Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Ex Talk

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon

59 reviews

bzliz's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I didn’t have high hopes for this which is probably for the best because it was just okay. I enjoyed it enough to finish it but it wasn’t anything special.

I think the author tried to include some more serious subjects that people face in life like sexism, racism, loss and grief, but none of them went in depth enough to feel genuine. The closest was the sexist boss at the radio station getting minorly told off for his awful behavior but it was mostly handled through conversations about him between female characters which means nothing really came of it. There was also some mention of the struggle of interracial dating but it was brief and the main characters didn’t have to deal with any of it.

Shay and Dominic were fine characters but they were hampered by a downright obsession with public radio. There were a couple of romance tropes used to varying degrees of success. The rivals to lovers aspect was fun vs the ‘just one bed’ trope which was super predictable from the moment they were being sent on a trip. And Shay mentioned being pushed up against the wall roughly a dozen times which got old quick.

If you read purely for vibes, this is worth checking out. If you’re looking for something with more heart, you can skip this.

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likeagilmoregirl's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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kiingchika's review

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funny lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.25

I honestly don’t have much to say about this book I can’t lie other than I’m glad it worked out?¿ Would not reread but hey, I learned a little bit about public radio! Dominic and Shay are cute

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vj_thompson's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book started out slow but once the initial plot of Shay and Dominic host the radio show together happened, it got good. Seeing their relationship develop was absolutely adorable. The relationship felt normal aside from the miscommunication. Ugh, that sucked. The story surprised me. I didn’t think I would like it as much as I did.

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clareasday's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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chloelj27's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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bootsmom3's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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bookishmillennial's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

PREMISE:

contemporary adult romcom set in Seattle, Washington
first-person POV of main character
Shay Goldstein is a senior producer at a public radio station and has worked there for 10 years
The host of the podcast she produces is fired, and during a brainstorming session, Shay brings up the idea of an "Ex Talk" show where exes discuss what went wrong in their relationships
This idea keeps Shay's job safe, as others are fired, and she is asked to co-host the podcast with her work rival, journalist Dominic Yun, even though they aren't real exes
They fake break-up and agree to host the show for six months to see how it plays out, and the show is a massive hit!
There's a lot packed into this novel -- forced proximity at a cabin, an adopted nervous dog, past relationship wounds, and grief from losing loved ones
cw: sexism, misogyny, gaslighting, cancer, death of a parent, grief
steam: 2.5/5

THOUGHTS:
I think I am *officially* a RLS hypewoman. This is the second book I've read by her and I am just blown away. I am in loveeee with this goddamn book. These characters! The friends! The mom! The setting! The tropes! The examination of identity! The millennial angst and existential crises! The commentary on grief! The self-awareness in these characters' evolution! asdfsldjhfsldhf EVERYTHING!

I adored Shay's introspection into her sense of self as it was tied to her job, and what that meant for her relationship with her late father. I have not lost a parent so I cannot speak to Shay's grief, but I believed it and I felt for her. I especially appreciated the way that Rachel illustrated how it affected Shay's relationships with her best friend, Ameena, and her mom. Shay was so laser-focused on holding on as tight as she could to the dream that she shared with her late father, which was so beautiful and noble.

However, it deterred her from seeing how her own trajectory affected those around her. This was such a magnificent example of someone not actively and intentionally causing harm, but ending up placing a bit of an emotional and mental burden on those around them. I found that subplot so relatable, as we are all often so engrossed in our own challenges, that it prevents from seeing the ripple effects of how it affects those in close proximity. I sympathized with where both Shay & Ameena were coming from, and I felt both their feelings were valid. I loved the way this was written, and how it was the impetus for Shay to examine her motivations from within, and to attempt to finally find her identity without public radio. Gahhhhhhh!

As far as the romance, I can probably COUNT the number of romcoms with a Korean male lead on one or two hands, and I read hundreds of books a year so we have NO CHOICE BUT TO STAN RLS FOR THIS REPRESENTATION! I'm not Korean -- I'm Filipino & Chinese but I love seeing an AAPI man described as attractive, hot, desirable, etc., and not as the funny or super kind best friend or coworker. Thank you. I adored stuffy, master's-degree-boasting, active-listening, simping ass Dominic!!!!

Anyway, this was a fluffy, tender romcom and I am so glad I read it! Now I want to go to Seattle, thanks RLS!

Quotations that stood out to me:

It’s your typical coworkers turned enemies turned fake exes turned cohosts turned real romantic partners kind of love story.

Public radio is not solely filled with the kind of honey-voiced intellectuals who ask for money during pledge drives. For every job in this field, there are probably a hundred desperate journalism grads who “just love This American Life,” and sometimes you have to be vicious if you want to survive.
I’ve always been a forearm girl—a man rolling his shirt to the elbows is basically foreplay for me—and it’s a crime that such nice ones are wasted on him.

That interactive element—hearing Paloma through your speakers one minute and chatting with her live the next—is why radio is the best form of journalism. It makes the world a little bit smaller. You can be listening to a show with hundreds of thousands of fans across the country, but it still feels like the host is talking directly to you. Almost, in some cases, like the two of you are friends.

There’s so much power in a voice like that, in the ability to make people not just listen but care

“Make people cry, and then make them laugh,” my dad would say. “But most of all, make sure you’re telling a good story.”

I swipe it away and drag the app to the trash. That’s the only action I’ve had lately: Tinder and Bumble desperately trying to win me back.

I am perfectly capable of having a fake relationship—a fake breakup—with an attractive coworker. I am a professional.

The deceased don’t immediately become flawless human beings. And it wouldn’t be right to turn him into one. We loved him, faults and all.

“Do you know how long people’s attention spans last today? Not long. People go wild over a new Stranger Things season for a week before a new Marvel trailer drops, and then there’s a new Disney remake everyone’s talking about. Nothing lasts. But we want to stay relevant as long as we can, really be part of the zeitgeist.”

It’s the first time he’s complimented me outright, and I have no idea what it means. Drunk words, sober thoughts? Even if that’s true, I shouldn’t care if Dominic thinks I’m cute. I am cute. He’s simply stating a fact.

It’s the first time I’ve seen him blush, and it makes me want to cover my own face.

But what has always made radio so special to me is its ability to turn something intangible into something personal. To let someone tell a story only they can. This grief show wouldn’t be breakthrough radio, I know that—but it would be mine.

All of these people connected by something most of us do completely alone, with headphones on, blocking out the rest of the world—it’s kind of magical.

In public radio, thirty seconds is a lifetime. Thirty seconds is long enough for someone to get bored, change the station, switch over to a different podcast. To unsubscribe. Thirty seconds can end a career.

The thing about losing someone is that it doesn’t happen just once. It happens every time you do something great you wish they could see, every time you’re stuck and you need advice. Every time you fail. It erodes your sense of normal, and what grows back is decidedly not normal, and yet you still have to figure out how to trudge forward.

That’s the most terrifying part: that I’ve defined myself by public radio for so long that I’ve never wondered who I am without it. Maybe the truth is that I’ve been scared to find out.

But maybe that’s what we all are—halfway-broken people searching for things that will smooth our jagged edges.

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abifoster02's review

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funny inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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readnoot's review

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hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book was nice; I really enjoyed the concept and was happy to see it executed, and I loved the public radio workplace setting as I used to work at my town’s NPR & PBS affiliate station. I am glad that Shay got the ending she did, as I felt she was at her most empowered and focused by the end of the novel. Although I did like the story, it felt off balance. There seemed to be a slow build through the first two thirds of the book, then a lot of big movement in the last third, but the audience wasn’t given a lot of time to truly sit in those important moments and process them. Also, it was hard for me to root for Shay at times because 1. she could be relatively dense and 2. she continued to struggle with recurring topics without putting meaningful, active effort into resolving them. I suppose she did face said challenges in her own way, but I was not able to sympathize with her as much as I would have liked. I recognize that is just my relationship with her though, so I must acknowledge the book as sound and Solomon as a strong writer. Overall, it was pleasant but not a top read for me.

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