“Bold, cheeky and visceral….A very modern novel by a very exciting debut novelist.”
—Vogue (UK)
“In Sams’s fictional worlds, the edges between female friendship and desire are as smudged as lipstick after a long night partying….Sams writes in the disarming voice of a bored teenager with a gift for one-liners and sudden moments of poetry.”
—The Guardian (UK)
“Young motherhood reimagined by an exciting new literary voice….A warm, often funny novel about an unconventional partnership….A joy to read.”
—The Times (UK)
“Masterful, very original and moving….Tackles these big, amorphous things with such easy elegance….A very visceral book: the stickiness of the club the raw animality of birth, the milky yearnings of the baby….I love the way [Sams] describes things.”
—Pandora Sykes, author of How Do We Know We’re Doing it Right
“A literary wunderkind….Acutely observed and tight in focus.”
—Harpers Bazaar (UK)
“Sams’s prose is fresh as new paint….Raw, powerful and beautiful in the plain-spokenness of a life cracking open to enfold a new being.”
—The Observer (UK)
“A hotly anticipated debut….The perfect depiction of nights out, complete with sours shots and sticky floors.”
—The Independent (UK)
“This tender fictional debut….Looks at blended families and nontraditional life choices. Prepare for one of the best birth scenes written on the page along with an original and ageless relationship between two women….This will make you think differently about parenting, friendships and the goals we set in life.”
—Elle (UK)
“Saba Sams depicts a love growing between two women that is romantic, at times explosive, and evades a label—an exploration of a chosen family that sits in uncertainty.”
—The Times Literary Supplement (UK)
“An elusive, idiosyncratic book that I would not want to have been written any differently.”
—Naoise Dolan, The Irish Times
“Imbued with an affecting authenticity of feeling, this is an involving exploration of life, love and family forged beyond labels by one of Gen Z’s sharpest observers.”
—The Daily Mail (UK)
“Sams’ poignant tale parks issues of identity as essentially unknowable and simply glories in the mess of life.”
—Financial Times (UK)
“Gunk bristles with confidence….Sams’ other superpower, other than reaching into a treasure trove of fizzy, lyrical metaphors, is her worldbuilding: the reader can all but see and smell the dank walls of Gunk, and taste the sea air of the Brighton seafront….Gunk offers a refreshing revision on conventional romance, family and friendship….Gunk sees Sams more than live up to the considerable hype around her.”
—The Irish Independent
“A vivid, reflective exploration of parenthood, personhood, and desire….Sams shines in the details, never shying away from the unsavory, gunky side of life.”
—Kirkus
“This psychologically acute debut novel breezes by in short chapters that carry heft.”
—Booklist