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Her Kind
Not yet published
Expected 13 Oct 26An exquisite, mist-laced debut novel about friendship and motherhood, fear and love, in which a woman plagued by visions of being pulled away from Earth invites her three closest friends for a weekend, to see who might care for her son if she dies.
When Ada is left to raise her young son alone, she retreats to her otherworldly aunt Leigh’s crumbling lakeside home, seeking solace for herself and stability for Lenny. Yet, among the wildflowers and the hum of the water, Ada can’t escape the nagging feeling she might not have much time left. Sensing death grow nearer, she invites her three closest friends—a brash, unemployed seamstress; a gentle, disillusioned violinist; and a serious painter—to the house over a long weekend to determine which of them might take on the raising Lenny if she no longer can.
Amidst strange animal activity and Aunt Leigh’s mysterious late-night visits to her dead husband’s grave, the women find comfort and purpose in one another’s company as their stay extends into winter. Meanwhile, Leigh’s memory is fading fast, and Ada must confront past and present truths she’s spent a lifetime avoiding.
When death does finally come to the group, it sets off a chain of events that exposes long-hidden secrets and the true mystical nature of Leigh and her ancestral home. Written in attentive, insightful prose, Her Kind is an ode to the power of love to return us to ourselves.
When Ada is left to raise her young son alone, she retreats to her otherworldly aunt Leigh’s crumbling lakeside home, seeking solace for herself and stability for Lenny. Yet, among the wildflowers and the hum of the water, Ada can’t escape the nagging feeling she might not have much time left. Sensing death grow nearer, she invites her three closest friends—a brash, unemployed seamstress; a gentle, disillusioned violinist; and a serious painter—to the house over a long weekend to determine which of them might take on the raising Lenny if she no longer can.
Amidst strange animal activity and Aunt Leigh’s mysterious late-night visits to her dead husband’s grave, the women find comfort and purpose in one another’s company as their stay extends into winter. Meanwhile, Leigh’s memory is fading fast, and Ada must confront past and present truths she’s spent a lifetime avoiding.
When death does finally come to the group, it sets off a chain of events that exposes long-hidden secrets and the true mystical nature of Leigh and her ancestral home. Written in attentive, insightful prose, Her Kind is an ode to the power of love to return us to ourselves.
272 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 13, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 28 of 28 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway and I'm grateful for it. It was a book I could really relate to and well written.
March 14, 2026
Thank you, NetGalley, Mariners books, the author for this advanced reader copy.
I went into this book with no expectations, and I was absolute blown away at the vividness of the writing of the author. I really felt like I was transported to an Eden that I think all women dream of. Where you get to live with your best friends, in a beautiful place, while everyone helps raise your child in a loved and supportive environment. It really did feel like quite the dream realized. I felt like I could lose myself in this novel and really enjoyed the time spent with the characters. I felt like I got to know the characters very well and it had a Dawsons Creek like feel to it where I could just enjoy the setting, in the small day to day of what happens.
The foreshadowing throughout the novel is utilized pretty heavy handedly, and I was not surprised by the ending, and did finish the novel feeling like it was wrapped up really abruptly. It does feel like the book could've been another 50 pages longer and would have been perfect.
Overall, this is a very solid debut novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I will definitely recommend this novel to women and mothers who are looking for a little bit of escape, a little bit of a dream realized, and a lot of bit about friendship. I look forward to the next novel by this author.
I went into this book with no expectations, and I was absolute blown away at the vividness of the writing of the author. I really felt like I was transported to an Eden that I think all women dream of. Where you get to live with your best friends, in a beautiful place, while everyone helps raise your child in a loved and supportive environment. It really did feel like quite the dream realized. I felt like I could lose myself in this novel and really enjoyed the time spent with the characters. I felt like I got to know the characters very well and it had a Dawsons Creek like feel to it where I could just enjoy the setting, in the small day to day of what happens.
The foreshadowing throughout the novel is utilized pretty heavy handedly, and I was not surprised by the ending, and did finish the novel feeling like it was wrapped up really abruptly. It does feel like the book could've been another 50 pages longer and would have been perfect.
Overall, this is a very solid debut novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it. I will definitely recommend this novel to women and mothers who are looking for a little bit of escape, a little bit of a dream realized, and a lot of bit about friendship. I look forward to the next novel by this author.
June 10, 2026
Finishing Her Kind got me thinking about that one Roz Chast cartoon, “Manspreading in Art” pls google
I think this book is the exact opposite of that. And somehow it’s anything but condemnatory. This is a book unflinching at femininity and full of small graces. See for example the narrator’s thoughts on a corny-looking man who comes into her shop and strikes up a conversation:
“About halfway in, I realize that this person actually seems quite lonely and that probably, in an earlier age of his life, he would never have talked to a shopgirl or maybe anyone as freely as this.”
Loved, 5 stars
I think this book is the exact opposite of that. And somehow it’s anything but condemnatory. This is a book unflinching at femininity and full of small graces. See for example the narrator’s thoughts on a corny-looking man who comes into her shop and strikes up a conversation:
“About halfway in, I realize that this person actually seems quite lonely and that probably, in an earlier age of his life, he would never have talked to a shopgirl or maybe anyone as freely as this.”
Loved, 5 stars
June 21, 2026
Thank you to NetGalley for an advance preview of this book.
Lefans’ debut novel Her Kind is a lovely meditation on motherhood, friendship and family - both actual and chosen. The main character Ada, is a young (recently single) mother who retreats with her son Lenny to the bucolic, wooden, lakeside home of her aunt Leah, who mothered her on and off throughout her life. Ada, Lenny and Leigh settle into their routine of exploring, creating and otherwise connecting and settling into small town life. However, Ada is plagued by recurrent, intrusive images of being forcefully pulled from the dirt away from her beloved son. In a panic that death may soon be coming for her, she invites her 3 closest friends (young, artistic fellow lost souls) with hopes that one would be willing to raise her child when she inevitably is pulled up from the dirt.
Lefans shines in her beautiful descriptions of the eerie, natural setting leaving the reader to feel the crisp night air, hear the bellowing sounds of watchful deer, and feel immersed in the lake’s depth. I also really appreciated her reflections on the painful knowledge that what and who you most love can be taken from you in a moment. As a mother left alone to raise a child, she is of course frightened of who would raise this child in her absence. As such, inviting her best friends to temporarily live with them (in the context of her awful visions) is an interesting premise for the story.
However, I struggled a bit with the main character, Ada. In a first person narrative we have the privilege of learning the character’s most private thoughts, fears, longings even if those are hidden from other characters. Here we enter into the mind of a young woman with a lot of responsibility and a harrowing vision of being pulled away from this world. Yet she is surprisingly incurious about the nature of this vision, where it comes from or what it says about her mind and body. She simply goes about the pragmatic tasks of seeking her replacement. She does not query about why she is having this fantasy now - is there something brewing in her body or environment that her fantasy is warning her about? Does this represent her own ambivalence about motherhood? Is this a deeply held trauma-based fear that she is actually like her own mother, who disappeared from her life when she was a tender age? Or does she have an unconscious death wish that blocks her from experiencing life’s vitality? To live in her head and barely scratch the meaning of this vision frustrated me as a reader and ultimately left me a little bored with Ada as a character.
The story also wove in numerous biblical elements, which at times felt somewhat heavy handed (the lake’s water being rebirth, the occasional foreboding visits of a snake, sharing an apple off a tree with loved ones, Jonah in the belly of the whale, etc). I think a bit more subtlety there would have helped.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and the interactions between the friends. I just longed for more emotional depth to the characters, and in the absence of that, I felt less connected to them. While I didn’t love the main character, I truly appreciated Lefans’ lyrical descriptions of motherhood and friendship as well as her keen eye to the details of the woods and lake setting.
Lefans’ debut novel Her Kind is a lovely meditation on motherhood, friendship and family - both actual and chosen. The main character Ada, is a young (recently single) mother who retreats with her son Lenny to the bucolic, wooden, lakeside home of her aunt Leah, who mothered her on and off throughout her life. Ada, Lenny and Leigh settle into their routine of exploring, creating and otherwise connecting and settling into small town life. However, Ada is plagued by recurrent, intrusive images of being forcefully pulled from the dirt away from her beloved son. In a panic that death may soon be coming for her, she invites her 3 closest friends (young, artistic fellow lost souls) with hopes that one would be willing to raise her child when she inevitably is pulled up from the dirt.
Lefans shines in her beautiful descriptions of the eerie, natural setting leaving the reader to feel the crisp night air, hear the bellowing sounds of watchful deer, and feel immersed in the lake’s depth. I also really appreciated her reflections on the painful knowledge that what and who you most love can be taken from you in a moment. As a mother left alone to raise a child, she is of course frightened of who would raise this child in her absence. As such, inviting her best friends to temporarily live with them (in the context of her awful visions) is an interesting premise for the story.
However, I struggled a bit with the main character, Ada. In a first person narrative we have the privilege of learning the character’s most private thoughts, fears, longings even if those are hidden from other characters. Here we enter into the mind of a young woman with a lot of responsibility and a harrowing vision of being pulled away from this world. Yet she is surprisingly incurious about the nature of this vision, where it comes from or what it says about her mind and body. She simply goes about the pragmatic tasks of seeking her replacement. She does not query about why she is having this fantasy now - is there something brewing in her body or environment that her fantasy is warning her about? Does this represent her own ambivalence about motherhood? Is this a deeply held trauma-based fear that she is actually like her own mother, who disappeared from her life when she was a tender age? Or does she have an unconscious death wish that blocks her from experiencing life’s vitality? To live in her head and barely scratch the meaning of this vision frustrated me as a reader and ultimately left me a little bored with Ada as a character.
The story also wove in numerous biblical elements, which at times felt somewhat heavy handed (the lake’s water being rebirth, the occasional foreboding visits of a snake, sharing an apple off a tree with loved ones, Jonah in the belly of the whale, etc). I think a bit more subtlety there would have helped.
Overall, I enjoyed this book and the interactions between the friends. I just longed for more emotional depth to the characters, and in the absence of that, I felt less connected to them. While I didn’t love the main character, I truly appreciated Lefans’ lyrical descriptions of motherhood and friendship as well as her keen eye to the details of the woods and lake setting.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I am convinced that women need close female friends to be whole. Both through family and community. We can exist alone, but there are always pieces of our world missing until we find special karmic souls to connect with through our life's journey. If I had to choose mine, I would say mine are Denise, Lisa, Beth, MaryLou and Amber. Perfection would be to have them all together with me in my home, coexisting together.
I am certain I connected so strongly with Sophia Lefens's debut novel, Her KInd, simply because I have been blessed with strong relationships with dear women who make my life more abundant through their presence.
The main character, Ada, has lived a troubled life. Abandoned by her mother throughout her childhood, Ada sees her Aunt Leigh as the one stable adult she can rely on. When her husband also walks away from their marriage and infant son, she turns to the only refuge she has, her aunt Leigh. Ada, and her now three year old son Lenny build a life at her aged aunt's lake home, where time together in nature and the lure of the water become balm to their souls. In such a calm serene setting, Ada is jolted by fear when she begins to have reoccurring premonitions or dreams that she will soon die, leaving her son Lenny alone in the world as she has often been left. Her only balm for her troubled mind is to gather her friends to her there, and decide whom she would leave Lenny with if she dies. Sage, Agnes, and Joanna are each going going through their own life's difficulties, and each also find a home with Leigh at the lake house. Death does indeed come to Ada and her friends, but they learn and grow from their time together.
Lefens 's novel is well written, with strong, real characters. She imparts a soul into each of her characters which makes them relatable. I think anyone who has experienced the gift of true and honest friendship can identify with Lefens's book.
I feel that I connected strongly with Lefens's book for several reasons. I have shared special relationships with friends and family so dear that they are the ones I run to when I am frightened or in grief. I also have lost loved ones that left gaping voids in my life. Finally, the poignant serendipity of her aunt Leigh's memory fading touched my heart. My husband and I are experiencing that now with a shared family member and seeing her decline slowly is a sad but real event.
Her Kind is set to publish on October 13, 2026 and would be a fine read for a book club. It would be interesting to see which character(s) each person relates with most strongly and who each one would choose in their own lives to be with if faced with challenges like Lefens's character Ada is.
Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Reader's Proof in exchange for an honest review.
#HerKind #NetGalley
I am certain I connected so strongly with Sophia Lefens's debut novel, Her KInd, simply because I have been blessed with strong relationships with dear women who make my life more abundant through their presence.
The main character, Ada, has lived a troubled life. Abandoned by her mother throughout her childhood, Ada sees her Aunt Leigh as the one stable adult she can rely on. When her husband also walks away from their marriage and infant son, she turns to the only refuge she has, her aunt Leigh. Ada, and her now three year old son Lenny build a life at her aged aunt's lake home, where time together in nature and the lure of the water become balm to their souls. In such a calm serene setting, Ada is jolted by fear when she begins to have reoccurring premonitions or dreams that she will soon die, leaving her son Lenny alone in the world as she has often been left. Her only balm for her troubled mind is to gather her friends to her there, and decide whom she would leave Lenny with if she dies. Sage, Agnes, and Joanna are each going going through their own life's difficulties, and each also find a home with Leigh at the lake house. Death does indeed come to Ada and her friends, but they learn and grow from their time together.
Lefens 's novel is well written, with strong, real characters. She imparts a soul into each of her characters which makes them relatable. I think anyone who has experienced the gift of true and honest friendship can identify with Lefens's book.
I feel that I connected strongly with Lefens's book for several reasons. I have shared special relationships with friends and family so dear that they are the ones I run to when I am frightened or in grief. I also have lost loved ones that left gaping voids in my life. Finally, the poignant serendipity of her aunt Leigh's memory fading touched my heart. My husband and I are experiencing that now with a shared family member and seeing her decline slowly is a sad but real event.
Her Kind is set to publish on October 13, 2026 and would be a fine read for a book club. It would be interesting to see which character(s) each person relates with most strongly and who each one would choose in their own lives to be with if faced with challenges like Lefens's character Ada is.
Thank you NetGalley for the Advance Reader's Proof in exchange for an honest review.
#HerKind #NetGalley
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I'm trying to compose my thoughts cohesively, so I hope this makes sense:
I found this an incredibly interesting take on life, love, friendship, and I appreciate the little nods to what I would deem to fall under 'supernatural'.
I say that because, for me as I understood the book, heavy 'premonitions' plaguing Ada were the cornerstone for why the book took the turns that it did. Now, call them premonitions or paranoia, that's left up to the reader, I was...surprised by how much Ada let hurt and fear run her life. I was also surprised that her visions were indicative of 'something' (not spoiling it), so..maybe in a way, it's actually intuition.
Ada was so engulfed in her visions that...she just stopped living, when she already lived through incredibly tough events. Her mother leaving, her husband being a downright loser...I think really what she was feeling was just...sadness. But when we're letting our pain consume us, it does have the ability to take hold of us deeply before we realize what's happened.
And it's amazing that through that sadness, she could still at least see who was there for her, would be there for her (and Lenny) when it was needed. Friends like Jo, Sage, and Agnes are the kind of friends I think we all hope to make in our lifetimes, and I'm glad I have one friend I feel that deeply about in which I would trust her with my everything if it ever came to that. The tv show 'Friends' is centered around a premise that there's a period of your life where your friends are your family, and I think that if you give your time and energy into the right people that give it back to you, there is no 'period' where your friends are your family and it disappears - it just stays that way. Ada is lucky to have that in her friends.
So, I think this is a good take on...maybe not so much the story in of itself with preparation of a bad and/or scary thing, but instead, nurturing the relationships we have along the way to said sad and scary things. The one scary thing everyone on this earth faces is death, so if we meet and hold on to a few important and good people along the way...live 'life' until then...well, that is what makes getting up every day worth it, isn't it?
I found this an incredibly interesting take on life, love, friendship, and I appreciate the little nods to what I would deem to fall under 'supernatural'.
I say that because, for me as I understood the book, heavy 'premonitions' plaguing Ada were the cornerstone for why the book took the turns that it did. Now, call them premonitions or paranoia, that's left up to the reader, I was...surprised by how much Ada let hurt and fear run her life. I was also surprised that her visions were indicative of 'something' (not spoiling it), so..maybe in a way, it's actually intuition.
Ada was so engulfed in her visions that...she just stopped living, when she already lived through incredibly tough events. Her mother leaving, her husband being a downright loser...I think really what she was feeling was just...sadness. But when we're letting our pain consume us, it does have the ability to take hold of us deeply before we realize what's happened.
And it's amazing that through that sadness, she could still at least see who was there for her, would be there for her (and Lenny) when it was needed. Friends like Jo, Sage, and Agnes are the kind of friends I think we all hope to make in our lifetimes, and I'm glad I have one friend I feel that deeply about in which I would trust her with my everything if it ever came to that. The tv show 'Friends' is centered around a premise that there's a period of your life where your friends are your family, and I think that if you give your time and energy into the right people that give it back to you, there is no 'period' where your friends are your family and it disappears - it just stays that way. Ada is lucky to have that in her friends.
So, I think this is a good take on...maybe not so much the story in of itself with preparation of a bad and/or scary thing, but instead, nurturing the relationships we have along the way to said sad and scary things. The one scary thing everyone on this earth faces is death, so if we meet and hold on to a few important and good people along the way...live 'life' until then...well, that is what makes getting up every day worth it, isn't it?
Review of advance copy received from Author
This debut novel from Sophie Lefens is a beautiful meditation on friendship, parenthood, and fear. The main character, Ada, and her young son, Lenny, move in with her aunt Leigh after Ada's husband decides we does not have any interest in being a father. Ada invites three dear friends to spend time there in response to a recurring premonition that something terrible is coming. The novel follows their time together and gives space to each character to encounter their own ups and downs: loneliness, rejection, love, community, loss, and much more.
I particularly enjoyed this novel's connection to the physical world. Snow, animals, trees, and especially water, bones, and earth, are essential to the story, and are richly rendered. The living and the dead are both omnipresent in a book that has a few supernatural elements but is firmly planted in the real world. That development of friendships and kinships, the ebbs and flows of life, feel deeply true, in no small part because they are echoed in the world around the characters.
I also found the relationships in the book to ring true. There are moments, for example, when friends are at odds with each other. Sometimes, they resolve those disagreements; other times, they just move on without an explicit forgiveness--things just thaw. That's real life: sometimes we fix things, sometimes they just get better, and sometimes they don't get better.
Finally, I appreciated the novel's sense of time and the acknowledgement that all things, good and bad, start, change, and end. What is now cannot continue forever, which is surely a great blessing and deep curse.
I strongly recommend this novel and look forward to future work from Sophie Lefens.
I particularly enjoyed this novel's connection to the physical world. Snow, animals, trees, and especially water, bones, and earth, are essential to the story, and are richly rendered. The living and the dead are both omnipresent in a book that has a few supernatural elements but is firmly planted in the real world. That development of friendships and kinships, the ebbs and flows of life, feel deeply true, in no small part because they are echoed in the world around the characters.
I also found the relationships in the book to ring true. There are moments, for example, when friends are at odds with each other. Sometimes, they resolve those disagreements; other times, they just move on without an explicit forgiveness--things just thaw. That's real life: sometimes we fix things, sometimes they just get better, and sometimes they don't get better.
Finally, I appreciated the novel's sense of time and the acknowledgement that all things, good and bad, start, change, and end. What is now cannot continue forever, which is surely a great blessing and deep curse.
I strongly recommend this novel and look forward to future work from Sophie Lefens.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
2.5/5
I thought I would be drawn in by this found family story, but the main character holds those around her at such an emotional remove that I feel an emotional distance to the story itself. I felt like I had to pull myself through to the end of the story, and I felt as though none of the characters, including the main character, Ada, felt like real, fully developed, people.
Ada has to raise her young son alone after his father decides he no longer wants to be a father, and she brings her son, Lenny, to her aunt Leigh's lakeside home, where her aunt and uncle raised her. Ada feels her mortality and becomes convinced that she will die soon. With Leigh getting older, Ada decides to invite her three closest friends to the house to decide who would raise Lenny if something happened to her (but of course, she doesn't let them know this). Her friends are all varying stages of unemployed or semi-employed artists who can drop their lives at the drop of a hat and come. (They are described in the blurb as a brash, unemployed seamstress; a gentle, disillusioned violinist; and a serious painter).
The women find a sense of comfort and purpose in each other and their existence in the small nearby town, supplemented by the constant presence of Ada's childhood sweetheart Peter, whom she has never stopped loving. The women extend their stay, but as Leigh's mind deteriorates and the women consider their futures, Ada and all the women must make decisions for their future.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
I thought I would be drawn in by this found family story, but the main character holds those around her at such an emotional remove that I feel an emotional distance to the story itself. I felt like I had to pull myself through to the end of the story, and I felt as though none of the characters, including the main character, Ada, felt like real, fully developed, people.
Ada has to raise her young son alone after his father decides he no longer wants to be a father, and she brings her son, Lenny, to her aunt Leigh's lakeside home, where her aunt and uncle raised her. Ada feels her mortality and becomes convinced that she will die soon. With Leigh getting older, Ada decides to invite her three closest friends to the house to decide who would raise Lenny if something happened to her (but of course, she doesn't let them know this). Her friends are all varying stages of unemployed or semi-employed artists who can drop their lives at the drop of a hat and come. (They are described in the blurb as a brash, unemployed seamstress; a gentle, disillusioned violinist; and a serious painter).
The women find a sense of comfort and purpose in each other and their existence in the small nearby town, supplemented by the constant presence of Ada's childhood sweetheart Peter, whom she has never stopped loving. The women extend their stay, but as Leigh's mind deteriorates and the women consider their futures, Ada and all the women must make decisions for their future.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
July 23, 2026
Ada’s mom left her several times when she was a kid, eventually for good. She’d drop her off with her Aunt Leigh and Uncle Cal, who gave her the loving and stable family she needed. So when her partner leaves her and her young son, she returns to the only home she’s ever known. It’s just Leigh now, but she welcomes Ada and Lenny no questions asked.
Ada starts having nightmares and is convinced something bad is going to happen to her. She invites her college friends to come stay under the guise of getting back together, but her true motive is to choose one of them to take care of Lenny if she dies. Everyone ends up staying longer than planned and growing closer.
I enjoyed this! I love a story about found family. These characters are easy to fall in love with. The bits about the deer were (I think intentionally) creepy and a little confusing. But it was a fun read and I’m glad I got the opportunity to read it early. It doesn’t come out until October, but you should check it out when it does.
**ARC review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read it early.
Ada starts having nightmares and is convinced something bad is going to happen to her. She invites her college friends to come stay under the guise of getting back together, but her true motive is to choose one of them to take care of Lenny if she dies. Everyone ends up staying longer than planned and growing closer.
I enjoyed this! I love a story about found family. These characters are easy to fall in love with. The bits about the deer were (I think intentionally) creepy and a little confusing. But it was a fun read and I’m glad I got the opportunity to read it early. It doesn’t come out until October, but you should check it out when it does.
**ARC review. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read it early.
Review of advance copy
Finished this book on America's 250th birthday weekend, which feels fitting. Sophie Lefen's debut novel carries an old Americana, pastoral Midwestern streak, like a James Wright poem about lying in a hammock and wasting your life in rural Minnesota. Or William Carlos Williams's red wheelbarrow and his white chickens.
I read much of this book this summer suspended between asphalt and a tree, laying on a public bench outside my workplace in a sun-drenched plaza. I'd get sleepy reading it, but in a good way. It was the perfect lunch nap novel. This is because Lefens is a sensory sort of writer. Textures of light and color of seasons feel just as essential to the story as the events and dialogue themselves. As it lulled me, I'd set the book in my lap and drift off for twenty or thirty minutes, then wake to the sight of hundreds of green leaves overhead, only to pick it up again and continue my journey through some nameless lake town in the middle of America with Ada and her friends.
As earthy and textural as the book is, it’s equally concerned with the movement of muscles and minds. Within its small pantheon of friendships, romances, and relationships (both onstage and off) it asks what people want to do, what they allow themselves to do, what they fear doing, and what they long to do but cannot quite bring themselves to do even though they really wish they could.
The fact that this novel takes place in the fall matters—Not just because of its rich, moody atmosphere, but because this is ultimately a book about time, love, and sublimation. At the center of “Her Kind”it seems this question exists that Ada can’t entirely reckon with as a young, single mother:
Are we allowed fullness in a world where things most certainly end?
"Her Kind" begins in the heat of summer, with all its vibration, chitter chatter, and frivolity, and gradually cools toward a final event, kind of framed around this central question. In her debut, Lefens demonstrates a remarkable ability to pair depth with lightness of touch, complexity of thought with casualness of phrase. Her sentences are simple but rich. The book reads like water.
I read much of this book this summer suspended between asphalt and a tree, laying on a public bench outside my workplace in a sun-drenched plaza. I'd get sleepy reading it, but in a good way. It was the perfect lunch nap novel. This is because Lefens is a sensory sort of writer. Textures of light and color of seasons feel just as essential to the story as the events and dialogue themselves. As it lulled me, I'd set the book in my lap and drift off for twenty or thirty minutes, then wake to the sight of hundreds of green leaves overhead, only to pick it up again and continue my journey through some nameless lake town in the middle of America with Ada and her friends.
As earthy and textural as the book is, it’s equally concerned with the movement of muscles and minds. Within its small pantheon of friendships, romances, and relationships (both onstage and off) it asks what people want to do, what they allow themselves to do, what they fear doing, and what they long to do but cannot quite bring themselves to do even though they really wish they could.
The fact that this novel takes place in the fall matters—Not just because of its rich, moody atmosphere, but because this is ultimately a book about time, love, and sublimation. At the center of “Her Kind”it seems this question exists that Ada can’t entirely reckon with as a young, single mother:
Are we allowed fullness in a world where things most certainly end?
"Her Kind" begins in the heat of summer, with all its vibration, chitter chatter, and frivolity, and gradually cools toward a final event, kind of framed around this central question. In her debut, Lefens demonstrates a remarkable ability to pair depth with lightness of touch, complexity of thought with casualness of phrase. Her sentences are simple but rich. The book reads like water.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Beautiful story in a place so fully realized I spent days imagining scenes in my head of this small Michigan town. The characters were, as other readers have said, people I wished to have as friends of my own - not just their singular qualities but their closeness and ardent presence to each other's lives. I'm a sleep-deprived mom of a baby who stayed up late to finish this book...not something I've done since my baby was born! I'll read whatever Lefens writes. She's preternaturally talented on the page and every sentence is as dense with possibility as a poem. Clear-eyed, moving, and written with a tenderness for the humanity of each character. Rare to find a book so tightly crafted but also immersive and engrossing. I'm excited to talk about this book with everyone I know!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
This book made me want a simpler life at a lovely lake house surrounded by best friends and nature. Her Kind is a beautifully written story of a woman raising a young child with her eccentric aunt and her 3 best friends. Fear and anxiety over her abandonment by her own mother causes her to believe she will die soon. She feels she must choose amongst her friends the best one to raise her child.
I loved the mystical and dreamy feeling of this book. Ada’s community of friends felt like a modern coven of witches all trying to figure out the next step to take in life. I recommend and enjoyed this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I loved the mystical and dreamy feeling of this book. Ada’s community of friends felt like a modern coven of witches all trying to figure out the next step to take in life. I recommend and enjoyed this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy
As someone who rarely reads modern literary fiction and had zero expectations coming into this, I can say that this was an extremely pleasant surprise! I find it hard to put it into words, but reading this elicited similar feelings for me when I read “little women” by Alcott back in either the 5th or 6th grade. It was a very vivid and comforting read for me; so much so that I felt a little empty when I finished it. I found it a little difficult to be engaged with the sections regarding motherhood, but that’s probably because I’m a guy who is currently unmarried so I’m probably not the target demographic for that. Strong recommendation regardless!
July 3, 2026
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley.
This book was surprisingly warm and tender, like a hug after a long day spent out in the cold. It’s quiet and reflective, but emotionally impactful in a way that sneaks up on you.
The story follows Ada, who moves into her aunt Leigh’s lakeside home after the father of her young son leaves. Although she’s built a peaceful life there, Ada is haunted by visions of her own death and becomes convinced she doesn’t have much time left. Wanting to ensure her son will be cared for, she invites her three closest friends for a weekend gathering to determine which of them might raise him if the worst happens.
At its heart, Her Kind is a story about female friendship, motherhood, and the families we create for ourselves. I loved the way these women showed up for one another, carrying their own wounds while still offering love, support, and companionship. The relationships felt genuine and real.
What stayed with me most was the tenderness of this book. Even when dealing with grief, anxiety about the future, and uncertainty, this is ultimately a hopeful novel about love and connection. It’s the kind of book that invites you to slow down and settle in.
A thoughtful and moving debut that will especially appeal to readers who enjoy stories about friendship, motherhood, and found family.
This book was surprisingly warm and tender, like a hug after a long day spent out in the cold. It’s quiet and reflective, but emotionally impactful in a way that sneaks up on you.
The story follows Ada, who moves into her aunt Leigh’s lakeside home after the father of her young son leaves. Although she’s built a peaceful life there, Ada is haunted by visions of her own death and becomes convinced she doesn’t have much time left. Wanting to ensure her son will be cared for, she invites her three closest friends for a weekend gathering to determine which of them might raise him if the worst happens.
At its heart, Her Kind is a story about female friendship, motherhood, and the families we create for ourselves. I loved the way these women showed up for one another, carrying their own wounds while still offering love, support, and companionship. The relationships felt genuine and real.
What stayed with me most was the tenderness of this book. Even when dealing with grief, anxiety about the future, and uncertainty, this is ultimately a hopeful novel about love and connection. It’s the kind of book that invites you to slow down and settle in.
A thoughtful and moving debut that will especially appeal to readers who enjoy stories about friendship, motherhood, and found family.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to NetGalley, Mariner Books and the Author for this incredible ARC!!!
This novel is so beautiful. I loved reading about Ada's "village", her experience with grief, loss, and forgiveness. I found myself pausing and rereading many lines throughout the story just because they made my heart beat in a new way.
As a nearly 22 year old woman without kids (and who often feels like a child herself), I did not expect to resonate with so many of Ada's feelings and experiences. This novel truly has something for everyone.
This novel is so beautiful. I loved reading about Ada's "village", her experience with grief, loss, and forgiveness. I found myself pausing and rereading many lines throughout the story just because they made my heart beat in a new way.
As a nearly 22 year old woman without kids (and who often feels like a child herself), I did not expect to resonate with so many of Ada's feelings and experiences. This novel truly has something for everyone.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is the book of my dreams. Lefens writes about motherhood and enduring female relationships with total presence and zero artifice. It’s the kind of book you take direction from, that you know you’ll revisit when you’re shattered and trembling in your own life. It is sincere, but not in a cheap or cloying way. It is an antidote to the pervasiveness of detached irony and self-loathing found in so much media today: treating loneliness and terror with warranted gravity, and appropriately agonizing over what it means to love and commit to life and other people. I didn’t want it to end.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
A perfect book, and I mean that! Loved it from the very first pages and found myself pulling it out at every chance I could, even staying up late for hours finishing it cause I just couldn’t get enough. I have not stopped talking about it since!
Stunning prose, so poetic but with a soft and steady plot. Beautiful, interesting characters and a curious wisdom throughout.
If you like Mary Oliver, Cmon Cmon, Heart the Lover, Ann Patchett, Gilmore Girls, or The Summer Book you will love this book.
Stunning prose, so poetic but with a soft and steady plot. Beautiful, interesting characters and a curious wisdom throughout.
If you like Mary Oliver, Cmon Cmon, Heart the Lover, Ann Patchett, Gilmore Girls, or The Summer Book you will love this book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Her Kind captures something I didn’t fully understand until becoming a mom—the sudden, gripping awareness of mortality and how deeply love and fear intertwine. Sophie’s gift for finding and creating beauty shines through in her writing, reminding me of how full and meaningful life is—in friendship, in small moments, in nature, and in our shared humanity. I loved every second of reading this book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
When I got to the last page I just sat there quietly, marveling at this book. Sophie Lefens has a voice that is entirely new and unique, yet Her Kind feels like a classic. It’s a story about longing for the things that matter - friendship, love that keeps faith, home. If you are hungry for something beautiful, this book will be your banquet.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I read this book at my table splattered with washable paint, my kids running around me while I flipped its pages, and felt a deep connectiveness to its words, to its ode to motherhood. To friendship and love and loss. To fear and bravery. In all aspects this novel is rich. Rich in character, concept and prose. A truly breathtaking debut.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
A quiet, observant novel about the feeling of terror you get once your life starts going the way you’ve always hoped it would. How spooky it can feel when things are going well and you’re living in the forest with your best friends, everyone is happy, and you’re baking a pie with kittens at your feet. About how everything can just be ripped away, at any moment and how to live in that fear.
Review of advance copy received from Author
This is honestly one of the best recently-published novels I’ve read in a couple years. Lefens has created a world that I have never been to before but somehow feels like home. In fact, she has rearranged and reimagined the idea of home for me in so potent a way, it will be a long time before I hear that word and don’t think of this novel.
August 4, 2026
A beautiful debut novel. It was so well-written and the characters so well-developed that I was sad when it ended. I wanted to stay in Ada’s world a little longer. It was such a real representation of motherhood and the fear of death that comes on suddenly, as soon as you have your first child. It was relatable and the imagery felt familiar while also thought-provoking.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Beautiful prose and interesting premise come together to create a compelling novel exploring grief and motherhood. Lyrical and with a setting that enriched the story. I really enjoyed reading this.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner for the ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Goodreads Giveaways
Really a 4.5! won in a giveaway and really enjoyed it! not a genre I'd typically go for but it was an easy and captivating read. would recommend.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Read the ARC and found it to be an enjoyable read. Interesting characters and an involving story line.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Absolutely gorgeous writing. Makes me want to read everything Sophie Lefens has ever written.
Review of advance copy received from Author
The best book of 2026. I laughed, I cried, and I loved.
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