A largely unnecessary book of fake dating profiles for lovers of dad jokes.
Nelligan creates dating profiles for some of history’s most eligible singles in this comic debut.
Ever wonder what it would be like if Cleopatra had a dating profile? What about Aristotle, Joan of Arc, or Johann Sebastian Bach? Nelligan provides exactly that in this collection of 21 speculative profiles of figures from antiquity to today. It’s all here: pics, likes, dislikes, and fun facts (“Most spontaneous thing I’ve done?” Catherine the Great asks, answering, “Invaded Austria”). The author imagines a unique voice for each person as they try to put their best foot forward. The buttoned-up Napoleon Bonaparte writes, “I am tall, fit and I receive tremendous satisfaction working with my clients in maximizing high-performing real estate portfolios focused mostly on the Continent.” Other profiles introduce readers to the private lives of Emily Dickinson, Karl Marx, Ayn Rand, Cher, and others. Nelligan even imagines these personas matching and texting with one another, so readers can see the chemistry in pairings such as, for example, Eleanor Roosevelt and Henry David Thoreau. As previewed by the book’s title, Nelligan shows that he has a playful relationship to language. He parodies the peculiar dictions of LinkedIn, Reddit, magazine profiles, and, of course, the voices—real or imagined—of his notable subjects, such as former Chicago Bears coach Mike Ditka: “When you’ve been in as many locker-rooms as Iron Mike you know damn fast there are two types of men in this world: Mamas boys and winners.” If readers are charmed by the notion of reading Ditka’s profile, they’ll likely enjoy the rest of the book, whose overall concept has promise. Indeed, there are a handful of laughs to be had—Nelligan is at his strongest when captioning photos of his various subjects—but they are less numerous than the groans. For most readers, the joke will wear thin very quickly, and some items, such as a conversation between Biggie Smalls and Virginia Woolf (“Yo Ginnie, Biggie up in your crib. Sheezy, what’s a nice ‘ho like you doin’ on a funky app like ‘dis?!”), are unlikely to amuse anyone.
A largely unnecessary book of fake dating profiles for lovers of dad jokes.Pub Date: July 8, 2021
ISBN: 979-8517955661
Page Count: 135
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 20, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.
The Medusa myth, reimagined as an Afrocentric, feminist tale with the Gorgon recast as avenging hero.
In mythological Greece, where gods still have a hand in the lives of humans, 17-year-old Medusa lives on an island with her parents, old sea gods who were overthrown at the rise of the Olympians, and her sisters, Euryale and Stheno. The elder sisters dote on Medusa and bond over the care of her “locs...my dearest physical possession.” Their idyll is broken when Euryale is engaged to be married to a cruel demi-god. Medusa intervenes, and a chain of events leads her to a meeting with the goddess Athena, who sees in her intelligence, curiosity, and a useful bit of rage. Athena chooses Medusa for training in Athens to become a priestess at the Parthenon. She joins the other acolytes, a group of teenage girls who bond, bicker, and compete in various challenges for their place at the temple. As an outsider, Medusa is bullied (even in ancient Athens white girls rudely grab a Black girl’s hair) and finds a best friend in Apollonia. She also meets a nameless boy who always seems to be there whenever she is in need; this turns out to be Poseidon, who is grooming the inexplicably naïve Medusa. When he rapes her, Athena finds out and punishes Medusa and her sisters by transforming their locs into snakes. The sisters become Gorgons, and when colonizing men try to claim their island, the killing begins. Telling a story of Black female power through the lens of ancient myth is conceptually appealing, but this novel published as adult fiction reads as though intended for a younger audience.
An engaging, imaginative narrative hampered by its lack of subtlety.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780593733769
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.
After being released from prison, a young woman tries to reconnect with her 5-year-old daughter despite having killed the girl’s father.
Kenna didn’t even know she was pregnant until after she was sent to prison for murdering her boyfriend, Scotty. When her baby girl, Diem, was born, she was forced to give custody to Scotty’s parents. Now that she’s been released, Kenna is intent on getting to know her daughter, but Scotty’s parents won’t give her a chance to tell them what really happened the night their son died. Instead, they file a restraining order preventing Kenna from so much as introducing herself to Diem. Handsome, self-assured Ledger, who was Scotty’s best friend, is another key adult in Diem’s life. He’s helping her grandparents raise her, and he too blames Kenna for Scotty’s death. Even so, there’s something about her that haunts him. Kenna feels the pull, too, and seems to be seeking Ledger out despite his judgmental behavior. As Ledger gets to know Kenna and acknowledges his attraction to her, he begins to wonder if maybe he and Scotty’s parents have judged her unfairly. Even so, Ledger is afraid that if he surrenders to his feelings, Scotty’s parents will kick him out of Diem’s life. As Kenna and Ledger continue to mourn for Scotty, they also grieve the future they cannot have with each other. Told alternatively from Kenna’s and Ledger’s perspectives, the story explores the myriad ways in which snap judgments based on partial information can derail people’s lives. Built on a foundation of death and grief, this story has an undercurrent of sadness. As usual, however, the author has created compelling characters who are magnetic and sympathetic enough to pull readers in. In addition to grief, the novel also deftly explores complex issues such as guilt, self-doubt, redemption, and forgiveness.
With captivating dialogue, angst-y characters, and a couple of steamy sex scenes, Hoover has done it again.Pub Date: Jan. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5420-2560-7
Page Count: 335
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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