I thought The Leavers was really well done, and I found myself reaching out to friends to talk about it. I just had so many feels! 
 I believe this is Lisa Ko's debut novel, and boy does she show promise of crafting complex characters who are unflinchingly flawed. In The Leavers, the character choices are often frustrating but usually understandable. 
 The plot itself revolves around Polly, a single mother and undocumented Chinese immigrant, who goes missing one day in New York. Polly and her son, Deming, are then both at the mercy of systems beyond their control. And Ko's story does a great (unsettling, fascinating) job of unmooring both characters, making me feel both may never feel at home anywhere, ever again.