025
I received an ARC copy of Discipline from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Discipline covers a recurring topic in a post-MeToo world, how does someone move on from an affair with a mentor, professor or person in power. The main character, Christine, becomes an author in the years following a relationship with a professor in college and through the release and tour of her book looks to find meaning of her life and the consequences that follow. Pham's writing style at times feels overly drawn out - with details of the character hidden from the reader. Christine wants anonymity but doesn't - the names of characters take forever to be found out and the crux of the plot doesn't happen until 85% into the book.
Pham contributes to a growing field of books addressing the academic implications of relationships with power imbalances and Christine has to come to terms with her choices and her path to move on, but it takes the reader a while to follow what she's even saying.
Discipline covers a recurring topic in a post-MeToo world, how does someone move on from an affair with a mentor, professor or person in power. The main character, Christine, becomes an author in the years following a relationship with a professor in college and through the release and tour of her book looks to find meaning of her life and the consequences that follow. Pham's writing style at times feels overly drawn out - with details of the character hidden from the reader. Christine wants anonymity but doesn't - the names of characters take forever to be found out and the crux of the plot doesn't happen until 85% into the book.
Pham contributes to a growing field of books addressing the academic implications of relationships with power imbalances and Christine has to come to terms with her choices and her path to move on, but it takes the reader a while to follow what she's even saying.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Christine's original passion was to become an artist. Swayed by her undergraduate art professor, who becomes head of an MFA program, she enrolls in the graduate school where he is teaching. What ensues is the classic 'me-too' situation. She finds him seductive, powerful and views him as her mentor. What begins as a romantasy becomes ugly as he lets her flounder in her program. Her passion to create art fades and she turns gradually to writing.
The novel opens with Christine traveling on a book tour for her new novel. On her travels, she realizes new insights about herself and her relationship history.
Bottom line is that I didn't jive with the writing style and had a difficult time finishing this book. I found the narrative boring and simplistic. This was not the right book for me at this time.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced Reading Copy of 'Discipline'.
The novel opens with Christine traveling on a book tour for her new novel. On her travels, she realizes new insights about herself and her relationship history.
Bottom line is that I didn't jive with the writing style and had a difficult time finishing this book. I found the narrative boring and simplistic. This was not the right book for me at this time.
Thank you to Random House and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this Advanced Reading Copy of 'Discipline'.
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