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Porcupines
Los Angeles, 2001. Sonia is raising her daughter, Mila, alone in the sunny but somnolent suburbs of LA. Her days are a blur of not-quite-illegal business activities, avoiding other moms, and baking birthday cakes laced with minor mistakes that nevertheless remind her she doesn’t belong.
Mila, meanwhile, is juggling violin and swimming lessons and navigating the treacherous social politics of school – all the while trying to get her mother to share something, anything, about her past.
But there are just too many things that Mila doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know that her mother grew up in Soviet Hungary (where getting your hands on a banana was one of the greatest thrills in life)She doesn’t know that her mother has a sister called Rina (whom she hasn’t spoken to in 10 years). The only thing she does know about her father is that he was a ‘good time’ (according to her mother) Crucially, she doesn’t know that there is a very good reason why her mother dodges everyone, from traffic cops to vice principals.
So, Mila concocts a scheme to get her mother, and the man Mila is kind of sure must be her father to reconnect. It involves corralling Sonia into chaperoning an orchestra of ten-year-olds (most of whom seem to be called Megan) on a road trip from LA to San Francisco, and it may just cause their carefully constructed lives to implode.
Moving between Budapest before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Washington, DC in the tense years of the Cold War and the bright sunshine of early 2000s Los Angeles, Porcupines is an irresistible novel about mothers and daughters, belonging and reinvention, the things we carry with us, and those we tell ourselves we’ve left behind.
Mila, meanwhile, is juggling violin and swimming lessons and navigating the treacherous social politics of school – all the while trying to get her mother to share something, anything, about her past.
But there are just too many things that Mila doesn’t know.
She doesn’t know that her mother grew up in Soviet Hungary (where getting your hands on a banana was one of the greatest thrills in life)She doesn’t know that her mother has a sister called Rina (whom she hasn’t spoken to in 10 years). The only thing she does know about her father is that he was a ‘good time’ (according to her mother) Crucially, she doesn’t know that there is a very good reason why her mother dodges everyone, from traffic cops to vice principals.
So, Mila concocts a scheme to get her mother, and the man Mila is kind of sure must be her father to reconnect. It involves corralling Sonia into chaperoning an orchestra of ten-year-olds (most of whom seem to be called Megan) on a road trip from LA to San Francisco, and it may just cause their carefully constructed lives to implode.
Moving between Budapest before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Washington, DC in the tense years of the Cold War and the bright sunshine of early 2000s Los Angeles, Porcupines is an irresistible novel about mothers and daughters, belonging and reinvention, the things we carry with us, and those we tell ourselves we’ve left behind.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 397 reviews
May 26, 2026
4.5! This book is for anyone who’s grown up under communism and felt the social, religious and political pressures having had to hide their identity, religion or beliefs for the sake of fitting in and not being threatened or ostracized. This book is spot on, sharp in observations and wit, I was nodding and agreeing with many points (if not all) that Fabriczki was making. As someone who was born in a communist country, this was a walk down memory lane. Everything from immigration to relationships and even the ‘Soviet Union’ mentality was so well explored—deserves all the praise!
I do understand the lower ratings—it’s hard to understand the depth of its meaning when one wasn’t born into a place where one must always hide. This book is stellar, on all levels.
FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW!
Little synopsis:
This is a story about a single mother, Sonia and her daughter, Mila, shaped by two different time periods and places. One in Budapest, the other in USA. Her curious 10 year old daughter is trying to find out who her father is despite Sonia's every effort to keep that part hidden. It’s a great story about the choices we make, the loneliness that sometimes comes with motherhood and how protection can turn into isolation. It centers on generational trauma that comes with the pressures of communistic regime and oppression. It speaks heavily on national and religion identity and what one would do to protect themselves.
I do understand the lower ratings—it’s hard to understand the depth of its meaning when one wasn’t born into a place where one must always hide. This book is stellar, on all levels.
FULL REVIEW TO FOLLOW!
Little synopsis:
This is a story about a single mother, Sonia and her daughter, Mila, shaped by two different time periods and places. One in Budapest, the other in USA. Her curious 10 year old daughter is trying to find out who her father is despite Sonia's every effort to keep that part hidden. It’s a great story about the choices we make, the loneliness that sometimes comes with motherhood and how protection can turn into isolation. It centers on generational trauma that comes with the pressures of communistic regime and oppression. It speaks heavily on national and religion identity and what one would do to protect themselves.
May 1, 2026
I wanted to love this but it was hard to connect with/root for the main character and the ending was unsatisfactory. But I enjoyed the author’s voice and an interesting perspective on elements of humanity.
April 16, 2026
In 2001, single mother Sonia resides in LA within the shrouded life she’s created for her and her daughter, Mila. Sonia is a Hungarian immigrant with a hidden past, and Mila, ever the inquisitive and precocious child, has secretly schemed to meet the man she believes to be her father during her field trip.
Through interspersed timelines, Sonia’s life story is told. From Budapest before the fall of the Berlin Wall to Washington DC during the Cold War to LA in the early 2000s, we follow the vivacious Szonja as she becomes Sonia. Reserved and private to a fault, she still radiates with a tenacity and wry humor that’s unmatched. Her quick-witted banter gives off Lorelai Gilmore vibes, and her character growth throughout is subtle and genuine.
The mother-daughter relationship between her and Mila is the beating heart of the story, but there are more complex family dynamics to explore with the past timelines, particularly between Sonia and her sister Rina. Their misconceptions of each other's lives is such a vivid portrayal of how just because one's life isn't how you'd live doesn't mean they're unhappy or unfulfilled. Fabriczki also offers a poignant observation on immigration and integration.
While I felt ok with the ending’s ambiguity, my drawback was the last few chapters that led to it. After a lot of initial buildup, the remainder of the story from after the field trip to the conclusion was a little disjointed and left me wanting. That said, 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 is ultimately an impressive debut, and I truly loved these characters.
🎙 Stephanie Németh-Parker gives an impeccable narration, as always, proving once more why she's a favorite to my ears. She puts her range on full display here. Her intonations from child to adult characters as well as from male to female and use of accents is truly remarkable as she shifts flawlessly from one to the other. Highly recommend this one for your ears!
✨️ An April BOTM main pick!
Through interspersed timelines, Sonia’s life story is told. From Budapest before the fall of the Berlin Wall to Washington DC during the Cold War to LA in the early 2000s, we follow the vivacious Szonja as she becomes Sonia. Reserved and private to a fault, she still radiates with a tenacity and wry humor that’s unmatched. Her quick-witted banter gives off Lorelai Gilmore vibes, and her character growth throughout is subtle and genuine.
The mother-daughter relationship between her and Mila is the beating heart of the story, but there are more complex family dynamics to explore with the past timelines, particularly between Sonia and her sister Rina. Their misconceptions of each other's lives is such a vivid portrayal of how just because one's life isn't how you'd live doesn't mean they're unhappy or unfulfilled. Fabriczki also offers a poignant observation on immigration and integration.
While I felt ok with the ending’s ambiguity, my drawback was the last few chapters that led to it. After a lot of initial buildup, the remainder of the story from after the field trip to the conclusion was a little disjointed and left me wanting. That said, 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗰𝘂𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 is ultimately an impressive debut, and I truly loved these characters.
🎙 Stephanie Németh-Parker gives an impeccable narration, as always, proving once more why she's a favorite to my ears. She puts her range on full display here. Her intonations from child to adult characters as well as from male to female and use of accents is truly remarkable as she shifts flawlessly from one to the other. Highly recommend this one for your ears!
✨️ An April BOTM main pick!
March 6, 2026
I really enjoyed this story of a single mother and her young daughter, each trying to carve out a place for themselves and work out how they fit in modern day America.
Initially an illegal immigrant, Sonia is cautious and protective of her privacy, concerned about questions that may be difficult to answer, especially if they’re posed in front of Mila, her daughter. Her attempts to keep people at arm’s length become challenging when Mila volunteers her as a chaperone for a school trip.
Mila, who has been studiously coached in what we do and don’t tell people about ourselves by Sonia, adopts a scientific approach to playground politics, whilst appearing unbothered about her personal popularity or what others think about her. It’s a refreshing perspective. She’s far more interested in tracking down the mysterious man she suspects is her father. And she’s a master reader of her mother’s moods. I found both characters endearing and I loved their bond.
What I loved: Fran Fabriczki writes with a unique voice, commentating on everyday things with wit and humour.
What I didn’t love: While I am a fan of an ambiguous ending, this one required Google Translate (I kid you not), to ensure I’d interpreted it correctly.
However, a great read, so five stars from me with thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree for a chance to read an ARC. Porcupines publishes on 16 April.
Initially an illegal immigrant, Sonia is cautious and protective of her privacy, concerned about questions that may be difficult to answer, especially if they’re posed in front of Mila, her daughter. Her attempts to keep people at arm’s length become challenging when Mila volunteers her as a chaperone for a school trip.
Mila, who has been studiously coached in what we do and don’t tell people about ourselves by Sonia, adopts a scientific approach to playground politics, whilst appearing unbothered about her personal popularity or what others think about her. It’s a refreshing perspective. She’s far more interested in tracking down the mysterious man she suspects is her father. And she’s a master reader of her mother’s moods. I found both characters endearing and I loved their bond.
What I loved: Fran Fabriczki writes with a unique voice, commentating on everyday things with wit and humour.
What I didn’t love: While I am a fan of an ambiguous ending, this one required Google Translate (I kid you not), to ensure I’d interpreted it correctly.
However, a great read, so five stars from me with thanks to NetGalley and Penguin General UK - Fig Tree for a chance to read an ARC. Porcupines publishes on 16 April.
May 11, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin UK for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review. Porcupines is out now!
❧
Absolutely stunning debut. Porcupines follows Szonja, an illegal Hungarian immigrant in Los Angeles, her struggles with fitting in and how she is passing along her fears onto her daughter Mila. Both mother and daughter are lovely characters, a gentle mirror of each other. It had very much a Gilmore Girls vibe, but with far more likeable Lorelai and Rory.
The story is split between the present early 00's during Mila's school trip which Sonia helps chaperone, and late 1989 after the travel restrictions were lifted and Szonja could finally visit her sister Rina, who was already married and settled in the US. To Szonja's disappointment, Rina is living the complete opposite of a glamorous Hollywood life. We navigate their struggles with each other's identity, the palpable guilt of both women, the repressed urges to connect and bond, giving way to stunted conversations over dinner or awkward interactions that neither knows how to steer.
Fast forward to the present, where Mila has discovered her mother's correspondence with a certain Anthony Greene, whom she is now convinced is her father. Mila then arranges a meeting that would take place during their San Francisco trip, in which she is essentially trying to pull a Parent Trap move on Sonia and Anthony.
❧
Without giving too much away from the plot (after all, it is literary fiction) I can recommend this with my whole heart. The book touches not only on immigration and maternal relationships, but generational trauma, loneliness, religion and identity, the holocaust, and they are all woven in so naturally. The prose is funny and witty, and while reading I could only think of describing it as delicate and feminine. It had a particularly soft touch that resonated deep within my bones.
If you enjoy character explorations, bittersweet stories, but overall heartwarming conclusions, give this one a try!
❧
Absolutely stunning debut. Porcupines follows Szonja, an illegal Hungarian immigrant in Los Angeles, her struggles with fitting in and how she is passing along her fears onto her daughter Mila. Both mother and daughter are lovely characters, a gentle mirror of each other. It had very much a Gilmore Girls vibe, but with far more likeable Lorelai and Rory.
The story is split between the present early 00's during Mila's school trip which Sonia helps chaperone, and late 1989 after the travel restrictions were lifted and Szonja could finally visit her sister Rina, who was already married and settled in the US. To Szonja's disappointment, Rina is living the complete opposite of a glamorous Hollywood life. We navigate their struggles with each other's identity, the palpable guilt of both women, the repressed urges to connect and bond, giving way to stunted conversations over dinner or awkward interactions that neither knows how to steer.
Fast forward to the present, where Mila has discovered her mother's correspondence with a certain Anthony Greene, whom she is now convinced is her father. Mila then arranges a meeting that would take place during their San Francisco trip, in which she is essentially trying to pull a Parent Trap move on Sonia and Anthony.
❧
Without giving too much away from the plot (after all, it is literary fiction) I can recommend this with my whole heart. The book touches not only on immigration and maternal relationships, but generational trauma, loneliness, religion and identity, the holocaust, and they are all woven in so naturally. The prose is funny and witty, and while reading I could only think of describing it as delicate and feminine. It had a particularly soft touch that resonated deep within my bones.
If you enjoy character explorations, bittersweet stories, but overall heartwarming conclusions, give this one a try!
April 8, 2026
I enjoyed this story overall but I did not enjoy the flashback chapters from when Sonia was younger. Also the ending just felt very vague. And I still don’t understand the title. 🤷♀️
May 8, 2026
To the person who said this book was “like Gilmore Girls” - have you ever even watched the show before?
There were numerous points that it felt like this book was going nowhere. To be frank it really didn’t go super far.
And her marrying her old friend and the whole Vegas escapade was so weird!
There were numerous points that it felt like this book was going nowhere. To be frank it really didn’t go super far.
And her marrying her old friend and the whole Vegas escapade was so weird!
April 20, 2026
Started out promising….but I found it pretty boring and going nowhere.
April 21, 2026
I saw so many great reviews on this book, but this book was definitely not for me. I felt the plot was very dry and the ending was left wide open. It was a quick read but felt very pointless.
April 12, 2026
I’m going to be very honest I wanted to love the book, but I really did not understand the concept of anything that was going on, I was getting very confused by the POV’s between the daughter and the mom. It was hard for me to connect to the story, I see everybody wrote amazing reviews, but the book wasn’t for me.
May 28, 2026
this book put me in a reading slump unfortunately (automatic -1 ⭐️)…a very complex gilmore girls episode in book form! i really wish i could tell you that i enjoyed it more than i actually did because i love literary fiction about family relationships & this one was honestly really well written, it just didn’t scratch any itch for me!
Want to Read
April 1, 2026also getting this from my botm subscription!
May 17, 2026
I kept waiting for the arc or even the point of this novel and then the book ended. I liked the character of Sonia and even her relationship with Mila but the author took it nowhere. The most boring part was when Sonia was living with her conservative Jewish sister and family and once I got through that I thought ok now something will happen, the crux of why this novel was written. It didn’t. The novel passes constantly back and forth through time for literally no reason but just to add snippets and characters and little stories about the characters without ever actually writing a unified book.
April 18, 2026
I can’t believe this is a debut novel- it is a stunner.
Some might call it “quiet” because it’s more of a character study than plot driven- but there were lines & entire passages in this book that were absolute gems. If I was the highlighting type, this entire novel would be marked up. I hope this finds its way into a ton of hands- so good.
Some might call it “quiet” because it’s more of a character study than plot driven- but there were lines & entire passages in this book that were absolute gems. If I was the highlighting type, this entire novel would be marked up. I hope this finds its way into a ton of hands- so good.
January 14, 2026
I very much enjoyed this unique, novel
The first chapter of this novel had me gripped. It’s obviously going to be a witty and intriguing intelligent novel
This is the story of Hungarian Sonia who whilst visiting her sister in America becomes pregnant as a teenager. It’s a story of immigration and integration.
Sonia has herself as a quirky character and her daughter has similar personality. There’s a strong element of otherness in the story. They are other because they are Hungarian. They are other because they are different in other ways her young daughter for example seems to have autistic tendencies. The title of the book refers to this prickliness or otherness of their family.
The author has a witty amusing easily read writing style. I very much enjoyed reading this book.
There is excellent character development the family feel like real people and there’s a whole cast of quirky others
I enjoyed the way the Story is told in a mixture of present time and flashbacks and the way that this jumped around so that you learnt more about the family’s origins as you read through the novel
I thought the ending was fabulous
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an unbiased review. The book is published in the UK on the 16th of April 2026 by penguin UK fig tree
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon and Waterstones
The first chapter of this novel had me gripped. It’s obviously going to be a witty and intriguing intelligent novel
This is the story of Hungarian Sonia who whilst visiting her sister in America becomes pregnant as a teenager. It’s a story of immigration and integration.
Sonia has herself as a quirky character and her daughter has similar personality. There’s a strong element of otherness in the story. They are other because they are Hungarian. They are other because they are different in other ways her young daughter for example seems to have autistic tendencies. The title of the book refers to this prickliness or otherness of their family.
The author has a witty amusing easily read writing style. I very much enjoyed reading this book.
There is excellent character development the family feel like real people and there’s a whole cast of quirky others
I enjoyed the way the Story is told in a mixture of present time and flashbacks and the way that this jumped around so that you learnt more about the family’s origins as you read through the novel
I thought the ending was fabulous
I read an early copy of the novel on NetGalley UK in return for an unbiased review. The book is published in the UK on the 16th of April 2026 by penguin UK fig tree
This review will appear on NetGalley UK, Goodreads, StoryGraph and my book blog bionicSarahsbooks.wordpress.com after publication it will also appear on Amazon and Waterstones
February 22, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️ My review: I love a book with family secrets. And Porcupines definitely teases a few of these in the beginning. Once you can get past the jumping around in time and place and get the characters and places organized in your mind, it's off to figure out what Sonia is running from, hiding from, or trying to find. The book moves between the 1980's and 2001 in Budapest, LA and Washington DC and it takes bit to get used to.
Sonia is hiding a lot and slowly we learn about it in the flashbacks. Her daughter Mila in 2001 is determined to find out about her father and her family's past. Sonia falls into that crack of parenthood when you realize you are no longer in control of everything. And she is worried.
I wasn't a huge fan of the ambiguous ending but it was a god study in parenthood and how secrets can catch up with you.
Thank to you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance digital copy. These opinions are my own.
Sonia is hiding a lot and slowly we learn about it in the flashbacks. Her daughter Mila in 2001 is determined to find out about her father and her family's past. Sonia falls into that crack of parenthood when you realize you are no longer in control of everything. And she is worried.
I wasn't a huge fan of the ambiguous ending but it was a god study in parenthood and how secrets can catch up with you.
Thank to you NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance digital copy. These opinions are my own.
February 13, 2026
I love mother/daughter stories and this was a great one. Liked the way that Fabriczki weaved the story with the time jumps and gave us glimpses of how we arrived at present day.
Really enjoyed learning a bit about Hungary's history, and how it shaped the lives of Sonia's family.
Sonia and Mila were an interesting duo: The banter and love between them, and so much miscommunication, which led to some interesting twists in the story.
This was a great debut and will be looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Thank you to S&S/Summit Books and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
Really enjoyed learning a bit about Hungary's history, and how it shaped the lives of Sonia's family.
Sonia and Mila were an interesting duo: The banter and love between them, and so much miscommunication, which led to some interesting twists in the story.
This was a great debut and will be looking forward to reading more from this author in the future.
Thank you to S&S/Summit Books and the author for providing a free copy of this book through NetGalley.
May 22, 2026
4 very well-deserved ⭐️! For me and the author because I did some WORK to get to the bottom of this book.
This is one of those lit fics where, for a while, you’re sitting there thinking ok where exactly are we going with this? I’ll admit I had no clue until ~40% in when Szonja encounters someone who shares this parable with her:
“Well, the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer had this theory that mankind was like a group of porcupines in the winter. They felt the cold, so they huddled together for warmth. Then they felt the prickle of one another’s needles and sprang apart. Together, apart, together, apart—and so on into infinity.”
And that’s the whole book: the tension between needing intimacy to survive and being unable to fully tolerate the vulnerability it requires.
Nearly every interaction in the novel becomes another variation of this push/pull dynamic. Moments where Szonja reaches for connection, or someone reaches for her, and then somebody retreats, misses the opening, shuts down, or simply fails to understand what the other person is really asking for. These missed opportunities are easy to overlook if you aren’t thinking about the novel through the framework of the parable, which is part of what made this such an interesting read for me.
Szonja herself feels like a porcupine. She’s observant, witty, intelligent, and almost strangely all-knowing about other people, yet emotionally distant from her own life. The detached third-person narration works perfectly because she has endless insight into the world but very little self-awareness about why she keeps people at arm’s length.
Szonja’s position on vulnerability becomes very clear when she says:
“It could have been fine to lean on them, to lean on him, but sometimes you just don’t want to wait and find out if people will disappoint you.”
I couldn’t stop wondering why she is this way, though. There are obvious possibilities: she grew up in Hungary before the fall of the Berlin Wall, her father is avoidant and emotionally distant, her mother dies, her relationship with her sister is strained, she’s an undocumented immigrant living in California….her life has been a series of disappointments compounded over time. But I kept thinking: is that it?
The book delivers its biggest revelation very late in the story. When Szonja and her sister, Rina, are at the market as young girls, a stranger comments on their “Jewish” appearances. After some prodding, it’s revealed that the shadow of the Holocaust (and the intergenerational trauma left behind by it) has shaped their family for generations. Her mother’s mother survived a camp only to die shortly after giving birth. Her father’s family tree was reduced from four branches to one. And nobody has ever talked about it. The girls didn’t even know they were Jewish until someone else pointed it out.
The timing of this reveal feels intentional. The novel withholds this intensely vulnerable piece of information until very late, almost as if Szonja herself cannot fully approach it. We spend most of the book circling around all the smaller porcupine quills until we finally arrive at the deepest wound underneath them all.
By the end, the porcupine metaphor expands beyond Szonja’s personal identity into something much larger: how history, family trauma, class, immigration, grief, and fear all become barriers to intimacy. Everyone wants warmth. Everyone also carries baggage sharp enough to wound other people, but keeping people away wounds ourselves too.
The ending of the novel, though slightly ambiguous, suggests that Szonja and her daughter Mila may become the first people in their family to finally break this cycle. I loved this subtle nod to the growth and change we are all capable of as humans.
I can see why this book won’t work for everyone. It’s emotionally distant, indirect and far more interested in patterns of human behavior than plot. But if you like literary fiction that slowly reveals its architecture over time, this is an INCREDIBLY rewarding read.
This is one of those lit fics where, for a while, you’re sitting there thinking ok where exactly are we going with this? I’ll admit I had no clue until ~40% in when Szonja encounters someone who shares this parable with her:
“Well, the great German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer had this theory that mankind was like a group of porcupines in the winter. They felt the cold, so they huddled together for warmth. Then they felt the prickle of one another’s needles and sprang apart. Together, apart, together, apart—and so on into infinity.”
And that’s the whole book: the tension between needing intimacy to survive and being unable to fully tolerate the vulnerability it requires.
Nearly every interaction in the novel becomes another variation of this push/pull dynamic. Moments where Szonja reaches for connection, or someone reaches for her, and then somebody retreats, misses the opening, shuts down, or simply fails to understand what the other person is really asking for. These missed opportunities are easy to overlook if you aren’t thinking about the novel through the framework of the parable, which is part of what made this such an interesting read for me.
Szonja herself feels like a porcupine. She’s observant, witty, intelligent, and almost strangely all-knowing about other people, yet emotionally distant from her own life. The detached third-person narration works perfectly because she has endless insight into the world but very little self-awareness about why she keeps people at arm’s length.
Szonja’s position on vulnerability becomes very clear when she says:
“It could have been fine to lean on them, to lean on him, but sometimes you just don’t want to wait and find out if people will disappoint you.”
I couldn’t stop wondering why she is this way, though. There are obvious possibilities: she grew up in Hungary before the fall of the Berlin Wall, her father is avoidant and emotionally distant, her mother dies, her relationship with her sister is strained, she’s an undocumented immigrant living in California….her life has been a series of disappointments compounded over time. But I kept thinking: is that it?
The book delivers its biggest revelation very late in the story. When Szonja and her sister, Rina, are at the market as young girls, a stranger comments on their “Jewish” appearances. After some prodding, it’s revealed that the shadow of the Holocaust (and the intergenerational trauma left behind by it) has shaped their family for generations. Her mother’s mother survived a camp only to die shortly after giving birth. Her father’s family tree was reduced from four branches to one. And nobody has ever talked about it. The girls didn’t even know they were Jewish until someone else pointed it out.
The timing of this reveal feels intentional. The novel withholds this intensely vulnerable piece of information until very late, almost as if Szonja herself cannot fully approach it. We spend most of the book circling around all the smaller porcupine quills until we finally arrive at the deepest wound underneath them all.
By the end, the porcupine metaphor expands beyond Szonja’s personal identity into something much larger: how history, family trauma, class, immigration, grief, and fear all become barriers to intimacy. Everyone wants warmth. Everyone also carries baggage sharp enough to wound other people, but keeping people away wounds ourselves too.
The ending of the novel, though slightly ambiguous, suggests that Szonja and her daughter Mila may become the first people in their family to finally break this cycle. I loved this subtle nod to the growth and change we are all capable of as humans.
I can see why this book won’t work for everyone. It’s emotionally distant, indirect and far more interested in patterns of human behavior than plot. But if you like literary fiction that slowly reveals its architecture over time, this is an INCREDIBLY rewarding read.
April 12, 2026
This story follows Sonia, a single mom and Hungarian woman living in LA in 2001 with her ten year old daughter. We have a secondary timeline in the 90s where we get to see Sonia as a child, Szonja before changing her name, in her native Budapest, as well as a young adult visiting her sister in DC. I think the dual timeline here was so well done, and gives so much meaning and understanding to who Sonia is and why she lives her life the way she does. Learning about life in Hungary, especially during that time was powerful and heartbreaking. It is understandable why she would want to find a different life for herself, and why the "Stepford Wife" style life her sister leads in DC would also not be for her. As an illegal immigrant, she decides to make a life in California, where she will raise her daughter on her own. They live a small, secretive life, and develop an incredible mother-daughter relationship, even if non-traditionally. Think Gilmore Girls, with their closeness and incredibly well written banter and humor. Her daughter Mila has always wanted to know more about her father, but Sonia has made that a topic never to be discussed. Until Mila finds some email exchanges with a man in San Fransisco, and uses a school field trip as an opportunity to get Sonia to go there with her.
While I wasn't able to relate to a lot of the Hungarian culture or the life of an immigrant, I was impressed by the way Fran Fabriczki was able to cover such difficult topics with humor and beautiful writing. I was however, able to relate to Mila from the start, as I also grew up with a very similar type of single mom and did not know my father, or anything about him, growing up. I always wondered who he could be, imagine him in men I saw at the grocery store and the like. My questions were not welcome, let alone ever answered. Had I found a lead and been given the opportunity to "trick" my mom like Mila does here, I would've at least tried! I found the portrayal of Sonia as a mother so incredibly realistic and heartbreaking. While vastly different reasons, this story gives me more understanding and perspective into what my mother may have been thinking as she spent my whole childhood insisting on doing everything herself and refusing to ask for help. For those who haven't been, or had, a single mother, I can see how it would be harder to understand, but this was an incredibly realistic and powerful display of what it's like to feel like you have no one else. To feel like you have no choice but to go it alone. I wish I could give Sonia a hug, but if she is anything like my mother, hugs weren't something she enjoyed. Perhaps because she didn't get enough of them? Back to the book though! It made me nostalgic in both good and bad ways, and is overall a great read. What I didn't love was the fairly abrupt ending, despite understanding it. I just wanted a little bit more of these characters.
Definitely pick this up if you are looking for a well written story, with strong female characters, a bit of historical fiction, realistic relationships, and some impressive humor. It was deep, raw, and had me feeling all the emotions. I am so glad I picked this one up, and I hope you do too!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon&Shuster for the eARC of this powerful debut novel by Fran Fabriczki.
While I wasn't able to relate to a lot of the Hungarian culture or the life of an immigrant, I was impressed by the way Fran Fabriczki was able to cover such difficult topics with humor and beautiful writing. I was however, able to relate to Mila from the start, as I also grew up with a very similar type of single mom and did not know my father, or anything about him, growing up. I always wondered who he could be, imagine him in men I saw at the grocery store and the like. My questions were not welcome, let alone ever answered. Had I found a lead and been given the opportunity to "trick" my mom like Mila does here, I would've at least tried! I found the portrayal of Sonia as a mother so incredibly realistic and heartbreaking. While vastly different reasons, this story gives me more understanding and perspective into what my mother may have been thinking as she spent my whole childhood insisting on doing everything herself and refusing to ask for help. For those who haven't been, or had, a single mother, I can see how it would be harder to understand, but this was an incredibly realistic and powerful display of what it's like to feel like you have no one else. To feel like you have no choice but to go it alone. I wish I could give Sonia a hug, but if she is anything like my mother, hugs weren't something she enjoyed. Perhaps because she didn't get enough of them? Back to the book though! It made me nostalgic in both good and bad ways, and is overall a great read. What I didn't love was the fairly abrupt ending, despite understanding it. I just wanted a little bit more of these characters.
Definitely pick this up if you are looking for a well written story, with strong female characters, a bit of historical fiction, realistic relationships, and some impressive humor. It was deep, raw, and had me feeling all the emotions. I am so glad I picked this one up, and I hope you do too!
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon&Shuster for the eARC of this powerful debut novel by Fran Fabriczki.
May 29, 2026
Really tried to love this one. Didn’t connect with any characters. Bummer.
April 28, 2026
A multiple timeline story mostly set in the 90s and early 2000s Budapest and San Francisco, Porcupines is a slice of life story about navigating life in America as a new immigrant.
As Sonia grapples with how to do right by her daughter, she deals with the pesky judgement of other school moms. Mila seeks to find her father, without Sonia realizing she’s doing so right under her nose. The challenge of fitting in as a sixth grader. The complicated mother-daughter bond. I can really get lost in stories like this. Slow, character-focused, reading about the minutia of characters’ lives while soaking up bigger messages without really realizing it’s happening until it’s over.
And gosh can we talk about that perfect US cover? Every time I opened the book I got lost in it. 🦔
I will definitely watching for more by Fran Fabriczki.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the digital copy.
As Sonia grapples with how to do right by her daughter, she deals with the pesky judgement of other school moms. Mila seeks to find her father, without Sonia realizing she’s doing so right under her nose. The challenge of fitting in as a sixth grader. The complicated mother-daughter bond. I can really get lost in stories like this. Slow, character-focused, reading about the minutia of characters’ lives while soaking up bigger messages without really realizing it’s happening until it’s over.
And gosh can we talk about that perfect US cover? Every time I opened the book I got lost in it. 🦔
I will definitely watching for more by Fran Fabriczki.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster for the digital copy.
April 15, 2026
4.25 stars. I really enjoyed this one. It felt especially timely to read a book with a Hungarian mother and daughter at its heart given the country’s recent election results. The novel skips between Soviet Budapest in 1989 and Los Angeles in the late nineties and early noughties.
Sonia/Szonja is our unlikely heroine with an acerbic wit and an unconventional attitude to parenting (think Liz in Motherland). Daughter Mila is earnest and diligent but struggling to make friends at school.
It took me a while to get used to the time and geographical narrative hops but ultimately I felt it worked, conveying the sense of displacement Szonja feels whilst trying to shape her identity and understand her family, their faith and the choices they make. Fabriczki tackles the push and pull of the immigrant experience head-on. Hence the title, alluded to by a rabbi in the novel who tells Sonia of Schopenhauer’s theory that, ‘mankind was like a group of porcupines in the winter….They felt the cold, so they huddled together for warmth. Then they felt the prickle of one another’s needles and sprang apart. Together, apart, together, apart - and so on into infinity. This was mankind’s lot’.
In Los Angeles, Sonia is trying to float under the radar as an illegal immigrant but this lends her an aura of inscrutable sophistication which draws attention at the school gates. When she gets roped in to chaperone Mila’s orchestra trip to San Francisco, the group visit Alcatraz and Sonia becomes separated from the rest, where, ‘she feels the familiar quickening of her heartbeat, the coldness down her spine, and her mind leaps like a jittery animal straight into conjuring the faceless men in suits who sometimes come for her in her dreams’.
This is a warm, witty debut written with intelligence and insight. I devoured it in two sittings. Highly recommend and will definitely be seeking out whatever Fabriczki writes next. Huge thanks to @penguinfigtree for the proof copy of this one.
Sonia/Szonja is our unlikely heroine with an acerbic wit and an unconventional attitude to parenting (think Liz in Motherland). Daughter Mila is earnest and diligent but struggling to make friends at school.
It took me a while to get used to the time and geographical narrative hops but ultimately I felt it worked, conveying the sense of displacement Szonja feels whilst trying to shape her identity and understand her family, their faith and the choices they make. Fabriczki tackles the push and pull of the immigrant experience head-on. Hence the title, alluded to by a rabbi in the novel who tells Sonia of Schopenhauer’s theory that, ‘mankind was like a group of porcupines in the winter….They felt the cold, so they huddled together for warmth. Then they felt the prickle of one another’s needles and sprang apart. Together, apart, together, apart - and so on into infinity. This was mankind’s lot’.
In Los Angeles, Sonia is trying to float under the radar as an illegal immigrant but this lends her an aura of inscrutable sophistication which draws attention at the school gates. When she gets roped in to chaperone Mila’s orchestra trip to San Francisco, the group visit Alcatraz and Sonia becomes separated from the rest, where, ‘she feels the familiar quickening of her heartbeat, the coldness down her spine, and her mind leaps like a jittery animal straight into conjuring the faceless men in suits who sometimes come for her in her dreams’.
This is a warm, witty debut written with intelligence and insight. I devoured it in two sittings. Highly recommend and will definitely be seeking out whatever Fabriczki writes next. Huge thanks to @penguinfigtree for the proof copy of this one.
December 7, 2025
In 1990, when she is eighteen and pregnant, Sonia makes a life-changing decision. Eleven years later, she is a single mother in Los Angeles. Her daughter Mila is intelligent, and likely a little bit lonely. Sonia is guarded and secretive and Mila begins to wonder about her father. She thinks a school trip to San Francisco may help her solve the mystery.
This is an intriguing character study of Sonia and the difficult decisions she makes. You can feel her unease at her circumstances (and her great love for Mila) throughout the pages. I look forward to reading more by the author.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.
This is an intriguing character study of Sonia and the difficult decisions she makes. You can feel her unease at her circumstances (and her great love for Mila) throughout the pages. I look forward to reading more by the author.
Thank you to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.
Read
July 19, 2026A lively read that I encountered through my Jewish Book Council Nu Reads subscription.
May 29, 2026
I liked this one. I enjoyed learning about Sonia's life in her different eras and her familial relationships. A good read.
April 20, 2026
I really really liked this book, and I plan to pass it on to my mother (she is traveling to Hungary soon). My favorite parts were the glimpses of her life behind the Iron Curtain after it fell and how Communism remained an important part of their lives (aka her life in Hungary) followed by how that affected her life in America. I liked the spellings and the phrasings from someone who is not a native English speaker. Very well written and a definite recommend for anyone interested in life post the Iron Curtain.
May 17, 2026
I enjoyed this debut novel - good timing because it’s been a while since I’ve read a good one! The ending was dubious, but that’s good to leave a reader guessing. Maybe there’s a sequel coming!
June 25, 2026
I regret using my audiobook hours for this
April 29, 2026
I wish the plot points had hit a little harder, there were interesting thoughts here but it felt like we were just stumbling along. I wanted more from the ending.
BotM
BotM
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