Fade Into You

Darling brings 1990s Los Angeles to high-octane life in her debut, a whirlwind of burgeoning sexuality, drug use, and self-actualization. The novel opens with Nikki Darling arriving to commotion at her private arts high school—she watches her classmate Claire Chang get wheeled out on a stretcher after being caught cutting herself during class. Witnessing this situation only seems to confirm Nikki’s already ambivalent feelings toward school, where she’s on probation due to spotty attendance. Her divorced parents are too absent to provide any guidance—her mother is busy with work as well as with Nikki’s faraway sister’s abusive relationship, and her father is emotionally unavailable. Without any restrictions or responsibilities, Nikki spends her time cutting class; getting high with her friends; crushing on the beautiful Mike, who likes men; and ruminating on her virginity with the gorgeous and promiscuous Dan. Underneath all this pointed aimlessness is the anxious thrum and veiled violence that accompanies the transition from adolescence to adulthood, especially for young women. Though the book falters from the disconnectedness between scenes, the cultural references, sharp teenage dialogue, and astute observations will transport readers back to their own teenage years, whether those took place during the ’90s or not, making this an electric novel. (Nov.)