The Country of Ice Cream Star

What an astonishing achievement...I can't remember when I last read something so original or sophisticated or emotionally engaging or so breathtakingly ambitious.

Sandra Newman has created a language for Ice Cream Star that is unique, both broken down and rapturous, full of powerful feeling as well as laconic toughness, and flashing with gorgeous detail. This is a brilliantly plausible dystopia, a thrilling adventure and altogether an amazing book.

Wonderfully inventive, The Country of Ice Cream Star pulls you into a world of betrayal, loyalty, desire and war. Ice Cream Star is a glorious, flawed heroine, and Newman’s writing about sexuality - its threat, and its power - is astonishing.

It’s not very often someone comes along and really does something new and original with the English language, but Sandra Newman has done just that. From the first sentence I was grabbed by the twisted beauty and the tender poetry of her storytelling. My garden is overgrown, my bills have not been paid, and I’ve missed three deadlines, all because of this book. The Country of Ice Cream Star is a beautifully crafted masterpiece. There is not a word out of place; there is not a detail that is unnecessary. It is truly amazing.

Ice Cream Star is the novel I’ve been waiting for: the brains and probing intelligence of the best speculative fiction, boosted by the passion, heart and energy that only a brilliant heroine can provide. In a bland world, flattened out by dystopian misery and needling pessimism, Ice Cream Star illuminates the reading experience with linguistic brilliance, stylistic flair and pulsing rhythm, creating a fictional world just as diverse, varied and exciting as our own. The imagination and artistry are immense.

What sets The Country of Ice Cream Star apart from its rivals is the extraordinary, blistering insistence of its language...As the momentum builds, scene by assured scene, a raw, addictive lyricism develops...By the last page I was emotionally battered but euphoric: the book had held me so effectively hostage that I felt I had Stockholm syndrome. - Guardian

Exhilaratingly bold - Metro

As inventive as it is captivating - Independent

Entertains with its relentless energy and wild inventiveness - The Times

A treat, full of supple metaphors and rhythmic lyricism… This is an obvious candidate for Hunger Games-hungry Hollywood to pluck out the linguistic heart that makes it special. Take a look before that happens - Daily Telegraph

A brave new/old world that delivers on multiple levels, especially Ice Cream Star’s alluring language - Observer

Stylish and accomplished - Independent on Sunday

An extraordinary dystopian novel, fizzing with energy and linguistic inventiveness - Scotsman

The inventive language of Riddley Walker or A Clockwork Orange, the sense of adventure and thrills of The Passage or The Hunger Games, and the young naive voice of Pigeon English or Margo Lanagan

Gripping adventure story: from tribal warfare to life on the road, a killer disease and a power-hungry religious sect, family tragedy and a monumental battle

Eye-catching package: stunning, bold hardback package

Show-stopping heroine: a coming of age story for the hilarious, courageous, feisty Ice Cream Star

Much-lauded author: shortlisted for Guardian First Book Award for The Only Good Thing Anyone has Ever Done, winner Jonathan Safran Foer said, when collecting his prize, that Sandra should have won instead; praised for her 'boldness, originality and show-stealing chutzpah' (Guardian) and 'her bravura is impressive' (Observer)

A revolution in language: inventive, imaginative, bold, funny and beautiful - Sandra Newman has created an entirely new language for Ice Cream Star