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 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.

Moon is many an out-of-work actress, a recovering addict, 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.

Now, neither Stevie nor Moon can afford to quit each other. And their cost of living forces them into a glass-walled pool house in the backyard, while their home is rented out to pay the bills. 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 play-acting 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 Hollywood.

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

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published 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

[emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

before this book came out, i begged: please give me another mary h.k. choi release. i need this. i'll be nice.

so now i have to be nice.

https://emmareadstoomuch.substack.com...

in spite of my promises...i don't know if i can be completely.

this is a dark, miserable, complex book, a plot that can only be described by using the word "orbit" at least twice. (shoutout to the synopsis.) it feels completely separate from everyday life and actual behaviors, the characters' actions more an answer to the question "what would be the craziest thing that could happen right now" than their own archetypes or established traits.

reading it made me feel icky, both in the gross-out lit fic intended way and because of the...purposelessness of it.

when i finished it, i didn't even feel relieved.

bottom line: that's as nice as i can be.

(thanks to the publisher for the arc)

[Jaime Fok · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm so sorry, I really did not enjoy this.

For one - going into a book with such a fascinating, absurd & messy concept... I expected to at least feel some sort of a thrill, but this felt quite boring somehow? With stories where we follow extremely unlikeable characters, this usually works best for me when we can get deep into their minds. But in this one, as we were switching through our characters' perspectives, it felt like we were just observing everything that was happening right in front of them from a distance vs feeling these moments intimately with them.

There was just SO much obsession with nudity, and sexual content in this book. I genuinely think there were maybe 20 pages in this entire book that didn't mention some form of genitalia or sexual urge. I just kept wanting more character depth that didn't just consist of their intrusive thoughts of physical desires. It almost felt like the sex kept being brought up as a cheap device to make the writing feel more edgy or something.

And then the sort of love triangle with the mom, daughter & tv son? I genuinely did not need that in my life. And I actually don't know what message I was supposed to walk away with from this book. We experienced all that... for what?

I don't love being mean about books like this, but unfortunately this is one that I just wish I didn't pick up :(

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ugh. I wanted to like this book because I was a huge fan of Mary H.K. Choi’s book Yolk from a few years ago. But Pool House was a big miss for me. Before I get into the writing, I wasn’t a fan of the plot. It follows a mother/daughter pair, Moon and Stevie, who both have a relationship with a man named Adam. The novel honestly felt really man-centric to me and the love triangle vibes and dynamic between Moon, Stevie, and Adam were off-putting, if not gross. I felt that Moon and Stevie’s development as characters was minimal and that Adam was just there to be a (privileged white) male love interest.

The writing in Pool House didn’t appeal to me either. Choi has a distinctive prose style which I appreciate, though with this novel, I felt like she was writing “around” things instead of diving deep into emotions, situations, etc. There was a lot of internal monologue, and while I’m a fan of character-driven novels, the complete lack of plot, more grounded scenes, and more direct descriptions (e.g., of events, feelings, etc.) prevented me from feeling immersed in the story. I wish I could leave a more favorable review though when I’m this harsh it’s for the sake of honesty across the books I review. As a positive, there were some interesting lines and observations related to class and socioeconomic themes, though that wasn’t enough to elevate Pool House beyond a two-star rating for me.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

I have… complicated feelings about this book. First and foremost, I will always pick up a Mary H.K. Choi book because her writing is extraordinary. This story was messy, and not in a way I enjoyed. Honestly, aside from the writing, there wasn’t much I enjoyed about this book. I would give the story 2 stars, but I am bumping it up to a 3 because I enjoy Choi’s writing so much. This could very much be a ‘me’ thing, so don’t let me dissuade you from picking this one up. If nothing else, the writing is great.

Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 3 stars
Narrators: Osmanski
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 11h 52m

[Tell · Rating 5 out of 5]

forthcoming. (4.75)

[Melanie (meltotheany)]

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

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

[luce (cry bebè's back from hiatus)]

An adult novel by Mary H.K. Choi? Color me intrigued.

[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

[Monte Price]

Besties...

If there to know anything about me it's that I am Mary H.K. Choi's self appointed number one fan. If there is an author I struggle to be objective about it's Ms. Mary. Permanent Record is easily one of my favorite books of all time; her characters are flawed in such a human way that I eat up her stories every time.

I finished this about a month before I am sitting down to write this review, and even now it's hard to say what I thought about this story.

Like her books for her YA audience the characters found here are deeply flawed and human to a degree that was almost uncomfortable. This is a very visceral story about family; the one we construct and the one we are born into and the struggle to reconcile the two at times.

When the deal for this book was announced what felt like a lifetime ago I was excited, and I do think that having years of anticipation about what this story was going to be did color my initial read of the story. I didn't expect this Adam character to feature so prominently. Even the relationship between Moon and Stevie felt like shades of Penny and her mom from Choi's debut work.

I wouldn't describe any of Choi's work as really for a mass audience; or at least not that her books will have mass appeal. Even for me, a long time fan who spent most of the novel almost positive I was going to finish gagged to be giving an almost entirely negative review, I struggled to connect with the story presented here.

In the end I think the end of the book was enough to get me to understand the project of the story a little more. Like her past novels I'm almost certain that I will reread this with a better understanding of what I am getting myself into.

As I already said this is a very visceral novel, not only in terms of its emotionality but the more base parts of human existence; which to be fair is a fairly recurring theme in Choi's work.

Even know I don't really know where I sit. After the initial read it's definitely not my favorite of Choi's work and I wouldn't immediately reach for it as my favorite read of the year the way I thought I might before picking it up, but I do know that I will read it again. If you were drawn in by the synopsis I still think it's worth a shot, but just know results may vary.

[Jillian B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pool House is an emotional gut-punch of a book, painting a dramatic but realistic portrait of a family on the brink. Full review at BookBrowse: https://www.bookbrowse.com/mag/review...

[kay]

life’s too short to continue to read books that I know aren’t going to get any better for me

[Paige · Rating 5 out of 5]

This LA novel was sticky and claustrophobic and felt a bit like watching a car crash.

Anywho, Choi can write her ass off. 5 stars.

[Mollyanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

After the total dark horse that was Yolk, I was eager to pick up Choi’s adult debut and see if she could tackle the complicated and often dynamics between mother and daughter as well as she handled those between sisters. Yolk teetered on that fine line between Young Adult and General Fiction, but Pool House dives head first into the genre without any reserves.

While we do get the expected perspectives between C-List actress Moon and her daughter Stevie, there is also the inclusion of Adam, Moon’s TV son from a sitcom she was in a decade previously. This motley collection of fatally flawed Hollywood derelicts are our eyes in this narrative.

The three all come to the audience at various points in their lives, offering a specific perspective for you to find and latch onto. Are you Stevie, stagnant in the decision making of early adulthood? Are you Adam, spinning the wheels and hoping your best days are ahead and not behind? Are you Moon, clawing for meaning and purpose in a world you feel has largely left you behind?

Choi was obviously stretching her writer’s muscles when it came to the prose. Having read two of her YA books, I don’t remember her prose being especially memorable. But with Pool House, Choi was experimenting and while sometimes the pacing felt hampered by the style, it did a lot for the character’s internal monologue.

This book follows that languid, oppressive atmosphere that relies heavily on character and vibes. We spend a lot of time in either Stevie, Moon, or Adam’s head. Winding and unwinding.

What knocked this from a four star to a three was how rushed the ending felt. For most of the book, we are treated to Moon as a mother through Stevie’s perspective. Only in the last quarter, do we break into Moon’s side. While both are filtered through their character’s experience, I think the revelation of Moon’s love and devotion comes a bit past the eleventh hour and should have come sooner. I think we needed another twenty or so pages to marinate in what Choi wanted us to feel. As it stands now, the ending feels like an escalating of events that fire at the reader with machine gun rapidity that culminate in a door slamming shut on our faces.

I think there is something in here for everyone. Maybe even a little taboo. I will certainly tune in for Choi’s future novels, both YA and not.

[Jessica Haider · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Pool House offers a messy, emotional look at mothers, daughters, grief, and the complicated ways family can keep pulling you back in. Mary H.K. Choi captures the tension between Stevie and her mother, Moon, with sharp dialogue and painfully real moments, and the Hollywood backdrop adds an interesting layer without overshadowing the relationships.
While I appreciated the nuanced characters and emotional honesty, the story sometimes felt meandering and slower than I wanted, making it harder to stay fully invested. Still, Choi has a gift for writing flawed, believable people.

[lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok I LOVED the writing in this book. It verges on insanity and definitely gave me feelings of Animal by Lisa Taddeo. Lots of dark humor. I listened to an audio copy and sort of wish I read the actual book.

Only thing that was off for me was the pacing. There was a building tension throughout the whole book but not much movement. It’s really a character study on family - which was phenomenally done - but I was hoping for a little more action. I know this wasn’t the authors intention but that’s what I wanted.

This will NOT be for everyone. But it was a wild time. Thanks to the publisher and Net Galley for the ALC!

[Brandice · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pool House was an ok read for me. Moon and her 20 year old daughter, Stevie, have a tumultuous relationship. Moon is an out of work actress and Stevie works at a fast food restaurant. They can barely afford their L.A. home which they now frequently rent out for income while they stay in the pool house.

When someone important in Moon and Stevie’s life unexpectedly passes away, a contact from their past resurfaces and their rollercoaster of a mother-daughter relationship continues.

I didn’t care for any of the characters in this story, but was still curious to see how things would turn out for Moon and Stevie. Pool House was a tense, slow burn with a relatively abrupt ending.

[Maëlys]

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

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

[hannah⁷]

This is another one I’m marking as DNF *for now* it’s a very strange and very interesting story I’d like to come back to, but for now I need to catch up on some other things but I WILL be back. PLUS I really enjoy this author’s writing & her books—I loved emergency contact & permanent record as a teen.

[Kelli · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to preface this review by saying I have a soft spot for this author. She wrote so many books I deeply enjoyed. This just so happens to not be one of them.

I don’t know the last time a book has alienated me so much.

And, perhaps that’s a good, notable thing. Books should challenge you or invite you to reconsider your thoughts on something. They should inspire passion, anger sometimes. A good book isn’t necessarily going to be one you like. I get that.

But.

This book was equal parts obnoxious and tedious.

I still can’t decide if I find the writing thoughtful or just pretentious and fake-deep. It has a gloss to it that doesn’t always feel sincere. Like, I feel like Choi is trying too hard to write a literary story. I’m not sure if the content of this story is commensurate with the author’s intentions.

But, I think I’m talking around the main issue that I had with this book—which is that all these characters are so deeply, often insufferably unlikable.

Even a character like Stevie comes across as so outrageously disengaged and cynical that any charm you may have otherwise felt from her is negated. She’s a caricature of a Gen Z type. Which is so odd because Choi is a young author. I’d expect her to have more care in crafting Stevie and making her into a multidimensional, nuanced character. But, Stevie’s character feels like a confirmation of every boomer’s worst fears about the upcoming generation. That we’re all insipid and shallow.

Concerning Moon and Adam, they just never feel like fully realized characters.

Poor Moon is this specter that haunts not only Stevie but the rest of this narrative. It feels like the author was trying to make her sympathetic—at least, make us feel sympathy for the young girl Moon was. But, present Moon is so selfish and ambitious to a distinct fault that a lot of the sympathy I may have felt gets consumed by those flaws. I feel sad for her—but not enough to like her. She’s a performer first and a mom in name only.

Adam—he’s there and just kind of a nuisance. I truly don’t understand the mom and daughter competing over him. He’s just not that interesting. He’s a fail-son. In this story, he exists as a manifestation of the rift between mother and daughter.

Characters and their issues aside though, what is this book about? Great question.

It has a bunch of interesting pieces: a tragic death, strained relationships, unrealized dreams, washed up dreams, dreams on pause, a tenuous financial situation, toxic dynamics, coming-of age moments, illicit sexual desires, existential dread.

Do all these pieces really come together?

Some, yes. If you squint. But, arguably, I think this book has a polished veneer that makes it seem like it’s saying more than it is, connecting more than it does.

Personally, I found the tragic death that starts the ball rolling here and the misplaced grief of that to be the most interesting thing in this story—and we don’t spend much time exploring that.

Rather, I’d say the bulk of this book is focused on those illicit sexual desires.

There’s a lot of sex in this book.

Nothing erotic. It’s all pretty lurid. Clearly meant to be shocking. It’s written in a too-disinterested, near clinical manner to not be intentionally off-putting and a little offensive. Like, why are we waxing cerebral about blowjobs? Give me a break.

That was also pretty tedious.

Which, perhaps, is all to say that I found this book to be kind of boring?

It doesn’t really have anything interesting to say.

If you relate to any of these insufferable characters, you should probably seek out professional help rather than just choosing to head out on the open road. Like, what is Stevie doing tomorrow? Adam and Moon? They don’t feel like they exist beyond the confines of this story.

Anyway.

This was unexpectedly disappointing. Read Choi’s other books though—those are pretty good. This one is going to weigh on me~

[Krissy (books_and_biceps9155) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ill keep this short-everyone in this book is an asshole. None of them have redeeming qualities and they all are pretty shitty towards each other.

That being said- the writing is extraordinary and it did keep me reading quickly because it was like a car accident. Its emotionally honest, raw and unfortunately indicative of most of humanity. It was a perfect choice for the #weirdgirllitbabes book club and we all pretty much felt the same.

3.5 rounded down***

[Lindsay Greene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man, this book delivers a doozy of a dysfunctional, codependent, mother daughter relationship. Moon, the mother, is an aged former famous-ish actress known as much for being Asian & sexy, it seems, as she was for her actual roles. She’s an alcoholic and classically narcissistic in the way that Hollywood twists women into being. She’s broke because all the roles have dried up for her, and she’s stuck in a limbo with Stevie, her 21-year-old daughter. Stevie herself is in a state of arrested development, feeling like she has to care for her mother and be the bulwark against relapses. To pay the bills, Moon rents out her home that she blew all her sitcom cash on and she and Stevie largely stay in the pool house while tenants live it up in their primary residence. The pool house is filthy and full of fruit flies. It’s stagnant and sticky and is a perfect metaphor for the lives of these two women. Their stagnant, sticky, unpleasant existence is thrown for a loop when Moon’s ex, the actor who played her husband on the sitcom that was most responsible for her fame, commits suicide, and the actor who played her son, comes to stay with her and Stevie for a while. And boy does he have all his own mommy issues. So the story turns into a real Oedipal saga. Like so many well-written books set in Hollywood/LA , this one does a great job of really giving you that duality of LA - the beauty and the grime, the hustle and the art, the futility juxtaposed against the American dream. So many scenes in this book are absolutely excruciating, which is a testament to the writing, just a cringe a minute. There’s a “dinner party” scene in New York that is superbly written for its tension and weirdness and the way it leaps off the page. If I was reading this expecting someone to ride in and save these folks from themselves, I quickly learned there is none of that. The book is really unique and thoroughly immersive and entertaining, but there are parts where the pieces are better than the whole. The writing is superb for the most part, with lines that are wholly unique and perfect, but there are some internal monologues, particularly Moon’s, that drag on a bit. That said, the book delivered perfect one-liners and the ending was gratifyingly shocking so I think I kind of loved it and I’m definitely going to read some more of Choi’s work.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stevie Moon grew up in the shadows of Hollywood. Her mother, Delilah "Moon" became famous for a groundbreaking, but exploitative, performance years ago, starred on a syndicated sitcom. Moon is a recovering alcoholic, grasping at her glory days and awash in debt. They live in the glass pool house behind their mansion, renting the main house out to wealthy guests. Stevie learned to mother her mother at a young age, staying in LA in a fast food job instead of leaving for college. Her feelings about growing up are complicated, but perhaps not as complicated those she feels for her mother's "tv family." When Moon's tv husband dies unexpectedly, the ripples of grief challenge their status quo amidst a tumultuous coming of age for Stevie and a realization of age for Moon.

I was eagerly anticipating Mary HK Choi's adult debut. She excels at complicated relationships- friendships and familial. I've always loved how she never shies from a messy character, and Pool House is entirely messy characters. This is well-written, but in a litfic family drama style that didn't quite land for me. I had to spread reading it over several days because I needed a breather from the bad decisions they all make. But I did like it. It's not what I usually reach for these days, but it's both thoughtful and crass in a way I found appealing.

Thank you to MacMillan Audio for an ALC. Pool House is out 6/9/2026.

[Derek Driggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, this was a surprising reading experience! This is clearly a writer that loves language. She packs every sentence, from the very first page, with interesting words and phrases. The feeling reminds me of a lettuce wrap at Korean barbecue—you bite in and the flavor just explodes in your mouth, with sweet and spicy and savory all swirling around.

I think I personally tend to enjoy interesting grammar and sentences and the ebb and flow they bring, but this was a different kind of cool and I think Choi makes it work without sounding pretentious, even when she throws around really big words to describe sort of mundane moments.

The psychology of her characters is also visceral. No one is really a comfortable protagonist here, but everyone is very real. The relational atmosphere is stifling.

Another aspect of this that was a treat is how tuned in to the current pop culture Choi is. This is stuffed with references to celebs and tv and film and books.

Not my normal style but truly won my respect! You’d be hard pressed to find someone with a better command of words and a willingness to dive deep into all the toxicity of broken family and failed romance.

[Bethany Hall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Macmillan audio for the ALC! The audio of this was lovely. Well produced and almost hypnotic in a way. It’s definitely literary fiction with unlikable characters. Most of the time I didn’t really understand the decisions being made and something at the end took me out and dropped a star. But of you’re going to read it - audio is the way to go.

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

prose was trying to evoke a sense of “This Is Very Deep and Gritty and Meaningful” except it just comes off as unnatural and try-hard. Needed to re-read sections because the descriptions were stilted and not easy to process. i could feel the author breathing down my neck with every description being like “isnt this sooooo raw and vivid and Real?”

characters are all unlikeable with no redeeming qualities and are extremely gross (dirty rooms, dirty house, selfish, petty, abusive, just terrible people all around) and theres constant graphic descriptions of… various bodily fluids.. and everything somehow leads back to sex. There are 3 POVs and they are all thinking about sex, constantly, for what? shock factor? In the beginning i thought the point was to contrast the glamour of Hollywood against the visceral physical & personality grossness but if this was the point, sorry to say, it did not land anywhere near the mark

and what the fuck was that ending?????

[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.

[Amy (amyrose.reads) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you to the MacMillan Early Listeners Program for this ALC!

This story flits between the perspectives of a mother and daughter (and a sort of son) in Los Angeles. Moon, the mother, is a former sitcom star and is frustrating to read. She is constantly striving for the fame she wants while disappointing her daughter along the way. Stevie, the daughter, is working at a burrito shop and is also frustrating to read, as she makes some strange decisions along the way. Adam, played Moon’s son on the sitcom and throws some bumps in the road for this family (also frustrating to read). There’s just something about reading a book with unlikeable characters that is ultimately a lot of fun.

Pool House says things the way they are. And honestly, as a reader, that can be uncomfortable and awkward at times. Descriptions feel almost clinical at incredibly intimate moments between characters. As a reader, you get filled with rage at the choices being made because they’re just so wrong. It is almost like a car crash in that way. You can’t look away.

While I enjoyed this book, I don’t see it as something I would ever return to. If you’re interested in literary fiction with messy characters, but feels incredibly poignant, I would recommend this one.

The audiobook was very well produced and flowed incredibly smoothly. I would absolutely recommend giving this a listen.

[Sam Cheng · Rating 2 out of 5]

Choi is gangsta.

By happenstance, I am deep in mother-daughter stories. Twenty-year-old Stevie lives in LA with her mother, Delilah Moon, a B-list Hollywood actor whose brief moments of fame link her to movies with sapphic overtones. Their strained relationship is attributed to Moon’s absence from Stevie’s life and workaholism, injuring Stevie’s mother hunger.

Choi situates Moon and Stevie as outsider figures who constantly strive to enter and be at peace in a space, as it were—their familial dynamic, an actor in Hollywood, Korean women among white men, residents in their expensive neighborhood—and yet are unable to not want to enter. Choi successfully creates greedy characters whose unhealthy, claustrophobic relationships are not sensationalized but not not dramatic either, even as she explicitly details their messy lives, though I would not have minded a slight trimming.

My thanks to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for an ARC.

[Anna]

I gave this book more chances than it deserved. If not for my participation in a buddy read, I would have walked away sooner.

This is an entirely character driven novel. Unfortunately, I did not like any of the characters. I found the writing unnecessarily complicated and it did not grab my attention.

I did learn that some fruit flies can live for as many as forty days, so my effort was not totally wasted.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

the premise of this book was so promising but…nay. i felt disconnected from all three characters the whole time and i often really fuck with unlikable characters if their motives make sense or you get to know them well, but there was none of that here. plus the writing felt v try-hard to me - like aggressive on thesaurus usage and also little tooooo 2026 (tho i enjoyed the las cultch ref obviously). i could keep going but will spare yall :) just a no all around for me - would have DNFed if not for book club !