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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
It was much more emotional than I expected. Even with reading it, as it was supposed to be comforting, it made me more and more anxious that instead of exploring like these 5 women did, I'm at home not doing anything. A pandemic really messes things up. What I need to read now is a book telling me about what 5 women did who graduated in 2020! Now THAT would make me feel better!
I liked it just because I could resonate with some of the experiences. Sometimes read a little elitist, and I found the writer slightly judgmental of the women in the book as well, imposing her own interpretation of other people’s lives a little too much. Easy to read.
This was ok but not quite what I expected it to be. I wish it had been organized differently, preferably one story at a time instead of each woman’s story in a one or two month chapter. I also found it a bit hard to relate to as someone who didn’t go to an Ivy college, doesn’t face the same pressures. It was a good concept.
As someone that’s currently in that “first year out” period, it was nice to see how much growth people got out of their first year. What was interesting to me was how none of the main women seemed to follow a “typical” post grad career plan (get a job, stay for a few years, then either stay longer or move on).
I liked how it had the different perspectives, and the value in it being Princeton grads is seeing how the assumed to be top students can get in a rut as well.
The exploration into more than their professional careers and into their personal lives was really nice too.
I withheld five stars mainly because while it was a good read, I couldn’t see myself going back to read it again. But overall pretty well written for the five people it followed (and the fact someone started writing it when they were my age is also impressive to think about)
I liked how it had the different perspectives, and the value in it being Princeton grads is seeing how the assumed to be top students can get in a rut as well.
The exploration into more than their professional careers and into their personal lives was really nice too.
I withheld five stars mainly because while it was a good read, I couldn’t see myself going back to read it again. But overall pretty well written for the five people it followed (and the fact someone started writing it when they were my age is also impressive to think about)
informative
reflective
slow-paced
I loved this book so much. It’s been 1.5 years since I graduated and I related so heavily to these five women sharing their stories from their first year out of college. It made me feel less alone knowing that most people struggle with figuring out what comes next after college. Most of the women were faced with difficult decisions about how to prioritize meaningful relationships and great career opportunities— which is something I dealt with my first year out of school. There’s no right or wrong way to do life, but it’s comforting to read about other people struggling with the same things as you and how they handled it. I highly recommend this book to any person who’s feeling a little lost.
This story of a handful of Princeton graduates' first year out of college makes me sad.
These ladies are unrecognizable compared to my friends. Thank goodness. They are obsessed with what everyone else is doing and how everyone else sees them.
How is taking money from random men making Olivia more independent than taking her parents' money? How is sleeping with people you don't know for money better? How is she a documentary filmmaker? Can one call themselves a documentary filmmaker while sleeping on couches and sometimes filming and sometimes traveling with old guys who pay her for sex and company? Should one be proud to call herself a "sugar baby"?
Caroline...why are you thinking about kids and roots and who is or isn't planning for the future???? She's a good writer and I'd rather read a fuller version of this book in 10 or 20 years. One year isn't enough, there was still so much uncertainty and confusion.
These ladies all need a good dose of You Do You. I'd love to know how it's working out for Denise!
These ladies are unrecognizable compared to my friends. Thank goodness. They are obsessed with what everyone else is doing and how everyone else sees them.
How is taking money from random men making Olivia more independent than taking her parents' money? How is sleeping with people you don't know for money better? How is she a documentary filmmaker? Can one call themselves a documentary filmmaker while sleeping on couches and sometimes filming and sometimes traveling with old guys who pay her for sex and company? Should one be proud to call herself a "sugar baby"?
Caroline...why are you thinking about kids and roots and who is or isn't planning for the future???? She's a good writer and I'd rather read a fuller version of this book in 10 or 20 years. One year isn't enough, there was still so much uncertainty and confusion.
These ladies all need a good dose of You Do You. I'd love to know how it's working out for Denise!
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Interesting for sure just not that relatable given subjects chosen.
Few complaints about this book. Still feels relevant even though I'm over a year out (perhaps because graduate school seems like more school and this month marks the start of my more ambiguous post-grad life.) So many highlights of feelings I could identify with - struggling to define Princeton relationships post-Princeton, reflecting on the Princeton environment nurturing this relentless drive to to demonstrate growth and betterment, the struggle to make new friends in a new place, the paradox of when is appropriate to shape your future based on your partner's plans and how that will look to others (haha, just kidding, can't relate), etc.
Thought it was brave for the author to decide to include her own rocky relationship with her parents, especially her mom, and could relate with a lot of those complicated feelings. Also appreciated the author's conscious decision to select her subjects with diversity in mind - they each had their own unique family and professional issues, and yet there were so many similar threads of feelings that cropped up in each of their lives post-grad.
I enjoyed the author occasionally letting in details pertaining to how she collected these women's stories - like how Alex is sometimes painstakingly accurate and candid with everything she's going through, while Olivia completely drops off the radar by the end of the book. I thought Kitchener also inserts a healthy amount of personal commentary while telling their stories, some of it critical and objective (like moments when Olivia seems hypocritical or hyperbolic, or when she notices how future-oriented and future-obsessed Alex is), but some of it very personal (like how she could relate to Denise's anxieties about leaving a perfectly good place that had become a home for a strange new place that supposedly held promise and potential, or how she kept asking Michelle about how she'd sworn off relationships before dating yet another guy).
As much as I'd like to recommend the book to others just out of college, I'm uncertain whether it would be as enjoyable to the non-Princeton alum. The references were easy for me, but Kitchener makes sure to explain references anyways for the non-Princetonian. I feel like some of the toxic college vibes viewed in retrospect would be relatable to any other graduate of a supposedly "elite" school, but I am not sure how much of the book remains Princeton-specific. In any case, the effect for me was added comfort that the complex feelings - loneliness, confusion, conflicted drive, disorientation, questioning measures of self-worth - that follow my college years are experienced by fellow college graduates of a wide variety of backgrounds.
Thought it was brave for the author to decide to include her own rocky relationship with her parents, especially her mom, and could relate with a lot of those complicated feelings. Also appreciated the author's conscious decision to select her subjects with diversity in mind - they each had their own unique family and professional issues, and yet there were so many similar threads of feelings that cropped up in each of their lives post-grad.
I enjoyed the author occasionally letting in details pertaining to how she collected these women's stories - like how Alex is sometimes painstakingly accurate and candid with everything she's going through, while Olivia completely drops off the radar by the end of the book. I thought Kitchener also inserts a healthy amount of personal commentary while telling their stories, some of it critical and objective (like moments when Olivia seems hypocritical or hyperbolic, or when she notices how future-oriented and future-obsessed Alex is), but some of it very personal (like how she could relate to Denise's anxieties about leaving a perfectly good place that had become a home for a strange new place that supposedly held promise and potential, or how she kept asking Michelle about how she'd sworn off relationships before dating yet another guy).
As much as I'd like to recommend the book to others just out of college, I'm uncertain whether it would be as enjoyable to the non-Princeton alum. The references were easy for me, but Kitchener makes sure to explain references anyways for the non-Princetonian. I feel like some of the toxic college vibes viewed in retrospect would be relatable to any other graduate of a supposedly "elite" school, but I am not sure how much of the book remains Princeton-specific. In any case, the effect for me was added comfort that the complex feelings - loneliness, confusion, conflicted drive, disorientation, questioning measures of self-worth - that follow my college years are experienced by fellow college graduates of a wide variety of backgrounds.
reflective
fast-paced