Scan barcode
james1star's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
I desperately wanted to love this book. The themes, setting, plot and writing style drew me in. But mostly it’s comparison and likeness to Sally Rooney, whom I adore, is what really made me want to read this. But alas… I kinda hated it. I don’t want to go on too long as this I already feel has taken up too much of my time enough but Yhh.
Plot: Irish postgrad Ava teaches rich kids English in Hong Kong, has relationship with a rich banker who buys her stuff and she questions it, he leaves for a bit she she becomes infatuated with a woman, they have a relationship and that’s all you’re getting… read one the spoiler reviews for more.
What I liked: there were definitely some memorable quotes and snippets and impactful parts. The writing is ‘good’ and for the most part understandable, with somewhat lyrical or at least complex (I’m not that good at explaining) descriptions of things. It did have some witty and interesting takes in parts that made me LOL. The book also deals with quite a lot of topics e.g. class, relationships, power dynamics, sexuality, minor alludes to racism (I’ll develop in a sec) among others which is good but I personally don’t feel they were dealt with the best but Yhh… I dunno.
What I liked: there were definitely some memorable quotes and snippets and impactful parts. The writing is ‘good’ and for the most part understandable, with somewhat lyrical or at least complex (I’m not that good at explaining) descriptions of things. It did have some witty and interesting takes in parts that made me LOL. The book also deals with quite a lot of topics e.g. class, relationships, power dynamics, sexuality, minor alludes to racism (I’ll develop in a sec) among others which is good but I personally don’t feel they were dealt with the best but Yhh… I dunno.
What I didn’t like: as it’s in my head now I’ll talk about this first but I don’t think the bi/pan(/ I don’t know what to ‘label’ Ava because she doesn’t and of course we don’t need to but Yhh someone who has an intimate relationship with people of multiple genders) rep is not the best because Ava is ‘cheating’ on her partners and this is a big stereotype of the bi community sooo. Also racism can be alluded to like the way Edith’s mum treats the probably southeast Asian helper where in Hong Kong this inter-Asian racism is a big problem and Dolan mentions it very slightly but doesn’t extrapolate. Furthermore, many of the Asian characters fit stereotypes like the children Ava teachers being typical-Asian-Tiger-kids-who-don’t-really-want-to-learn-English-but-are-made-to and are described as ‘copycats’ - Edith also fits this persona and her mum being a typical Asian tiger mum.
Next paragraph for the characters. I honestly didn’t like any of them and not in an ‘intriguing villain’ kinda way but more so ‘I could not care less if you do or don’t get what you want’ kinda way. They weren’t really developed and shown to be quite shallow with certain characteristics being repeated too much - Julian’s bankerness, richness, Oxford-graduateness, whiteness and so on… he’s also just not very nice. Ava too is just very meh and Edith, albeit the best, is also just okay bordering on nice but like I dunno I can’t really elaborate without lying. And being a character based novel you do need to have this level of complexity or lovableness to keep wanting to read on but I did not - I really didn’t enjoy reading this book it felt like I was being forced to.
Final point, the writing in this book makes Sally Rooney look subtle… and to me that says A LOT. I definitely got this ‘I’m flexing my English degree’ ‘I know lots of big, complex, intellectual words and I don’t care if you don’t also know them’ and ‘imma confuse these readers’ kinda vibe - I went off on one a bit and lost my train of thought but yhhh it’s pretentious. And this isn’t always a bad thing if you have the big brain energy vibe but I don’t really, at least not to Naoise Dolan’s extent. Furthermore I felt it had the pretentious and ‘gobly-goop’ writing style like Rooney on the various topics (with big discussions on arguably benign things but are important in the moment and to individuals and Yhh but not on the larger scale… my brain always fuzzes trying to sum up this type of writing) but without the real cusp or direct meaningfulness that has the lasting impact on you.
I could honestly talk a lot about this book so maybe it’s not that bad but… I still don’t like it. Okayish plot with some takeaways but predominantly unlikable characters in a pretentious writing style and some harmful stereotypes.
P.S. the plot was just like ehhh with lots of ‘why are you doing that?’ ‘Really? People talk and act like that? Really? Ummmm I have differing opinions’ and the logicality is questionable at some points too.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Classism
Minor: Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Rape, Drug use, and Racism
antoniav's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-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
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia and Rape
Minor: Racism and Sexism
mariaalice's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
skudiklier's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-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'm not sure how much I liked this book. I enjoyed it, I found it engaging, and I laughed out loud more than once. I also really liked some of the lines; I listened to the audiobook while driving so I sadly didn't save most of them, but there was one part that hit me so hard I paused the book and just sort of yelled for a minute. I just spent fifteen minutes tracking it down so I might as well share it here:
"The best wedges of words were the ones my eight-year-olds wrote: I like her face. With her I am happy. I wished I’d never learned more advanced grammar and could only make sentences like that. It would give me an excuse to say them aloud."
Anyway. This book didn't really go anywhere and I'm not sure the characters are very good in any real way, but I enjoyed the narration for sure. It's interesting and I'd recommend it to some people, but not everyone.
"The best wedges of words were the ones my eight-year-olds wrote: I like her face. With her I am happy. I wished I’d never learned more advanced grammar and could only make sentences like that. It would give me an excuse to say them aloud."
Anyway. This book didn't really go anywhere and I'm not sure the characters are very good in any real way, but I enjoyed the narration for sure. It's interesting and I'd recommend it to some people, but not everyone.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Infidelity, Cursing, and Biphobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
hello_lovely13's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Rape
Minor: Abortion and Sexual assault
sewn_up's review
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Minor: Racism, Rape, and Sexism
lydiavsbooks's review against another edition
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
I see why this is often compared to Sally Rooney's writing, with its real, complex characters and matter of fact tone narrating the every day life of our main character it definitely shares similarities with Rooney.
That said, it is unique in its own way. One thing that stood out to me was the humour throughout, this book was funny, and I think its rare that I think that. I've also seen the writing being compared to Ottessa Moshfegh, which i also see where that comes from, but overall I think Dolan has her own unique voice and style that will definitely work really well for some people.
Did it work for me? I honestly don't know haha. I definitely found it very readable, I was intrigued and to some extent attached, but I think books like this will just click on that extra level with some people and not others, and I can't say it necessarily did for me.
That said, I still really did like this, I found reading from a female character who was just unapologeticly human, without trying to convince you shes a 'good' person very refreshing. I also wanted to note a few favourite quotes:
'You keep describing yourself as a uniquely damaged person, when a lot of it is completely normal. I think you want to feel special - which is fair, who doesn't - but you don't allow yourself to feel special in a good way, so you tell yourself you're especially bad'
'I enjoyed conversations where I wasn't trying to persuade anyone, where I just said precisely what I thought. I got tired of making myself acceptable'
That said, it is unique in its own way. One thing that stood out to me was the humour throughout, this book was funny, and I think its rare that I think that. I've also seen the writing being compared to Ottessa Moshfegh, which i also see where that comes from, but overall I think Dolan has her own unique voice and style that will definitely work really well for some people.
Did it work for me? I honestly don't know haha. I definitely found it very readable, I was intrigued and to some extent attached, but I think books like this will just click on that extra level with some people and not others, and I can't say it necessarily did for me.
That said, I still really did like this, I found reading from a female character who was just unapologeticly human, without trying to convince you shes a 'good' person very refreshing. I also wanted to note a few favourite quotes:
'You keep describing yourself as a uniquely damaged person, when a lot of it is completely normal. I think you want to feel special - which is fair, who doesn't - but you don't allow yourself to feel special in a good way, so you tell yourself you're especially bad'
'I enjoyed conversations where I wasn't trying to persuade anyone, where I just said precisely what I thought. I got tired of making myself acceptable'
Content Warnings
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Rape
coreysbooks's review
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
Exciting Times by Naoise Dolan
⭐️⭐️/5 for me
Main character doesn’t get a lot of character development, a love triangle between our bisexual main character and her male roomie banker and a female lovely lawyer. Our main character is kind of cruel, she blatantly used both people, and then goes back to the banker in the end. She’s dishonest, and uses the people she “loves”. I think the only reason I finished is I loved the voice of the audiobook narrator.
⭐️⭐️/5 for me
Main character doesn’t get a lot of character development, a love triangle between our bisexual main character and her male roomie banker and a female lovely lawyer. Our main character is kind of cruel, she blatantly used both people, and then goes back to the banker in the end. She’s dishonest, and uses the people she “loves”. I think the only reason I finished is I loved the voice of the audiobook narrator.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Racial slurs, Rape, Racism, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Death, and Cultural appropriation
ienbdri's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, and Bullying
Minor: Abortion
missdaisyanna's review
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
I understand where the author was going with this book, the pull of the familiar and the devil you know, opting for something that wouldn't hurt you or make you too happy over something that might give you soaring highs and crushing lows. I, unfortunately, related to a lot of the feelings Ava had about Julian, wanting to be appreciated by someone who didn't appreciate anyone, and feeling special when they did. But the fatal flaw in this book was simple - I can't think of a single person who would actually like Julian. if he had been made just a bit more likeable, a little more of a mixed bag, even had just one or two redeeming qualities, then this would have worked. As it is, I just feel that Ava made the wrong choice, and nobody could argue otherwise. I also feel like the mention of r*pe was unnecessary as it wasn't ever brought up again or developed on.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape