First of all, as a fellow basement-apartment-dweller I have to say, “…on the cushion that already has a tear in it from when I tried to kill a house centipede with a butcher knife” (p. 46) is the most relatable sentence I’ve ever read. I laughed out loud for a full minute.

It’s hard for me to figure out what to say about this book without spoiling the whole thing, but I think I can safely say that it probably isn’t what you expect it’s going to be. If you go into this book expecting a rom-com like Hot Frosty, you’ll be sadly disappointed. If you go into it expecting a sci-fi horror like The Blob, well… you should probably start paying more attention to blurbs.

The blurb on this one reads, “A humorous and deeply moving debut novel in the vein of Bunny and Convenience Store Woman about a young woman who tries to shape a sentient blob into her perfect boyfriend.” Speaking as someone who LOVES Bunny and Convenience Store Woman, both for their quirkiness and for their unconventional message of “it’s actually not very healthy to expect another person or a different situation to heal you or make you feel whole,” I can attest to the accuracy of this description. Spoiler alert: The “love story” in Blob is the main character learning to love herself.

And boy, is that ever a difficult journey for Vi Liu, the daughter of a Taiwanese father and a white American mother who feels out of place in both worlds. Vi is messy and socially awkward, has a fear of abandonment that makes her run away from any potential emotional attachment, isn’t smart enough for the career her parents want for her but isn’t strong enough to stand up to them about it, and can’t move on from the one serious relationship she’s ever had because she’s never understood what he saw in her in the first place. Enter the sentient blob she scoops off the sidewalk one night while drunk. The blob seems to like her and does anything she asks it to. Maybe that means it’ll never abandon her? But can it ever bring a person happiness to be in complete control of someone else?

I related a lot to Vi, and Maggie Su’s writing sucked me right into her world, making me laugh and cry and squirm and generally have a great time. Vi may strike many readers as unlikeable, but to me she feels all too real, and her character arc feels earned and believable. Without spoiling too much, the final conversation between Vi and the blob is so moving and perfectly encapsulates everything that this book is trying to say. So far, this is my favourite read of 2025, and you can bet I’ll be watching for Maggie Su’s next publication. This is as flawless as a debut novel gets.

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