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thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The humor in this book is incredibly dry and clever, sneaks up on you. Story and dialogue is simple but full of intellect. Characters feel evasive but real, monotonous day-to-day life of twentysomethings who hate harping on their privilege but definitely take advantage of it. Dolan’s wit is sharp and relentless at times, which works well for the temperament of our main character, Ava. Her not-boyfriend Julian is very noncommittal and quite dull, actually, but his and Ava’s routine of being somewhere between roommates and FWB is interesting although played out. Thus, it is with the turn of the arrival of Edith into Ava’s life that shoots the plot into more compelling territory, though not altogether interesting, even with the announcement of love between them. In any case, the writing is great and very introspective. Many comparisons can be drawn to Sally Rooney, beyond them both being Irish authors of the same age. This one was quite similar to the plot of “Conversations With Friends”, but less engaging, and I do find that Rooney’s writing carries more weight to it.
Dolan’s take on the daily rituals of an Irish millennial living abroad is very functional and slice of life. I didn’t really care for any of the characters, which is not always great when a story is character-driven. In the end, I found myself skimming through paragraphs. I wished for more plot. But that is another pointed joke of Dolan’s—a book called “Exciting Times” with very little excitement.
There were many quotes I liked, especially this one:
“We were the sum of the routines we’d built around each other.”
Graphic: Cursing and Infidelity
Moderate: Sexual content, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Classism
Minor: Rape, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
c1audia's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, and Sexual content
alisonfaith426's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual content, Alcohol, Classism, Misogyny, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Abortion, Colonisation, Cursing, and Sexual assault
annoyedhumanoid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
i want to talk about the ending. at first i was disappointed, asking myself how the author could think that's a good place to stop. but i read it back and there's more to it:
Moderate: Alcohol, Biphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, Sexism, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Classism, and Cursing
Minor: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual assault, Bullying, Colonisation, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, Addiction, Body shaming, Death, Rape, Sexual violence, Drug use, and Fatphobia
skudiklier's review against another edition
- 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
"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.
Graphic: Infidelity, Cursing, and Biphobia
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Colonisation, Rape, Sexism, Terminal illness, Lesbophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Racism
ienbdri's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Rape, Sexism, and Sexual content
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Addiction, and Bullying
Minor: Abortion
areadingstan's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. It’s like many contemporary novels about dating, but is unique in its own way too. Dolan’s language often made me go back and read a paragraph again just because of how creative and inventive the words were.
I didn’t necessarily like the main character Ava, but I don’t think I was supposed to, but I did see the humanity in all of the characters because their ‘flaws’ were not hidden but quite visible.
This is a book about modern dating, class, social media and also, language. I loved it.
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
nialiversuch's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Cursing
Minor: Abortion, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Colonisation, Drug use, Homophobia, and Sexual assault
sommer's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Biphobia, Cursing, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Toxic relationship
amberinbookland's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Homophobia, Religious bigotry, Drug abuse, Drug use, Alcoholism, Medical content, Cursing, Bullying, and Racism