Casual

<p><strong>One of LitHub's Most Anticipated Books of 2025!</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1); background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1)>Eerily believable incredibly relatable and heartbreaking.</span></p><ul><li><strong style=background-color: rgba(255 255 255 1); color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>Booklist</strong></li></ul><p></p><p><strong>About CASUAL:</strong></p><p></p><p><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>Valya's neural implant is amazing.</strong></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>Its game-like app </span><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>CASUAL</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)> has managed her depression and anxiety stabilized her mood and helped the infertile Valya get pregnant. But new laws forbid her from using the device when she's sole caregiver for her infant. Her gaslighting ex won't help her and she can't afford a nanny so her obstetrician insists that Valya wean off </span><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>CASUAL</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)> before giving birth.</span></p><p></p><p><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>Despite a will to quit and a supportive new love interest in her birthing class disabling </span><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>CASUAL</strong><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)> turns Valya's anxiety into full-blown panic attacks. Her psychiatrist offers to enroll her in a controversial clinical trial that would place a tandem implant in the baby and allow Valya to keep hers active. Valya must decide whether she should attempt parenting without </span><strong style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>CASUAL</strong><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)> </em><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>or install a minimally tested device in her vulnerable child. </span></p><p></p><p><em style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)>Casual</em><span style=background-color: rgba(0 0 0 0); color: rgba(68 68 68 1)> is a stark and cutting glance at a near future that looks uncannily like our present exploring themes of bodily autonomy and the struggle for mental health in a world increasingly divided.</span></p>