by Julie Buxbaum
First sentence: “We are luminous and horrifying, a parade of surprises.”
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Release date: March 30, 2027
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, talk of death and dying, and on-page (but not graphic) BDSM. It will be in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

Once every 10 years or so, Hazel Stein finds herself on a party bus with various iterations of herself. She’s there at ages 8, 18, 28, 39, 49, 57, 68, and 77. And throughout the course of the book, they take turns telling the story of her life. It’s a good life; it has its ups and downs, hard years and good years, but in the end it’s one to be proud of.

There’s not much of a plot; it’s all about characters. And I cared about Hazel, her family, her friends, and the trajectory of her life. It was a heartwarming and life-affirming book, one that reminds us that it’s not what we do but rather who we are that matters in the end. And that’s worth reading about.

If I’m fully honest, the framing of the party bus through space and time is a bit weird (like, how does it work? Can she change the trajectory of her life? Will knowing things – though she doesn’t really, because she can’t remember much – be good or bad?), but it’s less about that, and so I let those questions go. It’s more about growing older and finding meaning in the simple things.

And I can get behind that.