Reviews with content warning for Cursing - Exciting Times

very similar to the only Sally Rooney book i've read, Normal People, (in fact, both audiobooks were read by the same person) but where i found NP depressing, i found Exciting Times *comforting*. i think it's in the narration: NP's is third-person, detached, and almost cold, while ET's is first-person, familiar, and didn't make everything feel completely futile? it helped that i related a lot, more than i would like, to the narrator 🥲 she's just like me fr. i loved her character's voice (in the literary sense, not the audiobook, though that was good too), i saw myself reflected in it a bit.
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:

the comparison of exiting the subway station to ascending into the clouds—heavenly, or at least stepping out of the dark and into the light. and to spot & run after Edith there? and Ava's admission to herself that she loves Edith, and that Edith changed her life… i think it says more about me that i wasn't against her moving to Frankfurt with Julian. because at least she had someone who ostensibly wanted her, and what more is there, right? but that's not what i was meant to take away. it's a little bit romcom, but chase after the person you wronged in a transit hub and get them back; don't settle for the emotionally stunted man-child. (i do actually kind of like Julian though, despite his politics [Miles is right]).

i also appreciate that the book is a vessel for talking about these things: even though you lovely storygraphians did not ask to hear any of this, it's nice to be able to express it.

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skudiklier's review against another edition

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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.

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ienbdri's review against another edition

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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

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areadingstan's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective relaxing medium-paced

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’d been wanting to read this book for ages, eyeing its cover up in the library and remembering someone had recommended it to me because I like Sally Rooney.

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.

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