I’ve been so excited for Pool House and Mary H.K. Choi’s adult debut. And this debut was such a phenomenal character study and complex family book. I wasn’t disappointed and the audiobook was great! Keep reading this book review of Pool House for my full thoughts.
Summary
Stevie Moon cannot escape her mother. Abandoning college plans to work a dead-end job, her days are a purgatorial bore. Many dream of moving to L.A. and into the spotlight, but Stevie can’t wait to move away from it, and her mother’s orbit, to start over.
Delilah (not her real name) or “Moon” (as everyone calls her) is many an out-of-work actress, a former alcoholic, whatever a mistress becomes when she’s widowed, and a mother. Reeling in the aftermath of her lover and TV husband’s death, Moon struggles to process her grief. And the last thing she expects is for Stevie to leave her too.
Unable to afford their home, Moon and Stevie rent it out and live in their glass pool house. But when Adam, Moon’s former TV son and Stevie’s forever crush, arrives for the funeral, the three are pulled into a messy orbit, moving back into the ‘Big House’ and playacting a picture-perfect family even as tensions rise and relationships unravel.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
I’ve been excited for Pool House for so long. Mary H.K. Choi is fantastic at character work and so in this adult space was promising. And it was full of intricate character work and decisions, the idea of playing house and the illusions we put up. Pool House is razor sharp with an instant feel of realness to the mistakes of these characters. To their flaws, the ugly mistakes they make, and their inability to make amends. They feel instantly real to us with their lack of filter. Pool House dwells in these uncomfortable moments of authenticity. How we take care of our parents and this relationship of resentment and love, but also the need to escape.
It’s full of experiences we have, but that change us. The ones we think will live with us forever that we will never get over, but then we eventually move on. There are incredibly nuanced and complex character relationships. Pool House also features multiple characters and we can see the secrets, the betrayal, the resentment as they circle each other. It’s entrancing to watch the crash coming as they collide and the illusions shatter. Joy Osmanski does a phenomenal job at narrating their doubts and the tender hopes we know will be extinguished.
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Find Pool House on Goodreads, Storygraph, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.