“The White Hot has the effect of pressing your hand to a barbed live wire. April’s is one of the most memorable voices I’ve encountered in recent fiction: insouciant, observant, endlessly curious… Hers is an emotional travelogue, a taunt and a dare — can Noelle, can we, handle the consequences of freedom, knowing they come at a devastating cost?… [A] brilliant depiction of a woman learning to transform her rage into something resembling transcendence.”
—The New York Times book review
27 New Novels To Read This Fall (New York Times) * The 25 Best Books of Fall 2025 (Oprah Daily) * 30 Books to Read This Fall (LA Times) * Fall Preview 2025: Quiara Alegría Hudes (Kirkus) * The 30 Best Book Releases of Fall 2025 (Harpers Bazaar) * 12 Brand New Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Fall (NPR)
“It’s a profound journey of the soul... This staggering gut punch of a novel shows that sometimes love looks like leaving.”
—Kirkus starred review
“This sizzles.”
—Publisher’s Weekly starred review
“Hudes offers an expansive, surprising coming-of-age story about both a mother and a daughter… An epic and astonishing journey of self-discovery.”
—Shelf Awareness review
“Dignified, sexy, and true, with lines burned indelibly into my heart.”
—Marie-Helene Bertino, author of Beautyland
“One of the most heart wrenching literary rides you will take in your life.”
—Angie Cruz, author of Dominicana
“The brown-Latina modern-day Siddartha Hermann Hesse never saw coming… Gracias Hudes for gifting us April Soto, a force of a voice that will stay with me forever.”
—Javier Zamora, author of Solito
“Primordial scream meets brilliant argument.”
—Jennifer Croft, author of The Extinction of Irena Rey
“A stunning debut.”
—Esmeralda Santiago, author of When I Was Puerto Rican