An insightful, crosscutting depiction of lives in recovery.
Twenty-somethings struggle with sobriety in Southern California in Oliver’s novel.
In Salt Lake City, Nate runs to a mall bathroom for a heroin fix, desperate to feel “at peace as the blanket took hold of him.” The narrative then jumps to Southern California: Nate and Abby have been having a secret relationship while in rehab and are now being released to separate halfway houses. Nate confesses that he’s left rehab situations “probably 19” times. The story then shifts to focus on Olivia, who dances in an East Hollywood “classy strip club” and is also a graduate student studying chemistry. She is three years into her sobriety. At a boxing match, Nate and Abby meet up with Olivia, who is there with Will, a man she met in Alcoholics Anonymous. Will is now the boyfriend of Emma, a medical resident and Olivia’s sister. The group is there to cheer on Evan, a fighter from the local gym where Nate serves as training coach. Evan is Will’s recovery sponsor, and Olivia, coincidentally, is Abby’s. The event, during which Evan explodes in anger after a brutal loss, has rippling consequences. Olivia tells Abby—who, at 21, is the youngest in the group—to drop Nate and focus on attending an AA program. Will amps up his own rage following Evan’s outburst. Olivia and Nate skittishly enter into a romantic relationship, but Will’s actions lead to a crisis that a shaky Olivia must handle without Nate, who must go support a trainee at an out-of-town fight. By the end of the novel, which includes flashback episodes from the characters’ lives, Nate, Olivia, Abby, and Will move on to uncertain futures.
Starting with a powerful opening scene showcasing Nate’s anxiety and single-minded focus on scoring his “medicine,” Oliver draws readers into the intensity and challenges of drug addiction faced by the main characters, all of whom are contending with living among nonaddicts (dubbed “normies”) while resisting the allure of forbidden fruit. The author effectively leverages the novel’s Southern California setting as an evocative inspiration for Nate’s musings; in a now particularly poignant reference, given the regions recent devastating wildfires, he notes, “The people of California were blessed year-round with the beautiful beaches and ocean, and because of that it was only natural to throw in destruction from time to time. Besides, chaos is always so seductive.” The boxing world also lends interesting depths to the story, as it provides a lifeline of discipline for Nate while remaining problematic due to the sport’s violence and questionable business practices. It’s rather surprising—and a bit off-putting—to learn that Houston native Nate not only trains fighters but also runs a hedge fund with “strictly family friends who all had a net worth of at least nine figures” as clients. However, such characters effectively dramatize the point that being privileged doesn’t preclude pain. “I am privileged; I am. But nobody knows the first thing about my life…about the abuse, the rape, the addiction,” Olivia proclaims to Nate near the end of the novel. While this couple tends to dominate the narrative, Oliver also provides similarly empathetic yet clear-eyed portraits of Abby and Will…and even of Emma, whose caregiving tendencies are, at times, enabling.
An insightful, crosscutting depiction of lives in recovery.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2024
ISBN: 9798350974317
Page Count: 312
Publisher: BookBaby
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.
An earnest grad student and a faculty member with a bit of a jerkish reputation concoct a fake dating scheme in this nerdy, STEM-filled contemporary romance.
Olive Smith and professor Adam Carlsen first met in the bathroom of Adam's lab. Olive wore expired contact lenses, reducing her eyes to temporary tears, while Adam just needed to dispose of a solution. It's a memory that only one of them has held onto. Now, nearly three years later, Olive is fully committed to her research in pancreatic cancer at Stanford University's biology department. As a faculty member, Adam's reputation precedes him, since he's made many students cry or drop their programs entirely with his bluntness. When Olive needs her best friend, Anh, to think she's dating someone so Anh will feel more comfortable getting involved with Olive's barely-an-ex, Jeremy, she impulsively kisses Adam, who happens to be standing there when Anh walks by. But rumors start to spread, and the one-time kiss morphs into a fake relationship, especially as Adam sees there's a benefit for him. The university is withholding funds for Adam's research out of fear that he'll leave for a better position elsewhere. If he puts down more roots by getting involved with someone, his research funds could be released at the next budgeting meeting in about a month's time. After setting a few ground rules, Adam and Olive agree that come the end of September, they'll part ways, having gotten what they need from their arrangement. Hazelwood has a keen understanding of romance tropes and puts them to good use—in addition to fake dating, Olive and Adam are an opposites-attract pairing with their sunny and grumpy personalities—but there are a couple of weaknesses in this debut novel. Hazelwood manages to sidestep a lot of the complicated power dynamics of a student-faculty romance by putting Olive and Adam in different departments, but the impetus for their fake relationship has much higher stakes for Adam. Olive does reap the benefits of dating a faculty member, but in the end, she's still the one seemingly punished or taunted by her colleagues; readers may have been hoping for a more subversive twist. For a first novel, there's plenty of shine here, with clear signs that Hazelwood feels completely comfortable with happily-ever-afters.
Fresh and upbeat, though not without flaws.Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-33682-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
PERSPECTIVES
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.
A promise to his best friend leads an Army serviceman to a family in need and a chance at true love in this novel.
Beckett Gentry is surprised when his Army buddy Ryan MacKenzie gives him a letter from Ryan’s sister, Ella. Abandoned by his mother, Beckett grew up in a series of foster homes. He is wary of attachments until he reads Ella’s letter. A single mother, Ella lives with her twins, Maisie and Colt, at Solitude, the resort she operates in Telluride, Colorado. They begin a correspondence, although Beckett can only identify himself by his call sign, Chaos. After Ryan’s death during a mission, Beckett travels to Telluride as his friend had requested. He bonds with the twins while falling deeply in love with Ella. Reluctant to reveal details of Ryan’s death and risk causing her pain, Beckett declines to disclose to Ella that he is Chaos. Maisie needs treatment for neuroblastoma, and Beckett formally adopts the twins as a sign of his commitment to support Ella and her children. He and Ella pursue a romance, but when an insurance investigator questions the adoption, Beckett is faced with revealing the truth about the letters and Ryan’s death, risking losing the family he loves. Yarros’ (Wilder, 2016, etc.) novel is a deeply felt and emotionally nuanced contemporary romance bolstered by well-drawn characters and strong, confident storytelling. Beckett and Ella are sympathetic protagonists whose past experiences leave them cautious when it comes to love. Beckett never knew the security of a stable home life. Ella impulsively married her high school boyfriend, but the marriage ended when he discovered she was pregnant. The author is especially adept at developing the characters through subtle but significant details, like Beckett’s aversion to swearing. Beckett and Ella’s romance unfolds slowly in chapters that alternate between their first-person viewpoints. The letters they exchanged are pivotal to their connection, and almost every chapter opens with one. Yarros’ writing is crisp and sharp, with passages that are poetic without being florid. For example, in a letter to Beckett, Ella writes of motherhood: “But I’m not the center of their universe. I’m more like their gravity.” While the love story is the book’s focus, the subplot involving Maisie’s illness is equally well-developed, and the link between Beckett and the twins is heartfelt and sincere.
A thoughtful and pensive tale with intelligent characters and a satisfying romance.Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64063-533-3
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Entangled: Amara
Review Posted Online: Jan. 2, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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