A realistic and engaging love story in a finely illustrated setting.
A debut novel focuses on two close friends in 1990s New York City.
The year is 1995, and Harry Charity and Jay Bishop work at a magazine called Element. Harry and Jay forge a bond when they discover they are both fans of the Beat generation. This enthusiasm reaches a new level when the two visit the New York Public Library. It is there that they see the famous scroll of Teletype paper that Jack Kerouac used to compose On the Road. It’s a match made in heaven. The two pals eat lunch together frequently and discuss writing something as a team. While Harry is single and (at least somewhat) looking for the man of his dreams, Jay seems to be straight. Jay dates an art student named Zahra Kaviani. They may have their ups and downs, but they are a serious couple. As for Harry, he focuses on his romantic problems and work. Whether Harry is reflecting on his past relationship with a man named Matteo Ortiz or interviewing Allen Ginsberg, he has much to contemplate. Closs’ story paints an inviting picture of ’90s New York. Subway tokens are on the way out and email is on the way in. Bookstores abound, and no one stares at a cellphone on a night out. Place in this world likable characters like Harry and Jay, and the stage is set for an enjoyable drama about unrequited love. Readers will feel sympathy for Harry when he pets his cat and stares off into the city night. But other aspects of the tale can be tedious. At one point, Jay ruminates on a potential career move: “I don’t want to seem like I’m begging for the job. If he offers it to me, I want to be able to say, ‘These are my terms.’ ” Such work-related discussions are as dull as they sound. This is especially true when there are more heartfelt matters at stake.
A realistic and engaging love story in a finely illustrated setting.Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 9781608642274
Page Count: 272
Publisher: rEBEL SaTOri PrESS
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.
Two people with bad luck in relationships find each other through a popular Reddit thread.
Emma Grant and her best friend, Maddy, are travel nurses, working at hospitals for three-month stints while they see the country. Just a few weeks before they’re set to move to Hawaii, Emma reads a popular “Am I the Asshole” Reddit thread from a Minnesota man who thinks he’s cursed—women he dates find their soulmates after breaking up with him, and the latest one found true love with his best friend! Emma has had a similar experience, which inspires her to DM the man and commiserate. She’s delighted by her witty, lively interactions with software engineer Justin Dahl, and is intrigued when he suggests that if they date each other, maybe they’ll each find their soulmate afterward. Emma upends the Hawaii plan and convinces Maddy to move to Minneapolis for the summer so she can meet Justin in person. The overly complex setup brings Emma and Justin together and the two hit it off, with Justin immediately falling head over heels for Emma. Jimenez then pivots to creating romantic roadblocks and melodramatic subplots centering on each character’s family of origin. Justin’s mother is about to serve six years in prison for embezzlement, which means Justin must move back home to care for his three much younger siblings. Emma was traumatized by her own mother for much of her childhood, left to fend for herself and eventually abandoned in the foster system. When her mother shows up in Minnesota, Emma must face her traumatic childhood and admit that she has prioritized her mother’s well-being over her own. There is little time devoted to Emma’s painful efforts to heal herself enough to accept Justin’s love, which leaves the novel feeling unsatisfying.
A wallowing, emotionally wrenching family drama that leaves little time for romance.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781538704431
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Forever
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Uneven but fitfully amusing.
Betrayed by her husband, a severely depressed young woman gets drawn into the over-the-top festivities at a lavish wedding.
Phoebe Stone, who teaches English literature at a St. Louis college, is plotting her own demise. Her husband, Matt, has left her for another woman, and Phoebe is taking it hard. Indeed, she's determined just where and how she will end it all: at an oceanfront hotel in Newport, where she will lie on a king-sized canopy bed and take a bottle of her cat’s painkillers. At the hotel, Phoebe meets bride-to-be Lila, a headstrong rich girl presiding over her own extravagant six-day wedding celebration. Lila thought she had booked every room in the hotel, and learning of Phoebe's suicidal intentions, she forbids this stray guest from disrupting the nuptials: “No. You definitely can’t kill yourself. This is my wedding week.” After the punchy opening, a grim flashback to the meltdown of Phoebe's marriage temporarily darkens the mood, but things pick up when spoiled Lila interrupts Phoebe's preparations and sweeps her up in the wedding juggernaut. The slide from earnest drama to broad farce is somewhat jarring, but from this point on, Espach crafts an enjoyable—if overstuffed—comedy of manners. When the original maid of honor drops out, Phoebe is persuaded, against her better judgment, to take her place. There’s some fun to be had here: The wedding party—including groom-to-be Gary, a widower, and his 11-year-old daughter—takes surfing lessons; the women in the group have a session with a Sex Woman. But it all goes on too long, and the humor can seem forced, reaching a low point when someone has sex with the vintage wedding car (you don’t want to know the details). Later, when two characters have a meet-cute in a hot tub, readers will guess exactly how the marriage plot resolves.
Uneven but fitfully amusing.Pub Date: July 30, 2024
ISBN: 9781250899576
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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