novels
HELLO KITTY MUST DIE
A gripping, darkly comic, boldly satiric, and audacious story of a young Chinese American woman who appears docile, but is, in fact, the perfect soul mate for a serial killer.
—Teri Kanefield, author of Rivka's Way
"Darkly humorous, but compulsively readable, Hello Kitty Must Die skewers the stereotypes of Asian girls as Hello Kitties through its protagonist, the enigmatic Fiona Yu. With a knowing wink to Fight Club and The Joy luck Club, Choi sends her characters careening through corrupt law firms and exclusive clubs, finally landing straight in the heart of San Francisco Chinatown, and leaving a trail of blood along the way. Like Pahlaniuk before her, Choi acutely spots what is absurd about life on the margin, and captures the disaffection of being young and smart in a country drowning in excess and saturated in media. A bold, and visceral debut."
—Marie Mutsuki Mockett, author of Picking Bones From Ash
March 2011
Eighteen-year-old Abigail Lin is smart, talented, and utterly miserable. Her everyday life is scarred by a crippling and secret compulsion. But Abigail is not alone in her unhappiness among the best and brightest. Her classmates Sophia Santos and David Wendler have demons of their own. Sophia is lost halfway between wakefulness and sleep, while David wrestles with a food addiction and a lethal erotic obsession.
Except the handsome, privileged, and successful Ethan Lambert seems to have it all - until his behavior takes a bizarre and disturbing turn. Disillusioned and disappointed, these four students are drawn together just as their lives are about to spiral out of control. Will their friendship be enough to guide them through the turbulence of their college years? Or will they succumb to the pressures and neuroses that threaten their sanity and their very lives?
April 2010
300 pages
Paperback | ISBN 9781935562023 | $14.95
Hardcover | ISBN 9781935562030 | $24.95
>> EXCERPT
On the outside, 28-year-old Fiona Yu appears to be just another Hello Kitty – an educated, well-mannered Asian-American woman. Secretly, she feels torn between the traditional Chinese values of her family and the social mores of being an American girl.
To escape the burden of carrying her family's honor, Fiona decides to take her own virginity. In the process, she makes a surprising discovery that reunites her with a long-lost friend, Sean Killroy. Sean introduces her to a dark world of excitement, danger, cunning and cruelty, pushing her to the limits of her own morality. But Fiona's father throws her new life into disarray when he dupes her into an overnight trip which results in a hasty engagement to Don Koo, the spoiled son of a wealthy chef.
Determined to thwart her parents' plans to marry her off into Asian suburbia, Fiona seeks her freedom at any price. How far will she go to bury the Hello Kitty stereotype forever? Follow Fiona's journey of self-discovery as she embraces her true nature and creates her own version of the American Dream, eliminating anyone who stands in her way without fear or remorse.