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Sublimation
Not yet published
Expected 16 Jun 26What would you sacrifice for a different life?
When you emigrate, you leave a version of yourself behind. Literally. One instance crosses the border; the other instance stays trapped behind it.
Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, synchronize their lives and minds in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Other instances, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at age ten and never speak to their other selves again.
With a life of her own in New York, Rose never imagined she’d return to Korea. Then her grandfather dies and Soyoung, her Korean instance, summons her home for the funeral. But Soyoung’s motives aren’t as innocent as Rose imagined, and the consequences of Rose’s return to Seoul will change her forever.
Sublimation is a story of doppelgängers and corporate intrigue, heartbreak and betrayal. Nebula Award-winning author Isabel J. Kim has written an immigrant tale like no other, capturing the longing for another life and twisting it into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
‘One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment in ways we could not have expected’ – John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain
‘A dazzling parable of connection and isolation’ – Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies
When you emigrate, you leave a version of yourself behind. Literally. One instance crosses the border; the other instance stays trapped behind it.
Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, synchronize their lives and minds in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Other instances, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at age ten and never speak to their other selves again.
With a life of her own in New York, Rose never imagined she’d return to Korea. Then her grandfather dies and Soyoung, her Korean instance, summons her home for the funeral. But Soyoung’s motives aren’t as innocent as Rose imagined, and the consequences of Rose’s return to Seoul will change her forever.
Sublimation is a story of doppelgängers and corporate intrigue, heartbreak and betrayal. Nebula Award-winning author Isabel J. Kim has written an immigrant tale like no other, capturing the longing for another life and twisting it into a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse.
‘One of the best debuts of the year. Sublimation speaks to our moment in ways we could not have expected’ – John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain
‘A dazzling parable of connection and isolation’ – Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies
460 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 2, 2026
About the author
Isabel J. Kim
33 books142 followersIsabel J. Kim lives near New York City in an apartment filled with books and swords. She is the author of numerous short stories and has won the Nebula, Locus, BSFA and the Shirley Jackson Awards. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and reprinted in multiple best of the year anthologies. When she’s not writing, she’s practicing law or podcasting. Find her at isabel.kim, @isabel.kim on Bluesky, or @isabeljkim on instagram.
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Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
⭐️ 4.5 ⭐️ What would you sacrifice for a different life?
The border cuts you in two.
In this world, you leave a copy of your self behind when you enter a new country. Some, choose to stay in contact with their copies, aka doppelgängers, while others never speak to their other selves again. Soyoung 'Rose' Kang chose to stay in America after leaving Korea at a young age but a tragic event calls her back home. What she doesn't know yet is that her other copy will try to steal her life and body back.
This book falls in the speculative fiction/sci-fi genre and this is Isabel J. Kims debut. It's making a lot of buzz amongst the sci-fi readers and possibly will turn into the next new sensation. I'm new to this genre, can't say I've read many books in this category. I can't believe this is a debut because the writing here was phenomenal. Kim is not new to writing, she has won a few awards for her short stories and I read somewhere that she is practicing law. She took the common core of biology, the process of mitosis (think splitting of a cell that produces genetically identical cells) and wrote an imaginative tale full of futuristic ideas and weaved complex themes of identity, immigration and impermanence of life into them. She's given so much thought to this idea of 'splitting' and how it would impact society, future generations, wars and our borders. Sublimation asks readers thought provoking questions that we probably asked ourselves a few times in our lifetime--what would you sacrifice for a different life? Can you lead two separate lives? Can we be someone else? Sublimation leaves no crumbs behind when it explores more intimate parts of ourselves--our hope, our desires, regrets.
This gem was packed with hard hitting themes of immigration, borders, homeland. Soyoung 'Rose' Kang split twenty years ago when her mother took a new job in the US, leaving Korea for good. Her 'instance' aka carbon copy, Soyoung remained with her biological mother at home in Korea. When their grandfather passes, 'Rose' returns to Korea and finds out that he left her the family home and that he wished for the two instances to re-integrate with each other. This becomes a challenging concern for both instances and serves as a catalyst that ignites the flame that moves the narrative forward. At the same time, we follow another linear story of the girls' childhood friends, YJ and his instance Yujin. They too, like Rose and Soyoung, split nearly 10 years ago with Yujin working for a STEM program while YJ becomes involved in the merge-break company responsible for the new mitosis fields that deal with re-integration processes. The two linear stories eventually converge in a climatic way and head into uncharted territories of emotional confrontation between the alternate selves. The central premise remains deeply rooted in process of emigration across a national border and it was quite a page turner.
This is a type of literary/speculative fiction that will make you think about choices, consequences and the 'what ifs'. What if another version of you/yourself lived a better life than you? What happens then and what would you do? How do you handle that knowledge or how do you move forward with your own life? What sacrifices would you make for a better life, a better self?
Narrators: Major Curda, Michelle H. Lee
Duration: 12 hours 47 minutes
Speed: 1.25x
Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and the author, Isabel J. Kim for an early ALC!
Publication date: June 2, 2026
The border cuts you in two.
In this world, you leave a copy of your self behind when you enter a new country. Some, choose to stay in contact with their copies, aka doppelgängers, while others never speak to their other selves again. Soyoung 'Rose' Kang chose to stay in America after leaving Korea at a young age but a tragic event calls her back home. What she doesn't know yet is that her other copy will try to steal her life and body back.
This book falls in the speculative fiction/sci-fi genre and this is Isabel J. Kims debut. It's making a lot of buzz amongst the sci-fi readers and possibly will turn into the next new sensation. I'm new to this genre, can't say I've read many books in this category. I can't believe this is a debut because the writing here was phenomenal. Kim is not new to writing, she has won a few awards for her short stories and I read somewhere that she is practicing law. She took the common core of biology, the process of mitosis (think splitting of a cell that produces genetically identical cells) and wrote an imaginative tale full of futuristic ideas and weaved complex themes of identity, immigration and impermanence of life into them. She's given so much thought to this idea of 'splitting' and how it would impact society, future generations, wars and our borders. Sublimation asks readers thought provoking questions that we probably asked ourselves a few times in our lifetime--what would you sacrifice for a different life? Can you lead two separate lives? Can we be someone else? Sublimation leaves no crumbs behind when it explores more intimate parts of ourselves--our hope, our desires, regrets.
This gem was packed with hard hitting themes of immigration, borders, homeland. Soyoung 'Rose' Kang split twenty years ago when her mother took a new job in the US, leaving Korea for good. Her 'instance' aka carbon copy, Soyoung remained with her biological mother at home in Korea. When their grandfather passes, 'Rose' returns to Korea and finds out that he left her the family home and that he wished for the two instances to re-integrate with each other. This becomes a challenging concern for both instances and serves as a catalyst that ignites the flame that moves the narrative forward. At the same time, we follow another linear story of the girls' childhood friends, YJ and his instance Yujin. They too, like Rose and Soyoung, split nearly 10 years ago with Yujin working for a STEM program while YJ becomes involved in the merge-break company responsible for the new mitosis fields that deal with re-integration processes. The two linear stories eventually converge in a climatic way and head into uncharted territories of emotional confrontation between the alternate selves. The central premise remains deeply rooted in process of emigration across a national border and it was quite a page turner.
This is a type of literary/speculative fiction that will make you think about choices, consequences and the 'what ifs'. What if another version of you/yourself lived a better life than you? What happens then and what would you do? How do you handle that knowledge or how do you move forward with your own life? What sacrifices would you make for a better life, a better self?
Narrators: Major Curda, Michelle H. Lee
Duration: 12 hours 47 minutes
Speed: 1.25x
Many thanks to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and the author, Isabel J. Kim for an early ALC!
Publication date: June 2, 2026
Read
May 6, 2026I received this audiobook through NetGalley.
Sublimation is a reflective, identity-driven speculative sci-fi story with strong writing and a medium pace. I enjoyed the Seoul, Korea setting and the cultural differences woven into the story, which made it feel distinct from what I usually read.
The mystery around the doppelgängers kept me engaged, though the mechanics sometimes felt a little abstract and left me slightly ungrounded. Still, that fit the overall themes of identity, memory, and what it means to become different versions of yourself.
The dual narration was strong and flowed naturally. Both narrators did a great job, though there were a few later moments where the narration overlapped. I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or a production issue, but it did pull me out.
Overall, this was a thoughtful, layered listen. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy reflective speculative fiction, identity themes, and stories that leave room for interpretation.
Sublimation is a reflective, identity-driven speculative sci-fi story with strong writing and a medium pace. I enjoyed the Seoul, Korea setting and the cultural differences woven into the story, which made it feel distinct from what I usually read.
The mystery around the doppelgängers kept me engaged, though the mechanics sometimes felt a little abstract and left me slightly ungrounded. Still, that fit the overall themes of identity, memory, and what it means to become different versions of yourself.
The dual narration was strong and flowed naturally. Both narrators did a great job, though there were a few later moments where the narration overlapped. I wasn’t sure if that was intentional or a production issue, but it did pull me out.
Overall, this was a thoughtful, layered listen. I’d recommend it to readers who enjoy reflective speculative fiction, identity themes, and stories that leave room for interpretation.
June 2, 2026
Happy release day to this excellent book!
//
6/1/26: I'll be back to revise this review a million times, but the book comes out tomorrow! I didn't read it right when I got the ARC, in large part because I was concussed and wanted to give it my full mental focus, and later because I was almost afraid that I wouldn't love it as much as I expected.
Now, however, I've read the book and want to come back on release week and celebrate how incredibly good and weird it is. I was worried that moving to novel length would mean that the story lost some of the essential Isabel J. Kim weirdness that I love so much in her short fiction, but no! The book is mostly in second person, with gorgeous fluidity about who's "you" at a given moment and shifts to third or first person that start to feel different and alien. There are interstitial folklore segments about everything from a Korean folk song to the Odyssey. People reflect about how they're made of meat (such a signature move that said "meat I mentioned" out loud to myself. This was a strange move, but so is the book (complimentary)).
Thematically, the narrative does magnificent work with a simple premise: in this world that's almost Earth, people sometimes split into two selves when they cross borders: one who goes to a new place, and one who stays behind. If they ever touch skin to skin later, they reintegrate back into one self, but until then, they have two separate lives. It's a fascinating window into personal desire and might-have-beens-- an instance is only created when a person thinks of their journey as finding a new home and future, not a temporary home, so sometimes the creation of another self reveals thoughts of leave-taking that a person hasn't known until that moment. I loved everything from the gnawing thoughts of whether a character's instance wants to reunite to the mundane details of two selves using each other as a sounding board for arguments.
If I have one tiny complaint, it's that the more "people should know this big secret" thriller elements are less weird, in that they could belong to another story. To me, lower and more specific stakes on that point would have played better with the personal character stakes-- but that's a preference point based in my general lukewarm response to thriller plots.
If I have compliments, I have a million, but I have to give particular congratulations to my favorite interstitial paragraph in the book, which has been haunting my thoughts constantly:
The re-imagining of folklore and religion in a world with instances is beautifully done, layering multiple versions of songs and stories together with the multiple selves who inhabit them. That story element could have been crafted for me in a lab, and I'm so glad it made the jump from the initial short story to the novel treatment.
Overall: this is my favorite debut novel I've seen in years, and I'm so excited to see what Isabel J. Kim writes next.
--
11/18/25: I just read the first POV segment last night, and waiting for the paper ARC in January/February so I can more fully engage with The Text (TM) is going to test my patience like nothing else. I (don't) apologize in advance for what a complete freak I'm going to be about this whole book. Second person writing? One great worldbuilding device with deep thematic implications? Emotions simmering just under the surface? She can't keep getting away with this.
--
The author's debut short story that this is based on absolutely slaps and you should read it immediately to acquaint yourself with this universe: "Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self"
I made a bunch of unhinged screaming noises when I saw the news that Isabel J. Kim had a book and media deal (Sci-Fi Novel ‘Sublimation’ Lands At Universal International Studios For TV Adaptation), but look, it's only because she's a genius and I have great taste.
Do we have a release date orany character names character details yet? Irrelevant. I can't wait to dive in.
//
6/1/26: I'll be back to revise this review a million times, but the book comes out tomorrow! I didn't read it right when I got the ARC, in large part because I was concussed and wanted to give it my full mental focus, and later because I was almost afraid that I wouldn't love it as much as I expected.
Now, however, I've read the book and want to come back on release week and celebrate how incredibly good and weird it is. I was worried that moving to novel length would mean that the story lost some of the essential Isabel J. Kim weirdness that I love so much in her short fiction, but no! The book is mostly in second person, with gorgeous fluidity about who's "you" at a given moment and shifts to third or first person that start to feel different and alien. There are interstitial folklore segments about everything from a Korean folk song to the Odyssey. People reflect about how they're made of meat (such a signature move that said "meat I mentioned" out loud to myself. This was a strange move, but so is the book (complimentary)).
Thematically, the narrative does magnificent work with a simple premise: in this world that's almost Earth, people sometimes split into two selves when they cross borders: one who goes to a new place, and one who stays behind. If they ever touch skin to skin later, they reintegrate back into one self, but until then, they have two separate lives. It's a fascinating window into personal desire and might-have-beens-- an instance is only created when a person thinks of their journey as finding a new home and future, not a temporary home, so sometimes the creation of another self reveals thoughts of leave-taking that a person hasn't known until that moment. I loved everything from the gnawing thoughts of whether a character's instance wants to reunite to the mundane details of two selves using each other as a sounding board for arguments.
If I have one tiny complaint, it's that the more "people should know this big secret" thriller elements are less weird, in that they could belong to another story. To me, lower and more specific stakes on that point would have played better with the personal character stakes-- but that's a preference point based in my general lukewarm response to thriller plots.
If I have compliments, I have a million, but I have to give particular congratulations to my favorite interstitial paragraph in the book, which has been haunting my thoughts constantly:
Odysseus, staring down the barrel of his past life, across the wine-dark sea. Nothing stops him, no gods, no monsters, no lovers, no ghosts of dead heroes or relatives, no enchanted feasts, no sirens, no sorceresses, no wayward crew. He going to get his life back. He is going to go back home.
The re-imagining of folklore and religion in a world with instances is beautifully done, layering multiple versions of songs and stories together with the multiple selves who inhabit them. That story element could have been crafted for me in a lab, and I'm so glad it made the jump from the initial short story to the novel treatment.
Overall: this is my favorite debut novel I've seen in years, and I'm so excited to see what Isabel J. Kim writes next.
--
11/18/25: I just read the first POV segment last night, and waiting for the paper ARC in January/February so I can more fully engage with The Text (TM) is going to test my patience like nothing else. I (don't) apologize in advance for what a complete freak I'm going to be about this whole book. Second person writing? One great worldbuilding device with deep thematic implications? Emotions simmering just under the surface? She can't keep getting away with this.
--
The author's debut short story that this is based on absolutely slaps and you should read it immediately to acquaint yourself with this universe: "Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self"
I made a bunch of unhinged screaming noises when I saw the news that Isabel J. Kim had a book and media deal (Sci-Fi Novel ‘Sublimation’ Lands At Universal International Studios For TV Adaptation), but look, it's only because she's a genius and I have great taste.
The book is set in a world where a process called “instancing” splits a person into two distinct copies: one who migrates and one who remains. The story unfolds when a woman who migrated returns to Seoul and must face her other self, while her childhood friend’s New York self draws her into a conspiracy to control the future of instancing, bringing both versions of him back into her life with global repercussions.
Do we have a release date or
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Womp dnf-ed at 76%. Short rtc
✶⋆.˚
pre-read : another approved anticipated release!! ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
✶⋆.˚
pre-read : another approved anticipated release!! ✧｡٩(ˊᗜˋ )و✧*｡
Read
April 24, 2025A big thank you to the author and publisher for an eARC of the book for a blurb!!
SUBLIMATION is an odyssey of choices and regrets, of people who would be and never were but also are, all at once, exploring immigration and separation, diaspora and the resulting split identities of cultural interweaving—both willing and unwilling. Kim masterfully blends the experimental and straight forward, jarring yet familiar, philosophical and theoretical, while exanimating placelessness and fractured identity through multilayered narratives. I have never felt more seen by a book in my life.
SUBLIMATION is an odyssey of choices and regrets, of people who would be and never were but also are, all at once, exploring immigration and separation, diaspora and the resulting split identities of cultural interweaving—both willing and unwilling. Kim masterfully blends the experimental and straight forward, jarring yet familiar, philosophical and theoretical, while exanimating placelessness and fractured identity through multilayered narratives. I have never felt more seen by a book in my life.
December 12, 2025
This was an absolute joy to read.
If you haven’t read the short story it’s based on, I highly recommend checking it out. If you like it, it’ll get you excited for the novel. If not…well, it’s a good representation of the style https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_...
This book does a wonderful job digging into the personal character moments. The second-person keeps the reader close while also providing something of a dislocation effect, as it stars characters who are constantly wondering whether their lives would’ve been better if they’d taken the other branch of big life decisions. It’s that internal turmoil that provides the biggest interpersonal conflicts and the true emotional heart of the story.
There’s also a thriller plot that builds over the course of the story and takes center stage in the fourth act. I’m personally biased against thriller plots, so your mileage may vary, but I don’t think it’s exceptional here—it struggles to motivate the kind of world-shaking stakes that the characters feel it has.
That said…the quality of the writing and the interpersonal conflict is good enough to make this a five-star read even if the thriller element isn’t top-tier. The climax hits the character notes hard enough that it never feels like they drop into the background, even as the story gets plottier.
It’s a very good book, and an even better debut. I wish I had done a better job of reviewing it. Perhaps I’ll clean this up and try again later. But right now, I’m adding my recommendation to the stack.
17/20
If you haven’t read the short story it’s based on, I highly recommend checking it out. If you like it, it’ll get you excited for the novel. If not…well, it’s a good representation of the style https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/kim_...
This book does a wonderful job digging into the personal character moments. The second-person keeps the reader close while also providing something of a dislocation effect, as it stars characters who are constantly wondering whether their lives would’ve been better if they’d taken the other branch of big life decisions. It’s that internal turmoil that provides the biggest interpersonal conflicts and the true emotional heart of the story.
There’s also a thriller plot that builds over the course of the story and takes center stage in the fourth act. I’m personally biased against thriller plots, so your mileage may vary, but I don’t think it’s exceptional here—it struggles to motivate the kind of world-shaking stakes that the characters feel it has.
That said…the quality of the writing and the interpersonal conflict is good enough to make this a five-star read even if the thriller element isn’t top-tier. The climax hits the character notes hard enough that it never feels like they drop into the background, even as the story gets plottier.
It’s a very good book, and an even better debut. I wish I had done a better job of reviewing it. Perhaps I’ll clean this up and try again later. But right now, I’m adding my recommendation to the stack.
17/20
2026
November 14, 2025ANHPI TBR
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Tor Books
Read
May 16, 202605/2026 — I HAVE FINISHED THIS!!! When I first heard about this book at the New York Comic Con Tor event, I thought this would be an instant 5 stars. Severance x the immigration crisis?? In which your person severs (or "instances") whenever you cross borders if two parts of you are warring over whether to stay or leave? So ther one version of you goes and the other stays - but you both have the same memories and foundation until the point you instance.
Brilliant. Such a unique concept!
Now, I enjoyed the overall story but I LOVED the reflective tidbits woven between the storytelling. The reflections on how in an instancing world, our mythical stories would be drastically different (think: Odysseus), politics and shared borders would become much more complex (think: DMZ), and even our religious beliefs would be transformed (think: biblical stories).
Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Tor for the e-ARC!
Having both was extremely useful for this whirlwind of a book!
——
10/2025 I’m at NY ComicCon and they brought this book up at a TOR panel and holy hell I AM SO SAT. They pitched it as severance x immigration, so when you emigrate, you essentially sever yourself into two: the person you are in your birth country and person you become in your country of destination. !!! INCREDIBLE !!!
Brilliant. Such a unique concept!
Now, I enjoyed the overall story but I LOVED the reflective tidbits woven between the storytelling. The reflections on how in an instancing world, our mythical stories would be drastically different (think: Odysseus), politics and shared borders would become much more complex (think: DMZ), and even our religious beliefs would be transformed (think: biblical stories).
Thank you Macmillan Audio for the ALC and Tor for the e-ARC!
Having both was extremely useful for this whirlwind of a book!
——
10/2025 I’m at NY ComicCon and they brought this book up at a TOR panel and holy hell I AM SO SAT. They pitched it as severance x immigration, so when you emigrate, you essentially sever yourself into two: the person you are in your birth country and person you become in your country of destination. !!! INCREDIBLE !!!
Did Not Finish
May 11, 2026It's just not for me.
May 29, 2026
RTC
This will 100% not be a book for everyone, even if the premise sounds interesting, but it was 10000000% for me, both of them.
This will 100% not be a book for everyone, even if the premise sounds interesting, but it was 10000000% for me, both of them.
Review of advance copy received from Edelweiss+
holy sh*t this book is good
May 29, 2026
4.5/5⭐️ "When your country is cracked in half and controlled by foreign powers, when your country is being mismanaged by a corrupt government, when you are escaping gang violence, when your minority group is part of a targeted genocide, then you worry about other things. You worry about any version of yourself getting out. You hope any versions of your children survive."
Sublimation is a powerful speculative fiction/scifi techno thriller where when people immigrate to another country they create an "instance" which is a duplicate self. This duplicate self is you, your heritage, your looks, and your memories until the paths of your lives and your choices change the two of you. It is explained differently in each culture. "The sibling-self, the changeling, and the one-who-does-not-return".
This story is broken up into five parts. The first part is admittedly slow but this is where the stage is set for the rest of the book. Once I got about 20-25% into this story, I couldn't put it down. The author does a fantastic job of capturing the immigrant experience, corporate culture, and longing for homeland. I loved the added snippets about Korean folklore, The Odyssey, and The Bible that are shaped to fit the narrative of a world with instances and foreshadow upcoming parts of the book and add tension to certain scenes.
I read 65% of the book with my physical ARC and read most of the rest with the audiobook (because I was busy but did not want to stop reading). The narrators are used in SUCH a cool way towards the end of the book (I can't explain more without spoilers) but I definitely think it added another level of experience for the reader.
While this book was certainly my cup of tea, it is not going to be for everyone. The writing style is unique and at times choppy but purposefully so. It is written in second person POV which is also going to be jarring for some readers. It also leans more speculative/scifi with lots of political and immigration commentary with the "thriller vibes" not really picking up towards the end.
I believe if you enjoyed Blake Crouch's or Thomas R. Weaver's work and can take the time to appreciate a slower unraveling in a story then you will love this too!
Thank you Tor and Macmillan Audio for the eARC, physical ARC, and ALC!
Sublimation is a powerful speculative fiction/scifi techno thriller where when people immigrate to another country they create an "instance" which is a duplicate self. This duplicate self is you, your heritage, your looks, and your memories until the paths of your lives and your choices change the two of you. It is explained differently in each culture. "The sibling-self, the changeling, and the one-who-does-not-return".
This story is broken up into five parts. The first part is admittedly slow but this is where the stage is set for the rest of the book. Once I got about 20-25% into this story, I couldn't put it down. The author does a fantastic job of capturing the immigrant experience, corporate culture, and longing for homeland. I loved the added snippets about Korean folklore, The Odyssey, and The Bible that are shaped to fit the narrative of a world with instances and foreshadow upcoming parts of the book and add tension to certain scenes.
I read 65% of the book with my physical ARC and read most of the rest with the audiobook (because I was busy but did not want to stop reading). The narrators are used in SUCH a cool way towards the end of the book (I can't explain more without spoilers) but I definitely think it added another level of experience for the reader.
While this book was certainly my cup of tea, it is not going to be for everyone. The writing style is unique and at times choppy but purposefully so. It is written in second person POV which is also going to be jarring for some readers. It also leans more speculative/scifi with lots of political and immigration commentary with the "thriller vibes" not really picking up towards the end.
I believe if you enjoyed Blake Crouch's or Thomas R. Weaver's work and can take the time to appreciate a slower unraveling in a story then you will love this too!
Thank you Tor and Macmillan Audio for the eARC, physical ARC, and ALC!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
DNF pg. 152
I loved the concept of this one (because I loved Severance), but the plot felt like pulling teeth. I learned afterward that this novel is based on a short story written by the same author, and while I don't plan on reading it, I know without a doubt it would have worked far better in the shorter format. This was also told in the second-person narrative, which has never been my ideal narrative type.
I think the oddest part was the inclusion of snippets from the Odyssey. The author names these "separate" individuals, the parts of themselves that split when they choose to immigrate; these are called instances. Within the text of the Odyssey, there is a reference to "instances," and the author warps the text to make it as if instances have been a thing since ancient Greece, and that Odysseus himself had created an instance between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It could have been a clever addition; however, it felt too disjointed from the author's actual story.
I loved the concept of this one (because I loved Severance), but the plot felt like pulling teeth. I learned afterward that this novel is based on a short story written by the same author, and while I don't plan on reading it, I know without a doubt it would have worked far better in the shorter format. This was also told in the second-person narrative, which has never been my ideal narrative type.
I think the oddest part was the inclusion of snippets from the Odyssey. The author names these "separate" individuals, the parts of themselves that split when they choose to immigrate; these are called instances. Within the text of the Odyssey, there is a reference to "instances," and the author warps the text to make it as if instances have been a thing since ancient Greece, and that Odysseus himself had created an instance between the Iliad and the Odyssey. It could have been a clever addition; however, it felt too disjointed from the author's actual story.
May 15, 2026
This book made me slowdown in the best possible way.
I’m a very fast reader, but I found myself constantly pausing to think about the concepts of instances and sublimation. The premise alone is incredibly compelling, but the execution made it even stronger.
The characters felt fully realized, and the emotional weight behind the choices and identities explored in the story really stayed with me.
Such a cool, thought-provoking concept, and one I know I will revisit. I am already looking forward to adding a physical copy to my library when it releases.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my honest review.
I’m a very fast reader, but I found myself constantly pausing to think about the concepts of instances and sublimation. The premise alone is incredibly compelling, but the execution made it even stronger.
The characters felt fully realized, and the emotional weight behind the choices and identities explored in the story really stayed with me.
Such a cool, thought-provoking concept, and one I know I will revisit. I am already looking forward to adding a physical copy to my library when it releases.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to listen to this title in exchange for my honest review.
Did Not Finish
May 23, 2026Unfortunately, this one didn't fully work for me. I requested it because the premise is SO GOOD, I still love it, but the execution failed to fulfill its potential. I got to 34%, so I gave it a good try, but this just failed to maintain my attention. I liked the first part a lot. I was very intrigued by Soyoung and Rose, and I was very curious about where things would go with them. I liked the introspective, more character-focused nature of the first part.
It loses me when we switch perspectives to another character, and it starts to dive into "thriller" territory. The interest I had in the story weakened and weakened, and my mind started glazing over it. I tried to lock back in several times, but it didn't work. That's when I knew I had to stop because I have so many other books to read; it doesn't make sense to push myself to finish a story I no longer care about.
Personally, this would've worked a lot better if it focused only on Soyoung and Rose. I don't feel like this needed to dive into a techno-thriller to be interesting. Soyoung and Rose, and the themes of identity, belonging, immigration, etc., were already compelling on their own. This would've even been great as a novella, shorter and punchier.
I did enjoy Isabel J. Kim's prose, and I think she has a strong perspective, so I will keep an eye on any other books she comes up with. As a debut, I think this was ambitious (complimentary), and I see a lot of people loving it, which is amazing. I wanted to be one of those people, but this isn't the version of the story that got me there. I still recommend checking it out because this has a really great concept.
Thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan, and Picador for the early access to this ebook.
It loses me when we switch perspectives to another character, and it starts to dive into "thriller" territory. The interest I had in the story weakened and weakened, and my mind started glazing over it. I tried to lock back in several times, but it didn't work. That's when I knew I had to stop because I have so many other books to read; it doesn't make sense to push myself to finish a story I no longer care about.
Personally, this would've worked a lot better if it focused only on Soyoung and Rose. I don't feel like this needed to dive into a techno-thriller to be interesting. Soyoung and Rose, and the themes of identity, belonging, immigration, etc., were already compelling on their own. This would've even been great as a novella, shorter and punchier.
I did enjoy Isabel J. Kim's prose, and I think she has a strong perspective, so I will keep an eye on any other books she comes up with. As a debut, I think this was ambitious (complimentary), and I see a lot of people loving it, which is amazing. I wanted to be one of those people, but this isn't the version of the story that got me there. I still recommend checking it out because this has a really great concept.
Thanks to NetGalley, Pan Macmillan, and Picador for the early access to this ebook.
May 15, 2026
An absolutely stunning debut sci-fi novel! In Sublimation — when you enter a new country (either for travel or to move there) you run the risk of “instancing” where you will leave a copy of yourself behind in the country you leave. Your instance lives and makes memories as a wholly separate person and can communicate with you like a dear friend or a horrid enemy. I absolutely loved the premise and I felt myself pausing to contemplate the text multiple times throughout.
The structure is extremely unique and I fear this is where some readers may not enjoy it. There are many passages that are written in second person POV and although I felt this added so much, I can see where other readers may not connect there.
4.5 stars rounded up. I can not wait to read more from this author in the future!
Thank you TOR for the ARC in exchange for my review.
The structure is extremely unique and I fear this is where some readers may not enjoy it. There are many passages that are written in second person POV and although I felt this added so much, I can see where other readers may not connect there.
4.5 stars rounded up. I can not wait to read more from this author in the future!
Thank you TOR for the ARC in exchange for my review.
Read
May 11, 2026Dnf @ 70%
Setting: us and South Korea
Rep: Korean-American cast and author
I'm just finding this too hard to follow or care about tbh, it feels like there's a link missing
Setting: us and South Korea
Rep: Korean-American cast and author
I'm just finding this too hard to follow or care about tbh, it feels like there's a link missing
June 3, 2026
Thank you to Macmillian Audio for the advanced listener copy of this debut novel. This is being advertised as science fiction, but I think it should definitely be marketed as speculative fiction to set the correct expectations. This is a character driven novel that explores the immigrant experience in a very unique way. There is very little science involved. It is told in second person pov, which I think was absolutley the correct choice and done well.
The author has created a world in which people are duplicated when they leave a location that holds significant value to them, allowing an instance to stay while the original leaves. These separate beings hold separate lives entirely, but can be combined again by physical touch. We follow two characters that have both split with one version of their self living in America and another in Korea.
The audio was done really well. When characters were separating or combining consciousness you could understand each voice despite them talking at the same time. I don't know how this will be shown in the physical book and still have the same impact so I definitely recommend doing the audio version.
3.5 ⭐️
The author has created a world in which people are duplicated when they leave a location that holds significant value to them, allowing an instance to stay while the original leaves. These separate beings hold separate lives entirely, but can be combined again by physical touch. We follow two characters that have both split with one version of their self living in America and another in Korea.
The audio was done really well. When characters were separating or combining consciousness you could understand each voice despite them talking at the same time. I don't know how this will be shown in the physical book and still have the same impact so I definitely recommend doing the audio version.
3.5 ⭐️
Did Not Finish
May 9, 2026Too slow and confusing for me. DNF at 25%
April 27, 2026
Wow, this was such a strange concept, but you can tell that it was born of something that people really think about. What if the you who would have stayed in a particular place was that far removed from the you who left? And I love the way the world building of the story heavily implies that this has always happened, and that even in the Odyssey and the Bible people leave copies of themselves if they’re leaving a place.
January 3, 2026
4.5/5
this is one of the most unique book concepts i have ever had the pleasure of reading, so thank you to TOR and the author for allowing me to ARC read it.
this book dealt in the controversial and hot button issue of human migration, but made it digestible through a multi-tonal lens—this was a lecture and a retelling of myth as much as it was a linear storyline. this format choice as an approach to understanding such a dense topic really helped write home the themes of identity and exploration of the self in intersection with diaspora in a cross-genre capacity, which felt entirely nuanced. the world as an instanced version of itself takes a LOT of world building and science info dumping to understand, so unveiling that info in small bits chapter by chapter as is convenient for the storyline was a creative way to help the reader grasp the changes between our world and the book’s in a way that didn’t overwhelm. our main characters were raw and unfiltered, even verging on unlikable at times, as a strong commentary on the human condition, internal conflict, and the impact of choice. i have always appreciated books surrounding the dismantling of corporate overlords and corrupt government organizations by way of subterfuge and whistleblowing, and this book definitely hit the nail on the head there. there wasn’t much i didn’t love about this one outside of the slow start. it took me a while to really lock in and care about the characters as they were being presented and to feel like i knew and cared about them. it wasn’t until we got to know YJ better that i felt like the story really started for me, and i almost wish he/yujin would have been our introductory main characters instead of soyoung/rose as i found them a little one-toned.
i really loved this one and think it’s going to be massive once it releases in june. very high hopes for isabel j kim in her debut novel—this one definitely impressed!
this is one of the most unique book concepts i have ever had the pleasure of reading, so thank you to TOR and the author for allowing me to ARC read it.
this book dealt in the controversial and hot button issue of human migration, but made it digestible through a multi-tonal lens—this was a lecture and a retelling of myth as much as it was a linear storyline. this format choice as an approach to understanding such a dense topic really helped write home the themes of identity and exploration of the self in intersection with diaspora in a cross-genre capacity, which felt entirely nuanced. the world as an instanced version of itself takes a LOT of world building and science info dumping to understand, so unveiling that info in small bits chapter by chapter as is convenient for the storyline was a creative way to help the reader grasp the changes between our world and the book’s in a way that didn’t overwhelm. our main characters were raw and unfiltered, even verging on unlikable at times, as a strong commentary on the human condition, internal conflict, and the impact of choice. i have always appreciated books surrounding the dismantling of corporate overlords and corrupt government organizations by way of subterfuge and whistleblowing, and this book definitely hit the nail on the head there. there wasn’t much i didn’t love about this one outside of the slow start. it took me a while to really lock in and care about the characters as they were being presented and to feel like i knew and cared about them. it wasn’t until we got to know YJ better that i felt like the story really started for me, and i almost wish he/yujin would have been our introductory main characters instead of soyoung/rose as i found them a little one-toned.
i really loved this one and think it’s going to be massive once it releases in june. very high hopes for isabel j kim in her debut novel—this one definitely impressed!
June 3, 2026
Many thanks to the author, NetGalley, and Tor Books for review copies of the book and the audiobook.
Do you like tech thrillers? What about immigrant stories? In depth character studies? What about Isabel J. Kim's voice, assuming you've read her short fiction?
If the answer to any or those is yes (order of relevance is probably bottom to top), you should give Sublimation a try.
Sublimation grew out of one of my all-time favorite short stories, Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self in Clarkesworld, back in 2021. In fact, if you've read the story, the first part of the book will be very familiar to you, but I will maintain that Part 1 of Sublimation is one of the best things I've ever read.
Now, the book isn't just the story. We start with the familiar setup, at leas to those who have read the story, and simply put, it's cool. In this world, when you leave your home country for another one and part of you doesn't intend to come back and part of you doesn't want to leave, you split. This is called instancing. At this point, there are two identical people who share the same memories, but they won't for long. Now, the big thing is if two instances touch, skin-to-skin, they reintegrate, meaning both minds jump back into one body. It's as messy as it sounds.
The story itself isn't just about instancing, though. In fact, if you have to know how things works in books or if you get bothered by authors not exploring the edge cases to the worlds they set up, this may not be the book for you. The first portion of the book, I'd say large percentages of the first three out of five parts, is a focused, character-driven story. There are actions and consequences, and we learn a lot about the characters we follow.
And this is where the book is at it's best, in my opinion. Kim's strengths lie in her ability to characterize, to provoke thought, and in her well-established voice. The first half-or-so of the book has all of that in spades. In fact, had the novel stayed in that space, it might not have been able to keep its current page count without adding some new characters or something else to fill some space, but I would have been tickled. I could stay in that space for as long as the words kept coming.
But, well, we didn't stay there forever. Now, I will say, Kim didn't abandon her character work. We get to see great moments in the interactions between characters, we get to see characters' flaws and strengths on the page in delightful ways. We even get some really cool formatting choices (that work very well in the audiobook, as well). But we also get a much more action-driven plot. As the book progresses, some information is presented to our characters, and it shifted the direction of the rest of the book.
If you've read other reviews, this is when the technothriller comes into play. The choices made by the characters, or perhaps the information they're presented with itself, move us from questions about our characters, who they are at their core, and how that resembles the world we live in outside of the book to questions of the lesser evil, of who is worthy enough to have control, of the importance of the whistleblowing of secrets. And those are valid questions, of course, but at least to me, they aren't the questions I cared about.
I've made it out to sound as if the thriller kills the book. It doesn't! In fact, while I would have been happy to live int he first half of the book forever, I do think adding some kind of plot is beneficial to most readers.
As far as technothrillers go, this is a decent one. Is it going to redefine the technothriller genre? No, probably not. But it's not done poorly. It'll probably even be the favorite part of the book for a number of people. It just wasn't for me.
While we're talking about criticisms, one point I'd like to bring up is that while I don't think the romance was a particularly great romance subplot, even for a speculative fiction book. That being said, I do think it was a great bit of character work about unreturned infatuation.
Now, a few other parts of this book really do make it shine. As I mentioned at the top of the review, I received review copies of the audio book as well as copies to read. I utilized all the mediums presented to me, and this book does well. I felt the performances in the audiobook were well above average. The book itself is nicely printed on good paper, and it's a treat for everyone who gets to see you reading it. The cover art is great, the endpapers are even better, and in my opinion, as someone who often reads without the dust jacket, this book looks even better without its coat, which isn't always true.
Beyond aesthetics, though, Kim does some really interesting things in the text. One of my favorites is the use of perspective. The story shifts between second-person and third-person perspectives as certain elements of the characters change in the books. It's small, it's never really dwelt on, but it's a brilliant use of language that really helped keep me locked in.
Earlier I mentioned how you may struggle with this book a bit if you have to know how things work, how the edge cases change things, or how this monumental change to society and physics changed the world at large. That's still true, but we do get some really tasty morsels of how literature has changed, at least to a degree. We get these little interstitials, a coupe of paragraphs at a time at most, but many shorter, of some big-time classic literature but with instances. We see Odysseus split as he leaves for Troy, and we get bits of the story, some academic analysis, and some solid one-line remarks. Same goes with Genesis, specifically the Garden of Eden. These little flavor bursts were a joy to read.
There's a lot more to say about this book, and I'm hoping we'll be back about this time next year discussing the novel in the Hugo Readalong, but I'm going to put a pin in it for now. If you read it and want to talk more, feel free to reach out!
At the end of the day, this book right up at the top of my most-anticipated list. I've loved Kim's short fiction, as has the SFF awards community, as noted by her string of awards. Her stories have won the Shirley Jackson Award, the Nebula Award (twice), the Locus Award, the Clarkesworld Reader Poll, and the BSFA Award. She's also had stories nominated for the Hugo and the Sturgeon awards, as well as a host of nominations and finalist spots for awards she's already won. Those nominations include a 2nd place finish at the Hugos and a 2nd place finish for the Astounding Best New Writer award. Not to mention Story of the Year from Season 2 of the Short Fiction Book Club, the Best Contribution to SFBC Culture Award in Season 3, and The Isabel J. Kim Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Being Isabel J. Kim in Season 4.
Every piece of news about this book got me more excited, and frankly, I think it lives up to the hype. Is it perfect? No. It's not. I'm not sure any books are. Or at the very least, very few. But it's a heck of a debut, and I'll definitely be coming back to it again at some point. If how often I read her short fiction is any indication, anyway.
Do you like tech thrillers? What about immigrant stories? In depth character studies? What about Isabel J. Kim's voice, assuming you've read her short fiction?
If the answer to any or those is yes (order of relevance is probably bottom to top), you should give Sublimation a try.
Sublimation grew out of one of my all-time favorite short stories, Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self in Clarkesworld, back in 2021. In fact, if you've read the story, the first part of the book will be very familiar to you, but I will maintain that Part 1 of Sublimation is one of the best things I've ever read.
Now, the book isn't just the story. We start with the familiar setup, at leas to those who have read the story, and simply put, it's cool. In this world, when you leave your home country for another one and part of you doesn't intend to come back and part of you doesn't want to leave, you split. This is called instancing. At this point, there are two identical people who share the same memories, but they won't for long. Now, the big thing is if two instances touch, skin-to-skin, they reintegrate, meaning both minds jump back into one body. It's as messy as it sounds.
The story itself isn't just about instancing, though. In fact, if you have to know how things works in books or if you get bothered by authors not exploring the edge cases to the worlds they set up, this may not be the book for you. The first portion of the book, I'd say large percentages of the first three out of five parts, is a focused, character-driven story. There are actions and consequences, and we learn a lot about the characters we follow.
And this is where the book is at it's best, in my opinion. Kim's strengths lie in her ability to characterize, to provoke thought, and in her well-established voice. The first half-or-so of the book has all of that in spades. In fact, had the novel stayed in that space, it might not have been able to keep its current page count without adding some new characters or something else to fill some space, but I would have been tickled. I could stay in that space for as long as the words kept coming.
But, well, we didn't stay there forever. Now, I will say, Kim didn't abandon her character work. We get to see great moments in the interactions between characters, we get to see characters' flaws and strengths on the page in delightful ways. We even get some really cool formatting choices (that work very well in the audiobook, as well). But we also get a much more action-driven plot. As the book progresses, some information is presented to our characters, and it shifted the direction of the rest of the book.
If you've read other reviews, this is when the technothriller comes into play. The choices made by the characters, or perhaps the information they're presented with itself, move us from questions about our characters, who they are at their core, and how that resembles the world we live in outside of the book to questions of the lesser evil, of who is worthy enough to have control, of the importance of the whistleblowing of secrets. And those are valid questions, of course, but at least to me, they aren't the questions I cared about.
I've made it out to sound as if the thriller kills the book. It doesn't! In fact, while I would have been happy to live int he first half of the book forever, I do think adding some kind of plot is beneficial to most readers.
As far as technothrillers go, this is a decent one. Is it going to redefine the technothriller genre? No, probably not. But it's not done poorly. It'll probably even be the favorite part of the book for a number of people. It just wasn't for me.
While we're talking about criticisms, one point I'd like to bring up is that while I don't think the romance was a particularly great romance subplot, even for a speculative fiction book. That being said, I do think it was a great bit of character work about unreturned infatuation.
Now, a few other parts of this book really do make it shine. As I mentioned at the top of the review, I received review copies of the audio book as well as copies to read. I utilized all the mediums presented to me, and this book does well. I felt the performances in the audiobook were well above average. The book itself is nicely printed on good paper, and it's a treat for everyone who gets to see you reading it. The cover art is great, the endpapers are even better, and in my opinion, as someone who often reads without the dust jacket, this book looks even better without its coat, which isn't always true.
Beyond aesthetics, though, Kim does some really interesting things in the text. One of my favorites is the use of perspective. The story shifts between second-person and third-person perspectives as certain elements of the characters change in the books. It's small, it's never really dwelt on, but it's a brilliant use of language that really helped keep me locked in.
Earlier I mentioned how you may struggle with this book a bit if you have to know how things work, how the edge cases change things, or how this monumental change to society and physics changed the world at large. That's still true, but we do get some really tasty morsels of how literature has changed, at least to a degree. We get these little interstitials, a coupe of paragraphs at a time at most, but many shorter, of some big-time classic literature but with instances. We see Odysseus split as he leaves for Troy, and we get bits of the story, some academic analysis, and some solid one-line remarks. Same goes with Genesis, specifically the Garden of Eden. These little flavor bursts were a joy to read.
There's a lot more to say about this book, and I'm hoping we'll be back about this time next year discussing the novel in the Hugo Readalong, but I'm going to put a pin in it for now. If you read it and want to talk more, feel free to reach out!
At the end of the day, this book right up at the top of my most-anticipated list. I've loved Kim's short fiction, as has the SFF awards community, as noted by her string of awards. Her stories have won the Shirley Jackson Award, the Nebula Award (twice), the Locus Award, the Clarkesworld Reader Poll, and the BSFA Award. She's also had stories nominated for the Hugo and the Sturgeon awards, as well as a host of nominations and finalist spots for awards she's already won. Those nominations include a 2nd place finish at the Hugos and a 2nd place finish for the Astounding Best New Writer award. Not to mention Story of the Year from Season 2 of the Short Fiction Book Club, the Best Contribution to SFBC Culture Award in Season 3, and The Isabel J. Kim Award for Outstanding Achievements in the Field of Being Isabel J. Kim in Season 4.
Every piece of news about this book got me more excited, and frankly, I think it lives up to the hype. Is it perfect? No. It's not. I'm not sure any books are. Or at the very least, very few. But it's a heck of a debut, and I'll definitely be coming back to it again at some point. If how often I read her short fiction is any indication, anyway.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
WOW!!!!! Hooked from the first page and read this book in one sitting… Full of tension and suspense. A real page turner, a domestic noir but OMG so much more!!!!
June 3, 2026
Wow. I honestly can't remember the last time a book had me this compelled, this intrigued, and identifying so hard with some of the themes. I know I gush about a lot of books, but this ranks among the very best books I've read this year and it will be a book that stays on my mind for some time to come.
Sublimation is speculative fiction, set in an alternate version of the world where the decision to emigrate results in a version of a person going abroad to the new country, and a version staying behind. They call it instancing. Both "instances" share DNA and have the same memories up until the moment of instancing. The two can continue living separate lives, or, if they choose, can become singular again. Set against the backdrop of this world, instances Soyoung and Rose have been living apart for years when circumstances bring the back together in Korea. Rose intends to return to Korea for a brief visit before returning to her life in New York, but Soyoung wants more...
I loved this premise. There are more intricacies to what prompted an instantiation, and as I understood the idea a bit better I couldn't help but look at my own life and time abroad and wonder if and when I would have instantiated. I think I've pinpointed the moment. So this alone was compelling, but then to add to it the fact that instances could become one again, a singularity with the memories of both existing in the one body, and asking her characters to grapple with the question of to do or not to do--wow. It made for such a clever philosophical question wrapped up in excellent prose.
I also loved the question of identity that author Isabel J. Kim raises. Instances are literally the same, they split at a moment of decision (usually at a border crossing or border control) and from there go on to form new memories that shape their perspective and personality, etc. Can these two selves ever really reintegrate? Should they? What if one wants to and the other doesn't? I spent so much time thinking about this, about how my life and personality and outlook changed so much during my years abroad, so that when I finally returned to my hometown, I was like a different person. I wonder what my instances would have thought of one another.
And if the philosophy and identity weren't enough, this is also a thriller, with a shady corporation rolling out technologies advertised to help instances prevent reintegration, etc. but are they actually helping? I've only seen a few episodes, but this aspect reminded me more than once of the TV series Severance, and I think it'd appeal to fans of the show.
I loved this. I've worked it into multiple conversations with friends and colleagues. I think this would be a great book club book because there's just so much to discuss, and if you've read it, hit me up because I'm dying to hear other persepectives.
I was lucky enough to listen to an Advanced Copy from Macmillan Audio, and both narrators did a fantastic job giving voice to their characters. I would love to compare the print book with the audio, because the audiobook did some cool things during some intense sections of the book (spoiler territory, but I thought it was genius) and I'd love to see how it's represented on page. But I definitely recommend the audio experience!
*I received a gifted copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio; this review is entirely my own.
Sublimation is speculative fiction, set in an alternate version of the world where the decision to emigrate results in a version of a person going abroad to the new country, and a version staying behind. They call it instancing. Both "instances" share DNA and have the same memories up until the moment of instancing. The two can continue living separate lives, or, if they choose, can become singular again. Set against the backdrop of this world, instances Soyoung and Rose have been living apart for years when circumstances bring the back together in Korea. Rose intends to return to Korea for a brief visit before returning to her life in New York, but Soyoung wants more...
I loved this premise. There are more intricacies to what prompted an instantiation, and as I understood the idea a bit better I couldn't help but look at my own life and time abroad and wonder if and when I would have instantiated. I think I've pinpointed the moment. So this alone was compelling, but then to add to it the fact that instances could become one again, a singularity with the memories of both existing in the one body, and asking her characters to grapple with the question of to do or not to do--wow. It made for such a clever philosophical question wrapped up in excellent prose.
I also loved the question of identity that author Isabel J. Kim raises. Instances are literally the same, they split at a moment of decision (usually at a border crossing or border control) and from there go on to form new memories that shape their perspective and personality, etc. Can these two selves ever really reintegrate? Should they? What if one wants to and the other doesn't? I spent so much time thinking about this, about how my life and personality and outlook changed so much during my years abroad, so that when I finally returned to my hometown, I was like a different person. I wonder what my instances would have thought of one another.
And if the philosophy and identity weren't enough, this is also a thriller, with a shady corporation rolling out technologies advertised to help instances prevent reintegration, etc. but are they actually helping? I've only seen a few episodes, but this aspect reminded me more than once of the TV series Severance, and I think it'd appeal to fans of the show.
I loved this. I've worked it into multiple conversations with friends and colleagues. I think this would be a great book club book because there's just so much to discuss, and if you've read it, hit me up because I'm dying to hear other persepectives.
I was lucky enough to listen to an Advanced Copy from Macmillan Audio, and both narrators did a fantastic job giving voice to their characters. I would love to compare the print book with the audio, because the audiobook did some cool things during some intense sections of the book (spoiler territory, but I thought it was genius) and I'd love to see how it's represented on page. But I definitely recommend the audio experience!
*I received a gifted copy of the audiobook from Macmillan Audio; this review is entirely my own.
May 27, 2026
Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for the free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review
Go into acclaimed speculative author Isabel J. Kim’s debut novel with the right expectations to get the most out of SUBLIMATION. This is a literary sci-fi novel that will best appeal to readers who love literary fiction and appreciate deeply interior stories.
I love the instancing concept. Imagine if, every time you desire to emigrate or make into a home that which was not your first home, a version of yourself splits off, so that one of you is able to stay behind while the other goes to live that new life. What would that world look like in terms of things like immigration, citizenship, social media presence? Kim does a convincing job of imagining said world for us.
But the speculative world that the characters inhabit is not the main focus here. That would be on the internal struggles of the main character(s), childhood friends Soyoung and Yujin, each of whom have an instance who lives in the US. Half of each pair wants to reintegrate, which can be done by making skin-to-skin contact with your instance. The other half want to remain separate. Who will win out? There seem to be no good answers here.
At its heart, SUBLIMATION is a story about emigration/migration and the ways that those desires and what-ifs inform our identity. If you’ve read a lot of diaspora and immigrant stories, Soyoung and Yujin’s internal conflicts may be a bit disappointingly familiar, as they struggle to incorporate their various desires and experiences within themselves. I was certainly hoping for something a bit more novel.
It didn’t help that I never really ended up liking any of the (four?) main characters or deeply understanding them. It’s a challenging story premise to work with, making two pairs of characters distinct enough in their voices, thinking, and desires. Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy the time I spent with them. Both Soyoung-Rose and Yujin-YJ are a bit selfish, a bit passive, a bit afraid. That’s… fine, I guess—they are human, after all—but I didn’t feel like there was much difference in the voices of Soyoung and Rose, and Yujin and YJ. So it was like four times as much navel-gazing, but not four times the payoff.
With such a cool premise, SUBLIMATION could have gone in many different directions. However, Kim chose to use it to explore familiar themes of geographical/identity displacement, migration, and longing. The speculative aspect cedes center stage to the characters’ internal turmoil. This read more lit fic than sci-fi for me.
Go into acclaimed speculative author Isabel J. Kim’s debut novel with the right expectations to get the most out of SUBLIMATION. This is a literary sci-fi novel that will best appeal to readers who love literary fiction and appreciate deeply interior stories.
I love the instancing concept. Imagine if, every time you desire to emigrate or make into a home that which was not your first home, a version of yourself splits off, so that one of you is able to stay behind while the other goes to live that new life. What would that world look like in terms of things like immigration, citizenship, social media presence? Kim does a convincing job of imagining said world for us.
But the speculative world that the characters inhabit is not the main focus here. That would be on the internal struggles of the main character(s), childhood friends Soyoung and Yujin, each of whom have an instance who lives in the US. Half of each pair wants to reintegrate, which can be done by making skin-to-skin contact with your instance. The other half want to remain separate. Who will win out? There seem to be no good answers here.
At its heart, SUBLIMATION is a story about emigration/migration and the ways that those desires and what-ifs inform our identity. If you’ve read a lot of diaspora and immigrant stories, Soyoung and Yujin’s internal conflicts may be a bit disappointingly familiar, as they struggle to incorporate their various desires and experiences within themselves. I was certainly hoping for something a bit more novel.
It didn’t help that I never really ended up liking any of the (four?) main characters or deeply understanding them. It’s a challenging story premise to work with, making two pairs of characters distinct enough in their voices, thinking, and desires. Unfortunately, I didn’t really enjoy the time I spent with them. Both Soyoung-Rose and Yujin-YJ are a bit selfish, a bit passive, a bit afraid. That’s… fine, I guess—they are human, after all—but I didn’t feel like there was much difference in the voices of Soyoung and Rose, and Yujin and YJ. So it was like four times as much navel-gazing, but not four times the payoff.
With such a cool premise, SUBLIMATION could have gone in many different directions. However, Kim chose to use it to explore familiar themes of geographical/identity displacement, migration, and longing. The speculative aspect cedes center stage to the characters’ internal turmoil. This read more lit fic than sci-fi for me.
June 4, 2026
(rounded up from 3.5)
This is a book that has a solid idea at its centre (instances, born of someone crossing a boundary and being of two minds about permanently leaving) and the implications on identity and self. If you love books with a well-fleshed-out sci-fi premise. The idea of duplicating yourself with the potential to reintegrate if you touch, even accidentally, is an interesting (and vaguely threatening one, if you're the doppelganger who has the life they enjoy and your instance does not). There is classic literature with instances, special immigration and visa categories for them, and start-ups that cater exclusively to instances, keeping them safely separated in this world. It feels very organic and lived-in, and I have to commend the author for clearly thinking about the mechanics of this world from every possible angle and incorporating it into this book.
The weaker aspects of this book, however, are the characterisation and plot. Soyoung is an interesting protagonist, but she shares the stage with her childhood friend and his instance, who is also in the US. The flipping between POV chapters dilutes the effect of the story a bit, especially since YJ is a much weaker character both in terms of will and internal motivation than Soyoung. Things start to accelerate for the climax, but they also devolve into a bit of a corporate thriller instead of sticking to the established (and interesting) themes of identity and dealing with what is essentially a version of yourself that you are both deeply familiar with and also unfamiliar with. Some of the most interesting parts of the book for me were Soyoung trying to deal with her alter ego, Rose, while wanting to have both an exotic life in the US and have her life in Korea, along with the references to her grandfather leaving North Korea and possibly being an instance himself but never looking back.
The last third of this book really dragged it all down for me, but I still love the idea of instances and the alternate lives people could leave and potentially reintegrate to their benefit (if both parties are willing, but if not, the unexplored consequences of nonconsensual reintegration of an unwilling instance for the benefit of the willing instance). A fun ride that gets bogged down trying to be a thriller when it's unnecessary.
This is a book that has a solid idea at its centre (instances, born of someone crossing a boundary and being of two minds about permanently leaving) and the implications on identity and self. If you love books with a well-fleshed-out sci-fi premise. The idea of duplicating yourself with the potential to reintegrate if you touch, even accidentally, is an interesting (and vaguely threatening one, if you're the doppelganger who has the life they enjoy and your instance does not). There is classic literature with instances, special immigration and visa categories for them, and start-ups that cater exclusively to instances, keeping them safely separated in this world. It feels very organic and lived-in, and I have to commend the author for clearly thinking about the mechanics of this world from every possible angle and incorporating it into this book.
The weaker aspects of this book, however, are the characterisation and plot. Soyoung is an interesting protagonist, but she shares the stage with her childhood friend and his instance, who is also in the US. The flipping between POV chapters dilutes the effect of the story a bit, especially since YJ is a much weaker character both in terms of will and internal motivation than Soyoung. Things start to accelerate for the climax, but they also devolve into a bit of a corporate thriller instead of sticking to the established (and interesting) themes of identity and dealing with what is essentially a version of yourself that you are both deeply familiar with and also unfamiliar with. Some of the most interesting parts of the book for me were Soyoung trying to deal with her alter ego, Rose, while wanting to have both an exotic life in the US and have her life in Korea, along with the references to her grandfather leaving North Korea and possibly being an instance himself but never looking back.
The last third of this book really dragged it all down for me, but I still love the idea of instances and the alternate lives people could leave and potentially reintegrate to their benefit (if both parties are willing, but if not, the unexplored consequences of nonconsensual reintegration of an unwilling instance for the benefit of the willing instance). A fun ride that gets bogged down trying to be a thriller when it's unnecessary.
June 4, 2026
Now this was an interesting read. It had me pausing to reflect on several occasions.
Would you be interested in being able to split and leave yourself in different places to live separate lives? That’s one part of this story. It’s a fact of life in this world. There are a few places that I have travelled to that I still think about and long for. I imagine what it would be like to live in those places. If I were in this version of reality, I would definitely have a few instances - different versions of myself. In the book, some people keep in touch with their instances, some live completely separate lives with no strings attached. I found myself thinking about what I would. If the possibility arose, would you want to reintegrate?
Now, to the actual story itself. The story is told from a variety of points of view and chapter headings made keeping track of that pretty straightforward. I liked YJ and Yukon enough, but I found Soyoung and Rose quite selfish; most of their motivations were quite self-serving. In the end, there is a slight redemption, but barely. The ending was kind of an open, so I can imagine there was.
The plot was intriguing, but I must admit that there were a few parts where I had to go back to check what happened, some things aren’t entirely clear at first glance - but that could just be me. The corporate/political intrigue and the questions raised in this regard were quite interesting and also had me thinking.
The narration for this audiobook was excellent. Both narrators did a fantastic job. Another aspect of this audiobook that made it stand out, were some of the effects used in certain sequences. The ending sequence was a really cool and allowed me to experience it in a way solely unique to an audiobook. This alone would have me recommend this format over a physical or digital copy.
If any of the questions that I brought up in the beginning of this review piqued your interest or if you’re looking for a compelling science fiction novel, then I’d recommend this book to you.
Many thanks Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an early copy of the audiobook and to Tor Publishing Group for an early digital copy of the book The opinions expressed are given freely and are honest and my own.
Would you be interested in being able to split and leave yourself in different places to live separate lives? That’s one part of this story. It’s a fact of life in this world. There are a few places that I have travelled to that I still think about and long for. I imagine what it would be like to live in those places. If I were in this version of reality, I would definitely have a few instances - different versions of myself. In the book, some people keep in touch with their instances, some live completely separate lives with no strings attached. I found myself thinking about what I would. If the possibility arose, would you want to reintegrate?
Now, to the actual story itself. The story is told from a variety of points of view and chapter headings made keeping track of that pretty straightforward. I liked YJ and Yukon enough, but I found Soyoung and Rose quite selfish; most of their motivations were quite self-serving. In the end, there is a slight redemption, but barely. The ending was kind of an open, so I can imagine there was.
The plot was intriguing, but I must admit that there were a few parts where I had to go back to check what happened, some things aren’t entirely clear at first glance - but that could just be me. The corporate/political intrigue and the questions raised in this regard were quite interesting and also had me thinking.
The narration for this audiobook was excellent. Both narrators did a fantastic job. Another aspect of this audiobook that made it stand out, were some of the effects used in certain sequences. The ending sequence was a really cool and allowed me to experience it in a way solely unique to an audiobook. This alone would have me recommend this format over a physical or digital copy.
If any of the questions that I brought up in the beginning of this review piqued your interest or if you’re looking for a compelling science fiction novel, then I’d recommend this book to you.
Many thanks Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an early copy of the audiobook and to Tor Publishing Group for an early digital copy of the book The opinions expressed are given freely and are honest and my own.
June 3, 2026
4.25 stars
What a debut!
Sublimation isn’t the first book to provide commentary on immigration and world policy, but it’s one of the most unique and effective stories that I’ve ever read. My favorite part about this story was how it was able to seamlessly blend sci-fi/dystopian elements with a story that, at its core, is about familial expectations and individuality.
Kim’s writing was impeccable. I can see why she’s a Nebula Award winner. She was able to paint such a vivid picture and express the characters in such an organic way. The way she was able to tie the main plot back to the mythological references was chef’s kiss. It led to a very unique reading experience.
The character work was one of my favorite aspects of this book. Through our four main characters, we were able to see multiple perspectives on the same issues. This added a level of complexity and nuance that you don’t always get when an entire story is told from a singular perspective.
The commentary on immigration and the current political landscape was extremely well done. When people immigrate to a new place, whether to escape their current predicaments or simply because they want to start a new life, we never really talk about the emotional toll that takes on a person. We rarely discuss how they have to leave their past selves behind so they can move forward. These concepts were portrayed really well throughout the story.
The last third of the book felt a little rushed, and I would have liked it to be fleshed out a bit more. This story had famous myths interwoven throughout the plot, which was really cool, but it sometimes led to the pacing not being as tight as I would have liked.
The audiobook was incredible. The narrators did such a great job bringing this story to life, and I was fully immersed the entire time.
This is the type of story I love to read because it’s real, raw, and it matters.
Thank you so much to Tor and Macmillan Audio for gifting me early copies of this book!
What a debut!
Sublimation isn’t the first book to provide commentary on immigration and world policy, but it’s one of the most unique and effective stories that I’ve ever read. My favorite part about this story was how it was able to seamlessly blend sci-fi/dystopian elements with a story that, at its core, is about familial expectations and individuality.
Kim’s writing was impeccable. I can see why she’s a Nebula Award winner. She was able to paint such a vivid picture and express the characters in such an organic way. The way she was able to tie the main plot back to the mythological references was chef’s kiss. It led to a very unique reading experience.
The character work was one of my favorite aspects of this book. Through our four main characters, we were able to see multiple perspectives on the same issues. This added a level of complexity and nuance that you don’t always get when an entire story is told from a singular perspective.
The commentary on immigration and the current political landscape was extremely well done. When people immigrate to a new place, whether to escape their current predicaments or simply because they want to start a new life, we never really talk about the emotional toll that takes on a person. We rarely discuss how they have to leave their past selves behind so they can move forward. These concepts were portrayed really well throughout the story.
The last third of the book felt a little rushed, and I would have liked it to be fleshed out a bit more. This story had famous myths interwoven throughout the plot, which was really cool, but it sometimes led to the pacing not being as tight as I would have liked.
The audiobook was incredible. The narrators did such a great job bringing this story to life, and I was fully immersed the entire time.
This is the type of story I love to read because it’s real, raw, and it matters.
Thank you so much to Tor and Macmillan Audio for gifting me early copies of this book!
June 4, 2026
3.75
This was such an unusual yet highly impactful way of exploring the immigrant experience. It is set in a world where people can split into two versions of themselves at a border: one self stays behind while the other moves forward to a new place. This only happens when someone is torn about the decision to cross.
This was a bit of a mind bend for me. As a recent migrant from the UK to Bulgaria this book made me THINK. I know for a fact I would have "instanced" when I left my home country and that realisation led me down a bizarre and thought-provoking path imagining what my life would look like across two split realities. So much grief and hope tangled up in a thousand questions. None of these questions about myself were resolved by the time I finished the book but it was food for thought!!
I really liked both of the two main characters (and their instances!) that we focused on, I completely felt the weight of their choices and decisions. I found myself trying to put myself in their shoes in every chapter. This book was written in the second person which I don't encounter often, but for this particular story I thought it was an apt choice.
I was hooked up until 60% after which I felt like the writing got a little bit choppy. I also didn't always follow the classical/biblical references that were often sandwiched in the middle of a chapter. It all got extremely convoluted at the end - which I believe was the point - but I'm also left with the impression that because of this, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea!
A big thank you to Tor Books for the eARC!
This was such an unusual yet highly impactful way of exploring the immigrant experience. It is set in a world where people can split into two versions of themselves at a border: one self stays behind while the other moves forward to a new place. This only happens when someone is torn about the decision to cross.
This was a bit of a mind bend for me. As a recent migrant from the UK to Bulgaria this book made me THINK. I know for a fact I would have "instanced" when I left my home country and that realisation led me down a bizarre and thought-provoking path imagining what my life would look like across two split realities. So much grief and hope tangled up in a thousand questions. None of these questions about myself were resolved by the time I finished the book but it was food for thought!!
I really liked both of the two main characters (and their instances!) that we focused on, I completely felt the weight of their choices and decisions. I found myself trying to put myself in their shoes in every chapter. This book was written in the second person which I don't encounter often, but for this particular story I thought it was an apt choice.
I was hooked up until 60% after which I felt like the writing got a little bit choppy. I also didn't always follow the classical/biblical references that were often sandwiched in the middle of a chapter. It all got extremely convoluted at the end - which I believe was the point - but I'm also left with the impression that because of this, it's not going to be everyone's cup of tea!
A big thank you to Tor Books for the eARC!
June 3, 2026
In Sublimation, crossing a border splits you in two. When you immigrate, you leave behind an “instance” of yourself: one self enters the new country while the other stays trapped at home. Soyoung Rose Kang left Korea at ten and never spoke to her other self again, building an American life she never imagined leaving, until her grandfather’s death calls her back for the funeral.
This was such a thought-provoking read. The Severance comparison is apt, but only in the divided-self sense. Where the show leans into surreal corporate dread, Sublimation is quieter and far more literary, using its high-concept premise to dig into immigration, identity, and the ache of the life you didn’t choose. The conceit could easily have been a gimmick, but Kim treats it with real emotional seriousness, and the question at the book’s heart, how far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make, lingers well past the final page.
A singular, inventive book that I’d recommend to anyone who likes their speculative fiction smart, character-driven, and willing to sit with hard questions rather than answer them neatly. I’d especially recommend it to immigrant book clubs.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
This was such a thought-provoking read. The Severance comparison is apt, but only in the divided-self sense. Where the show leans into surreal corporate dread, Sublimation is quieter and far more literary, using its high-concept premise to dig into immigration, identity, and the ache of the life you didn’t choose. The conceit could easily have been a gimmick, but Kim treats it with real emotional seriousness, and the question at the book’s heart, how far would you go to live the choice you didn’t make, lingers well past the final page.
A singular, inventive book that I’d recommend to anyone who likes their speculative fiction smart, character-driven, and willing to sit with hard questions rather than answer them neatly. I’d especially recommend it to immigrant book clubs.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
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