Decadence received a 4+ star review, making it an IndieReader Approved title.
Following find an interview with author Soph Tang.
What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The book is called Decadence, and it was published on February 14 (Valentine’s Day!) of 2025. What better day is there to have a book shatter your heart?
What’s the book’s first line?
“I dreamt about her again”–which honestly, is just so fitting.
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
I could copy and paste the book blurb, but honestly, Decadence is just a story about raw human experience. It’s about vibrant and complex characters, the heartache of love and yearning, the tragic agony of impossible decisions, and that weird, fuzzy sensation of laughing through your tears. My pitch to you is that if you read Decadence, I can almost guarantee you’ll fall in love with it and its characters. It’ll show you things about yourself that you’ve never known before. It’ll shatter your heart. It’ll pick up the pieces and mend it back.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
My inspiration to write Decadence is the same inspiration that drives all of my writing: love (in all of its beautiful, messy glory).
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
Because it’ll stick with you. Decadence will change you. It’s no coincidence that the most common words reviewers have used to describe Decadence are “heartbreaking”, “devastating”, “raw”, and “beautiful”. If you don’t have the emotional space for that right now, then I would recommend shelving it until you do. But once you take the plunge into its first few pages, you won’t regret it. You’ll devour it. It will devour you.
What’s the most distinctive thing about the main character? Who-real or fictional-would you say the character reminds you of?
Elise, the protagonist, is a reflection. She’s not exactly a mirror–more like the live image of yourself through a selfie-camera, distorted through the filters of her life and experiences. The narration is introspective and raw and at some times, ugly. You won’t just hear about her life, as told through a story, you’ll experience each moment yourself. Your heart will pound and sing and break and scream. And because of that, as Elise grows, as she learns and loves and heals, so, too, will you.
What’s the best and the hardest part of being an indie?
Best part is one-on-one interactions. I love hearing from readers about how my stories made them feel; how it affected them. There have been many readers who have messaged me on Instagram or Patreon to chat with me as they read my books, and it’s such a fun and rewarding experience. I’ve written short stories based on absurd hypotheticals and questions that readers have posed. I’m so incredibly grateful for the people who have found and support my writing, and I’m so incredibly grateful to have the opportunity to have such personal interactions with them.
Worst part is marketing and self-promotion. I absolutely loathe talking up myself and my writing, so just letting people know that I exist has been such a pain point in my journey. That said, it’s also not something I’m really actively working on. More than anything, I want to make sure I’m always being true to myself. So instead of pretending like I’m some big-shot author who everyone should celebrate, I’ll probably just keep my head down and continue writing. If I die in obscurity, at least I’ll know that I died doing what I love.