Huge thanks to Orion Publishing for the gifted ARC of this bold hilarious and unexpectedly moving novel by Daniel Aleman.

I LOVED THIS BOOK. It’s laugh-out-loud funny, the premise is delightfully original, the pacing sharp and the emotional core runs deep. The protagonist, David, is messy, flawed, fully human—and completely lovable. You root for him even when he's making reckless decisions, because beneath the chaos is someone just trying to survive heartbreak, rejection and creative burnout.

David’s experience as a gay man navigating New York City and the dating apps felt authentic. His voice, his spirals, his longing—all of it felt real. His emotions were so raw and honest that some of his thoughts felt like my own. Some of his heartbreaks echoed mine. That’s the brilliance of Aleman’s writing: he takes something deeply personal and makes it universally felt.

And the crime twist? Pure bonus. You'll keep flipping pages to see how far David can run from trouble—or into it. But the part that truly moved me was David’s love for writing. His passion, frustration and connection to his craft reminded me why I started writing in the first place. He lit a spark in me and that’s not something every book can do.

This was my first book by Aleman, but definitely not the last. I’ll be reading his backlist—and waiting for whatever he writes next. Like David, I hope he gets the chance to write many, many more stories.

Oh my gosh I absolutely adored this one; it was just the perfect book that I needed right now; a blend of dark comedy, soul searching and growth. This wasn’t a happy book, by any stretch of the imagination, but oh boy did I come out of it feeling like I’d had a cathartic experience.

Struggling writer David Alvarez is horrified when he wakes up next to a dead man after a one night stand, who he may or may not have accidentally murdered. His life has been a series of disappointments up until this point, but it’s now turned into a nightmare. Turning to his only friend, his literary agent Stacey, they concoct a scheme to hide the body; but it turns out that the dead man was hiding secrets and David can’t help feeling suffocated as the walls start closing in on him.

This book is a surreal mix of ‘Weekend At Bernie’s’ and an Alan Hollinghurst novel. It explores David’s personal life; his trauma and anxiety around writing, his childhood struggles with his sexuality, the breakdown of his relationships, both romantic and familial, and his eventual spiral to rock bottom. It also features carting a dead man across NYC in a Red Sox cap, accompanied by the worlds most loyal (and homicidal?!) agent. I loved this absolutely absurd mix; a lot of suspense of disbelief is required, but honestly, I loved it!

Read I Might Be In Trouble for:
✨ Dark comedy
✨ So much soul searching
✨ A writer at his wits end
✨ A surprise dead body
✨ Exploring trauma, grief and depression
✨ Ride or die literary agent
✨ It’s funny, it’s sad, it’s publishing, baby!

Thank you to Orion for an eARC of this book via NetGalley! It’s out in the USA already and is available in the UK on 10th July 2025 ✨

I was instantly intrigued by the premise of I Might Be In Trouble, and it's promise that it was perfect for fans of Yellowface, which I very much am.

Well, it did this not disappoint and I absolutely loved it. I think it might just be one of my books of the year!

David's life has withered away - he was a new and exciting author with a run away success debut novel, he was living in a gorgeous apartment with the man of his dreams and his future looked bright.

Then his second novel flopped. His relationship broke down and now he's lonely, melancholy and living in a grotty studio, with credit card debt up to his eyeballs, and a severe case of writers block.

Trying desperately to plug the gap, escape all his problems and feel something, he has a destructive predilection to online dating apps. And destructive it is when he wakes to find one of his matches dead in his bed after a whirlwind night on the tiles. He thought things were bad before!

In shock and slightly the worse for wear after copious amounts of champagne, he calls his literary agent Stacey because he can trust her, right? Well ... as it turns out, that's a matter of opinion!

I couldn't put it down as we lurch through New York with David and Stacey from one calamity to another - stiffening corpse in tow. Just about everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. David just can't catch a break! Still, that writers block might just have lifted! I laughed and I cringed and I wanted to just give him a massive hug.

The insight into the publishing world and the life of a writer was fascinating, as was the look at families and friendships and inner criticism.

It's very very funny and delightfully witty but also poignant and relatable, and a little bitter sweet.

I honestly can not praise it enough! I Might Be In Trouble deserves nothing less than 5 solid gold stars!

Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you: Overthinking - A Novel.

There was something so simultaneously delightful and terrifying about this book and that's largely due to the deep accuracy of how a writer's brain works. An accuracy can really only come from a writer. Because we are trained, fundamentally, to consider every possibility that could occur in a situation. And in the case of David, the novelist at the heart of this book, that possibility extends to 'could I have killed someone and not realised it?'.

The initial synopsis of this book really only covers the first half or so - consider the first bit set-up and the second half fall-out. I found David a little precocious at times, willing to avoid solutions to problems so he could just be anxious or talk about how important his writing was to him, and Stacy lacking in just a little bit of dimension. But, by the end, I felt satisfied. I wanted to know where the twists and turns of the plot were going to take me, what kind of message the novel was sending. Which of David's insane theories would turn out to be right.

I found the book quite cinematic - it would make a really interesting, highly stylized auteur movie. It's pacy, things move quickly when the plot gets going but also takes some time to sit on its laurels and ponder. I laughed out loud a few times, which is a big tick in my book, and there are some wonderfully insane moments that I had so much fun reading.

Considering the average rating of this book, it strikes me that this is a book for writers. Because if you've ever dedicated yourself to a writing project, regardless of what it is, you will resonate more deeply with David. Listening to this was like listening to my own stream of consciousness sometimes. And I can only hope for that all-encompassing compulsion to write that David has for large portions of this book. It's been missing for a while.

now listen we all know what we want from this genre. we know why they are becoming more popular. so put your morals aside and put your cynic self aside(that me included) and just enjoy this wonderful book. because it is indeed a wonderful ride of a book. and it was dark but funny and just great. i laughed inside aswell as out and did those "ha" moments at how clever it was sometimes. it was a wacky book in all its glory.
David is our main characters. hes bestselling author who isnt best selling anymore and his time to write another one is running out. but he cant. he just cant come up with the goods. i felt like i was reading a really well " feeling" of writers block and it was spiralling all sense of himself and his life fast. this is all exacerbated by troubles in his home life with his dad and now his ex. Danielle copes with this by perusing the online dating world. one such night thought went a little too far beyond swipe left. because he wakes up to find his date is in bed next to him...dead. now when you think of this scenario you have an idea of what one would do right? what anyone would do right? weeeeell this isnt going to go that way at all. because instead of doing the "right" think David of course panics. and this is when he calls his person. his agent Stacey. and instead of doing the right thing and reporting it they decide to cover it up. whaaaaaat! haha i mean come on we are already hooked to read what comes next arent we?
this book is clever and adorable in how unique it was for me. loved it.

This was a fun read and I hadn't expected it to have such a madcap element. I liked the characters and there was a lot of wisdom in the narrator when he talked about growing up gay and about his loneliness and his writing career. It had a rom com type sub plot which worked well for me. There were sexually explicit scenes but they didn't feel gratuitous or gross. A fun read with underlying serious messages.

I enjoyed reading this - it was funny and a bit ridiculous, but had a serious message about loneliness and how success can go up and down in life. The characters of Daniel and Stacey were brilliant. The ending was unexpected - partly melodrama and partly sentimental, so a little bit disappointing. to me for some reason. I think it would make a great comedy movie.