a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 Debutiful
"A breath of fresh air."
Purewow
"For fans of Elif Batuman and Sally Rooney."
Allegra Hyde
"Brimming with charm and philosophical humor, The Skunks sweeps readers into a young woman’s first foray into adulthood. This is a novel that asks big questions of friendship, romantic firsts, and finding one’s way in the world. Prepare to be dazzled—Fiona Warnick is a wunderkind."
Chelsea Bieker
"One summer can change everything in The Skunks. A relatable and heartwarming capture of that pivotal coming of age moment in early adulthood when the world is demanding you make declarations about who you are, but you aren't quite sure yet. Warnick gets at the pangs of awkward encounters, the trials of returning to your hometown, and most of all, finding love within yourself. An inventive new novel that ensures you'll never think of skunks the same way. A joy to read."
Annie Hartnett
"The Skunks is a gleaming, zany little gem—a novel that perfectly captures the weirdness of being young and just out of college, and not sure what comes next. Compassionate, quirky, and beautifully written, I adored it."
Booklist
"Charming and amusing...an intriguing narrative that will inspire readers to rediscover their own fondness for the strangely ordinary parts of life."
Jenny Fran Davis
"A sly, graceful ode to the natural world, to the gray areas of human relationships, to love, to friendship, and to stories, The Skunks captivated me from the first page and kept on surprising me til the very end."
Summer Says
"For lovers of Sally Rooney, meet your new favorite author! A gorgeous coming-of-age story about love, desire, friendship, ambition, and modern life. "
Shelf Awareness
"A thoughtful and warm-hearted ode to the end of adolescence. . . . A coming-of-age literary gem."
Denver Public Library
"A gorgeous coming of age story about love, desire, friendship, ambition, and modern life."
A Most Anticipated Debut of 2024 Barnes & Noble
"Trying to make sense of what it means to be back home after college and feeling not quite grown up but not quite a child, Fiona Warnick explores this odd in-between."
The New York Times Book Review
"Charming. . . . earnest. . . . [Readers] will be moved by the authenticity of Isabel’s reflections."
Associated Press
"Who knew a quarter-life crisis could be so engaging and delightful? Who knew Skunks were so charming and thoughtful? This book passed like a dream."
a Best Book of May TIME
"A hilarious look at post-grad life and the loneliness, uncertainty, and occasional joy that comes with it."
Library Journal
05/03/2024
DEBUT Warnick's charming and quirky first novel speaks to a fairly familiar experience for the Generation Z demographic who upon finishing college find themselves at loose ends, seeking to figure out what's next for them. In that mode, Isabel has returned to her hometown and taken a housesitting gig, as well as a couple of other jobs, for the summer. The home for which she is responsible belongs to a couple whose son Eli was the object of Isabel's high school crush. The summer represents the ending of Isabel's adolescence, and Warnick uses the season to explore young love, friendship, and the complexities of human nature through Isabel's often-awkward interactions with just about everyone. Warnick also delights readers with imaginative musings on the lives of juvenile skunks that Isabel has discovered are living under her summer residence. These thoughts enrich Isabel's coming-of-age story and add gentle humor to an overall positive and joyful story. VERDICT A character-driven convivial novel.—Faye A. Chadwell
JUNE 2024 - AudioFile
Mara Wilson gives a charming, thoughtful performance of this contemporary novel. The summer after her college graduation, Isabel is house-sitting and wondering what to do with her life. When she discovers a family of skunks living in the bushes, a tiny world opens up before her. Switching back and forth between Isabel's and the skunks' points of view, this novel delightfully explores uncertainty, relationships, and the beauty of the mundane. Wilson's clear, bright voice suits Isabel's youth and curiosity, and brings warmth and tenderness to the skunks' view of the natural world. As Isabel settles into a routine, she becomes more fascinated with them. Wilson's tender and reflective narration prompts listeners to slow down and be observers. C.R. © AudioFile 2024, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2024-02-17
Returning to her hometown after college, Isabel must confront past characters and forge new paths and unexpected attachments to…skunks?
It’s the first summer after graduation; Isabel is housesitting for Jan and Steve, who are hiking part of the Appalachian Trail. She takes a part-time job as a receptionist at a yoga studio; she babysits a spunky 4-year-old named Cecelia; she goes on walks and coffee dates with her childhood friend, Ellie; she watches the three skunks that appear occasionally in Jan and Steve’s backyard. And she tries not to think about boys—namely, she tries not to think about Jan and Steve’s son, Eli, with whom she has a complicated past, and with whom a friendship begins to kindle. The arc of Isabel’s summer is cut by vignettes of the personified skunks, imagined by Isabel as possessors of a near-human interiority, exploring the natural world and the meaning of existence—pondering callings and purposes, self-realization, joy, death. These brief scenes gracefully highlight Isabel’s own existential contemplations: Does she have a calling or purpose? What does it mean for her to discover her own desires and aspirations? Are their discoveries really so different, in the end? Isabel’s postgraduate crises feel acute and authentic: “I was working in a yoga studio, and the people in Philadelphia were working in coffee shops. What made it more acceptable to flounder in a new place than in a place steeped with memories?” At its best, 23-year-old Warnick’s debut novel is strikingly, openly earnest, looking inward with thoughtful reflection and outward with shrewd but impartial consideration. Through Isabel, we see the thrilling scope of youthful possibility: cities to explore, boys (and girls) to kiss, friends with which to reconnect, skunks to observe.
A thoughtful, tenderhearted bildungsroman.
