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3.57 AVERAGE
3.57 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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:
Complicated
emotional
lighthearted
fast-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
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Everything's Fine is half romance-leaning literary fiction, half comedic tragedy about a black woman, Jess, falling in love with her white, "fiscally conservative, socially liberal" MAGA co-worker and classmate, Josh. Jess and Josh do have chemistry; they're both witty and intelligent, share the same motivation for money and recognition, and are admittedly cute together in the "good" moments. I was surprised by how much Rabess managed to convince me of them as an idea (at least enough for me to sympathize with Jess's dilemma).
Jess is a hot-mess, at times incredibly juvenile, annoying, and hypocritical. The author is definitely aware of the faults of her character, however, and plays with them well. Jess isn't a victim of Josh bait-and-switching her: we see all the ways she justifies and blinds herself to the reality of the situation. Which yes at times was incredibly annoying, but I just kept reminding myself how young she is, and at the end of the day I think there are many people out there like Jess. She feels real, warts and all.
The biggest compliment I can give this book is that I picked it up without much expectation, actually guessing I would DNF it. However, I found Rabess' writing strong, Jess's voice realistic, and was overall interested in the Jess and Josh dynamic. This book also made me sob, though not for anything directly related to Jess' story. (but her dad's cancer and his death? literally had me crying non-stop for five chapters. While it came out of left field and felt a little disjointed from the rest of the book, I think Rabess really played on those heart strings well. Though, there is an argument to be made that giving the dad character fatal cancer is an easy way to draw out a depth of emotion that was otherwise missing from Jess's story. )
NGL, I did not see that ending coming. I was sure we were working towardsJess finally dumping Josh, especially after her dad's death! , but the end does call back to the title of this book and the major recurring theme: when we leave Jess, she's still trying to convince herself "Everything's fine" and she can have it both: respect and dignity as a black woman and a perfect lovely life with Josh. I do think it's inevitable that they break-up, but Rabess ends it before we really see Jess accept that conclusion.
Josh is an ass (to say the least), but Rabess doesn't make him (too much) of a stereotypical libertarian dude-bro villain. He has depth, and if nothing else, I believe he believes (and Jess believes) he truly does love her. Again, he felt like a real person who would say and believe these things. I do think people who think this is a straight "romance" or that the book is pro these types of inter-politic relationships (especially between a liberal black woman and a conservative white man) are simply reading it wrong. Jess and Josh are both young and stupid AF, insecure and dramatic, and lying to themselves and each other. Their relationship is as flimsy as the walls they both build to compartmentalize each other's politics. It's doomed to fall apart.
Jess is a hot-mess, at times incredibly juvenile, annoying, and hypocritical. The author is definitely aware of the faults of her character, however, and plays with them well. Jess isn't a victim of Josh bait-and-switching her: we see all the ways she justifies and blinds herself to the reality of the situation. Which yes at times was incredibly annoying, but I just kept reminding myself how young she is, and at the end of the day I think there are many people out there like Jess. She feels real, warts and all.
The biggest compliment I can give this book is that I picked it up without much expectation, actually guessing I would DNF it. However, I found Rabess' writing strong, Jess's voice realistic, and was overall interested in the Jess and Josh dynamic. This book also made me sob, though not for anything directly related to Jess' story. (
NGL, I did not see that ending coming. I was sure we were working towards
Josh is an ass (to say the least), but Rabess doesn't make him (too much) of a stereotypical libertarian dude-bro villain. He has depth, and if nothing else, I believe he believes (and Jess believes) he truly does love her. Again, he felt like a real person who would say and believe these things. I do think people who think this is a straight "romance" or that the book is pro these types of inter-politic relationships (especially between a liberal black woman and a conservative white man) are simply reading it wrong. Jess and Josh are both young and stupid AF, insecure and dramatic, and lying to themselves and each other. Their relationship is as flimsy as the walls they both build to compartmentalize each other's politics. It's doomed to fall apart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer, Racism, Death of parent
challenging
funny
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sorry to say, everything's just fine about this book. I feel like it's so polarizing, instead I just sat in the middle. I think my main issue was because I literally couldn't see why the main characters were into one another, and not just because of the Republican/Democrat divide but because they never seemed to communicate about anything. I have a lot of thoughts and feelings, but I don't know that my perspective on that really matters. I also think that if the project of your book is to interrogate something (in this case, can a hardcore Repub and Dem have a relationship in the Trump era) then you can't end with something vague! Well, maybe you can, but in this case I don't know that I vibed with it.
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to like this book. About 1/3 of the way through, I had to switch editions (from e-book to audio) because I simply couldn’t finish it. And if this wasn’t one of my book club selections, I likely would’ve DNFed it. I am not the target audience for this book & that is okay! I don’t find this type of storyline entertaining, enlightening, nor inspiring. It’s extremely upsetting. Whew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Racism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Classism
Interesting. Very raw perspective on interracial dating just slightly unrealistic. I genuinely dislike the main character, why is she so quiet ? You cannot just ignore polarizing beliefs.