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‘Wow, what an amazing talent this young woman is … This novel is well and truly a modern urban cautionary fable, about that privileged and over indulged generation us oldies like to call entitled, how their perception of self is so out of whack, and the consequences when it all goes wrong … This is an amazing new voice in NZ writing, we should treasure and nurture her, she will go onto great things.’

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Felicity Murray, Booksellers NZ

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‘Compelling reading.’

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The Burgeoning Bookshelf

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‘From page one, Baby is a dryly funny study of a young woman driven to shocking acts by what seems like boredom and lust alone, devoid of any semblance of a conscience … Come to Baby for a full-blown psychopath who makes you laugh out loud despite your horror.’

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Rebecca Varcoe, The Saturday Age

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‘An original and accomplished first work.’

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Helen Elliott, Weekend Australian

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‘Cynthia doesn’t disappoint. As we meet her, she embodies everything a baby boomer has ever whinged about millennials in a newspaper or on talkback radio ... You could suggest that Jochems is doing some broad metaphorical work here, that Cynthia’s apathy is all of our apathy, that the consequences Cynthia must face are all of our consequences. But really, isn’t it possible that Jochems is just having a little fun?’

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Emma Marie Jones, The Lifted Brow

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‘Jochems’ debut is witty and unique ... A promising new voice.’

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Kirkus Reviews

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‘[E]ngrossing … Dark and twisty despite its sun-soaked backdrop, this is perfect for fans of Liane Moriarty.’

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Courtney Eathorne, Booklist

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‘In her young female protagonist … Annaleese Jochems has succeeded in creating a highly original voice that both intrigues and repels … she has created a fresh voice, a memorable monster who could well have her own series of books if the author chooses to go down that road.’

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Sarah Gilmartin, The Irish Times

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‘Cynthia, the simpering, scheming, covetous emotional sinkhole of New Zealander Annaleese Jochems’s assured debut novel, Baby, is alive and squirming; a memorable addition to the growing coteries of unapologetic antiheroines (dis)gracing the pages of contemporary fiction … There are echoes here of Megan Abbott, Emma Cline, Zoë Heller and Miranda July: writers drawn to the intricacies and ferocious possibilities of female friendship. There’s a dollop, too, of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley; a dash of Lord of the Flies. What Jochems adds is a cloying grotesqueness. Baby is a novel of close-quarters living: of masticating mouths and human stink; of piss and vomit, sunburn and bruises, pimples and dandruff; of new fat expanding under the skin. A novel of bodies.’

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Beejay Silcox, The Guardian

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‘It’s easy to see why this dark comic thriller has been compared to works by queen of the genre Patricia Highsmith.’

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Elle

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‘Sultry, sinister, hilarious and demented, Baby blazes with intelligence and murderous black humour. Heavenly Creatures for a new generation.’

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Eleanor Catton, author of Man Booker Prize-winning <em>The Luminaries</em>

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‘Whip-smart.’

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The Telegraph

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‘A dark satire of entitlement and the “me” culture.’

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