Before the movement to increase representation of Asian-Americans in media, there were so few of our stories told that when we did get the chance to tell one, it was usually a story that would paint the Asian-American experience in a sympathetic light. I think there’s tremendous value to this, and I think there’s also tremendous value in now shedding light on unlikeable, unsympathetic parts of the Asian-American experience as well that are not as heart-warming but just as real – the intense drive for worldly success and competitive and cutthroat parts of the culture that we don’t talk about as much but anyone can see.
I wanted to write a story about failure. Like Elizabeth, I experienced an event during my senior year that made me completely lose my bearings. I had gotten an incredibly prestigious and selective internship in private equity for the summer between my junior and senior year that basically propelled me to star status among the finance kids at school. I don’t think I was actually that interested in private equity, but I was deeply insecure and I used the status of the internship as a crutch to feel good about myself, to no longer feel inferior to everyone at school who was smarter, richer, more attractive than me. The internship felt like a pivotal moment for me. Most interns are offered the chance to work there full-time, and I felt like working there was the payoff that I’d been working for my entire life. Anyway, it did end up being a pivotal moment, but not for the reason I thought. At the end of the summer, I didn’t get the return offer.
It was such a shock — everything I had worked for, everything that made me worthy – poof, gone.
Long story short, I hit rock bottom. Fortunately, I didn’t go the lengths that Elizabeth did, but I did fall into a pretty deep depression that took me a long time to recover from. In the end, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
If it hadn’t, I would’ve never been able to write this novel.
An addictive novel about a young woman’s all-consuming obsession with a rival of her own making and the desperate lengths she goes to in order to succeed, by debut author Canwen Xu.
‘Xu is a writer to watch’ Isabel Banta, author of Honey
‘Smart, engaging, and thought-provoking’ Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftover Woman
Elizabeth Zhang knows her place in the world. She knows she’s in the tenth percentile for likability, the seventieth percentile for attractiveness, and the ninety-ninth percentile for academics.
With a hard-working ethic instilled in her by immigrant parents, armed with impeccable grades, Elizabeth thinks she is set for Harvard Law School. Until she is rejected for being too ordinary, which she translates to mean she’s just another boring Asian female. But when her classmate Laura Kim gets in, everything falls apart. Why was Laura accepted? What makes her so interesting?
At first, she follows her because she’s just curious. What Laura eats for lunch. Where Laura shops. The answer for Elizabeth’s failure must lie somewhere in Laura’s life. But still, Elizabeth just can’t see it. The only thing she sees is that Laura has taken her spot at Harvard.
A spot she knows she deserves. A spot that she’ll simply have to take back.
Layered, subversive, and satirical, this novel brings to light how, in the face of societal expectations and self-inflicted pressures, a person can unlock the darkest parts of themselves and show how far they’re willing to go to achieve their vision of success.
On Sale: 26/05/2026