A stunning debut that shatters expectations, genre, and control in an intimately human story with a touch of magic
— Amanda Khong, Bookish Brews
Bookish Brews Snapshot
Liar, Dreamer, Thief by Maria Dong
Katrina Kim swears she isn’t a stalker even though she has an obsession with her coworker Kurt. She’s meticulously built her life around her coping mechanisms. But when Kurt leaves her a cryptic message implying he knows of her obsession, her life begins to crumble before her eyes.
💫 Atmospheric 📖 Couldn’t Put It Down 😭 Emotional 🎢 Thriller
- Genre: Fantasy, Speculative Fiction, Thriller
Book Review
Compelling, thrilling, immersive, transcendent, compulsive, enthralling
Liar, Dreamer, Thief is an immensely ambitious novel that doesn’t miss the mark once. It brilliantly tackles mental health, workplace isolation, estrangement, support or lack thereof, reunions and so much more. Maria Dong manages to cast her net wide and catch every ambition perfectly. This book is an absolute treat for anyone looking for a novel that feels both escapist and all too real all at once.
Katrina Kim is the black sheep of her family but she isn’t a stalker. She may have an obsession with her coworker, Kurt, but despite what her roommate says she isn’t stalking him. Her obsession is just a coping mechanism, just like her visions and her number rituals. But when Katrina finds a cryptic message from Kurt implying he knows she’s been watching him, her carefully constructed life begins to crumble. In a desperate act to reclaim control, she arrives to the Cayatoga Bridge just in time to witness Kurt’s suicide and have him blame it on her.
Liar, Dreamer, Thief is a truly stand out novel. The prose so beautifully matches Katrina Kim’s voice. One mark of a great novel is when the prose matches the characters, which is not something that is often mastered, and Maria Dong blows it out of the water. This story flows like a train of thought and switches direction in the blink of an eye but as readers, we’re always guided with ease. Even as we intimately navigate the bumpy road of Katrina’s mind. This story gifts us with a perfect balance of feeling out of control but also knowing we can trust the author to bring us to the end.
A strict story structure isn’t the right way to tell certain stories, and Liar, Dreamer, Thief is one of those stories. The narrative jumps and layers and deepens at every corner. It hides things from us in a way that we often hide things from ourselves. But it also helps us re-find those lost pieces of ourselves alongside Katrina unraveling Kurt’s story as well as her own. This is a novel of contradictions finding a perfect harmony amongst staggering dichotomy. A truly impressive debut. I cannot wait for more from Maria Dong.
Liar, Dreamer, Thief transcends expectations, genre, identity, capitalism, and structure to construct a genuinely showstopping story. Maria Dong brings her brilliance to the page in a way that will leave her words with you for weeks.
