Hurricane Girl

In Dermansky’s lackluster latest (after Very Nice), a young woman contends with a certain well-worn millennial malaise. Allison Brody, 32 and “sick of everybody and everything,” leaves Los Angeles and her abusive movie-producer boyfriend, Keith, and buys a beach house in North Carolina. The house is destroyed in a hurricane soon after Allison moves in, and she holes up with another Keith, who shatters a vase over her head after she rejects his advances. Bleeding from an open head wound, Allison drives eight hours to New Jersey to be with her mother. There, after being treated at a hospital, she wakes to find her brain surgeon is Danny Yang, an old college fling. In what might be a dream state, Allison processes her father’s death, which took place a year earlier, as well as her recent trauma. She begins to develop new romantic feelings for Danny, while coming up with a plan for a fresh start. There’s some deliciously dry humor (“Allison was doing a horrible job at saving her life. Shameful, in fact”), but the surreal aura doesn’t really develop into anything substantial or comprehensible. Readers are left with a Moshfegh-like vibe, but without a strong character or story. This one is safe to skip. Agent: Alex Glass, Glass Literary. (June)