Holding Pattern (novel)

NPR's Manuela López Restrepo highlighted how "the novel touches on the commodification of intimacy, when Kathleen takes work as a professional cuddler, and the cultural boundaries that make her mother hesitant to accept this line of work."^[4]

Tammy Tarng, writing for The New York Times Book Review, called the novel "exquisite and wise"^[5] while Publishers Weekly referred to it as "funny and sharp".^[6]

Kirkus Reviews called the novel "an engaging and heartwarming story," writing, "Xie is a deft chronicler of the ways power shifts between people. What emerges is a novel offering a lucid examination of a range of relationships: those between a mother and daughter, old friends, and more passing acquaintances".^[7]

Booklist's Sabrina Szos similarly highlighted how Holding Pattern "is full of mother-daughter emotions and beautiful moments of love and light".^[8]

Sarah Neilson, writing for Shondaland, said, "Xie is a brilliant writer, taking the reader inside Kathleen’s world while also exploring the notion of identity and home in late-stage capitalist America". Neilson further noted that the "characters are hard not to get attached to".^[9] Alta's Eva Recinos further noted that "Xie crafts a complex mother-daughter relationship, exploring the muddiness of care and connection between two very different people."^[10]

Booklist also reviewed the audiobook narrated by Annie Q.^[11]

• Penguin Random House