A review by fictionandfungi
Bookworm by Robin Yeatman

5.0

Victoria is a housewife, a masseuse, an avid reader. Mostly though, those in Victoria's life have given value to Victoria because she is Eric's wife. Eric, who hates every bodily function Victoria has. Eric, with his puffy nipples. Eric, who turns his nose up at Victoria's love of books, preferring instead to get lost in TV dramas. Eric, who is making Victoria miserable. Eric, who, plausibly, could accidentally die soon. Not that Victoria is manifesting anything of the sort. It's just something that could happen.

Bookworm is one of the best debuts I have read in ages. I felt like I was personally being targeted as Victoria read some of my favorite unhinged fiction, taking more characteristics from these characters as the book went on. Victoria was a diverse reader, and the specificity of her reading habits made her all the more real to me. I loved the way Yeatman was able to weave levels of self-awareness into the book even as Victoria lacked it so often. The ending caught me so completely off guard, and I loved it. For me, personally, Bookworm has the added value that I could read it again and again. I can not wait to read future work by Yeatman, and to force everyone in my life to read this as soon as I can grab a physical copy for myself.

Thanks so much to Harper Perennial as well as NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eGalley of this book in exchange for my honest review.