The Eighth Girl

January 13, 2020
Set in London, Mei-Fung Chung’s frenetic debut alternates between two complex and wildly unreliable narrators: Alexa Wú, who has dissociative identity disorder, and her new psychiatrist, Daniel Rosenstein, who seems committed to her treatment. Alexa, an assistant to an accomplished photojournalist, struggles with multiple, distinct personalities that exist inside her head; she also loses time, which often leads to amnesia. Luckily, Alexa has the support of her dearest friend, Ella. Soon after Ella gets a job at a gentlemen’s club, she begins to suspect that her boss, Navid, may be trafficking young women. At Ella’s urging, Alexa helps her gather evidence of Navid’s criminality, but their plans threaten to push Alexa over the edge. The author, whose credentials as a psychoanalytic psychotherapist bring authenticity to the sessions between Alexa and Daniel, sensitively explores Alexa’s traumatic childhood and vividly renders her multiple personalities. However, despite a clever twist, readers will have to suspend disbelief to accept the overly neat conclusion. That said, fans of psychological thrillers will be curious to see what Mei-Fung Chung comes up with next. Agent: Bill Clegg, Clegg Agency.

January 15, 2020
A young woman with dissociative identity disorder is drawn into a criminal enterprise when her best friend starts working at a London gentlemen's club. Each day is a potential struggle for budding photojournalist Alexa Wú, who, as the Host, must juggle the alternate personalities inside her head. She collectively calls them the Flock, which includes 9-year-old Dolly; belligerent and protective Runner; elegant and calm Oneiroi; and the Fouls, who are unpredictable and conniving. Alexa also has dissociative amnesia: She loses time, often awakening to realize she can't remember recent events. Her new psychiatrist, Daniel Rosenstein, gives Alexa tentative hope for the future, and she has the support of her beloved best friend, Ella, who is one of only a few people, including Alexa's stepmother, Anna, who know about Alexa's disorder. When Ella gets a job at a strip club called Electra, Alexa is horrified, but it doesn't keep her from dating Electra's sexy bartender, Shaun, and hanging out at the club with Ella. It's soon clear the sleazy Navid, who runs the Electra, has a hand in some decidedly shady activities, and Alexa reluctantly agrees to help Ella bring him down, leading her into a hellish rabbit hole of depravity. Alexa is an overwhelmingly sympathetic protagonist. The motivations of men understandably consume her--she was sexually abused by her father, and her mother killed herself--and she assumes that most are out to use and control her. Alexa and Ella repeatedly take outrageous risks, leaving readers to wonder why Alexa doesn't just call the police already, and following Alexa's movements within the narrative is often confusing. Alexa and Daniel both narrate, and while Daniel's sessions with Alexa are intriguing (if readers can stomach his growing lust for her), the space devoted to his nonprofessional life feels like filler. Where Chung, who is a practicing psychoanalytic psychotherapist, really shines is in the frenetic juggling of Alexa and her Flock, and some significant narrative gaps do come (mostly) into focus after the big twist is revealed. The well-worn trope of the unreliable narrator soars to new heights in this flawed but often fascinating debut.

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March 1, 2020

DEBUT In this stunning and disturbing first novel, psychotherapist Chung hurls readers into the mind of a young woman suffering from Dissociative Identity Disorder--multiple personalities. Alexa Wú is Nest Builder to the Flock, what she calls her alternate personalities. The Flock took residence when she was nine, when her father visited her in bed at night, after her mother died by suicide. Alexa used to have control over the Body, but now members of the Flock "step into the light" at will, trying to protect Alexa and the Body from the danger at the Electra nightclub and the human traffickers who run it. Psychiatrist Daniel Rosenstein realizes he's ill equipped to handle the anarchy of her different selves as he tries to save Alexa and prevent the Flock from taking total control. VERDICT Chung's compelling debut plumbs the depths of trauma and its long-lasting effects on the human psyche. [See Prepub Alert, 8/25/19.]--K.L. Romo, Duncanville, TX

Copyright 2020 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2019
Alexa Wu is a young woman with a troubled past but potentially bright future, having recently landed an interview for her dream job as a photojournalist. Daniel Rosenstein is a psychiatrist who is working with Alexa to manage her multiple personalities who control the majority of her decisions. When Alexa's best friend Ella begins a job at a shady gentleman's club located in the underbelly of London, Alexa finds herself being pulled into situations that are sinister and criminal, leaving Alexa and the personalities inside of her more unstable and distraught than ever. In her darkest moment, Alexa must prove once and for all that she can overcome her past and the voices that rule over her. Debut author Chung is a psychotherapist, and her approach to Alexa's mental health issues is an interesting one. Though extremely dark and disturbing, this psychological thriller, told in the voice of multiple unreliable narrators, is filled with surprises until the end, and is a fresh take on the suspense genre.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)