Reviews

And Now You Can Go by Vendela Vida

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harvio's review against another edition

4.0

- a surprisingly tight, first-novel "about the effects - some predictable, some wildly unexpected - that an encounter at gunpoint can have on the life of a (previously) assured young girl."
- The gun in question is pointed at twenty-one-year-old Ellis as she walks through a New York City Park. In the end, she is unrobbed and physically unharmed, but she is left psychologically reeling.

carrieliza's review against another edition

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3.0

There isn't really anything special about this book. I've always liked Vida's writing, but never really what she does with it. The premise here is interesting--it begins with a girl getting held up in Riverside Park, then goes on to what happens to her after she thwarts the criminal with poetry--but it never really delivered anything interesting.

hanntastic's review against another edition

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3.0

This is Vendela Vida's first book, and I'm sorry I read her other books first because they are much better. You can definitely tell she is going to be a good writer from this book but I had pretty high expectations that weren't met.

ifonlyihadcake's review against another edition

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3.0

Spoiler

I think this novel does a good job of portraying what human life is like in a (seemingly) purposeful way: erratic and nonsensical. Yet we try to make sense of it anyway. The main character’s actions may seem odd, but, given the fact she almost died and got out of it by reciting poems, I can’t tell you what IS odd. I think making weird decisions is probably the natural outcome given the situation.

The story doesn’t really go anywhere necessarily, though I did enjoy just the day-to-day following the gun incident. The book comes to an actual climax, but this is short lived and only at the very end of the book.

I found this book compelling at parts, but with a (again, seemingly purposeful) lull that takes up a rather meaty portion of the middle. That section feels like it’s in the wrong book.

maryparapluie's review against another edition

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4.0

I swear that I didn't know this book was about an art history grad student when I bought it... and some of the art history details were wrong... but anyway: I really like Vendela Vida, though I understand that her books would be an acquired taste. Her prose is fluid with minimal words chosen for maximum effect; the stories seem implausible, but she makes them believable enough to work. I'm not sure I liked this book as much as Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, but it was a good read.

alfyasmeen's review

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3.0

Did you know that the author of this book, Vendela Vida, is the wife of the author, Dave Eggers, and that those together wrote one of my most favorite feel-good films: Away We Go?
And that's the reason I picked it up! I have yet to read books by Dave Eggers.

I liked this book. It was generally okay, but I could see it being better as a film, since it had a lot of those short, "pointless" conversations that would make a lovely quirky film. I expected it to be better; however, I didn't regret reading it.