Canon

by Paige Lewis

“A scorchingly brilliant, wildly funny, and deeply moving epic.” —John Green, #1 globally bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars

Two unlikely heroes embark on quests to win God’s favor in this outrageously entertaining, profoundly heartfelt novel that announces an ingenious new voice in the tradition of Chain-Gang All-Stars, No One Is Talking About This, and Martyr!

Yara can’t comprehend why God has chosen them to slay Dominic, the ruthless leader of the army of Bad Guys. Cast out by their family and reeling from a destructive relationship, Yara has never felt weaker—but with nothing left to lose, they strike a deal. Abandoning their solitary days of embroidery and obsessive cleaning, Yara reluctantly embarks on a perilous odyssey designed to prepare them for the daunting mission ahead.

Meanwhile, Adrena, a disillusioned prophet with a terrifying secret power, is determined to become the hero of this story. Desperately seeking the glory of God’s approval and the promise of heaven, where she hopes to reunite with her beloved mother, Adrena must first persuade Harpo, the leader of the Good Guys, that her plan is God’s will.

As their journeys unfold in a series of unforgettable adventures, Yara and Adrena are propelled toward each other and transformative revelations about life, death, and destiny in this intensely captivating, irreverent epic from a singularly brilliant new voice in fiction.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Adult, LGBT, Queer, Lesbian, Literary Fiction

480 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication May 19, 2026

About the author

Paige Lewis is the author of Canon (Viking, 2026) and Space Struck (Sarabande Books, 2019).

Reviews

[Marlo Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you NetGallery for the eARC!!!

I’m sincerely at a loss of words for how to describe this novel. It was so unique within formatting, dividing the entirety of the book into separate books all while shifting perspectives when needed. All the while you are being told the story, but from whose perspective? Who’s to say.

I enjoyed the chaotic energy this story exudes. One moment there is talk of prophets and God, then the next there are references to Jeopardy and going to the mall, and then you’re back to battle and death (and clearing the battle field for a dog!). I felt crazy whiplash in certain moments, but in a funny and captivating way. I could never quite get a grasp on the time this story takes place or exactly what kind of Earth this is, and I thought that to be perfect.

More spoiler-esc here:

I enjoyed that there wasn’t really a settled conclusion. Yara was sung out of existence, or really, sung into their own freedom. Their story felt complete, or more in the way that they are able to move and live for themself. However, with Adrena and Harpo, I found that their stories didn’t entirely conclude. Adrena is no longer a prophet, free to live her life and romance, but I didn’t feel that this concluded her story. Perhaps it is similar to Yara’s, this idea of being freed from God, but it wasn’t as conclusive I feel. And Harpo, poor Harpo. Still beckoning to God’s will and not yet finding his wife. Yet I found myself in love with each of their stories.

I also enjoyed the chaos of God. He is a figure of chaos throughout this novel, even revealing that Dominic wasn’t as evil as proposed to the Good Guys. I would enjoy this narrative from Dominic’s side as well.

A really fantastic book. I hope that this novel gets all of the praise and attention it deserves.

[Book Riot Community]

Book Riot’s Most Anticipated Books of 2026:

Do you love riotously original novels that make you feel like nothing will ever be the same after you read it? Then get ready to have your brains melted by this incredible debut. It's about Yara, who receives a message from God, telling them they need to slay one of the Earth's Bad Guys. Not one to question a missive from above for too long, Yara strikes a deal and sets off on their assignment. Meanwhile a downcast prophet with a hidden power is hoping to get in good with the man upstairs and carries out her own plan. So prepare yourself: Canon is a mind-bending adventure about life, death, and fate that will ruin your life, in the best way. —Liberty Hardy

[Grace Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I absolutely loved this wacky wild book. LGBTQ+ rep? Commentary on how we are screwing up the oceans? Struggles with spirituality amd relationships with God? Yeah okay.

I loved the narration of this book, the way the chapters and separate books were written. I felt like it flowed organically and this epic story kept me wanting to read more. This book felt very Welcome to Night Vale but also Hitchhiker's Guide with it's own twist.

(Also, side note, I Loved that Yara's weapon was a tent peg. Jael and Sisera? That's crazy)

Thank you NetGalley for the eARC!

[Isabella Basile · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mayhaps my new favorite book of all time. Perfect for the weirdos who loved Welcome to Night Vale in their teens.

[Julia McCall · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly the best book I’ve read in a long time.

[Caitlyn Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just so perfectly strange. I had consistent whiplash throughout this book- a Great War with a hero with a mission bestowed upon them by God in one chapter, a quick shopping trip- but you better avoid those kiosks- in the next.

Funny and strange and a super quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eArc in exchange for my honest review.

[Bee Guard · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of your next favorite queer reads and heroes. Yara is a regular person, but they have been chosen by God to slay the leader of the “Bad Guys.” They are first sent on a journey to train before arriving at the stage for them to fulfill their destiny. Every character is fully fleshed out and interesting in the context of the story, the setting is beautiful and terrible, and the dry, sardonic humor is unmatched to anything I’ve read in a long time. The journey is a little meandering and the big battle scene feels a little rushed for my personal taste, but otherwise I absolutely love this one. 4.5/5 ⭐️

[Amber · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75⭐️
We follow Yara, a person chosen by God to slay Dominic(leader of the bad guys), and Adrena, a disillusioned prophet who is absolutely determined to be the hero of the story by convincing Harpo(leader of the good guys) that her plan is from God.

I feel that this book will not be for everyone simply based on how it is formatted. Separating the story into different “books” with alternating perspectives that are mostly the two main characters, though some are told from others perspectives.

This was such a fun read. It was as strange as it was funny, with a little sprinkle of existential crises throughout. The world is surreal but grounded in the recognizable. It is very chaotic, with talks of prophets of god to shopping mall commission kiosk workers. It makes for a very hard-to-grab idea of what kind of world it is, and I think that’s the point. It’s the kind of book that asks serious questions while not being too serious.

Thank you Net Galley for the eARC.

[Mackenzie Chance Harte · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Wasn’t sure what to think of this until the end. While I struggled to get into the rhythm and the characters, the humor mostly worked for me and the plot tied together in a way that was ultimately satisfying.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve never read anything quite like this and it was absolutely delightful. Funny, quirky, adventurous, clever, just all around wonderful.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been wrestling with this review for days. I don’t know how to talk about this book, and I’m so afraid of doing it wrong or doing it poorly. But I suppose that’s a risk I’ll have to take.

Wonderfully weird. Unstuck in time. Canon reminds me a little of Vonnegut, a little of Pratchett, but it is also wholly unique and unlike anything I’ve ever read.

Yara, a non-binary 18-year-old with OCD, begrudgingly embarks on a quest given to them by God. The prophet Adrena is beside herself when she learns that Yara has been chosen for this mission instead of her and, desperate for bodily assumption into heaven, decides to take matters into her own hands.

Canon is so many things. It is uproariously funny, completely absurd, and pulsing with both hope and dread throughout. It’s an epic about two people grappling with meaning and purpose in a tremendously fucked up world. It’s exactly what I needed right now.

*Thank you to @NetGalley and @vikingbooks for the ARC!* Canon comes out on May 19, 2026, and is available for pre-order now. You should pre-order it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canon is a whimsical, surreal adventure story about an aimless young person named Yara, chosen by God to challenge and Dominic, the nefarious leader of the army of “Bad Guys".” Yara is tasked, very literally, with fulfilling a hero’s quest, of journeying across the ocean to meet with mentors who will train them to have the skills needed to save the world. And they’ll need it. Yara is young, abandoned by their religious family for being nonbinary, afflicted with profound contamination-based OCD, and deeply unable and disinterested in the act of murder. After God himself hands off his task, they’re granted a truth-telling newt and friendly talking whale and sent away. We also follow Adrena, a prophet of God who can sing things out of existence, who has abruptly lost her lifelong ability to hear God’s voice. She believes she can win God’s favor back by participating in the war and aiding the “Good Guys’” chosen general Harpo in the decisive battle to come.

Right away, it’s clear that Canon is operating in the surreal, whimsical metaphor style, rather than some secondary world fantasy. The book combines malls, phones, and movie theaters with magical animals, a great war fought with swords and spears, and a shroud-wearing God who acts more like a tech bro. The prose is simple and propelling, with a voice that should feel familiar to fans of Welcome to Night Vale or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. It can feel a bit twee at times, but it’s not afraid to look darker subjects in the face.

Canon’s greatest strength lies in Lewis’ observational mind, a quality that I thought of as that of a poet’s before I even learned that yes, Paige Lewis is a poet. They have a deeply empathetic and precise way of chronicling all kinds of personal foibles, anxieties, weird thoughts, and other general things that feel deeply human and universal but that I haven’t seen put into words. It’s that brilliant sketch of humanity that makes Canon work so well, that underpins the absurd situations and keeps the story from turning too much into purely an allegory or a zany comedic adventure.

The book is 480 pages, yet it flies by, and if anything maybe should have been even longer, to truly justify its epic trappings. I found it hard to emotionally connect with most of the characters here, and maybe more time lingering with them would have helped. But Yara themself is clearly the standout here, whose fundamental decency is often shrouded by their hurt and constant fears. I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole life, and while it has never become OCD or had this kind of obsession with germs and contamination, I can relate to thought spirals and the blank screen of paralyzing indecision, which are rendered well here.

Overall, this is a charming book with a poet’s eye for human detail, that goes down easy but offers some questions and critiques about the forces its God character stands for, like patriarchy, tradition, and the human thirst for moral certainty and absolution.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts expressed are my own.

[Ryan Davison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartfelt, charming, and in parts, brilliant, Canon represents a fresh direction for contemporary literature.

God appears to non-binary and unlikely hero, Yara, with the charge that they must take down the leader of The Bad Guys, Dominic, in order to end a war. God's request causes the prophet Adrena to become jealous, and she seeks out the leader of the Good Guys, Harpo, falsely claiming God sent her to help lead his troops to conquer Dominic’s army. Harpo’s wife was recently kidnapped, and he agrees to allow Adrena to join if she delivers his wife safely. Adrena promises she shall, but it’s all a lie, the prophet did not hear from God recently nor knows the whereabouts of the kidnapped woman. Readers should prepare for trickery with mythological flair, a healthy compliment of humor and well-placed social commentary.

It's the 1990s, and as Yara hitches a ride on a whale to travel towards Dominic by sea, on land, Adrena and Harpo head to the mall to gather supplies and choose a battle song from Camelot Music. There is a newt that changes colors to confirm truths and lies, a sweetheart of a whale that needs sunscreen constantly slathered on his body to prevent burns and irreverent anachronisms abound from an unintentionally hilarious God.

Commentary on the horrific state of oceans, the unseen horrors of OCD, gender identity, body dysphoria, and sexual orientation are handled poignantly, even entertainingly, no easy feat. The storytelling can take some adjusting (they/them pronouns are used for Yara and some chapters are no more than a sentence), but the narrative ripens at each turn and social issues remain side dishes with the quest to kill Dominic the main course. Even with God at the reigns, nothing goes quite as planned.

In one standout dramatic scene, God tests Yara, and it is so incredibly effective, I may never forget it. Canon comes highly recommended to fans of myth and progressive readers. It's wonderful to see such innovation.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for a review copy.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a wildly inventive epic that defies easy categorization while delivering profound insights about faith, identity, and human connection. This novel follows two unlikely heroes: Yara, reluctantly chosen to slay an army leader, and Adrena, a disillusioned prophet seeking divine approval.
Yara's journey from isolation and self-doubt to reluctant heroism feels authentically earned, while their struggles with family rejection and past trauma add emotional weight to what could have been a simple quest narrative. Adrena's desperate pursuit of divine favor, driven by grief for her deceased mother, creates compelling motivation that transcends typical prophetic character tropes.
The world-building is imaginatively surreal yet grounded in recognizable human emotions and conflicts. Lewis creates a universe where "Good Guys" and "Bad Guys" exist as literal armies while exploring the moral complexity that makes such distinctions meaningless.
What elevates "Canon" beyond clever premise is the fearless exploration of faith, queerness, and belonging. Yara's gender identity and spiritual struggles interweave naturally with the fantastical elements, creating authentic representation within an otherworldly context. The novel's treatment of religious themes feels both reverent and questioning, never mocking faith but also challenging institutional interpretations.
The parallel structure builds toward a convergence that feels both inevitable and surprising. The novel succeeds as both literary fiction and speculative adventure, offering something for readers across several genres.

[savanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for the opportunity to read an e-ARC of this title!

Canon by Paige Lewis was such a great, unique read! It’s very different from what I normally read, especially in format, but I really appreciated the quirky, humorous writing paired with sections that read like poetry. The whole book was like a great epic with accessible, easy-to-digest writing. The short chapter style with multiple perspectives was easy for me to read, although somewhat chaotic, but for some it may be abrupt or jarring (I personally love multiple POVs because they help to keep my interest). Overall, the novel made me think about a lot of things and touched on serious topics, but maintained its levity throughout. I was impressed with the amount of topics touched on in such a brief novel. Lewis did a great job presenting various identities — including a nonbinary teen with OCD and WLW characters — as well as themes like pollution, environmentalism, religion, war, sexual abuse, and good versus evil. The whole book is tied together with threads of mythology and its common themes like the hero’s journey, morality, free will, and creation myth, which I really enjoyed. Plus, there’s a whale! I highly recommend this book to anyone that is interested in myth or religion with an absurdist and ironic voice. I feel like The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez and Canon are siblings in my heart and if you liked one, you might like the other (although the writing and length are very different).

[Kaitlyn Ashley ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5.

Canon is like... a modern Alice in Wonderland, spinning down the bizarre, brutal rabbit hole.

The writing format is really unique in itself, and the story is just strange and entirely unpredictable. The narrator sometimes breaks the third wall to address the reader, has a very casual, quirky tone throughout.

But the STORY- how, how can I describe this adequately? Yara (they/them) is chosen by God to kill Dominic and defeat The Bad Guys. Accompanied by a color changing newt and HOWBIG! the whale, their journey is something entirely fresh, new, and brilliant. I honestly don't know the author's hope for the message of this, but for me it touched beautifully on the danger of looking away from uncomfortable things or investing energy into the wrong things, (cutting down all the trees on the island so that the plastic bags did not get caught on them), the hypocrisy and divisive nature of religion, the risk of following something blindly, the value of staying true to yourself and, when needed, starting over, creating your new world, (literally, in this case).

This book is NOT for people who are invested in world building. It is very amorphous, with intent, I believe. The sides of the war are literally called The Good Guys and The Bad Guys, lol.

This book is not for everyone, but man, I can't stop thinking about it.

A non-binary main character in an epic is also a level of rep you don't see many places yet.

TW: grooming, SA, violence.

[Corinne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every single page of this novel is an absurdist delight. What a gift for folks who love epics, myths, and a completely bonkers ride. The whole book is a fantastical, hilarious exploration of theism and human agency. What do we have control over and when are we riding on the back of a whale with a truth-telling newt because that’s just how the cookie crumbled?

Being able to tell a story like this takes immense skill and talent. At every point, Lewis is aware of both the overarching themes of the book and the conceits she’s using to tell the story. Just the chapter titles are a joy in and of themselves.

This book felt like a callback to the kind of comedic genre fiction I grew up reading (Douglas Adams and Richard Anton Wilson and the like) but updated and broken free from a singular lived experience.

I truly can’t wait for this to be on shelves next year.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and Paige Lewis for an arc of this book.

This book is deeply meaningful when it comes to looking at religion in a different light. We see that our main characters Yara and Adrena are fighting for the attention and approval of God. They have to overcome challenges and obstacles to gain God’s approval which shows that religion might just be a way to search for approval of oneself. Now that’s not to say that’s what it means. There is multiple point of views on what religion means to these characters, and how they are being put to the test. I loved the multiple poem format that this book was written in, the author did a great job with irony and imagery in these stories. I would recommend this book to readers who like the poem style writing and want to dive into different perspectives of what religion means and how it guides our lives.

[Erica Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! A real masterpiece. This might just be the most unique take on the Hero's Quest archetype I've ever read. Filled with humor, whimsy and real heart this book surprised and moved me. The ending challenged me as we didn't get everything wrapped up in a nice, neat bow and if I'm honest, that made me appreciate this novel even more. The closest thing I can compare Canon to is the wacky Netlfix show Kaos, a darkly comedic reimaging of Greek mythology. Canon explores themes of personhood, faith, politics and war. I'll be excited to hear the audiobook version since the book is written in such a poetic way, I bet it'll be touching lyrical in audiobook format. I just cannot recommend this quick novel enough.

Thanks to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for the advance reading copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Olivia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is my first time reading this author and I am shocked to report that I... really did not like this book. It was an incredibly neutral read until the last 10% of the story where my feelings skewed toward displeasure. I will probably be the minority on this, and like good art it did make me feel something.

That something was irritation.

There was no real payoff for any of the plotlines and the moments that I felt Lewis wanted to be impactful, weren't. The amount of references, both current and classical, were abundant and exhausting. This is told in a humorious style while trying to comment on big ideas of faith and belonging, similar in feel of Taika Waititi's work.
In the end, I was left exasperated.

Undeniably a unique book, but just not for me.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

nonbinary representation
- Definitely odd, the unusual narrative format reminds me of paradise logic by Sophie kemp, although this feels more earnest and less satirical
- I liked the style of the writing and the way the narrator would call out the reader.
- It has a beginning that felt at once too slow and too fast. It felt like it was dumping me into a new world and shoving all these facts about it at me, but withholding information about the main characters that would help me understand them and what was happening. I got used to it after a while.
- This feels like an epic novel in that it felt a bit long, but it was still enjoyable.
- This wont work for everybody, but if you love weird fiction, this one’s for you.

[crispy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun and delightful read. I took my time with it—partly because of work, but also because the slower pace really suited the story itself. The flow was engaging, the characters were wonderful, and the storytelling was excellent.

I especially appreciated how God was portrayed as chaotic and messy, which mirrored the way certain parts of the story unfolded. The struggles and transformations the characters experienced felt just as chaotic yet deeply moving. At its heart, this book beautifully explores themes of faith, identity, and purpose.

Thank you to NetGalley and Viking Penguin for the eARC!

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am pretty clearly not this book's intended audience but I was intrigued by it anyways. It was entertaining and an pretty easy read. Hence the 3 stars. But I did not "get" it. I enjoyed the breezy dialogue and quirkiness but the plot, such as it was, made no sense to me and it had a certain amount of preachiness that I found boring. I am not sure how a story such as this contributes to a conversation about plastic in the ocean for example. I am also not exactly sure how the whole god thing works or fits into the larger structure either...

But if quirky and self-referential LGBTQ/Queer fiction is your thing, I have a feeling you will enjoy it.

[Hollynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canon is a laugh-out-loud mind-warp of a read. Completely absurd and completely serious at the same time, Canon explores what it means to be "Good" or "Bad" and the power dynamics of perceived godhood. I did not think I would enjoy reading this as much as I did.

Yara, a young NB person with OCD, is someone I know. Their reasonings, compulsions, and "unlikely hero" persona of it all leapt right off the page. Particularly loved their relationship to HOWBIG! the whale.

Adrena, a messy lesbian prophet, attempts to take matters into her own hands. She is excellently human as well.

Thanks to Netgalley and Viking Penguin for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Liz Warners · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was very unique and intriguing. but I was left wanting so much more. I wanted more world building to understand the landscape - somewhere totally religious, with a business-like God, where soldiers do wheelies in their chariots, and where you go to the mall to find a soundtrack for your battle tomorrow. I also wanted more character development. I felt like I had too little time with the many colorful personalities and I didn't feel like any of the characters were 'wrapped up' by the end. so glad I read this, but I have lots of unanswered questions.

[Jonathan Mendonça · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Cabana meets Alice no País das Maravilhas & Percy Jackson. Mirou em muitas coisas, arranjou uma dúzia de boas sacadinhas e esqueceu do resto. O universo seria muito legal se houvesse alguma dedicação a nos apresentá-lo, e não apenas assumir que a gente gostaria dos personagens engraçadinhos. É bem inconsistente, mas o booktok vai adorar.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars.

Thank you NetGalley for this awesome ARC of one of the wildest, strangest, most fascinating books I have ever read!

This book follows the epic journey of Yara in the search for freedom and "good" vs "evil", although it isn't clearly defined. By the time the ending arrived I wasn't sure if I was ready for it or not!

Awesome book, highly recommend!

[danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

E-ARC from NetGalley

I loved this difficult to describe book. It’s a novel that feels like a poem that feels like the dream sequence or a teen that has had enough of Sunday School.

With the strange humor and stranger religious theming, I really cannot help myself the comparison: If you are a fan of the Locked Tomb series, you should enjoy every page of this book.

[Andrew Sabonis-Chafee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wacky and fun and absurd! Prophets, queerness, war, environmental destruction, lots of fantastic commentary while still never really knowing what’s coming next. Ends a bit abruptly and sometimes the absurdity is more surface level, but still a great time!

[Angelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOWWWWWWWWW