I Love You Don't Die - by Jade Song (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Acclaimed author Jade Song (Chlorine) returns with her latest literary exploration: a lyrical, poignant, and heartfelt novel about the meaning of love, friendship, debt, depression, and death in New York City--a coming-of-age for a new generation, in the vein of Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh.

For as far back as she can remember, Vicky has been fascinated and obsessed with death as the only inevitable thing in life. From living above a Chinatown funeral parlor to working at a celebrity start-up for bespoke urns, she has surrounded herself with death--in her home, in her work, and in her ever-growing collection of zhizha, paper creations meant to be burned for the dead, adorning the walls of her apartment. Yet, though living in Manhattan and working her dream job is all she ever wanted, she still struggles to have meaningful connections--or find any meaning at all--in her life. Too often she spends the day in bed, only drawn out from time to time by her best (and only) friend, Jen.

That changes when a dating app leads her into a throuple with an artist and a labor organizer, who offer exactly the kind of love she needs. For some time, it's perfect, but no one understands better than Vicky that all things must end. As doubts grow over the love in her life, her friendship with Jen, and her professional success, the oddly comforting abstraction of death starts becoming something else altogether. With everything beginning to feel hollow and temporary, Vicky must decide how to keep moving forward. To try and hold on to what she has, or to once again do what she does best: destroy.

Review Quotes

"This book was viscerally unnerving and I could not put it down." -- Sarah Gailey, author of The Echo Wife

"Ren Yu is a fierce young woman who's dreamed of mermaids ever since she can remember--dreams so vivid that the first touch of water in a swimming pool alters her life forever, sending her down a path that's both beautiful and frightening. Chlorine isn't just a coming of age story. It's the tale of transformation from human to something wilder and more transcendent. It's about love and longing and the willingness to do anything to become who you truly are." -- Richard Kadrey, New York Times bestselling author of the Sandman Slim series

"Ms. Song is good on the growing pains of young adulthood...[This is] a book that enlivens its coming-of-age yarn with a touch of mystery and a twist of myth." -- The Economist

"This fantastically strange, explosive debut novel entrances even as it unsettles. It's so brilliantly written." -- Buzzfeed

"In Song's disturbing and visionary debut, a child pushed too hard to succeed becomes a monster of her own making... The body horror is striking, as is Song's prose, in which she riffs on the various ways the team members are "mutilated" ("We mutilated our beauty, though this sense of beauty was an outdated version defined by narrow wrists and bird bones"). It's a singular coming-of-age." -- Publishers Weekly

"A notable debut that marks a distinctive career to watch." -- Kirkus Reviews

"A visceral and startling debut novel by Jade Song, Chlorine is a portrait of ambition, defiance and longing set in the world of competitive swimming... Song invites readers to enter into Ren's obsessions not with judgment or disgust, but with an understanding that is surprisingly tender in the face of the novel's abrasion." -- Shelf Awareness

"Like the scent of chlorine on one's skin, this not-to-be-missed debut novel lingers." -- Library Journal (starred review)

"With their debut novel, Song presents a beautiful and horrific coming-of-age story about the power of transcendence to become who you truly are." -- This is Horror

"Chlorine is not for the faint of heart. Fierce and visceral, it seethes with rage and pain and the urgency of transformation. There are no pretty mermaids wearing seashell bras here, but readers open to sinking into darker waters will be captivated." -- Ann Claycomb, author of the forthcoming Silenced

"...Chlorine is an exceptionally strong debut. It's shocking and tender, fantastical and intimate, gorgeous and grotesque. After reading "Chlorine," readers will not only forget everything they know about mermaids -- they may never look at a mermaid the same way again." -- The Harvard Crimson

"Song's harrowing novel subverts the standards of merfolk lore -- clamshell bras, underwater kingdoms, the love of a sailor or prince."
-- New York Times Book Review

"...a tender story of a lonely outcast girl who just wanted to transcend into a body which reveled in power not pain." -- The Fantasy Hive

"[A] powerful debut novel" -- Locus Magazine

"Transformation, whether supernatural or not, is often riddled with loss and difficulty, and Jade Song boldly refuses to let us forget that." -- Xtra Magazine

"Chlorine not just a single work but a dialogue between many different works." -- The Boston Globe