Reviews with content warning for Mental illness - The Interestings

i think reading/listening to this at the current point in my life was interesting because i am in between both the stages that the book explores, young teenager (13-14) to adult (30+). i relate to the aspirational side of them when they were at the summer camp but still understand the realities of life (i would like to believe). i understand why people wouldn't like it (because a lot of the reviews i have seen were not favourable) since we're following pretentious, privileged, tALENTED teenagers living their best new york lives and at many points feeling sorry for themselves; i mean..wISH IT WAS ME.

yes, the characters were pety, annoying, pretentious, jealous and contradictory but, real people are assholes too. so, i think that was the whole point of it and is what made is so realistic. either way the things that it explored: dreams vs reality, the dynamics of envy in friendships, how big tragic life events can change a person and their relationships, class and just the development of life and relationships over time, were really interesting and well fleshed out.

when big events came into the plot (not saying for the sake of spoilers), i found it so interesting to see how this could change the dynamics within these relationships.

as for the audiobook, not much to say other than i liked how the narrator committed to the voices (male and female), definitely helped with distinguishing between characters.

when meg wolizter addressed ash's response to cathy's rape i was so relieved lmao. it was irking me and im glad that it was revisited at the end. she is this "feminist" character yet completely failed to consider that her brother could have actually done something. it was a really interesting element to bring into the plot and i loved seeing how everything played out. okay enough ranting

Content Warnings

definebookish's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I was always going to love this one; that much was obvious from the start. The story of six friends who meet at a Jewish summer camp for the arts in 1974, it’s about the ways in which their destinies diverge as adults, even while individual bonds between them largely remain strong. If I had to review it in six words I’d write “For fans of The Dutch House” and leave it at that.

At the centre of the story is aspiring actress Jules Jacobsen, whose presence at camp in 1974 was made possible by a scholarship. She becomes best friends with beautiful, wealthy Ash, and soon draws the attention of homely Ethan, but can’t reciprocate his feelings for her. Later, after an initial struggle to make it as an actress in New York City, she resigns herself to a more pedestrian career path; Ethan and Ash go on to become incredibly successful.

Some of the more negative reviews I’ve read dismiss The Interestings as being about an unlikeable character’s unlikeable bitterness, but that’s not how it reads to me. To me it’s about how life happens to people – how we open and close doors and how doors are opened and closed to us by talent, perseverance, ecomics, biology, trauma. How having any kind of specific hope or dream for your life is taking an emotional risk. While this absolutely isn’t a comprehensive consideration of all of the factors that make or break artistic success, it is a nuanced and complex one.

Is it perfect? I suppose that depends on your point of view, like everything else. It’s messy, and the characters say insensitive things and behave in ways that real people behave, which won’t always equate to the reader’s own ethical or moral boundaries. Occasionally it rams a point home a little too hard. But it’s also sympathetic, and often relatable, and surprisingly epic in scope. I don’t often feel that I know fictional characters in the same way I know actual humans, but by the end of this I did.

Content Warnings

katyisreading's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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unicornweasley's review

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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