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Porcupines
Win a free print copy of this book!
0 days and 04:05:33
5 copies available
U.S. only
NAMED A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK BY VOGUE
“If Gilmore Girls had sharper edges and came with a Los Angeles sunburn, you’d have this riveting novel, a love letter to kids who are done keeping their parents’ secrets.” —Courtney Maum, author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You
A fresh and witty debut about a young immigrant mother and her increasingly inquisitive daughter, who wakes up one day and decides to find out who her father is.
Sonia is a Hungarian immigrant who is raising her daughter, Mila—her beloved Milosh—on her own in sunny Los Angeles. Her days are a blur of not-quite-illegal business activities, dodging PTA moms, and baking birthday cakes laced with rum—minor mistakes that nevertheless continually remind her of everything she doesn’t understand about America and parenthood. Mila, meanwhile, is juggling violin and swimming lessons and navigating the treacherous social politics of school with the help of a less-than-helpful guidebook on how to be cool in the sixth grade—all the while trying to get her secretive mother to share something, anything, about her past.
Sonia is sure that their bond, stitched from drive-through dinners, extracurricular activities, and a lot of exasperated affection for each other—will be enough to satisfy her daughter. But her guarded lifestyle has left Mila lonely, isolated, and ready to write herself into a bigger story. When she stumbles across emails between her mother and a man she’s never met, Mila decides to take matters into her own hands and forms a plan that will implode their carefully constructed lives.
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 aughts Los Angeles, Porcupines is an irresistible novel about mothers and daughters, secrecy and loneliness, belonging and reinvention—and what happens when the truth can’t be held back any longer.
“If Gilmore Girls had sharper edges and came with a Los Angeles sunburn, you’d have this riveting novel, a love letter to kids who are done keeping their parents’ secrets.” —Courtney Maum, author of I Am Having So Much Fun Here Without You
A fresh and witty debut about a young immigrant mother and her increasingly inquisitive daughter, who wakes up one day and decides to find out who her father is.
Sonia is a Hungarian immigrant who is raising her daughter, Mila—her beloved Milosh—on her own in sunny Los Angeles. Her days are a blur of not-quite-illegal business activities, dodging PTA moms, and baking birthday cakes laced with rum—minor mistakes that nevertheless continually remind her of everything she doesn’t understand about America and parenthood. Mila, meanwhile, is juggling violin and swimming lessons and navigating the treacherous social politics of school with the help of a less-than-helpful guidebook on how to be cool in the sixth grade—all the while trying to get her secretive mother to share something, anything, about her past.
Sonia is sure that their bond, stitched from drive-through dinners, extracurricular activities, and a lot of exasperated affection for each other—will be enough to satisfy her daughter. But her guarded lifestyle has left Mila lonely, isolated, and ready to write herself into a bigger story. When she stumbles across emails between her mother and a man she’s never met, Mila decides to take matters into her own hands and forms a plan that will implode their carefully constructed lives.
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 aughts Los Angeles, Porcupines is an irresistible novel about mothers and daughters, secrecy and loneliness, belonging and reinvention—and what happens when the truth can’t be held back any longer.
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First published April 14, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 206 reviews
April 19, 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!
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.
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!
Want to Read
April 1, 2026also getting this from my botm subscription!
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. 🤷♀️
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.
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.
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
April 14, 2026
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.
March 9, 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.
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.
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 28, 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.
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.
April 27, 2026
3.5 stars For me this was just okay. Nothing stood out one way or the other. Full review to follow.
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
April 24, 2026
Described as Gilmore Girls with sharper edges, this novel immediately drew me in. And I had a distinct Lorelai vibe, though with much less coziness to it (definitely not a criticism).
Porcupines is super witty, with smart observations, and very fun to read. This had me smiling a lot! It is laugh-out-loud funny and equally entertaining, full of depth and thought-provoking. The themes touched on include the holocaust, immigration, intergenerational trauma, loneliness, religion and family dynamics. But so smartly woven into the main narrative and quietly poignant. It’s quite hard writing a review for a book that so fully captured me and had so much going on whilst being just really fun to read too. A debut masterpiece!
This is incredible on audio and I highly recommend it. I wanted to devour and savour this at the same time! And I feel like I want to just read it all over again.
This book is winning book of the month for me and very much best book title too. It’s also a contender for book of the year!
So, literary fiction readers? This is a must read!
Porcupines is super witty, with smart observations, and very fun to read. This had me smiling a lot! It is laugh-out-loud funny and equally entertaining, full of depth and thought-provoking. The themes touched on include the holocaust, immigration, intergenerational trauma, loneliness, religion and family dynamics. But so smartly woven into the main narrative and quietly poignant. It’s quite hard writing a review for a book that so fully captured me and had so much going on whilst being just really fun to read too. A debut masterpiece!
This is incredible on audio and I highly recommend it. I wanted to devour and savour this at the same time! And I feel like I want to just read it all over again.
This book is winning book of the month for me and very much best book title too. It’s also a contender for book of the year!
So, literary fiction readers? This is a must read!
April 20, 2026
Started out promising….but I found it pretty boring and going nowhere.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
DRC from Edelweiss and S&S/Summit Books / Simon & Schuster
Sonia is a single mother living in LA. She grew up in Budapest, but because her father was a diplomat, she spent three years in Washington DC. Her older sister, Rina, meets and marries a man while in DC and she doesn’t return to Budapest with the family. She moves with her husband to LA. Sonia, at 18, comes to visit and also doesn’t return to Budapest. Instead she finds herself pregnant. She befriends Anthony and, afraid of being deported, she gets him to marry her so she can remain in the US. They part and go their own ways after the ceremony. Sonia has never really told her daughter anything about her father, but now that Mila is in 6th grade, there are questions. She feels isolated not knowing her past history. Mila takes it upon herself to find him, trolling her mother’s email history, and set up a meeting. Little does Mila know what she has set in motion.
A heartwarming story about family, relationships, and identity.
Sonia is a single mother living in LA. She grew up in Budapest, but because her father was a diplomat, she spent three years in Washington DC. Her older sister, Rina, meets and marries a man while in DC and she doesn’t return to Budapest with the family. She moves with her husband to LA. Sonia, at 18, comes to visit and also doesn’t return to Budapest. Instead she finds herself pregnant. She befriends Anthony and, afraid of being deported, she gets him to marry her so she can remain in the US. They part and go their own ways after the ceremony. Sonia has never really told her daughter anything about her father, but now that Mila is in 6th grade, there are questions. She feels isolated not knowing her past history. Mila takes it upon herself to find him, trolling her mother’s email history, and set up a meeting. Little does Mila know what she has set in motion.
A heartwarming story about family, relationships, and identity.
May 6, 2026
The ending did leave me hanging a bit, but I loved Sonia! (&Mila)
She’s plucky, doing what thinks is best and coping with life. I like reading about people from other countries, life is so different even across our country, much less across the world. Reading about people in other places makes me more compassionate, hopefully. The way the book is written is clever, laughed a few times. Did not leave me sad or hopeless because Sonia is not whiny or self pitying. She just lives. I have hope she was restoring family at the end.
She’s plucky, doing what thinks is best and coping with life. I like reading about people from other countries, life is so different even across our country, much less across the world. Reading about people in other places makes me more compassionate, hopefully. The way the book is written is clever, laughed a few times. Did not leave me sad or hopeless because Sonia is not whiny or self pitying. She just lives. I have hope she was restoring family at the end.
April 23, 2026
I really wanted to like this story. The author has an interesting background and the book looked interesting when I chose it. Sadly, I found it boring and hard to finish. I did finish it but the ending wasn’t great either. Seems like lots of folks enjoyed the book but it just wasn’t right for me.
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!
May 11, 2026
thank god the weird women stayed weird and even continued buying electronics for nefarious resale purposes. i was worried we'd go overboard with the character development and ruin it but luckily, no! ...... Long Live Weird Women And Their Weird Daughters
April 26, 2026
Mila is such a cute name
May 4, 2026
DNFed at pg 165. literally nothing interesting is happening
May 10, 2026
the longest i have spent on a book in a good while—i simply did not care much about the characters!
April 21, 2026
This is a lovely mother daughter story with interesting characters. The plot is unique and novel and not something you’ve really read before. It’s very narrative and observational with less dialogue. That doesn’t always work but the author has taken such care with her words and tone that it is very heart tugging here. I hope more people will give this story a chance. You will be rewarded.
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