The Sapsuckers

by Sam Farhi

236 pages, Paperback

Published May 15, 2026

Reviews

[Kevin Adams]

Heads up, everyone: I think I may have a new favorite author. The Sapsuckers by @sam.farhi is one of the most emotional and haunting books I’ve ever read. It’s astonishing that this is Sam’s debut.

He captures brotherhood and trauma with a depth and honesty unlike anything I’ve read in years, while portraying Ithaca, New York, in a way that feels both unsentimental and profoundly true.

I loved every second of this book. Thank you for sharing it with me, Sam—and congratulations. This will undoubtedly make my best-of-the-year list!

[Kyle]

I good fast read. It captures some really specific feelings which always makes a novel strong in my opinion.

The end, however, left me a bit empty. I didn't need some grand reconciliation but the touch of meta storytelling didnt really stick for me.

Overall, a solid book and I'll definitely be looking out for more stuff from Farhi in the future.

[Rachel Cooper]

Read this in less than 24 hours… quite literally couldn’t put it down! Beautifully written debut novel by Sam Farhi.
“All the nature around us was all very normal… It didn’t devastate us with its beauty. Nothing did.”

[Codycvlp]

a book i really couldn’t put down, told through different instances in non linear. it reminded me of the after school specials channel 9 or 11 would show about some small town tragedy, multiply it by 1000 in terms of dread and sadness and you have the sapsuckers. while reading, visualizing every sentence, i kept thinking this was a cross between rivers edge and a season of true detective. i will be thinking about this for a while.

[T]

A beautiful and haunting novel. Poetic prose, themes of childhood, family, grief, and the uncertainty of existence.