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Reading lists

Debut novels of 2025: discover the year’s breakthrough new voices

Sash Bischoff

Nothing is what it appears in this brooding story of revenge wrapped up in a homage to Fitzgerald

The stage is set for an intoxicating game of revenge. With themes of misogyny and toxicity, this is a beguiling slow burn

A breathlessly fun, dark, and twisty tale of feminist revenge

Lisa Genova, author of STILL ALICE and MORE OR LESS MADDY

Sweet Fury is cunningly ambitious, and rises to all its own challenges: twisty and immersive, it seduces you into a story so compelling that you aren't ready for the sucker-punch of its deeper truths. This is a hell of a debut

Rebecca Makkai, author of I HAVE SOME QUESTIONS FOR YOU

Wildly imaginative, very dark . . . filled with surprises, unpredictable in its denouement, this audacious first novel is a subversive and highly entertaining exploration of the theme of ‘romance’ itself

With her powerful, sensuous prose, Sash Bischoff electrifies in her stunning debut novel. The story sweeps us into the intoxicating world of movies and magic, seduction and betrayal, exploring how we construct our own histories, and how fragile our realities really are. Sweet Fury is the book you’ve been waiting to read, the one that will make you fall in love and keep you guessing right up until the final pages. The novel asks if we can ever truly know each other, and how love can destroy as much as it creates. Like a fist inside a velvet glove, Sweet Fury delivers a tender punch.

With its audacious, shape-shifting plot and dazzling characters, Sweet Fury is an irresistible novel, always one step ahead of the reader. I love what it reveals about contemporary mores, about our love of cinema and the way we still too often judge women as either heroines or victims. A gorgeous debut.

Margot Livesey, author of THE BOY IN THE FIELD

A whirlwind of a debut, Sweet Fury is arch yet artful—an ecstatic, ekphrastic, high/low re-examination of F. Scott Fitzgerald's darkest romance, set in the roaring 2020s.

Rachel Lyon, author of SELF-PORTRAIT WITH BOY and FRUIT OF THE DEAD

A beguiling tale of abuse and ambition . . . Bischoff reveals one surprising secret after another, all the way until the bombshell final twist. It’s an inspired first outing

Sweet Fury is a gorgeous literary thriller, filled with a cast of glamorous and tragic characters that feel like they might just have stepped out of a modern-day F. Scott Fitzgerald novel. I absolutely devoured this smart, sensual, and twisty story of revenge

Jillian Cantor, bestselling author of BEAUTIFUL LITTLE FOOLS

Sash Bischoff combines luminous prose with fiendishly clever twists in this magnetic gift of a novel, tackling obsession, fame, victimhood and villainization

Laura Hankin, author of ONE-STAR ROMANCE and HAPPY & YOU KNOW IT

Sash Bischoff’s audacious debut novel is a sharp, seductive thriller that probes the dark underbelly of Hollywood, exposing the blurry lines between victim and villain, love and revenge. This is a thrilling examination of fame, obsession, and the hidden power dynamics that shape our lives, blending psychological suspense with a fierce critique of gender and power. A twisty, delicious read!

Fans of thrillers like Alex Michaelides' The Silent Patient will enjoy this enticing, addictive yarn.

Crafty . . . Trying to stay one step ahead of who is playing whom accounts for most of the book’s pleasures

You're not sure who to believe or trust, but one thing is for sure: you won't see the ending coming

Famous film star Lila Crayne is America's Sweetheart: she's generous and kind, gorgeous and magnetic. A golden girl. She and her fiancé, visionary filmmaker Kurt Royall, have settled into a stunning New York apartment, and are embarking on a new movie: a modern feminist adaptation of a classic twentieth-century novel. 
 
To prepare for the leading role, Lila begins work with charming and accomplished therapist Jonah Gabriel to dig into the trauma of her past. Soon, Lila's impeccably manicured life begins to unravel on the therapy couch - and Jonah is just the man to pick up the pieces. But everyone has a secret, no one is quite who they seem, and before long, careers, reputations and lives are in danger of being irrevocably destroyed . . .

Articles featuring Sash Bischoff

Debut novels of 2025: discover the year’s breakthrough new voices

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