Overview
- The novel, released Tuesday by Riverhead Books, spans a four-day boy-band fan cruise and rotates among Annie, band frontman Keith, and cruise producer Sarah.
- Straub built the world by sailing on a 2023 New Kids on the Block cruise, where she mixed with fans, later consulted Joey McIntyre, and heard an initial offer of an introduction from Lin‑Manuel Miranda.
- She describes the book as a turn toward joy after writing a grief-centered novel following her father Peter Straub’s 2022 death.
- Early reviews highlight its sharp take on parasocial bonds, fan economies, and midlife reinvention, while noting thin dramatization and late, quickly resolved conflicts.
- Publicity has included McIntyre’s visible support on social media, and coverage frames the book within the current wave of reunion tours and conversations about aging and reinvention.