“The Applicant is a stunning debut…Electric, witty, compulsively readable, humane, and excoriating. A book I won’t forget.”—Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot and Either/Or
“Told through tense, sardonic journal entries that are as cutting as they are tender, The Applicant sheds light on the grim reality of pursuing the life of an artist.”—Vulture, 30 Books We Can’t Wait to Read This Winter
“Sometimes you encounter a character in a book who you genuinely want to hang out with. We could be friends in real life, you think. Reader, meet Layla…a protagonist to root for.”—Literary Hub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023
“Wry and reflective…in the tradition of writers like Ferrante.” —New York Times Book Review
"Koca’s pen portraits from the world of the Berliner precariat feel fresh and authentic. We learn about how cleaners organize their days, how they use apps on Android phones assigned to them, and how they keep unclaimed items left in their rooms...The Applicant brims with vivid vignettes of Berlin.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
“Leyla is a witty, acutely observant, and deeply sympathetic character who manages to tell the details of her life—both the transcendent epiphanies and the debauched aftermaths—with an honesty that disavows patronizing pity. This is a book about some of the largest issues of our time—ethnic identity, national belonging, the psychological traumas of patriarchy and White supremacy, sexual ownership, feminist reckoning—but it is also, and perhaps primarily, a book about the intimacy between a character and a reader as one agrees to talk and the other agrees to listen. A powerful debut that heralds a voice intent on being heard.” —Kirkus Review, starred review
