Fruit Fly

by Josh Silver

A BBC must-read book of 2026 – “Sharp, dark and humorous, it’s a real nailbiter.”
Go gay. Go sad. Go dark.
A washed-up author will stop at nothing to claw her way back to relevancy—even if it means appropriating a young gay man’s tragic story.

Mallory Maddox is buried under seven years of writer’s block. With her status as a literary sensation fizzling, she’ll do anything she can to resurrect her career. Inspiration needs to strike—and fast.

Enter Leo. He’s a struggling addict sleeping under bridges and trading sex for survival. He’s vulnerable. He’s enigmatic. He’s exactly what Mallory has been looking for.

Mallory needs Leo if she wants another bestseller. The world needs Leo’s story right now, and Mallory believes she deserves to tell it. Really, it’s her story—she’s the one who wrote it, after all.

But as secrets threaten to unravel more than just her career, Mallory must decide how far she will go to pen the perfect story.

A razor-sharp satirical thriller, Fruit Fly will appeal to fans of R. F. Kuang’s Yellowface and Yomi Adegoke’s The List.

Genres: Fiction, Queer, Contemporary, LGBT, Audiobook, Literary Fiction, Thriller

416 pages, Paperback

First published August 4, 2026

Reviews

[Ashton · Rating 5 out of 5]

*A Little Life has left the chat*

[Brady Lockerby · Rating 4 out of 5]

a half star would be soooo helpful right now goodreads!! kidding! kidding! im content with a 4. initially when i read the synopsis i was getting “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang vibes, but this was much darker! loved this book overall, but i feel like it shot out of the gate at 150mph and then slowly lost momentum as the story continued on… and then redeemed itself with the ending! maybe a sequel is in our future?! 👀

[amie · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Virginia Woolf would have loved Grindr.”

What a sharp, witty, and scathing commentary on the commodification of ‘sad gay’ stories, & who gets to write and profit from them most of the time.

By far one of the more unique books I’ve read in a while, I could barely put it down & was completely engrossed from start to finish. Also, loved the ending, didn’t expect that last few pages!! Truly recommend picking this one up. I’m excited to see what Silver comes up with next.

[Jaime Fok · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25

This is such an impactful read that brings up so many questions about exploitation (in many different ways), current trends in the publishing industry, what we seek as humans, and so much more.

Not only are we following a character who is literally stealing and exploiting someone else's story for their own gain, but we on the other side - are following a character tugging on others' emotions also for their own gain. Because of this, we get this situation where everyone is actually using each other in different ways. I think having 2 main characters who are both flawed and who were both exploiting each other for their own gain made this SUCH an interesting read, and helped deviate from some other books in this sub-genre. If this was just your usual story about one unlikeable character using a perfect angel character, I feel like it wouldn't have felt as nuanced - so that was a great choice!

It also pointed out so many trends in the publishing industry like... why are women SO pulled towards the lives and stories of gay men right now? On the other side, why do we all seek out PAIN in books? Why is a book only good if it makes us cry? (guilty haha)

Josh Silver's writing is quite erratic in this book, which I think felt very genuine to the story and characters and really felt like we were in their heads. The only reason I think this wasn't a 5 star for me is it did feel a little long around the middle point and maybe felt a just a little repetitive for a tiny bit.

This book covers heavy topics, and does not shy away from them. Tread carefully if themes of substance abuse, addiction, suicide are triggers for you. Overall, such a great book - definitely opens up so many conversations, and I do love how things thematically and plot-wise are left a bit open ended. It's a book that doesn't spoon feed you, and encourages you to think for yourself.

Worth the hype - definitely recommend!

[Kyle · Rating 2 out of 5]

Half the damn book was written exactly like this:

Leo was running out of them. Ideas.
He felt sick, like he might vom.
No. He wouldn’t.
Couldn’t.
Shame. Despair. Darkness.
Fucking all of it.
His head pounded. Swirled.
He shut his eyes.
Fuck me. Fuck. Me.

So if you like clunky writing and flat characters then maybe you’ll like this. If not? Don’t bother.

[Flo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who decides what we can be?

Who decides what we can write about?

This is a novel written by a gay man about a woman (Mallory) who pretends to befriend a young gay man (Leo), addicted to drugs, in order to write his story that might revitalize her dying career. But "pretending" is a word that tells only half the story. Mallory and Leo are pretending so much that sometimes they lie not only to others, but to themselves. They aren't happy. People see Mallory as a modern Clarissa Dalloway, but she feels more like Virginia Woolf trapped in a Sleeping with the Enemy marriage, always forced to smile and do (and write) what others want. Leo is homeless, a thief, a sex worker, a poet, a liar so accustomed to selling his dramatic life story to benefactors that he can't even realize he's in an A Little Life situation.

The beauty of this disturbingly crazy, fun, hopeful novel is that it understands a great story between two complex characters like these can't be stopped by the pretending. We do that in real life too, and we still find a way to each other when we are soulmates. And these two are soulmates. They need each other to survive, to escape, and to become who they want to be.

One of the most powerful scenes in the book is Leo's reaction when he finds out the horrible ending the publisher wants for the character inspired by him. It reminds us how important it is to see ourselves succeed, even if only in books or films. It gives hope, and we need that, but this book is more than a critique of the publishing world.

This book is an act of rebellion. It understands the power of representation, but it wants to remind us that we can be who we want to be, no matter what others think we should be. It is offensively funny, disturbingly funny, too real to be able to laugh, and so tense in the second half that it gave me anxiety. The finale was so strange, because we get an amazing ending and then something feels off, but maybe not. This is book of the year material for me

[Bo.reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fruit Fly.
Meek Mal.

How far will she go?
Friend or faux?

Go sad.
Go gay.
Go dark.
Who gives a fark?

Morally Mallory
needed a salary.

Fruit flies I swat,
annoying twat.

The cheek of it.
Curiosity piqued,
answers we seek,
everything bleak.

Leo, Leo,
here we go.
High then low,
vertigo,
chaos in tow.

Slay, you say?
Or stay away?

Fruit fly,
fruit loop.
Snoop
and dupe.

What am I reading?

No clue.
Who knew?

Send help.

Fruit Fly.

@bo.reads



If that made very little sense, welcome to my experience reading Fruit Fly.

Going into it, I felt a little out of my depth. I've never really read anything quite like it before, and for a good chunk of the book, I honestly had no idea what to make of it. Being inside Leo's head is a lot. He's chaotic, impulsive, self-destructive and sometimes completely bloody ridiculous. One minute I wanted to tell him to please just stop talking, and the next I wanted to reach into the book and save him from himself. Underneath all the humour and erratic behaviour is someone carrying around a hell of a lot of pain, and the further I got, the harder it became not to see everything else as something he was using to bury it.

Then there's Mallory. I can't say I particularly liked her, but I did find her interesting, especially in the ways she tried to justify her questionable behaviour. She's desperate for something to write about, and Leo and the world around him give her exactly that. The problem is how far she's willing to worm her way into spaces and people's lives that aren't hers in order to get it. There was something about watching her recognise that she was crossing a line and then find another reason to keep going anyway that gave me the ick. By that point, I couldn't help thinking that if you're willing to stir the pot, don't complain when it boils over.

And I think that's where the biggest question in Fruit Fly lies: who gets to tell whose stories?

My first instinct was that some stories simply aren't yours to tell, but the more I thought about it, the less clear-cut that answer became. Writers step outside their own experiences all the time. People write about different cultures, sexualities, marginalised communities, vulnerable people and lives completely unlike their own. So where exactly is the line? Is it the story itself that's the problem, or how you went about telling it? When does curiosity or inspiration turn into exploitation, and at what point does observing someone become using them?

I still don't have a neat answer, and maybe that's the point. What I do know is that the way Mallory went about it made me uncomfortable, particularly when friendship, curiosity and self-interest became so tangled together. There were moments when I wondered whether she genuinely cared about Leo, saw him as material, or somehow managed to do both at the same time.

There are quite a few triggers in this one, so I'd definitely recommend checking the content warnings before going in.

Fruit Fly was strange, messy, funny, bleak and occasionally exhausting. I'm not sure I understood everything Josh Silver was throwing at me, and for much of it I wasn't even sure how I felt about what I was reading. But I finished it thinking about ownership, exploitation and the stories we take from other people's lives, and I'm still trying to answer some of the questions it left behind.

Apparently I even came out the other side writing poetry.

I definitely need a detox after that.


3.5⭐

[Brooke Averick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting

[will · Rating 5 out of 5]

5/5 - “It fucking hurts. All of it. But at least I feel it.”

I am in awe, speechless. This book was UNREAL. It’s been some time since I’ve been truly hooked by a writing style alone, and Josh Silver’s scratched the right itch for me. His ability to envelop me into the chaos of Mallory’s mind was riveting, and his intentional deep dive into the true nature of the gay experience was fresh, authentic and perspective-shifting.

There are a lot of gay/queer books in the current literary world that really tailor to straight and heteronormative culture, but this book stands out amongst those. Silver’s unfiltered approach to queerness, the pursuit of identity and fulfillment in companionship was groundbreaking for me here. The juxtaposition between straight and queer domestic partnerships was done so well, really diving into the nuances that is experiencing love and life as a queer individual.

This does not shy away from the brutality that can come with finding yourself, bringing forth a conversation about the gay experience that not many are privy to, or completely understand. Silver’s dive into how heterosexual individuals often appropriate the gay experience was so insightful, giving a raw and uncensored look into just how slimy it can sometimes be.

I’m not here to say that any heterosexual person that writes queer characters are appropriating them, but what I AM saying is that Silver showcases how delving into queer/gay experiences don’t always come with the facade of what society deems as “queer culture”. It can be dark, it can be unfiltered and it can be messy. Society is just now becoming privy to the experiences that individuals face when dealing with identity, and this book shows that we still have a ways to go in understanding just how dark it can be.

I am floored by this book and will be recommending this to every person I know. I cannot wait to pick this up again and go on the wild ride that is Fruit Fly. SUPERB.

[Bhavya (mostly-offline) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars🌟

*I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley Read Now Section. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. This doesn't affect my opinion, rating or review. Quotes may be subject to change.

“Virginia Woolf would have loved Grindr.”

See my Spotify Book Playlist here- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oj...

Content/Trigger Warnings: **may contain ‘spoilers’**, anxiety, anxiety attacks, blackouts, addiction, assault, abuse, abusive parents, domestic abuse, homophobia, hallucinations, swearing, substance addiction, suicidal ideation, suicide attempts, sexual assault, stalking, on page gang-rape, mental illnesses, mentions of former psychiatric admission (These were all I noted, but there is no guarantee that I haven't missed anything. This is also a very heavy book, which is why I am not tagging these as ‘spoilers’, so please take care while reading. Mention and discussion of these in the review.)

I was intrigued by Fruit Fly from the moment I read the description, and when I saw it was available on NetGalley Read Now I downloaded and read it instantly. The first 30 pages of the book were absolutely fantastic, and had me convinced that this would not only be a 5 star read, but also be a new all time favourite. Unfortunately, as the book progressed, it turned out to be a disappointment for me.

THE PLOT

Former famous bestselling author Mallory has been stuck in a “writer's block” for years. Desperate to resurrect her career, she decides to follow Reddit's simple advice “Go gay. Gay sells.” But as Mallory meets Leo, a gay man struggling with addiction and mental illnesses, the question arises, how far is she willing to go for the perfect story?

MY THOUGHTS

Fruit Fly had an interesting concept. The underlying messaging, of who gets to write stories of marginalised people, and “who gets to profit off them” is definitely a conversation worth having. The first 30 pages in particular, are very well written. However for me, the book goes downhill from there. Many readers are calling this the “gay Yellowface”, and while I do see the resemblance, I don't feel this goes hard enough on any of its messaging. I loved Yellowface to the point of giving it 5 stars, and yet I found that too to be lacking in certain aspects of its social commentary, and Fruit Fly is even more so. (Also this is dual POV, unlike that one, just a heads up!)

I get that this book is meant to be a satire with mystery/thriller vibes. And it worked, at first. Mallory being the “clueless straight women” venturing into the “gay world” made for an amusing start, in contrast to the darker tone the book set up with Leo's POV. But there's only so much of that one can take, before it eventually gets boring.

It did not help that to me, the characters were almost caricatures, in the sense that they read “two-dimentional”, there was a lack of emotional depth. Without spoiling too much, both these characters go through their own journeys of struggle, except neither feels “authentic” enough. There is just this major lack of connection or even feeling towards either of them. I saw another review (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) saying that Leo reads like the character Liam that Mallory wrote, and not like his own person, and I completely agree. Now, before you argue that was the point of the book, or the intention with this choice, if that was the case, it did not do a good enough job, and to be very blunt, I do not think it was smartly written enough for that kind of a full circle impact. I do think certain aspects like Leo's addiction was written well enough, and the abuse Mallory faces was actually almost terrifying to read. But ultimately, I was left wanting more. Also this was filled with so many pop culture references that just did not work for me.

My other complaint is the length. This book was too long for the story it was trying to tell. Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying that topics or themes like this don't warrant a long book, just that this one in particular would have been a way better novella. I feel the longer the pages, the more this just dragged, with one bad event after the other happening to the characters. And I do not mind dark stories, but at a certain point, as harsh as it's going to sound, I just felt that there was almost no reason for this trauma, because we don't see enough of the healing, and most of the “development” of these fictional characters happens off page. And look, again, I am not saying that people shouldn't have trauma represented in fiction or that darker stories shouldn't exist as they are. All I am saying is that all the events of this book could have had the same, and even better impact if this was like 160 pages. If anything it would have made for a very sharp read. Unfortunately, I think many readers are going to get bored of this story post 20% and not complete it.

Another small gripe I have is I do not quite get this Book Title. Maybe there is something that I missed, but why is Fruit Fly called Fruit Fly? (Edit 5/6/26: The lovely Ash told me that 'Fruit Fly' is a word used for straight women fetishisising gay men. That makes the title make a lot of sense, its actually quite clever! Though i wish the book incorporates a mention of this in the Author's Note or something. Ofc not the responsibility of the author to educate, but this would be missed by many and adds a lot to the book! Also makes the Yellowface comparisons make more sense. I am changing my rating from 2 star to 2.5 star bec of this additional context.)

However, it was not an awful book, and I have read way worse. The writing was pretty good. I also somewhat liked the ending, but I think many people will not.

Overall, Fruit Fly did not quite work for me, but I do appreciate this book for making me have enough thoughts to write such a long review (it's been a while!) AND making a book playlist. I do think a niche audience is going to love and resonate with this story, as I am seeing with the reviews, so don't let me discourage you from reading it. And of course this is just my opinion, and if you like the book good for you, but please don't start being rude in my comments, you will be blocked. I am definitely going to read more from this author, and even would read a sequel to this one, as long as it's shorter in length.

Now, onto the next!

“We're all the same, he keeps saying. Inside we're all the very same.”

#Book 65 of 2026
#Book 3 for Pride Month June 2026- Rep: Gay MC

Review written on 3rd June, 2026.

DISCLAIMER-All opinions on books I’ve read and reviewed are my own, and are with no intention to offend anyone. If you feel offended by my reviews, let me know how I can fix it.

How I Rate-
1 star- Hardly liked anything/ was disappointed
2 star- Had potential but did not deliver/ was disappointed
3 stars- Was ok but could have been better/ was average / Enjoyed a lot but something was missing
4 stars- Loved a lot but something was missing
5 stars- Loved it/ new favourite

[jocelyn • coolgalreading · Rating 1 out of 5]

was the writing bad on purpose

[enzoreads · Rating 5 out of 5]

alors là je suis choqué what a ride

[gracie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Zero subtlety, characters that are little more than caricatures of the straight woman and the gay man, this book in all honesty seems like exactly what the author is trying to convince us 'Slay' is, and the way it's being praised and raved about seems like a manifestation of the book.

[casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

Easily my favourite read this year. Definitely fits into the ever growing “worst-person-ever-decides-to-larp” micro genre- Yellowface and Julie Chan is Dead come to mind as more dead on predecessors but I think the trend of choosing an insufferable narrator on purpose has definitely stretched beyond to other concepts (i.e Greenwich). Fruit Fly fits in better with the former titles, you could call recency bias here but I honestly think this is the best take I’ve read so far.

A common thread I’ve noticed recently with satire specifically in the releases I’ve been reading is that it seems to be a tough balancing act these days without it coming off too heavy handed. To the point where I have a tinfoil hat theory that it’s being done grudgingly because of how people treat shows/movies/books that depict anything morally grey without tacking on a “DEPICTION ≠ ENDORSEMENT” footnote. So it’s understandable that you’d rather beat someone over the head with your satire via a character that gets a bit cartoonish sometimes rather than find yourself beefing with #booktok.

Fruit Fly isn’t immune to this, both main characters are very concentrated versions of their archetypes. Sometimes it got a bit overindulgent with its satire, (the lead up to our first main character revealing she had titled her draft ‘Slay’ made me feel a bit like a whack a mole) but I think the dual pov structure balanced both of them out well and I loved the parallels drawn between them. Easily has become my favourite structure for this type of story.

The only thing really stopping me from giving it a five is I think it could have been edited down more. There were a few slumping points in the middle that in hindsight I don’t think added much to the story beyond slowing down an otherwise topical, pulpy, fast-paced read. Especially loved that ending lol.

[Gabby]

DNF for now @ 110 pages in

I wanted to love this so bad because the premise is so unique and fascinating and seems like it would be right up my alley -- but I'm really not a fan of the writing style. And I'm not invested in Leo's chapters at all, I find myself skimming them and I am struggling to get into the story. I might come back to this at another time.

[Marcus (Lit_Laugh_Luv) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm always inherently a bit skeptical when a book takes the publishing world by storm, and rarely does it convince me to pick up a book I otherwise wouldn't have read. Fruit Fly was the exception — curiosity got the best of me, and admittedly, I thought I'd land somewhere in the middle with my rating of it. Josh Silver proved me wrong. This was superb. One of my few five-star reads of the year, and a book that certainly lives up to the hype.

The novel interrogates our collective tendency to center queer stories around suffering and trauma, while also questioning who we allow the platform and authority to tell these stories. It feels especially meta coming from Silver, who worked as a mental health nurse before the publication of the book, and has also remarked on his parallel experiences to Leo. It gives the reader enough trust that this is exactly who should be telling this story.

It's hard to talk about why this novel is so successful without veering into spoiler territory, but I'll say that the final ~20% of this book was entirely unexpected and stuck the landing. I got a little nervous halfway through, wondering if this would turn into some banal, domestic thriller: but I'm happy to admit I was proven wrong. It's especially ironic thinking of the ending in light of the runaway success of the book (which I do think has been largely organic — I don't get the sense even the publisher expected this to do as well as it has, given the limited print run and minimal marketing budget).

Part of me is also interested to see how the legacy of this book evolves. Anecdotally, I've seen a lot of heterosexual readers being the most vocal critics of this (to be clear, this is not me critiquing them), and part of me wonders if the "meta-ness" of it is largely tied to the identity of the reader and how they relate to the story? Unsure. It's hard to deny I'm biased in my tendency to like this as a gay man, yet I do think this is more clever than some readers are giving it credit for.

Did that make any sense? Unclear! <3
---
Everyone is RAVING about this book, so I am taking matters into my own hands (reading it for myself)

Substack | Bookstagram | BookTok | BookTube | Bookshop.org Store | Libro.fm Bonus Offer

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️
My blood pressure every time Ronan opens his damn mouth: 📈📈📈

[Justin Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's not a believable word in this book, but that's the point. If you like unreliable narrators and swirling uncertainty, this literary thriller is for you. It's a trainwreck you can't look away from, and I mean that as a compliment. For fans of Jean Hanff Korelitz's The Plot, A.J. Finn's The Woman in the Window and, because it throws many familiar tropes into a blender, the Netflix show The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window.

In the end, Fruit Fly manages to be something new, however, and the ending makes you want to go back to the beginning to see how it was all constructed. Things that felt slapstick and absurd before are more fascinating with hindsight. Overbuzzed, perhaps, but still a jolly good time. Recommended!

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Virginia Woolf would’ve loved Grindr.” So if you hated RF Kuang’s Yellowface, don’t waste your time on this one.

[Matt Ferenczy · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Virginia Woolf would've loved Grindr."

Fruit Fly is one of the sharpest, funniest, and most unsettling books I've read this year. On the surface, it's a darkly satirical thriller about a desperate author willing to exploit someone else's pain for success. Underneath, it's a brutal commentary on who gets to tell queer stories, the publishing industry's obsession with trauma, and the ethics of turning real lives into entertainment.

Mallory is an awful person, yet somehow fascinating enough that I couldn't stop turning the pages. Leo completely stole my heart. He's messy, vulnerable, frustrating, and painfully human. Their relationship is uncomfortable from the very beginning, and that's exactly what makes the story so compelling.

The story is often brutal, disturbing, and genuinely upsetting. There were moments that made me feel uncomfortable in the best possible way because the emotional impact is so strong. Despite the heavy themes, the pacing is incredible. This is one of those books you simply can't put down. Every chapter ends in a way that makes you say, "Just one more," and before you know it, you've read half the book.

Josh Silver balances biting humor with heartbreaking moments, creating a novel that's both wildly entertaining and emotionally devastating. Be aware that this book deals with addiction, abuse, and other dark themes, so it's definitely not an easy read. But if you enjoy morally gray characters, razor-sharp satire, and stories that leave you thinking long after you've finished them, Fruit Fly absolutely delivers

[Jono Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a wild ride. This book was so addictive, but also so stressful that I genuinely had to take breaks. Still worth every second. The characters Silver creates are deeply unlikable, but you absolutely cannot look away. Even at their most frustrating and infuriating, I still wanted to stick with them and see where everything went.

It’s messy, stressful, completely engrossing, and totally phenomenal.

[Lauren W -behind! (work)- trying to stay semi-caught up♥︎ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, twisty, and heavy—yet somehow, humor still finds its way through the shadows. This book is messy, urgent, and a bit unhinged, packed with tension and spice.

The story centers on Leo, a British man in his twenties navigating a wall of massive challenges: homelessness, addiction, exploring his sexuality, seeking connection, and desperately trying to find his place in the world. Then there's Mallory, a woman in her thirties and a former writer plagued by severe writer's block, a history of mental health struggles, and a marriage to a truly wretched man. Mallory is a bit all over the place, but likeable. When she becomes involved in Leo’s life, she decides she wants to write about him, sparking a chaotic and compelling dynamic.

You'll be reeling right alongside these characters, glued to the edge of your seat as you wait to see where they'll take you next.

This book certainly won't be for everyone. But for readers who love a story that pushes the envelope, dares us to sit in the uncomfortable, and leaves us pondering deep questions with a dash of psychological thriller, you just might enjoy this one.

[verynicebook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perhaps more of a 4.5 but Fruit Fly had it all honestly!! Drama! Anxiety! Comedy! Obsession! Horror! More of a detailed review to come but dang this was a hit.

[Oyanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable but struggles with pacing and knowing what genre it wants to be. Every time it feels like the story is gaining some momentum, there's another time jump. The strangest of these is when it cuts away from its own climax to show us the characters thirteen months later, with no explanation as to how they got there. Still, I had fun

[Jason Conrad · Rating 5 out of 5]

May need a palate cleanser to recalibrate my nervous system because this book has been flooding my body with cortisol for DAYS.

The most tense and uncomfortable I have felt while reading a book in YEARS.

Fruit Fly is a biting satire centered on cultural appropriation and authenticity. There is so much commentary on the way that people use the trauma of others to benefit themselves. And we need that discourse right now.

This was a masterclass in chaos. A twisty plot that knows how to maintain its pacing coupled with the inclusion of moments that feel smaller and profound gives us an end result with a great balance.

Not only is the tension palpable and dialed up to 10, but there is a lot of complex emotional material and so many heavy moments that are thrown at you — all of which leaves you in a state of perpetual anxiety.

While reading the book, I found myself thinking about it throughout the day, looking forward to being able to pick it back up to see what would happen.

I love that Mallory and Leo are morally grey characters. In theory, they aren’t that likable. But they are given so much nuance and context that you build genuine empathy for them, while still questioning their choices and audibly groaning at many of them.

People love to throw the word “gaslighting” around, but this was a genuine exploration into the actuality of it. I haven’t disliked a character as much as Ronan in ages.

Finally … That ending. I had no clue where Josh Silver was going to take it, and the route that he ended up taking? I’m speechless. The final page gave me absolute CHILLS. I was left with my jaw on the floor. It was brilliant.

Enormous thank you to NetGalley for the eARC — I’ve seen rave reviews for the book everywhere online, and I’ve been wanting to read it so bad — beyond happy I don’t have to wait until the US release.

Fruit Fly is what the book space needs right now. I absolutely LOVE seeing all the praise it’s been getting, because it is well-deserved.

[Ryan (Empire of Books) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has completely and utterly blown me away. I’ve been a fan of Josh since his debut, HappyHead was released a few years ago and have read everything he’s written with fevered excitement. Ever since Fruit Fly was announced I’ve been dying to read it so much so that the moment I was approved for an earc I started reading it straight away.

Quite frankly, it’s a stunning book. It flips between comical, to creepy, to sad, to hopeful, to totally bonkers and back again. The plot is handled with such care and skill, I could not stop reading, desperate to find out what would happen next.

I really enjoyed Mal and the unravelling of her life. I loved Leo and his struggle to try and sort his life out.

Honestly this book has to be read and appreciated. My words just do not cut it but Josh Silver’s most certainly do. I wish I could scoop this book out of my brain so that I could read it again for the first time!

Thank you to NetGalley and Magpie for my earc!

[Sally Darr Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

imagine if

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh
Baby Reindeer by Richard Gadd

had a baby.

I had a pit in my stomach the entire time, and I looooved and hated the feeling.

[Sarah Buncy · Rating 5 out of 5]

My face genuinely hurt while reading this from laughing and cringing so hard. My jawline is about to be SNATCHED. Slay!

But really, Josh silver fucking cooked here. The LAYERS to this book. The social commentary on appropriation of suffering for entertainment and capitalism blended with dark slapstick humor and a fucking hilarious plot just fucking SLAYED THE HOUSE DOWN! YAAAS DADDY! Unhinged bravery!! Mother is mothering! The truth lies in Reddit.

Seriously tho, I always appreciate a book that causes me to be introspective without taking myself too seriously. There were some parts that had me fucking cracking up not wanting to admit that I’m absolutely guilty as fuck of some of the pseudo-intellectual, offensive and altogether cringe behavior that Mal exhibited. CLOCKED ME! @ me next time.

Anyways, I gobbled this shit up like a meth head at a Tea party. Absolutely insane. Unhinged. Cringe. 10/10

[robookz · Rating 5 out of 5]

book of the year. book. of. the. year.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s rare for me to read a novel and hate every single character. Man did I hate everyone here, self absorbed, another supposedly smart/utterly clueless lady protagonist, the husband - ugh the pits. What’s not rare, is for me to hate the way a book is marketed to readers, as is the case here. This isn’t really gay, the story is really about a not quite middle aged rich straight white lady and her marriage/career troubles. The promised suspense and comedy started off pretty decent and I was looking forward to it really, ahem, slaying (IYKYK), but the longer the story progressed the more flat everything became. What actually really worked was the last 10 pages or so, that’s the book this should have been, skipping all of this story and plunging us right in to the action. The last pages set up a sequel, but not a chance I’m spending another second with these folks.

Every review mentions this is satire, what is it satirizing? Is it because no publisher would ever publish a book as bad as “Slay”? I felt like it was pretty serious about itself and all the folks in this orbit.