Chemistry

Praise

Winner of the PEN/Hemingway Award

A Washington Post Notable Book

One of the Best Books of the Year: NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Ann Patchett on PBS NewsHour, Minnesota Public Radio, PopSugar, Maris Kreizman, The Morning News

Winner of Ploughshares’ John C. Zacharis Award

Winner of a Whiting Award

A Belletrist Amuse Book

“A comic and often precarious journey. . . . Told in a hilarious deadpan that recalls Gish Jen and Nora Ephron.” —O, The Oprah Magazine

“Winningly original. . . . Pithy, casually brilliant. . . . So fresh and intimate and mordantly funny that she feels less like fiction than a friend you’ve known forever.” —Entertainment Weekly 

“The most assured novel about indecisiveness you’ll ever read. . . . An emotionally devastating novel about being young today.” —The Washington Post  
 
“Endearing. . . . [Has] generous measures of humor and emotion.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Starts as a charming confection and then proceeds to add on layers of emotional depth and complexity with every page. . . . I loved this novel.” —Ann Patchett, author of Bel Canto

“Told in short, penetrating bursts, the book is frequently mordantly funny and gets under your skin in a way that makes you really root for the narrator.” —Chicago Tribune

“Funny, original, compelling. . . . In a word, this debut is: elemental.” —Amy Hempel

“A genuine piece of literature: wise, humorous, and moving.” —Ha Jin, National Book Award–winning author of Waiting

“[An] outstanding debut. . . . Chemistry may be the funniest novel ever written about living with depression.” —People

“With its limpid style, comic verve, and sensitive examination of love, need, and aspiration, this exquisitely soul-searching novel is sure to be one of the most outstanding debuts of the year.” —Sigrid Nunez

“Gemlike. . . . Slim enough to be wolfed down in one sitting, yet rich enough to merit an immediate re-read.” —Celeste Ng, author of Little Fires Everywhere

“A poignant tale of self-discovery that anyone who’s ever felt a little lost will relate to.” —Buzzfeed

“You won’t need a science background to fall in love with this contemplative debut novel.. . . Insightful (and always entertaining).” —Paste

“A funny, wise debut about the heartache of uncertainty and the struggle to please others while forging one’s own path.” —Nando Pelusi, Psychology Today
 
“Mesmerizing. . . . Illuminat[es] a corner of the human experience that’s woefully underexplored. By the last page I was devastated, transported, and craving more.” —Emily Gould, author of Friendship

“Chemistry (appropriately enough) explodes the stereotype of the model minority. Wang’s voice is a revelation.” —Peter Ho Davies, author of The Fortunes