Pool House

by Mary H.K. Choi

Bestselling young adult author Mary H.K. Choi debuts a brilliantly observed adult novel about mothers, daughters and the complexity of family set against the backdrop of Hollywood.

Stevie Moon cannot escape her mother. Abandoning college plans to work a dead-end job, her days are a purgatorial bore. Many dream of moving to L.A. and into the spotlight, but Stevie can’t wait to move away from it, and her mother’s orbit, to start over.

Delilah (not her real name) or “Moon” (as everyone calls her) is many an out-of-work actress, a former alcoholic, whatever a mistress becomes when she’s widowed, and a mother. Reeling in the aftermath of her lover and TV husband’s death, Moon struggles to process her grief. And the last thing she expects is for Stevie to leave her too.

Unable to afford their home, Moon and Stevie rent it out and live in their glass pool house. But when Adam, Moon’s former TV son and Stevie’s forever crush, arrives for the funeral, the three are pulled into a messy orbit, moving back into the ‘Big House’ and playacting a picture-perfect family even as tensions rise and relationships unravel.

POOL HOUSE is a course charted through the wilderness of motherhood, a story about the challenges of navigating class, fame, burgeoning sexuality, and grief as two women grapple with what it means to grow up and grow older in Tinseltown.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Adult Fiction, Adult, Grief, Audiobook

336 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication June 9, 2026

About the author

Mary H.K. Choi is a Korean-American author, editor, television and print journalist. She is the author of young adult novel Emergency Contact (2018). She is the culture correspondent on Vice News Tonight on HBO and was previously a columnist at Wired and Allure magazines as well as a freelance writer. She attended a large public high school in a suburb of San Antonio, then college at the University of Texas at Austin, where she majored in Textile and Apparel.

Reviews

[Melanie (meltotheany)]

and just like that... my most anticipated 2026 publication is here <3

♡ Emergency Contact ★★★★★
♡ Permanent Record ★★★★★
♡ Yolk ★★★★★

[Mai H.]

ANHPI TBR

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

[Maëlys]

i have been YEARNING for a new Mary H.K. Choi !!!

Emergency Contact: 5/5
Permanent Record: 4/5

[Mizuki Giffin]

I rarely say this in reviews since I can usually find something redeemable in any book, but I did not like this and wish I dnf’ed when I started feeling like I should around a quarter of the way in. The most interesting thing that happened in this book happened in the last 3 pages — everything else felt stagnant. For a book centred on characters, they all felt shallow without much development. The chapters and points of view were scattered and jumping around in time and topics in ways that took me out of the narrative. Also, this is nitpicky and I appreciate a novel of its time but the references in here felt way too hyper-specific at times… I can’t imagine an offhand reference to La Culturistas enduring the test of time.

I was going to say this maybe just wasn’t a book for me but also a character-driven modern day literary fiction about a wayward girl in her 20s and her complicated family relationships is my exact type of book. Maybe I’m just in a bad mood?? Anyways

[Nicolette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This started strong with interesting inner monologues and deep character development. However, it started to drag halfway through when characters somehow became even more unlikable as they meandered to a predictable ending.

[pearl]

new mary hk choi in 2026…life is worth living

[aeva ˚˖ ੭*]

wow okay so a few months ago my father went on a work trip in new york and received a bunch of arcs including one for this book???? i need to read it ASAP!! this is so exciting!

[Chelsea Knowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance reader copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.*

Pool House follows Stevie who doesn’t have the best relationship with her mother. Her mother is an out-of-work actress and a recovering addict who hasn’t always shown up for Stevie in the ways she should have. Stevie wants to get away from her mother but for now, Stevie and Moon are stuck together, living in their glass pool house in their backyard as they rent their home to pay the bills. Adam arrives for the funeral of Moon’s lover and TV husband as he played Moon’s son on TV. Stevie had a crush on him as a child and the three of them end up living together and acting as a family. Moon needs some acting work and tensions arise with Moon and Stevie as Stevie makes plans to move away and spends more time with Adam.

I enjoyed reading this novel and I easily connected to Stevie. This novel is told from the perspective of Stevie, Moon and Adam but I easily related to Stevie as she wants to make a life for herself away from her mother and family legacy. I liked that each POV of each character was shown and I found it easy to understand Moon and Adam’s motivations. Each character is complex and this had a lot to say on fame, aging and relationships. The writing of this book is good and I had a really enjoyable time reading this. I didn’t love the ending though and it kind of left a sour taste in my mouth so this is a four star read for me.

[dorian ❂ ☾]

Yolk killed me (positive) so I can't wait for this one. It's been wayy too long since I've read a Mary H.K Choi book. I even remember when this was called Milk Teeth.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

HMM... I see!.. a book about nothing but captures it well. This story is at its best when it’s functioning as some kind of character study of a dysfunctional mother-daughter duo. There is no real plot or action, but we're propelled forward by unraveling the mystery of why these women are the way they are.

There were a couple instances where I thought it captured navigating female sexuality well, even better than most (such as Stevie's dynamic with Sage, so great even while being minimal and I found myself waiting for more filling out of that, even if just from Stevie’s end. The brief encounters with Adam’s married woman in the finish were also so great but so short!), but usually it felt.. very literary fiction pornographic as has for whatever reason been decided crucial to the genre. Including such hits as, "drinking from her pussy like a coconut" (lol) and a graphic description of a child masturbating and the scent and texture of her child cum. Truly beyond me. And it's early on too! I think the sexual encounters stand out so much because they feel like lone points of action. The rest of the story appears to be people standing around frowning, which I love and the characters are strongly built enough to do so. But the disconnect between the actual story happening and the seemingly random but perhaps not unrelated sex is further sealed by the way the writing feels so naturally encompassing in dialogue and in introspection, but becomes haughty and ungraceful when it's time to pose for some oh la la sex shame! We don't learn much about our characters from these regular encounters besides the constant reminder that they do not like themselves, and are ridiculous people, which we can already pull from the rest of the nonsense they do. Well okay I'll take it then! If that's what you want from me!

I loved the way Moon and Stevie were captured, they both felt so real to me, especially Stevie's 20 year old no longer a true teenager but far from an actual adult mannerisms and thinking. Her rose-colored fantastical mindset in the end moved me so much I actually said oh no out loud. Though Moon’s internal struggle with aging as a woman while still wanting to feel like the only girl in the world was also very authentic. The way we’re introduced to them in the beginning of the story at the grocery store was so great. They both are actually really annoying in the best way, and I hate that they never really explored or pulled on too many of their threads, because we're always moving on to the next Silly Thing They Do to fill out this 300+ page book where there's no change in situation until the last 50 pages. (The New York moon to L.A’s sun change of setting as a vessel in the end for the character’s change of outlooks.. so excellent! And the way they go right back to L.A. to meet their own demise, showing how fickle all these things they’re telling themselves and each other are is so good. Though as I mentioned before this wouldn’t have spoiled from more time spent, especially after the start to middle of the rest of the book being so decadent, you might as well explore at least a little more into the NYC shift? It feels like every time I was excited by a new place for the story to take its indulgence to, that’s when it decided to simplify lol. I liked the energy being kind of manic and impulsive in the end but I think it could’ve kept that vibe intact while still adding a little more depth to the well.) But truthfully in a way I thought it fitting to a story about Hollywood, where every day feels the same in that both blessing and a curse type of way, pushing forward toward seemingly nothing, until something actually happens that you have to deal with, but then you just go back to being miserable like normal after. I hate that this story was so toothless while also ending on a cheesed wall-shit-slinging. A lot of stuff was presented but not much of it truly examined. The only apparent throughline in the book (mommy issues) ended up just being for some kind of perverted disagreeable titillation, and the one piece of supposed plot-driver (grief/the complexity of it) was mostly quietly fizzled out before the "climax" so we could get to more of the hand-in-pants drama.

It almost seemed like the sex dynamics were just thrown in in order to have a reason to talk about our main characters but honestly I think they would've shined even more if it was turned down like, 15%(such as the aforementioned childsturbation and Moon blowing her young fan tenant.. Yes dude she needs to feel constantly desired you told me this already..), but while I do feel like the ending was a kind of gratuitous nothingburger I also appreciated that at least it went all the way in going all the way lol. I don't mean to give the impression that a story about two women can't have its fair share of sex and complicated feelings about it, but it was the sporadic inconsistency of its portrayal that distressed me.. at what point does painting women as self-hating sexual over-givers stop being a Profound Story Element and start being.. just exhausting? I guess my biggest umbrage with it all is the way that as women we are always combatting these tedious push and pull dynamics from the rest of the world in terms of sex and our own desire, so when we get the chance to explore ourselves in reading and writing, why copy paste the same dysfunction? Why are we lying to ourselves about it all being totally our idea even in print? At least let them admit to hating the way things are from the safety of non-existence in this 3D world. I think a lot of the sex in this book felt like something the women were “giving” the men. Their pleasure felt very divorced from their bodies and instead rooted in their minds and how it made them look or seem, or feel about themselves in terms of confidence or lack of. Which of course is representative of reality as a lot of this book is, but in this case seemingly for the purpose of getting off to and not much else, which felt awkward next to mild explorations of grief. Grief about growing up, grief about succeeding, or I guess grief about human relationships in general, in all the ways. Perhaps even grief about being a man/woman specifically and having to perform that all the time. It’s not that I didn’t welcome its presence but that I did and then it over-stayed that welcome, turning me sour against it! It just didn’t feel cohesive in terms of what this book is About (Feelings? Having them? Some of the different ways inferiority can manifest in human beings?). I guess I got to the end of the book and looked back over everything I had just read and felt a little.. incomplete. My journey had no satisfying conclusion, but was just a bunch of pit stops where I sometimes got really delicious snacks but sometimes they were stale and kind of hurt my stomach idk. Mostly I'm upset because I truly loved these characters and this writing but I trotted through my 319 pages without them ever doing much.

BUT for all my complaining I actually really had fun reading this book. It was up and down for me and definitely peaked in the middle when it felt like we were really gonna get into these people, instead of just skimming a broader and broader surface. But Moon and Stevie were consistently very charming and compelling characters to read, as well as every minor character along the way feeling so real and complete regardless of how brief they were visible. And I love the cover design, one of those details that is simple enough to be hard to get right but oh so important!! I feel it really captures the vibe of what you're about to get into. Don’t be scared by the paragraphs of grumbling I just put you through, I'm glad I read it and I’ve come here now to recommend it to you too. Though I would liken the reading experience to maintaining a consistent, regular, non-dangerous nor stressful speed on the 110 in that kooky ye olden curvy part, only to suddenly look away from the road for no real reason and crash into the wall, then it's over and done and you didn't even feel or realize it was happening, you just blink from your car to the eternal void and you didn't even get to feel a type of way about it.

[lisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Most of this book was excruciating to get through. It was written in a languid, contemplative way that made me both want to tear my hair out and fall into a deep sleep. The story revolves around Moon, a self absorbed B-level actress living in a McMansion somewhere in LA with her daughter Stevie. Stevie doesn't have much going for her. She lives not only in the shadow of her mother, but her mother's former co-stars from her TV show. When the one who played Moon's fictional husband on the TV show dies, Stevie and Moon, and Adam, who played the fictional son are brought together to look their lives right in the face.

The problem is neither Stevie or Moon are that interesting. I grew bored with Stevie especially, who doesn't do much except whine to her grown-ups and get by at her job. She was apparently accepted early admission to NYU, but she doesn't seem that smart, and she's not driven at all. Moon is slightly more tolerable, but she is ultimately just an aging actress who hasn't invested her money wisely, and is still desperate for more work. Books about that aspect of Hollywood are a dime a dozen. The one somewhat interesting character of the book is Adam, but his story doesn't seem to get as much page time as the women. The three of them form a weird facsimile of a real family in the weeks following the funeral of the dead actor, which causes strange dynamics, and shifting alliances, and exposes the very gross dependency they have all developed with each other. (The books veers into incest territory more than once.)

In some ways the book does a good job of depicting a very twisted mother/daughter co-dependent relationship, and all the ways they have learned to hurt and heal each other. Moon's lifestyle has destroyed Stevie in ways that are obvious and less obvious, and when faced with Adam's scrutiny of their lives both women realize how unsustainable that is, even as they don't want to change. At points the story flowed seemlessly, and I sympathized with these women who I didn't like, but who I felt sorry for. However, I ultimately didn't care what happened to them. It's like seeing people get into a fight on the street: I contemplate what brought two people to brawl in a public setting, and then I move on and don't think about it again. I think the ending was supposed to be stunning and surprising, but I simply did not care by then. Hopefully Stevie and Moon (and Adam) go on to live their best lives, but I'm better off not knowing or caring about it.

[Maricruz Ramirez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Publishers for this ARC.

Unable to afford their home, former actress Moon and her daughter Stevie rent it out and move into their glass pool house instead. But when Adam, Moon’s former TV son and Stevie’s longtime crush, returns for a funeral, the three become entangled in an increasingly messy emotional dynamic, slipping back into the “Big House” and attempting to recreate the illusion of a perfect family even as old tensions and unresolved feelings begin to surface.

This is a deeply character-driven novel that leans heavily into grief, emotional stagnation, and complicated interpersonal relationships. The entanglements between Moon, Stevie, and Adam are often uncomfortable, messy, and emotionally volatile in ways that feel intentionally raw. Choi’s writing is sharp and perceptive throughout, and it is easy to understand why readers of her previous work were excited for this release. There are moments where the prose flows beautifully, capturing the loneliness and quiet desperation of people who feel trapped within themselves and their circumstances.

That said, I never fully connected with the emotional arc of the story. At times, the novel felt slow-moving and overly drawn out, with the plot taking a backseat to atmosphere and interpersonal tension. While I could sympathize with these characters, particularly the women, who are often frustrating but still deeply human, I ultimately remained emotionally distant from them and found myself struggling to care about where their relationships would end up.

I also felt that some of the explicit scenes became repetitive over time and did not always add additional emotional or narrative depth. Similarly, while the novel establishes a long shared history between the characters, those relationships occasionally felt more described than fully realized on the page.

Overall, this is a well-written and emotionally observant novel that will likely resonate with readers who enjoy messy, introspective literary fiction centered on flawed characters and unresolved grief, even if it did not fully work for me personally.

[Sacha · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Frequently, when I come across novels set in Southern California and particularly in the bizarro LA scape, I wonder how I'd respond to these books if I hadn't grown up in the thick of this environment (in many ways). This book is a great example of that. While Choi (unsurprisingly) does many things well here, it's the way she captures this environment and the constant fears and insecurities and vapidness that flow through it, that I latched onto most.

Moon is an aging, retired actress who has faced a series of personal issues in recent years. Stevie, Moon's daughter, is one of the challenges in Moon's life (and vice versa). When a death from Moon's past creeps up on her unexpectedly, she's thrown back into some unresolved issues and circumstances. This includes the return of the actor who played her son but had complicated relationships with both Moon and her daughter.

So much of this book centers on Stevie's bad choices (and also on various descriptions of her body that some folks may take a moment to acclimate to - there are some, uh, detailed scenes). Her physical encounters will make many readers dip right back into some of their own questionable choices from that age. The writing is that visceral.

The characters are intriguing independently, though Stevie got to me most incisively. Choi nails this very modern desire to stop floating alone in the world AND to simultaneously make something of oneself that's independent from what they've been handed or think is possible.

I've enjoyed Choi's work previously, and while dark, I had a good experience here, too. I'll add that the audiobook narrator really enhanced that for me.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this alc, which I received in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

[Alison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stevie is the young adult daughter of an out of work actress, Moon, whose life is stalled as she works a fast food job and lives with her mom in the pool house of their beautiful home, which they now rent out through AirBNB because of Moon's poor financial decision. When Moon's long time love, affair partner, and onetime sitcom costar dies, her TV son Adam arrives in town for the funeral and stays with them. They move back into the "big house" so Adam doesn't know they have many troubles. But of course he can tell something is wrong. In fact, nothing between the mother and daughter feels right.

The entanglements between these three characters dealing with their grief and own feelings of being stuck get so messy. The story moves back and forth through their perspectives and creates a sense of mystery by holding a lot back from the reader. The characters felt incredibly real and the writing was perceptive. But I also never felt comfortable within the arc of the story. And the way they treated each other and themselves was so sad.

I love Mary H.K. Choi's YA novels, but this one was too scattered and depressing for me to have the same enthusiasm for, despite the beautiful writing and characterization.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

[Maddy Clio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutally moving.

If you need a good, messed-up, literary fiction family, this one's for you.

'Pool House' follows mother and daughter duo, Moon and Stevie, as they reconcile the death of their kind-of real husband and father, Mac. As Moon and Mac (and their kind-of real son Adam) were on a TV show together, we follow as this family's real-life dynamics blend with their previous television counterparts. It is messy, complicated, unconventional, and both wickedly sad and darkly humorous. None of them are a real family; Moon and Stevie are a real family. Moon and Adam act more like a true family than Moon and Stevie; Moon and Adam could never be family. Adam is the only true family Stevie has ever had; Adam could also never be her family. Mac is the family, not-family that is no longer, was never, present. Their relationships were scripted by television, mere fiction, and yet they are all viscerally, inescapably tied together.

Choi's writing feels both effortless and meticulously structured. It glides over you, soothes you, while it punches you in the gut. Joy Osmanski's narration is a delight. While I know this story is not for everyone, I highly recommend it to literary fiction lovers, to any and all who love a beautifully messed up family.

Thank you, NetGalley and Macmillan Audio, for letting me read this early!

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Moon is an out of work actress and a recovering alcoholic. Her daughter, Stevie, is working at a fast food restaurant after deciding not to leave her mother and go to college at NYU. The two of them are currently living in their pool house so that Moon can rent out the main house to short-term renters to help pay the mortgage. When Moon's former t.v. husband and past lover dies by suicide, Moon's former t.v. son (Adam) comes to L.A. for the funeral. Stevie has had a crush on Adam forever. As the three of them reconnect and begin living together again in the main house, what each of them wants in life and how to get there also collide.

This is one of those books where I honestly struggled to come up with a rating. Part of me thought that it was slow with no real plot and a bit over the top in a lot of respects. But part of me really got involved with the characters and felt compelled to read their story and see where it went.

The writing is very good. I can see why a lot of people who have read her previous work were excited to read this. It's a book that will stick with you, but from my own personal perspective, I'm just not sure that I liked it enough to give it more than three stars.

I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Aysia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5 stars rounded up.

Oedipus would have a FIELD DAY with this one, holy cow. I can say that this was a book I don't think I like, but it was written really well. It was written so well that I was deeply uncomfortable basically the entire time I was listening to it, but that was probably the point. I didn't do the audiobook for Fox by Joyce Carol Oates, but I think I would have felt similarly listening to that one as I did this one, if you get the vibes. I don't really even know how to summarize this book without giving it away, but think of the worst sorts of like D-List celebrities and their self-importance in Hollywood, and then apply that to just about every character in here. So much posturing, pretending, and privilege bookended by addiction and mental health crises.

A pretty strong and consistent theme across the novel is that a tertiary character commits suicide early in the book, so if that will be triggering for you, I would steer clear. Overall, I genuinely don't know how I feel about this, and I think that Mary Choi might have set that up on purpose. If so, a job well done.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

yeah idk i had a hard time with this book. i was actually really looking forward to it because the setup had so much potential: LA culture, the pool house itself feeling almost liminal and detached from real life, the messy mother/daughter dynamic simmering underneath everything, the weird suspended-adolescence energy all the characters had. it felt like it was aiming for this very specific type of emotional vacancy that could have been devastating if it landed correctly.

But it just never quite gelled for me.

The explicit scenes, in particular, began to resemble a malfunctioning smoke alarm: persistent, intrusive, and ultimately uninformative. Not that I object to a little narrative depravity, but after the third or fourth round, it became clear these interludes were less about character development and more about the author waving a neon sign that read, 'Damaged Goods Inside.' I got the memo.

I didn’t hate it. I didn’t love it. Mostly, I found myself wishing the mother-daughter dynamic had been given the same attention as the pool house’s decor.

thank you for the arc netgalley!

[Ashica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been looking forward to Mary H.K. Choi's new, non-YA book and it did not disappoint!

Though it wasn't a YA book, there were definitely YA undertones with one of the characters (Stevie) working a fast food job, living in the same home as her mother and grappling about aspects of her identity and wanting to move away from her mother. Having the mother's POV was a nice contrast.

I appreciated the three POVs in this story. It was interesting that it was about a Korean American "Hollywood" family / Asian diaspora in Hollywood (as opposed to a white family which is overdone/has been done many times before!)

I liked how the author portrayed feelings of wanting acceptance into a tv vs "real" familiy by all 3 characters in some way.

I enjoyed the ending, yet at the same time felt like I wanted to know what happens next (a good question for discussion!)

The audio narrator was great. Each of the characters were clearly distinguishable even though there was only one narrator.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced audio of this book.

[Fiona Wallwork · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that takes you on quite a ride.

Pool House is about relationships, primarily between a fading star and her daughter, also encompassing the tv family of the mother and how the fake and real family interweave together over time.

I really enjoyed this book, especially the mother and daughter relationship which especially at the age they are at in the story can be a very interesting time. I could never decide whether I liked the characters fully or not, but that’s the point, they are multi dimensional, just as people in reality are.

At times the pacing of the book felt a little jarring, but that added to the story rather than detracting from it.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes studies of people and the push and pulls in life.
Come back to your Review on the pub date, 11 Jun

[Zehava (Joyce) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ve read many of Mary H.K. Choi’s YA books and I’ve really loved them all (I also always thought they trended very much adult.) I really liked this very atmospheric and gripping book. It is a coming of age story that is both very adult (graphic sex scenes abound) and quite juvenile. I really liked the relationship between Stevie, her mother Moon and their brother/son Adam. This is a story of impoverished Hollywood has-beens but it’s never been told quite like this. I will definitely read whatever Mary H.K. Choi is writing.
This book was excellently narrated by Joy Osmanski. She brought this story and these different characters to life in a very vibrant way. I look forward to more audiobooks narrated by her.
Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for an advanced listeners copy of this book.

[Kelly Hum · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading Yolk, I was quite enthusiastic about having the chance to read an advanced copy of Pool House. That being said, this was an interesting look into the lives of Hollywood families that have moved a bit past their prime and the struggles they can endure. It also delves into some of the nuances of Korean American families and the hierarchy therein. I did enjoy the changing POVs to help keep a grasp of the storyline. Unfortunately for me, Pool House fell a little flat, even though the characters were relatively relatable in some sense. The ending was not as catching as I had hoped for one of the main characters and I set the book down with a slight feeling of injustice. The writing itself is excellent; kudos to Mary H.K. Choi for another well written, engaging read.

[Devin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pool House is filled with complicated relationships across a complicated backdrop. I can see this being a great TV show with the sitcom version of events juxtaposed with everyone’s “real life” take. There’s no big climactic moment here, but there’s plenty of slow burn in the dramatic minutiae of different lives. This was my first Mary H. K. Choi book, and I’m looking forward to reading her YA, as the writing style here is spot on. The single narrator, Joy Osmanski, does a beautiful job capturing the alternating POVs, and I’ll also look to listen to more of her work. Recommend this one to fans character driven dramas who don’t mind a messy ending, out 6/9. Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this ALC!

[Jessica Woodbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

This sadly never gelled for me. There are moments where I saw the writer I've enjoyed so much before (I adored Yolk!) but overall this book was disjointed. These characters--Moon, Stevie, and Adam--are intertwined in strange ways with so much potential for a story. But somehow I always felt like I was watching something staged. I couldn't really picture how Moon and Stevie have made it 20 years together. None of these relationships felt lived in, the history was all there on paper but I couldn't see it in front of me. If I didn't have such an affection for Choi's previous novels I'm not sure I would have finished it.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to Flatiron Books and Goodreads for the advance reader’s copy. This was an interesting novel, completely character-driven, although the plot moved along languidly like one of the main characters taking a long swim in the afternoon. I was completely drawn in on the descriptions of the people and their motivations. There was such a compelling dysfunction to the mother and daughter relationship. I haven’t read anything like this since Jennifer Egan’s “A Visit From the Goon Squad.” The ending still came as a surprise in spite of all the crumbs left along the way. Definitely give this a try if you enjoy deeply-written, rich character studies. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend!

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly daring and articulate and visceral. Mary HK Choi remains one of my favorite writers because of the depth she gives to characters and the richness she builds into their internal worlds / desires. A particularly apt tension beautifully written about the enmeshment of family (chosen or otherwise) and how that gets created from perpetuated cyclical familial experiences. Cannot wait to have everyone else read this!

A book that shows you freedom is only possible once you confront your worst fears.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Mary HK Choi is one of our great maximalist writers. She really can capture the chaos and mess of life and things and how they define people. This book is full of icky people doing icky things and she gives us so many details. The beginning and the end are really strong and the middle felt like a bit too much for too long. This book is not for everyone, but if you like cultural references, people who are truly making the worst (but not in a fun way) choices, lots of vibes, and not a lot of plot, you will like this book.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much dysfunction in this real family and tv family dynamics. Mothers and daughters are always complicated but throw in a star, who is more child then mother, a kid, who is more mother then child, and add in unrequited crushes, as well as unusual living situations, it becomes even more complex. Choi has a way of writing characters that are so multidimensional and this is no different.

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

[Tara Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pool House is a very charged novel, with lots of complex relationships and messy feelings. Our characters are messy, they're believable, and they're nuanced. The book is modern in a way that it can mention K-Pop demon hunters and it makes sense. I didn't know what I was getting myself into when I started this, but I really enjoyed myself.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy.

[Keatyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to this one on audio. I loved this one but at times found that there was too much descriptive language that felt like it interrupted the flow of the book and was a bit jarring in moments. But generally a great book full of unlikeable characters.