**selected As A 2025 Book To Look Out For By The Guardian, Sunday Times, Irish Times, Independent.co.uk, Cosmopolitan, Elle And Service95** 'raw, Original And Provoking, Saba Sams Is Britain's Brightest Debut Novelist' Vogue 'an Immersive Story About Love And The Softening Borders Around What Family Can Be' Sheena Patel 'a Joy To Read' The Times 'an Intimate And Tender Exploration Of Love's Possibilities' Sophie Mackintosh 'a Nuanced Exploration Of Friendship, Queerness And Love' Jessica Andrews 'i Loved This' Nicola Dinan Jules Has Been Divorced From Her Ex-husband Leon For Five Years, But She Still Works Alongside Him At Gunk, The Grotty Student Nightclub He Owns In Central Brighton. She Spends Her Nights Serving Shots And Watching, From Behind The Bar, As Leon Flirts With Students On The Dancefloor. But Then Leon Hires Nineteen-year-old Nim To Work The Bar – And Her Arrival Jolts Jules Awake For The First Time In Years. When Nim Discovers She's Pregnant, Jules Agrees To Help. As The Months Pass, And The Relationship Between The Two Women Grows Increasingly Intimate And Perplexing, It Emerges That Nim Has Her Own Unexpected Gifts To Give. Now, Alone In Her Small Flat, Jules Is Holding A Baby, Just Twenty-four Hours Old, Who Still Smells Of Nim. But No One Knows Where Nim Is, Or If She's Coming Back. What Could The Future – For Jules, Nim, And This Unnamed Baby – Possibly Look Like? Raw, Exhilarating, Tender And Wise, Gunk Is An Electrifying Debut Novel Exploring Love And Desire, Safety And Destruction, Chaos And Control – And Family In All Its Forms.
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Gunk
By Saba Sams
**selected As A 2025 Book To Look Out For By The Guardian, Sunday Times, Irish Times, Independent.co.uk, Cosmopolitan, Elle And Service95** 'raw, Original And Provoking, Saba Sams Is Britain's Brightest Debut Novelist' Vogue 'an Immersive Story About Love And The Softening Borders Around What Family Can Be' Sheena Patel 'a Joy To Read' The Times 'an Intimate And Tender Exploration Of Love's Possibilities' Sophie Mackintosh 'a Nuanced Exploration Of Friendship, Queerness And Love' Jessica Andrews 'i Loved This' Nicola Dinan Jules Has Been Divorced From Her Ex-husband Leon For Five Years, But She Still Works Alongside Him At Gunk, The Grotty Student Nightclub He Owns In Central Brighton. She Spends Her Nights Serving Shots And Watching, From Behind The Bar, As Leon Flirts With Students On The Dancefloor. But Then Leon Hires Nineteen-year-old Nim To Work The Bar – And Her Arrival Jolts Jules Awake For The First Time In Years. When Nim Discovers She's Pregnant, Jules Agrees To Help. As The Months Pass, And The Relationship Between The Two Women Grows Increasingly Intimate And Perplexing, It Emerges That Nim Has Her Own Unexpected Gifts To Give. Now, Alone In Her Small Flat, Jules Is Holding A Baby, Just Twenty-four Hours Old, Who Still Smells Of Nim. But No One Knows Where Nim Is, Or If She's Coming Back. What Could The Future – For Jules, Nim, And This Unnamed Baby – Possibly Look Like? Raw, Exhilarating, Tender And Wise, Gunk Is An Electrifying Debut Novel Exploring Love And Desire, Safety And Destruction, Chaos And Control – And Family In All Its Forms.
Popular Reviews(1)
Reviewed by Jane Dvorskaya Gunk by Saba Sams is one of those books that gets under your skin in the best way. It’s not just about relationships, but about the messy, complicated, tender ways we need each other, even when it hurts or feels impossible. The writing is sharp and raw, but also full of quiet beauty. The characters feel so real in their contradictions—sometimes loving, sometimes selfish, sometimes lost—and that’s exactly what makes them so relatable. Sams doesn’t tie things up neatly; instead, she lingers in those spaces where love and doubt overlap, where closeness can feel both comforting and suffocating. There’s a line will stay with me long after finishing: “The fact of it is that people come from each other. We need each other in order to live.” That feels like the heartbeat of the whole book. For me, it captured why the stories mattered so much—they’re a reminder that connection, even when it’s complicated, is what keeps us human. Reading Gunk felt like holding up a mirror to the ways we stumble and reach for one another. It’s raw, honest, and absolutely unforgettable.