Mariya by Milha Vek is about a girl who grows up learning that she is practically abandon by her family. Then she met Milha, somewhere along her journey.
Will it change anything..?
“Mariya’s mother was folding laundry in the bedroom when someone collapsed
in the bathroom down the hall. Rita heard the impact, then the choking.
A decade at Motol had taught her what aspiration sounded like.”
Book Review: Mariya by Milha Vek
Mariya is simply a story of a young woman just passing her life without much interest. She works, travels, talks to people but there’s a distance between her feelings and what she’s going through. She’s there, but also not.
The story isn’t about one big drama that changes everything (what gen. happens in the movies); but it’s about the collection of small ones. You won’t know about them until one day, when you feel heavy.
The book generally flow in parts, firstly memories, then present-day scenes, quiet observations and so on. One good thing is there’s no rush to explain Mariya or “fix” her. You, as the story moves on, can feel the dullness by yourself.
One of the thing in the story is how it makes ordinary moments feel heavy in the best way. Things like standing in a room too long. Letting food go cold. Watching someone instead of talking to them. These small moments are not centre of your story but they subconsciously pushes you in that zone.
And then there’s the way the book handles dissociation. It’s subtle but not too much explanation. Mariya’s detachment is not a question but her way to survive. (being distant but sad:((()
What this book does extraordinarily well is zoom in on the mundane and make it ache. The sound of footsteps behind her. Vek treats these moments not as filler, but as emotional data.
The theme of dissociation is handled with nice care. Mariya’s detachment is real and simple. It does not explain itself excessively. It trusts the readers.
“When I wake up, I try to forget what day it is, for as long as I can.”
Storyline: Mariya’s childhood is started with a father who leaves and a mother who stays but never really shows up. No big drama, nothing…just silence, routine, and a lot of emotional distance. And Mariya absorbs all of it.
As she grew older, we see her story passing through different phases—teenage, drugs and alcohol, hospital visits, unstable relationships, and this constant feeling of detachement.
One of the few people who sticks around is Milha. Their relationship is a bit strange, sometimes softer and feel good sort of & just then it turns out to unhealthy, and it’s not the magical fix that we as reader expect. He doesn’t save her, and she doesn’t suddenly get better—but there’s a sense of understanding.
Also Read: The Stolen Life of Colette Marceau by Kristin Harmel
| Genre | Fiction |
| Number of Pages | 110 pages |
| My Rating | 4.0⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
| Release Date | January 16, 2026 |
What I Loved
What the book slowly shows (without spelling it out) is that Mariya’s being alone and distant is not just random. She is what today is becoz of her past. When in your early teenage you get to learn that grief is something you clean up quietly, and survival means not making a mess.
Vek’s prose is clean, controlled, and quietly lyrical. Sentences are precise not too formal. The emotional power comes not from faking confidence in front of everybody, but from what is withheld.
Quotes:
“Whatever happened, it hasn’t happened to me yet.”
Final Verdict?
Mariya will not be for everyone. Readers looking for plot twists may find this book boring . But for those drawn to introspective fiction, will like it. (stories about just being in constant disconnection, just going with the flow sortof)
It’s a novel that understands how loneliness can be loud in its silence, and how survival sometimes looks like nothing at all.
Who should read it:
- If you like quiet, character-driven literary fiction where mood matters more than plot
- If you are interested in themes of dissociation, numbness, and emotional detachment
- If you are looking for messy survival kinda story rather than neat healing
- Fans of authors like Ottessa Moshfegh, Rachel Cusk, Jenny Offill etc.
Books like Of Mariya by Milha Vek:
- My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
- The Idiot by Elif Batuman
