Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Old Enough

Oh my goodness. Old Enough, with its hilarious and insightful dialogue, its relentless leaning into the awkwardness of young adulthood, its unrepentant pursuit of queer joy...might just be my favorite book of the year. It was such a pure pleasure to read.

Though the first person narrative circumscribes our perspective of certain events and characters, I can't imagine this story having any POV other than Sav's. And her willingness to reevaluate her own assumptions means we get plenty of growth and *aha* moments.

Does Sav's college universe feel a little too idyllic to be totally believable? Sure, but a realistic campus novel is not why we're here. We're here to watch a young woman navigate what it means to carve out your own identity, away from the impressions and cultural memories of your childhood. And that story is beautifully, compassionately told.

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gracesullentrup's review

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challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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hannahd_19's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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angievansprang's review

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

What a beautiful book. An absolute ode to SA survivors and bisexuals, especially those of us who truly found ourselves in college. The writing in this was absolutely stunning. I’ve never read a book that so aptly describes the emotions entangled in female friendship in your 20s. Loved it.

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sapphicreaderlucy's review

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adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Coming of age, coming into queerness, coming into feminism,,, this was an excellent book. This was a very well written ode to exploring queerness as a young adult and discovering who you are and who you want to be. There were so many different aspects of this book that I loved. The way that the gender and sexuality studies classes were written were my particular fav (as a GSS student). It was so accurate to the feeling of discussing feminist ideas with other people effected by the patriarchy and how powerful and life-changing that feels, especially for young people coming into their identity. I have genuinely never related to a character more than Sav. Another main theme of this book was trauma and specifically sexual assault. I thought this was discussed in such a thoughtful way that was survivor centered, authentic, and empowering. Going into college and starting to process trauma from high school as an adult is such a profound time where you learn so much more about yourself and your past, so we see Sav start to unpack her trauma in the context of new relationships, her classes, and her sexuality. I would totally recommend this to anyone, but especially young queer people. Also, there need to be more books about growing out of codependent women friendships because it is so common and so heartbreaking! I think a lot of young people could relate to the growing pain feelings that are characteristic of relationships like Sav and Izzie's. Though it does talk a lot about SA, it also talks a lot about queer joy and community. The balancing of these two feelings, of sadness and joy, is so much of what being queer is about. Finding joy despite oppression and queering your own life to what you want most out of it. I was honestly very surprised to learn that this is the author's first novel. I hope to read more from her.

Favorite Quotes!!
- "We found a worthiness in being tan, like being made anew, even with the warnings that it would ruin us one day. But we wanted to be ruined; all teenage girls do. A tan meant summer, and summer an endless promise. (p. 12)KE
- "But I would do anything to keep his attention on me, and on what I had been told were the best parts of me." (p. 17)KE
- "So everything we did had to be big enough and fun enough to distract us from the reality of what had happened between us, what had happened between me and her brother." (p. 153).KE
- "The lemonade scent was gone and what replaced it was unnamable. Essence of Wesley, I guess. A bodily thing, so human and delicious. It was the most intimate thing of all, to share breath like this. I dozed off again." (p. 310) KE
- "Because I think the promises that we made to each other were never really about weddings or forevers. They were about a commitment to each other. A commitment to each other’s joy. I think we both believed that joy could not exist without us being together, but we’re old enough now to know otherwise." (p. 320) KE

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Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

Old Enough by Haley Jakobson

thepostman96's review against another edition

amberlfaris's review

leahisdudish's review against another edition

emmawilsonreads's review

amandaboyer's review

sarahholliday's review

gracesullentrup's review

hannahd_19's review against another edition

angievansprang's review

sapphicreaderlucy's review