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leahrholmes's review against another edition
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
wanttobeprivate's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
veebee257's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- 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
3.0
victoriakolseth's review
- 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
4.0
take a shot for every time the word "bitch" is used in this book
keavac's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- 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
4.5
easyvisionary's review against another edition
5.0
Just a really good read about queer love, friendship, grad jobs and shitty landlords.
I really enjoyed this through and through. I love books about navigating your 20s :)
I really enjoyed this through and through. I love books about navigating your 20s :)
meggie82461's review against another edition
4.0
This was really hard to rate. Most of it was painful for me to read. I graduated college in 2006, so I don’t need to read a novel to understand what it was like to come of age in the Great Recession. I lived it all… before, during, and after. But obviously, my experience was not everyone’s. I lived at my parents’ house in the suburbs so needless to say, my failures didn’t mean hunger or worse, deportation. I was able to spend years wallowing in drugs and alcohol, without the skills to do anything more than feel sorry for myself.
Despite everything, I was still privileged. I still am.
Sneha, the narrator of this story, is not. She moves to Milwaukee upon graduation, for a contractor job. Her rent is paid for. Things start out well enough: she doesn’t have benefits but she is paid fairly well, which is even better when rent isn’t a concern. Sneha likes women and has accepted that, but the cultural shame is still there. She does start dating and falls in love, experiencing the highs and lows that first love entails. She makes fantastic friends, and these friends become the best part of this story. Seriously though, thank God for them, because at times, Sneha really can be insufferable. I don’t have to like my protagonist-it’s not a requirement by any means- but I think it bothered me the way she takes her friends for granted. Same with her parents, who all things considered are wonderful people that deserve a chance to know who their daughter really is. She also has a bad habit of invalidating anyone’s trauma, including her own. I recognize this is a defense mechanism, and I understand it, but it still reflexively bothered me every time she does it. She also is not at all self-aware: at one point, she comments on how cold and sensitive white Americans can be… not long after a friend begs her to give back something, anything in their relationship. She also talks about how selfish Americans are, but then when she thinks one of her friends is about to tell her she’s going to propose, she immediately thinks about what it means for her and how lonely she’ll be. She is far more American than she gives herself credit for, and while I do think this is by design, it got on my nerves.
Anyways, before long, Sneha’s life begins to fall apart. One thing that drew me to this book was the setting. I’m very familiar with Milwaukee: my mother grew up there, my sister still lives there, and I spent a lot of time there growing up. It’s a city I’ve always enjoyed, but also one with a lot of history, good and bad. It’s one of the most racially segregated cities in the country and this book does a good job of highlighting this. The gentrification, the daily injustices that POC face, the fine line between order and chaos… the need for the people at the top to always stay that way, even if just in spirit. The property manager that makes her life hell, just because she’s white and Sneha’s brown. Her boss that stops paying her, just because she’s brown and needs him to sponsor her visa. But she has been taught not to complain… just because she’s brown. She feels immense shame for needing help, and sees her situation as an indictment on her character, so nobody in her life really knows how bad things have gotten for her. She slips into a deep depression where she doesn’t even have the energy to walk to the food pantry. The reader knows it isn’t a matter of if, but when, she will hit rock bottom, and who- if anyone- will be left to help when it happens.
All of this to say that this book isn’t a light read. It reminded me of those dark moments, with my shiny bachelor’s degree from a Big Ten school (with honors, of course) when I was bartending in very little clothes just to make enough to party that night. I know, poor me, I get that- but what I didn’t realize at the time was how those years would forever alter my view of myself and the world around me. I became an adult during that time- it was ingrained in me that baseline was my **real** worth. To this day, I have to unlearn what those years instilled in me: that I am lucky to have a job, that I should be grateful and work long hours and not complain about anything, even my basic rights being violated. It took years and still, I struggle with work/life balance. And that feeling, that part of Sneha, hit so close to home that it felt like a punch to the gut. And that’s what made me finish- to find out if there is a happy ending for people like us.
Turns out it’s still too soon to know.
Despite everything, I was still privileged. I still am.
Sneha, the narrator of this story, is not. She moves to Milwaukee upon graduation, for a contractor job. Her rent is paid for. Things start out well enough: she doesn’t have benefits but she is paid fairly well, which is even better when rent isn’t a concern. Sneha likes women and has accepted that, but the cultural shame is still there. She does start dating and falls in love, experiencing the highs and lows that first love entails. She makes fantastic friends, and these friends become the best part of this story. Seriously though, thank God for them, because at times, Sneha really can be insufferable. I don’t have to like my protagonist-it’s not a requirement by any means- but I think it bothered me the way she takes her friends for granted. Same with her parents, who all things considered are wonderful people that deserve a chance to know who their daughter really is. She also has a bad habit of invalidating anyone’s trauma, including her own. I recognize this is a defense mechanism, and I understand it, but it still reflexively bothered me every time she does it. She also is not at all self-aware: at one point, she comments on how cold and sensitive white Americans can be… not long after a friend begs her to give back something, anything in their relationship. She also talks about how selfish Americans are, but then when she thinks one of her friends is about to tell her she’s going to propose, she immediately thinks about what it means for her and how lonely she’ll be. She is far more American than she gives herself credit for, and while I do think this is by design, it got on my nerves.
Anyways, before long, Sneha’s life begins to fall apart. One thing that drew me to this book was the setting. I’m very familiar with Milwaukee: my mother grew up there, my sister still lives there, and I spent a lot of time there growing up. It’s a city I’ve always enjoyed, but also one with a lot of history, good and bad. It’s one of the most racially segregated cities in the country and this book does a good job of highlighting this. The gentrification, the daily injustices that POC face, the fine line between order and chaos… the need for the people at the top to always stay that way, even if just in spirit. The property manager that makes her life hell, just because she’s white and Sneha’s brown. Her boss that stops paying her, just because she’s brown and needs him to sponsor her visa. But she has been taught not to complain… just because she’s brown. She feels immense shame for needing help, and sees her situation as an indictment on her character, so nobody in her life really knows how bad things have gotten for her. She slips into a deep depression where she doesn’t even have the energy to walk to the food pantry. The reader knows it isn’t a matter of if, but when, she will hit rock bottom, and who- if anyone- will be left to help when it happens.
All of this to say that this book isn’t a light read. It reminded me of those dark moments, with my shiny bachelor’s degree from a Big Ten school (with honors, of course) when I was bartending in very little clothes just to make enough to party that night. I know, poor me, I get that- but what I didn’t realize at the time was how those years would forever alter my view of myself and the world around me. I became an adult during that time- it was ingrained in me that baseline was my **real** worth. To this day, I have to unlearn what those years instilled in me: that I am lucky to have a job, that I should be grateful and work long hours and not complain about anything, even my basic rights being violated. It took years and still, I struggle with work/life balance. And that feeling, that part of Sneha, hit so close to home that it felt like a punch to the gut. And that’s what made me finish- to find out if there is a happy ending for people like us.
Turns out it’s still too soon to know.
itsme_hi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
dinasamimi's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking forward to this one but was left underwhelmed. Didn’t entirely connect with the characters or storyline.