Sublimation

A most-anticipated title from USA Today, Glamour, LitHub, New Scientist, The Nerd Daily, Library Journal, and more!

Doppelgängers, corporate intrigue, heartbreak, betrayal, and the harsh permanence of the border: Sublimation is a thrilling and provocative debut for fans of Severance that asks what you'd sacrifice for a different life from award-winning author Isabel J. Kim.

"One of the best debuts of the year." --John Scalzi, New York Times bestselling author of Starter Villain

The border cuts you in two.

When you immigrate, you leave a copy of yourself behind, an instance. One person enters their new country; the other stays trapped at home.

Some instances keep in touch, call each other daily, keep their lives and minds in sync in the hopes of reintegrating and resuming a life as one person. Others, like Soyoung Rose Kang, leave home at ten years old and never speak to their other selves again. Rose, in America, never imagined going back to Korea until her grandfather died and her Korean instance called her home for the funeral.

She doesn't know that Soyoung plans to steal her body and her life.

How far would you go to live the choice you didn't make?

"After Sublimation, the immigrant story will never be the same." --Junot Díaz, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 06/02/2026
ISBN: 9781250376794
Pages: 368

Review Citations: Library Journal 03/01/2026 pg. 91
Publishers Weekly 03/30/2026