Sublimation

A LIBRARYREADS BONUS PICK FOR JUNE A most-anticipated title from The New York Times, USA Today, NPR, Glamour, LitHub, New Scientist, Amazon, Time Out, Ms. Magazine, The Nerd Daily, Goodreads, Library Journal, LibraryReads, and more With starred reviews from Publishers Weekly and BookList

Doppelgängers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for fans of Severance that asks what you'd sacrifice for a different life from award-winning author Isabel J. Kim.

"One of the best debuts of the year." --John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn't know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn't make?

"After Sublimation, the immigrant story will never be the same." --Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Author: Isabel J. Kim
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 06/02/2026
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.25lbs
Size: 9.47h x 6.49w x 1.20d
ISBN: 9781250376794


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 03/01/2026 pg. 91
Publishers Weekly 03/30/2026
Booklist 04/01/2026

About the Author
Isabel J. Kim lives near New York City in an apartment filled with books and swords. She is the author of numerous short stories and has won the Nebula, Locus, and the Shirley Jackson Award. Her work has been translated into multiple languages and reprinted in multiple best of the year anthologies. When she's not writing, she's practicing law or podcasting. Sublimation is her first novel.