The Maris Review, vol 85

Maris Kreizman

23 Dec 2025 — 3 min read

Most anticipated of 2026, part 3

What I read this week

The Sisters by Jonas Hassen Khemiri

What if The Virgin Suicides was narrated by only one neighborhood boy, and it was more about the boy than the Lisbon sisters, and the neighborhood boy's name was Jeffrey Eugenides? The Sisters is a story of obsession, and while the objects of the obsession get the title of the novel, it's the author and/or narrator – the one who's obsessed – who we really spend time with.

We meet the Mikkola sisters over a span of 35 years in the novel starting in Y2K, which is epic in length (600+ pages) but never feels loooong. Especially in the beginning chapters, they feel more like archetypes than real people. There's Ina, the tall brainy one; Evelyn, the beautiful raconteur; and Anastasia, the madcap artist youngest. They, like Jonas the narrator, are half Tunisian and they live in Sweden, and most importantly, they profoundly desire to be rid of family curses. If Jonas the narrator feels an irresistible pull towards them, then maybe it's because all four of them are trying to outrun the mental illness that plagues their own parents.

Over time, which moves in weird and wonderful ways in The Sisters, Ina and Evelyn and Anastasia begin to feel like real people even if they will always remain a kind of fantasy for Jonas.

The Compound by Aisling Rawle

I can't say I loved every moment in this book about contestants in a reality show that takes place just this side of dystopia. I thought the ending was unsatisfying and I had a lot of unanswered questions about some of the personal relationships between the contestants. And yet. I wanted to be with The Compound all the time while I was listening to it. I wanted to go on long walks and clean my kitchen with a little more precision. That counts for something in my book – a lot, actually.

If someone was gonna find the book angle in Pluribus it was gonna be me

"Her resistance reflects a profound optimism about the state of the world and the state of art in it. Carol may be flawed and obtuse and insensitive, but at least she’s trying." Read me in The Atlantic on Pluribus.