Reviews
Praise for Better by Far "Hazel Hayes is a great writer. . . . Bittersweet is the vibe, and she does it with rare class." --Matt Haig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library "Heart-wrenching and healing in equal measure, Better by Far offers a double-edged (and incredibly poignant) look at what it means to grieve -- stinging one moment and soothing the next. Hazel Hayes' characters and prose have that innate capacity to make the reader feel truly seen, tackling themes like love and loss with immense grace, warmth, and nuance. On the first page, Hayes notes that 'we wear our feelings, wrapping them around ourselves like cloaks...' I'd argue this story is equally engulfing, wrapping itself around you until the very last chapter." --Genevieve Wheeler, author of Adelaide "A geography of loneliness, a map of the liminal spaces of heartbreak, and a testament to grief's ability to supplant any narrative, Better by Far is a tender and powerful book that simultaneously bruised and healed me. I leaked all the way through this deeply felt and moving journey." -- Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty, Praise for Better by Far "Hazel Hayes is a great writer. . . . Bittersweet is the vibe, and she does it with rare class." --Matt Haig, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Midnight Library "Heart-wrenching and healing in equal measure, Better by Far offers a double-edged (and incredibly poignant) look at what it means to grieve -- stinging one moment and soothing the next. Hazel Hayes' characters and prose have that innate capacity to make the reader feel truly seen, tackling themes like love and loss with immense grace, warmth, and nuance. On the first page, Hayes notes that 'we wear our feelings, wrapping them around ourselves like cloaks...' I'd argue this story is equally engulfing, wrapping itself around you until the very last chapter." --Genevieve Wheeler, author of Adelaide "A geography of loneliness, a map of the liminal spaces of heartbreak, and a testament to grief's ability to supplant any narrative, Better by Far is a tender and powerful book that simultaneously bruised and healed me. I leaked all the way through this deeply felt and moving journey." -- Ling Ling Huang, author of Natural Beauty "Not only does Hayes have a knack for voice-driven narration, she also evokes the sights and sounds of the region...This is bursting with feeling." --Publishers Weekly "A complex, richly literary, and surprising break-up novel." --Booklist
Synopsis
One of Zibby Mag's Most Anticipated Books Coming Out in 2024 One of SheNet's Highly Anticipated Books of 2024 A genre-bending story about love and loss, hope and heartbreak, and the healing to be found in life's little limbos, those in-between spaces where you're no longer who you were and not yet the person you will be About her debut, Out of Love, Hazel Hayes said, "The journey from writing horror to writing love stories was a short one. There is nothing more horrific than love." In her new novel, she sets out to prove it. This genre-defying, meta-modern novel is unlike anything you have ever read, and yet at its core it is a story we all deeply understand. A story of love and liminality, and the ways in which grief grips us all. Prepare to laugh and cry; Hazel Hayes will break your heart, but then she'll mend it for you. Following a breakup, Kate and Finn decide to keep sharing their house until the lease runs out in twelve weeks' time, alternating week by week so that they are occupying the same space but never at the same time. Practically, the plan makes sense, but coming back each Sunday to a home where Finn has been and gone feels far too much like living with a ghost. Kate lost her mother at a young age and now this fresh grief dredges unhealed sorrows up to the surface, and soon, Kate finds herself adrift in her own subconscious, trapped in the liminal space between loving someone and letting go., Of her debut Out of Love, Hazel Hayes said, 'The journey from writing horror to writing love stories was a short one. There is nothing more horrific than love.' In her second novel, she sets out to prove it. Following a breakup, Kate and her now ex-boyfriend Finn decide to continue sharing their apartment until the lease runs out in twelve weeks. They will alternate living there week by week so that they are sharing the same space, but never at the same time. Practically, the plan makes sense, but coming back each Sunday to a home where Finn has been and gone, finding traces of him there, feels too much like living with a ghost. Having lost her mother at a young age, this fresh grief pushes unhealed sorrows to the surface, and Kate finds herself sinking further into increasingly macabre dreams, which begin to soak through the veil of sleep into her waking world. All the while, Kate is trying to write her second novel, but she finds herself instead writing to Finn. Spilling all her thoughts and fears onto the page, she tells him the things she knows he'll never hear. Around her, life carries on as usual, but Kate feels caught in a threshold between lives, floating between her past and present, suspended in the air, having let go of one thing but not yet grabbed onto the next.
