The L.O.V.E. Club

By: Lio Min

Narrated by: Alice Wen

From the acclaimed author of Beating Heart Baby, an immersive novel following three estranged high schoolers who are pulled into a video game to pursue the disappearance of their friend

Three years ago, Elle (the “E” in the self-proclaimed L.O.V.E. Club) disappeared from Calendula, an affluent Chinese American suburb in inland California. Soon afterward, Liberty and Vera (“L” and “V”) moved away, leaving O alone with her grief, abandonment, and confusion. . . until Liberty and Vera return for their senior year of high school.

Though the L.O.V.E. Club’s three remaining members once bonded as outcasts and gamers, they can’t pick up the pieces of their friendship. But the girls are drawn back to their old clubhouse, where they discover, loaded for them to play, a new game created by none other than the missing Elle.

One click, and Liberty, Vera, and O are ported into Morning Glory, an ever-evolving botanical fantasy coded with their lived experiences, complicated history, and repressed insecurities. Unbeknownst to the others, O can’t remember the events surrounding Elle’s disappearance—but within the game, Elle has sent O a cryptic hint about Morning Glory’s real nature.

While Liberty and Vera defeat increasingly sinister bosses, O grapples with the secret knowledge that her deepest wish, to reunite with Elle, might just come true. But as the girls progress through Morning Glory, O begins to wonder how well she actually knew any of her former best friends and if she’s ready to confront the hard truths—and dangerous revelations—about Elle in her returning memories.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

©2025 Lio Min (P)2025 Macmillan Young Listeners

Critic reviews

"Lushly detailed worldbuilding by Min makes for an immersive adventure that explores hard truths and dangerous revelations about the Chinese American characters’ friendships and differing upbringings. Raw, emotive prose captures each girl’s grappling with bullying, familial tumult, loneliness, and sexual, racial, and gender identity."—Publishers Weekly

"Min’s sophomore novel is full of vivid and imaginative action and horror elements, but its true heart lies in the mystery (and gut-punch reveal) of the circumstances behind Elle’s disappearance. An emotional thriller that explores themes of memory and friendship."—Kirkus

"The L.O.V.E. Club is a spellbinding journey through grief, friendship, and the power of memory, where the past refuses to stay buried. Blending gaming, heartache, and unraveling mysteries, Lio Min crafts a haunting, immersive odyssey through code and surreal environments—where the hardest boss to defeat is the past itself."—Aiden Thomas, bestselling author of Cemetery Boys