Not Quite So

A delicate prose about kinship and family ties, about trauma that gets passed on, and about how women learn not to hear themselves—just to stay in a relationship. This story is known to everyone who, at least once in love, chose not themselves.

Katya was nineteen when Yan entered her life—a devilishly charming man and endlessly unhappy. He saw “the one” in her, made her his center—and then became air and meaning for her. But to have the right to that air, Katya has to adapt, read his state, guess his desires, and become convenient.

Katya turns a blind eye to the cracks in Yan’s past, just to remain needed. But will she have the strength to destroy the illusion that someone else built for her?

“Not Quite” is an frank book about dependency, emotional roller coasters, relationships with a narcissist and a pathological liar. About how pain can coexist with inner strength—and how difficult it is to break a chain that, from generation to generation, has taught girls not to value themselves.