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Burnside
Not yet published
Expected 4 Aug 26A Lynchian, absurdist debut novel for fans of Alexandra Tanner and Emma Cline about two disaffected young women and the local homeless man they become obsessed with.
The Bowl is a strange place: surrounded by abandoned almond orchards filled with feral children and neighboring towns that keep burning down, the polluted, riverside city has a decades-old web of serial killers and missing people.
Our unnamed narrator, a bookseller at a used bookstore, and her roommate September, a waitress at a cowgirl-themed breasturant, spend their days avoiding their deadbeat boyfriends, commuting to class on the raccoon-infested ‘rat bus,’ and hanging out at wine bars with their friend Claudia Thursday. But after September has an encounter with a local homeless man named Burnside, she becomes terrified that he’s stalking her. Soon, the entire town has turned on Burnside, convinced that he is responsible for the violence, precarity, and wildfires that surround them.
Burnside builds a dreamlike yet utterly propulsive tapestry of brilliant, flawed, and dangerous characters. A commentary on victimhood and safety, both real and imagined, the precarity of late-stage capitalism and climate disaster, and a portrait of a community in a world seemingly right next to our own, Burnside is a singular, epic, and wonderfully strange debut.
The Bowl is a strange place: surrounded by abandoned almond orchards filled with feral children and neighboring towns that keep burning down, the polluted, riverside city has a decades-old web of serial killers and missing people.
Our unnamed narrator, a bookseller at a used bookstore, and her roommate September, a waitress at a cowgirl-themed breasturant, spend their days avoiding their deadbeat boyfriends, commuting to class on the raccoon-infested ‘rat bus,’ and hanging out at wine bars with their friend Claudia Thursday. But after September has an encounter with a local homeless man named Burnside, she becomes terrified that he’s stalking her. Soon, the entire town has turned on Burnside, convinced that he is responsible for the violence, precarity, and wildfires that surround them.
Burnside builds a dreamlike yet utterly propulsive tapestry of brilliant, flawed, and dangerous characters. A commentary on victimhood and safety, both real and imagined, the precarity of late-stage capitalism and climate disaster, and a portrait of a community in a world seemingly right next to our own, Burnside is a singular, epic, and wonderfully strange debut.
272 pages, Paperback
Expected publication August 4, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
April 11, 2026
I loved every bit of this, the surreal yet very grounded writing, setting, and characters. I can’t believe this is a debut novel!!!
Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC via Edelweiss+
Thank you to the publisher for providing me an eARC via Edelweiss+
June 29, 2026
Superb
Want to Read
February 25, 2026Omg. I need my hands on this STAT
April 8, 2026
Thank you Astra house for the early copy!
“We were all moving much too fast; there were leaves over our eyes blocking out the sun, and too many people were dying by the river”.
September is left with a scar from an encounter with a homeless man and the fear that he is stalking her. Our unnamed narrator, September’s roomate, describes the Bowl as a violent, dangerous place with many murders, as well as bizarre events involving the locals.
I was never bored while reading this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s like a fever dream or a car crash that you can’t take your eyes off of. It’s incredibly campy and wild. I believe it stalled at times, but that does not detract from the story. One thing that had me confused at first were the nicknames for everyone; almost every character is nameless, and it took time to get used to. Overall, this was an excellent debut; I devoured it in three sittings!
Burnside will be out August, 4! 🪩
“We were all moving much too fast; there were leaves over our eyes blocking out the sun, and too many people were dying by the river”.
September is left with a scar from an encounter with a homeless man and the fear that he is stalking her. Our unnamed narrator, September’s roomate, describes the Bowl as a violent, dangerous place with many murders, as well as bizarre events involving the locals.
I was never bored while reading this book because it kept me on the edge of my seat. It’s like a fever dream or a car crash that you can’t take your eyes off of. It’s incredibly campy and wild. I believe it stalled at times, but that does not detract from the story. One thing that had me confused at first were the nicknames for everyone; almost every character is nameless, and it took time to get used to. Overall, this was an excellent debut; I devoured it in three sittings!
Burnside will be out August, 4! 🪩
Read
March 16, 2026a fever dream with some of the best writing I’ve ever encountered - RTC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I began writing a 2-star review of this book right after finishing it, but the more I was typing, the more I was questioning myself. My feelings concerning it are a lot more complicated now than they were at first.
Devyn Defoe’s writing has an undeniable charm to it. I loved the dizzying atmosphere of Burnside, as well as its oddly specific setting; it all made for a very memorable reading experience. It’s hazy and disorienting and simply so unique. I also loved that there are several character dynamics that are extremely nuanced and that accurately capture the inconsistencies in today’s world. While I totally see why early reviewers loved this book so much, I still can’t help but think of what has bothered me about it.
I will start by noting how the characters in this book all have very strange names, which may seem like a petty observation but it makes a lot more sense once you start reading. There’s quirky (nick)names like September, Claudia Thursday, Sid Julius, or Simp Carl, and then there’s also nameless characters like the thinking man, the DJ, the actor, the garbage-skimming man, or the cinephile. Every time someone new appeared in the story, I caught myself rolling my eyes a little.
The prose has multiple minor flaws that could have easily been fixed (to me, those are the most frustrating kind of flaws). I found that so many sentences dragged on for too long, in a way that was supposed to give shape to a certain writing style, but instead they just made everything unnecessarily hard to follow. Certain elements of the book felt very repetitive, and again, while these might have had a purpose of their own, they simply ended up exhausting me.
Defoe has a clearly defined voice and successfully established a DNA with this debut, which I can appreciate. I just wish that the words on the page would have had a smoother flow and that a stricter editing would have been involved in the process. The book had no need for its entire first 30-40%, and it takes way too much time setting a scene and introducing us to its universe and then way too little allowing its themes to truly blossom.
I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of victimhood and public safety, as well as the way it’s pointing out people’s desperate need to place the blame on someone when living in a world filled with death and violence. Sadly, there is a rise in perspectives like September’s or the thinking man’s out there, in which the anger felt towards systems is misplaced on harmless individuals who are facing struggles of their own. We all feel somewhat lost, scared, and exasperated when it comes to the 21st-century political and economical landscape, and without knowing how to deal with those feelings, they intensify and come out in all the wrong ways. It’s a shame that with a lot more focus, this could have been a great, important work, much needed nowadays.
What made me want to pick this book up was its investigation into the life of the unsheltered people in our society, and the factors that impact and ultimately break apart our sense of community. Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the chapters in which this issue gets the time that it deserves. I expected to get a lot more on this topic since Burnside, the title of the book, is also the name of the unhoused character in the story, but to my disappointment, he only makes for a side character that seems to have no real essence of his own — this is perhaps revelatory of the type of treatment that the homeless constantly have to endure, being perceived as mere outlines of human beings in the eyes of the more privileged. Anyway, navigating the story from start to finish was quite irritating, because instead of dissecting a central idea, we are exposed to a crazy amount of random stories and characters that in the end have no real meaning.
Regardless of all the criticism above, I am really happy to have read something that I am still trying to dissect as a whole. I think Defoe has so much potential and I was very happy to receive this as an ARC from the publisher on NetGalley. While this particular book did not fully work for me, I am still excited for any future projects from this author!
3🌟
Devyn Defoe’s writing has an undeniable charm to it. I loved the dizzying atmosphere of Burnside, as well as its oddly specific setting; it all made for a very memorable reading experience. It’s hazy and disorienting and simply so unique. I also loved that there are several character dynamics that are extremely nuanced and that accurately capture the inconsistencies in today’s world. While I totally see why early reviewers loved this book so much, I still can’t help but think of what has bothered me about it.
I will start by noting how the characters in this book all have very strange names, which may seem like a petty observation but it makes a lot more sense once you start reading. There’s quirky (nick)names like September, Claudia Thursday, Sid Julius, or Simp Carl, and then there’s also nameless characters like the thinking man, the DJ, the actor, the garbage-skimming man, or the cinephile. Every time someone new appeared in the story, I caught myself rolling my eyes a little.
The prose has multiple minor flaws that could have easily been fixed (to me, those are the most frustrating kind of flaws). I found that so many sentences dragged on for too long, in a way that was supposed to give shape to a certain writing style, but instead they just made everything unnecessarily hard to follow. Certain elements of the book felt very repetitive, and again, while these might have had a purpose of their own, they simply ended up exhausting me.
Defoe has a clearly defined voice and successfully established a DNA with this debut, which I can appreciate. I just wish that the words on the page would have had a smoother flow and that a stricter editing would have been involved in the process. The book had no need for its entire first 30-40%, and it takes way too much time setting a scene and introducing us to its universe and then way too little allowing its themes to truly blossom.
I thoroughly enjoyed the exploration of victimhood and public safety, as well as the way it’s pointing out people’s desperate need to place the blame on someone when living in a world filled with death and violence. Sadly, there is a rise in perspectives like September’s or the thinking man’s out there, in which the anger felt towards systems is misplaced on harmless individuals who are facing struggles of their own. We all feel somewhat lost, scared, and exasperated when it comes to the 21st-century political and economical landscape, and without knowing how to deal with those feelings, they intensify and come out in all the wrong ways. It’s a shame that with a lot more focus, this could have been a great, important work, much needed nowadays.
What made me want to pick this book up was its investigation into the life of the unsheltered people in our society, and the factors that impact and ultimately break apart our sense of community. Unfortunately, I can count on one hand the chapters in which this issue gets the time that it deserves. I expected to get a lot more on this topic since Burnside, the title of the book, is also the name of the unhoused character in the story, but to my disappointment, he only makes for a side character that seems to have no real essence of his own — this is perhaps revelatory of the type of treatment that the homeless constantly have to endure, being perceived as mere outlines of human beings in the eyes of the more privileged. Anyway, navigating the story from start to finish was quite irritating, because instead of dissecting a central idea, we are exposed to a crazy amount of random stories and characters that in the end have no real meaning.
Regardless of all the criticism above, I am really happy to have read something that I am still trying to dissect as a whole. I think Defoe has so much potential and I was very happy to receive this as an ARC from the publisher on NetGalley. While this particular book did not fully work for me, I am still excited for any future projects from this author!
3🌟
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
Burnside completely pulled me into its strange, polluted, feverish world from the very first pages. This book feels grimy, surreal, funny, terrifying, and painfully human all at once. The atmosphere is unbelievable — abandoned almond orchards, feral children, wildfire smoke, dead-end jobs, serial killer lore, raccoon-infested buses — every detail adds to this overwhelming sense of societal decay and emotional instability.
What impressed me most was how layered the novel feels beneath all of its weirdness. Devyn Defoe captures the exhaustion and humiliation of modern girlhood so well, especially the constant low-level fear women are expected to live with. The book explores victimhood, paranoia, misogyny, economic precarity, and climate collapse in a way that feels sharp without ever becoming preachy.
I also loved how dreamlike and disorienting the story becomes. The entire novel feels haunted — not just by violence, but by loneliness, instability, and the feeling that the world itself is quietly unraveling around these characters.
This is such a confident, singular debut. Beautifully strange, unsettling, and emotionally resonant. I’ll absolutely be reading future releases from Devyn Defoe.
What impressed me most was how layered the novel feels beneath all of its weirdness. Devyn Defoe captures the exhaustion and humiliation of modern girlhood so well, especially the constant low-level fear women are expected to live with. The book explores victimhood, paranoia, misogyny, economic precarity, and climate collapse in a way that feels sharp without ever becoming preachy.
I also loved how dreamlike and disorienting the story becomes. The entire novel feels haunted — not just by violence, but by loneliness, instability, and the feeling that the world itself is quietly unraveling around these characters.
This is such a confident, singular debut. Beautifully strange, unsettling, and emotionally resonant. I’ll absolutely be reading future releases from Devyn Defoe.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
The book being described as a "Lynchian, absurdist debut novel" caught my attention immediately. Burnside by Devyn Defoe was an unhinged fever dream that will leave you staring at the wall, questioning society and what you just read. Definitely a memorable and unique debut.
Crazy on the surface, deeply serious underneath, that tension is the whole book. Burnside pulls you into its dizzying world, grimy and surreal one page, gutting and human the next. Raccoon buses, fires, violence, feral children, every strange detail adds to one overwhelming portrait of a place falling apart. There's social commentary on the various burdens women carry, placing (and misplacing) blame onto broken people in broken systems, loneliness, exhaustion, and anxiety. The author's writing style is unique and sharp.
I had a hard time getting into the book at first and sometimes got confused with who was who and who did what. Other than that, I really enjoyed this bizarre "weird girl lit fic" book and look forward to more from the author!
3.5 stars!!
Thanks again to NetGalley and Astra House for this ARC!
Crazy on the surface, deeply serious underneath, that tension is the whole book. Burnside pulls you into its dizzying world, grimy and surreal one page, gutting and human the next. Raccoon buses, fires, violence, feral children, every strange detail adds to one overwhelming portrait of a place falling apart. There's social commentary on the various burdens women carry, placing (and misplacing) blame onto broken people in broken systems, loneliness, exhaustion, and anxiety. The author's writing style is unique and sharp.
I had a hard time getting into the book at first and sometimes got confused with who was who and who did what. Other than that, I really enjoyed this bizarre "weird girl lit fic" book and look forward to more from the author!
3.5 stars!!
Thanks again to NetGalley and Astra House for this ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you to Astra Publishing House, Devyn Defoe and NetGalley for this Advanced Copy!!
This is a dreamy, strange debut novel.
Beautifully written, it balances realism with an almost surreal, dreamlike quality that makes the story feel immersive, intimate and slightly untethered.
An unnamed narrator guides us through her life and through her lens it becomes clear the way we perceive others, and the way we are perceived rarely reflects the truth. The characters felt human and real and the observations are mostly subtle, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions much like the narrator.
Burnside feels less plot driven and instead provided an interesting exploration into the banality of life with a feminist undertone (at least that was my take away) Whilst the pacing on the slower side, it was atmospheric and very well written. I’d definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy literary fiction that prioritises atmosphere, introspection, and social commentary.
This is a dreamy, strange debut novel.
Beautifully written, it balances realism with an almost surreal, dreamlike quality that makes the story feel immersive, intimate and slightly untethered.
An unnamed narrator guides us through her life and through her lens it becomes clear the way we perceive others, and the way we are perceived rarely reflects the truth. The characters felt human and real and the observations are mostly subtle, allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions much like the narrator.
Burnside feels less plot driven and instead provided an interesting exploration into the banality of life with a feminist undertone (at least that was my take away) Whilst the pacing on the slower side, it was atmospheric and very well written. I’d definitely recommend this to readers who enjoy literary fiction that prioritises atmosphere, introspection, and social commentary.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was provided an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts and review, thank you to Astra House and the author for this galley!
If you like your humor dry as a piece of used 120 grit sandpaper lying for days in the Arizona sun, this one’s for you!(complimentary). I thoroughly enjoyed this read and found myself gleefully making my way through it in just a few sittings. Defoe has such a unique voice—sparse dialogue mixed with hilariously esoteric references. The publisher describes this debut as being perfect for fans of Emma Cline or Joy Williams, who I think are both apt comparisons. I’d also agree with those who’ve described it as Lynchian, the most direct comparison (to me) being Twin Peaks—especially for the mix of both dark and light humor, as well as the dreamlike quality that permeates the book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, would read again!
P.S. Poor possums):
If you like your humor dry as a piece of used 120 grit sandpaper lying for days in the Arizona sun, this one’s for you!(complimentary). I thoroughly enjoyed this read and found myself gleefully making my way through it in just a few sittings. Defoe has such a unique voice—sparse dialogue mixed with hilariously esoteric references. The publisher describes this debut as being perfect for fans of Emma Cline or Joy Williams, who I think are both apt comparisons. I’d also agree with those who’ve described it as Lynchian, the most direct comparison (to me) being Twin Peaks—especially for the mix of both dark and light humor, as well as the dreamlike quality that permeates the book.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, would read again!
P.S. Poor possums):
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Burnside was at times genius, but always strange. Comparing it to the writing of Emma Cline made a lot of sense to me, as our main characters are caricatures and go through life not considering the consequences of their actions. I liked the surrealism, the weird interactions, and the commentary on how people claim to be community/society driven but are more self-centered than they let on. The book felt inspired by Lynch, but honestly could've gone further with the macabre and unsettling energy. I also didn't like how the author kept so many people nameless, while also creating ridiculous names for other characters - September, December, Sid Julius, the thinking man, the cinephile...
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I was immediately drawn to the cover art on this one, and hooked pretty quickly once I started reading. that said, I did end up getting a little bored around the 40% mark - definitely wasn't as plot driven as I was expecting, but I did love all the random side stories about the quirky characters in our narrators world. I loved all the nicknames, the way it kept me feeling slightly outsider, but also like I was in on the joke. it was funny and unique, just maybe not what I was looking for when I read it!
3.5 stars rounded down to 3. thanks for the e-arc!
3.5 stars rounded down to 3. thanks for the e-arc!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
This book is like a fever dream, and it's very hard to review because it's all about how it makes you feel while reading it, more than the story itself. Some passages were incredibly strong and beautifully written. I felt the apathy that contains all these feelings and keeps them from bursting out. This kind of book is not for everyone, but no one can deny that some of the writing is absolutely stunning. I highlighted heavily throughout!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
You mention alexandra tanner and i am expecting wit and humor, which I could barely find in this. It leans more towards the emma cline comparison. Not a serious criticism but I hated the name September. I also kept thinking “why do we care about September?” It’s a well-written novel that just wasn’t for me.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
From the first to the final sentence this novel reads like a tricksy combination of deeply crafted literary writing mixed with completely unrehearsed slam poetry and I can’t say I always loved it but I’m going to give it five stars. The epigraph is Elfriede Jelinek, which probably gives you more information about the novel than I just did. Try it.
June 24, 2026
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
A surrealist novel told via an unnamed narrator. Her roommate, September, has an unpleasant encounter with a homeless man, and from then things take a turn for the bizarre. Initially a bit dull, but the prose was enchanting at times. It’s fever dream, Lynch adjacent, commentary on class and identity.
April 16, 2026
I was very excited about this book -- especially with the comparisons to emma cline and alexandra tanner (Worry is one of my five star books). However, the comparison may have ruined some of my experience of reading this book, because I wanted so much more from it. Fever dream is a good way to describe this book, which I have seen many reviews mention.
The description is enticing and promises something funny, spunky, and absurd. I will admit the prose of this book is extraordinary and nothing like I have read before, but the actual elements of the story leave me wanting more. I did not really care for any of the main characters or really understand what their purpose was.
Most of the characters are nameless, and referred to by descriptors, which made it really difficult to follow.
I am not sure how I feel about this book after reading it, but maybe that is part of the point.
Thank you AstraHouse and Edelweiss for allowing me to read and review this ARC!
The description is enticing and promises something funny, spunky, and absurd. I will admit the prose of this book is extraordinary and nothing like I have read before, but the actual elements of the story leave me wanting more. I did not really care for any of the main characters or really understand what their purpose was.
Most of the characters are nameless, and referred to by descriptors, which made it really difficult to follow.
I am not sure how I feel about this book after reading it, but maybe that is part of the point.
Thank you AstraHouse and Edelweiss for allowing me to read and review this ARC!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you Netgalley! I’ve been following this since I heard it described as “Lynchian” I enjoyed this surreal California. Took turns I didn’t expect throughout! I would recommend to fans of surrealist fiction.
May 20, 2026
I loved this story: The dreamlike style of writing, the twists and turns you’re taken through in a remarkably detailed world, and the sometimes unnamed but descriptive characters who feel like people you might actually know.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Now THIS is a debut. Surreal and literary. Left me stained with a substance I don’t recognize in a town I don’t recall. Bravo..
Want to Read
June 28, 2026This looks like crazy fun
May 29, 2026
This story was filled with so so much detail and unexpected narrative asides. At first it was a little hard to stay with each nook and cranny of how the story moved, but I thought the characters were amazingly real and the narrative was both hyper realistic and also surreal at the same time. Weirdly contradicting thing to say, but true!
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews