But How Are You, Really

Dawson debuts with a heartfelt story of a bisexual woman trying to recapture her spark while dealing with a toxic workplace and memories of abuse. Charlotte Thorne, 27, toils as the executive assistant to the CEO of a tech magazine who strings her along with empty promises of a promotion. She’s excited to reunite with her friends at an alumni weekend retreat at Heim University, which provided a haven from her homophobic mother when Charlotte was a student there. After arriving at the university, however, she sees her abusive ex-boyfriend, Ben Mead, whose presence “turned campus into a haunted house of repressed trauma.” Thankfully, her best friend and former roommate—with whom Charlotte formed a group of fellow “alienated queer kids”—is bunking with her for the weekend. When another of her exes flirts with her, Charlotte is enchanted by his invitation to “go back in time,” prompting her to consider the spectrum of her experiences at Heim with a “color wheel” of emotions ranging from “charcoal gray shame” to the “vein-blood blue of being alive.” The prose can be clunky, but Dawson brings Charlotte’s pain and passion to vivid life. It’s a worthy addition to the shelf of campus novels. Agent: Jamie Carr, Book Group. (June)