Magma

Magma is profane, funny, and uncomfortably honest about what happens when we substitute someone’s image of us for self-knowledge. -- Brandon Taylor * Vulture *
A compulsive, propulsive debut about a young woman’s exploration of love and sex . . . Thora Hjörleifsdóttir’s narrator pulls us into the tale of her near undoing and her struggle to find her own value. -- Lily King, author of Writers & Lovers
A luminous and poetic novel . . . How to describe the slow escalation by which possession becomes control, and power abuse? [Hjörleifsdóttir] has created a whole new landscape for storytelling. -- John Freeman, author of How to Read a Novelist
A novel that speaks directly to its present age . . . An incredibly compelling book * Iceland National Radio *
Bulleted, candid, first-person prose that parallels the quickness in which women’s lives can become less their own. * Lit Hub *
Unsettling . . . an achingly plausible mix of verve and bluntness . . . Throughout, Hjörleifsdóttir's fresh prose disturbingly evokes the young woman’s unmoored state. The burnished micro-chapters form a narrative necklace of gems. * Publishers Weekly *
Hjörleifsdóttir's heart-wrenching American debut is a raw and empathetic depiction of a woman so subtly manipulated into an abusive relationship that she loses her sense of self and cannot find a way out . . . masterfully written * Booklist *
Arresting . . . [Magma] urgently explores the challenges and costs of a young woman’s passionate yet toxic relationship. * Time, 'Best Books of Summer 2021' *
Beautifully spare prose . . . A powerful excavation of what can go wrong when you love another. -- Literary Hub, '38 Novels You Need to Read This Summer'
Mesmerizing . . . Hjörleifsdóttir dives deep into the fire-rivers of lust, just how much humiliation we’re willing to tolerate in the name of love. -- Oprah Daily