Claire Jia Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Claire Jia is an American published author from Chicago.

In addition to being a published author of fiction, she is known for writing on television shows like Zombies: The Reanimated Series as well as Fresh Off the Boat, Awkwafina is Nora from Queens, and Gangsters of Shanghai.

Jia is the co-writer of We Are OFK, a 2024 Peabody Award-winning video game. She has had her writing featured in such places as The Establishment, Reductress, The New York Times, The Rumpus, and others.

The author’s parents are from Beijing and she says that she really loves haggling over stationary in a chaotic Beijing marketplace. She feels that she reached her peak at sixteen years of age which is the time when she became an All-State Illinois Shotokan Karate Club Kihon Green Belt Champion.

Today she resides in Los Angeles and has her friends there too to keep her company. Wanting is her very first novel and is a sample of what is to come in the future for this talented author. If you are a contemporary lit fan, check out this first book and then keep your eyes open for more to come from Claire Jia as it will surely be worth taking a look at.

Wanting is a 2025 novel by Claire Jia. If you appreciate contemporary fiction and have been looking for something new to add to your must read list, this might just be the story for you. This book focuses on themes of longing and envy and asks the question of how far we would be willing to go for a romance, friendship, and the things that we dream about.

Main character Ye Lian is in the city of Beijing and is doing very well. You could even say that she is thriving, something that every young woman wants to be. She has a job that pays her well and a nice boyfriend and she has plans to get married and after that move into a luxury high-rise apartment. For the moment, she feels that she has it all figured out and is very happy about it.

Ye Lian has everything that she needs and wants for nothing. It seems like everything is going just about as well as she could expect it to. Then again, they say that comparison is the thief of joy. So when her best friend from childhood, Luo Wenyu, comes back into her life out of nowhere, it makes sense that even though she thought everything was great Ye can feel that everything has shifted.

Luo has just spent a decade in California and when she comes back into Ye’s life, it seems like she has it all. Ye does not feel as blessed in comparison. Ye Lian thought that she was happy with her choices, but even though they’ve been reliable and served her well, she can’t help but compare what she has done and chosen to do to her best friend.

All of a sudden Ye finds herself in a situation where she is wondering if the grass is really greener on the other side. The two decide that it’s time to get their friendship back on the right track. As they do, Wenyu ends up revealing a secret about a past love, and it leads Lian to question her own relationship. But everything about Wenyu’s life is not as it appears to be.

When the dark side of Wenyu’s life ends up coming out, it may end up threatening all that Ye and Luo have worked so hard to build. Eventually they are going to have to make a decision. They can pick between the stable known that they are familiar with and the frightening unknown. What they end up choosing will end up having devastating consequences that neither of them expects.

Ye thought that she was on the right track in her life, but her best friend showing up threw everything in her life into stark contrast. Are there really things about her best friend’s life that she wants, or is it a natural human state to want things?

Readers who have been wanting to read a unique and interesting fictional story will be overjoyed to get their hands on a copy of Claire Jia’s debut. Whether you can relate to the feeling of being vaguely dissatisfied with your life or you have a close friend that makes you feel like your life is not enough when you compare it to theirs, this is a book that every adult may feel they can see themselves in at some level.

Many readers have raved about this book and left five star reviews about it. One reader (Morgan Wheeler) says that the book is a ‘striking exploration of envy, longing, and the roads not taken’ and describes how the story takes a look at the choices that we make that shape us and how we often ‘no matter how much we have’ find ourselves wondering what might have been.

Another reader said that the book brought a ‘tear on my cheek’ and a ‘wistful smile on my face’ as they read through the final pages of this book that is all about the ‘decisions we make and don’t make’ and how they end up changing our lives.

Elena L. also praised this book, saying that it is all about yearning, whether it is about yearning for stability, private joys, or the American dream. It is an examination of all of the things that are possible and the choices that people make as well as the things that could have been, the ‘what-ifs’ that plague the characters. She also praises the way that Jia draws ‘textured and flawed characters’ that may have weaknesses but are also ‘easily relatable’.

If you’ve been wanting to add a great new contemporary read to your list of books to read and want a book that will keep you turning the pages until you get to the end, check out Claire Jia’s Wanting for yourself and follow along with every compelling word!