My Review of The Rivals by Jane Pek discusses how much I enjoyed The Verifiers, book one of this series featuring a Gen Z detective. The Rivals is book two! Is this series for you? Let’s discuss!
Jen’s Quick Take: The Rivals by Jane Pek
- Set in New York City and featuring a Gen Z detective
- The main character is Asian-American and works for a company that does background checks for daters
- The plots are tech-focused, with this one heavily featuring AI technology
- Published on December 3, 2024 by Anchor/Vintage Press. 416 pages
- Part of The Verifiers series
- Thanks to the publisher for the advance copy for review
Review of The Rivals by Jane Pek
I am a huge fan of this series, which features a young Asian-American detective. She’s snarky, annoys her mother and brother greatly, rides her bike all around New York City, and makes a lot of literary references.
I reviewed The Verifiers, book one, here. But I have to say that I enjoyed book two even more.
- The Rivals continues some threads from book one, so I recommend reading The Verifiers first.
- The plot of The Rivals looks at the dark possibilities of using AI in dating apps
- Claudia’s love life takes an intriguing turn.
I’m always a tough critic of books set in New York, but The Rivals does an amazing job of portraying my favorite city. Jane Pek knows more about different places in New York than I do, and I wonder if she, like Claudia, rides her bike all over the five boroughs.
I am not the biggest fan of tech themes in books, only because I don’t completely understand them. But while I didn’t always understand the AI implications discussed in The Rivals, I found the topic really fascinating and I hope it carries over to future books.
The Rivals was picked as a “best of 2024” by the Washington Post. Congrats to Jane Pek!