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3.35 AVERAGE
3.35 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic relationship
Moderate: Homophobia
actually i've thought about this one some more and i absolutely hated it so. there's that. audiobook narrator was phenomenal tho.
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i really don't know how to feel about this one but i also usually have Feelings about books set in hong kong so
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i really don't know how to feel about this one but i also usually have Feelings about books set in hong kong so
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
i liked. i thought this was sharp, but i am always a sucker for an extremely hatable female protagonist…
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
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:
Yes
2.5/5
After finishing Exciting Times just before midnight on Sunday, I typed out a hasty review that read: I feel very neutral about this. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It's very unoriginal to compare this to Sally Rooney but here we are. Also, the two weeks I spent reading this made me sincerely think about grammar for the first time since college and I hated it. Other reviews have touched on how white this book is, and to some extent, it feels expected; it's about an Irish woman in Hong Kong, so Hong Kong will be experienced through a very white, European lens. IDK, I wish the ending were more concrete but otherwise, I guess it is what it is.
I could sit here all day and that would still be the best review I could ever write for Exciting Times. Because at the end of the day, this is peak millennial literature about casual relationships and finding yourself. Ava, our heroine (anti-heroine?) lies and occasionally feels bad about it. She’s witty and funny yes, but she also makes bad choices and shrugs off the consequences. This is a very slim novel with short chapters and a mid-size font, but those chapters dragged on; I’d read for forty-five minutes and be amazed that barely thirty pages had passed.
This isn’t a bad book. I found the plot picked up a bit around part two, and there were some truly interesting/witty insights. However, it was ultimately a lackluster and unexciting read.
After finishing Exciting Times just before midnight on Sunday, I typed out a hasty review that read: I feel very neutral about this. Didn't love it, didn't hate it. It's very unoriginal to compare this to Sally Rooney but here we are. Also, the two weeks I spent reading this made me sincerely think about grammar for the first time since college and I hated it. Other reviews have touched on how white this book is, and to some extent, it feels expected; it's about an Irish woman in Hong Kong, so Hong Kong will be experienced through a very white, European lens. IDK, I wish the ending were more concrete but otherwise, I guess it is what it is.
I could sit here all day and that would still be the best review I could ever write for Exciting Times. Because at the end of the day, this is peak millennial literature about casual relationships and finding yourself. Ava, our heroine (anti-heroine?) lies and occasionally feels bad about it. She’s witty and funny yes, but she also makes bad choices and shrugs off the consequences. This is a very slim novel with short chapters and a mid-size font, but those chapters dragged on; I’d read for forty-five minutes and be amazed that barely thirty pages had passed.
This isn’t a bad book. I found the plot picked up a bit around part two, and there were some truly interesting/witty insights. However, it was ultimately a lackluster and unexciting read.
I genuinely expected to be in love with these characters at least half as much as I love Sally Rooney’s. And while there are (in my opinion) more conversations on class and politics, the lack of responsibility and the amount of self-complacency the main character Ava emanates was so annoying. Especially given the fact that she lives and has sex with a guy who doesn’t give much shit about whether she exists simply because he can afford it and she can’t (literally) afford to live by herself.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
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:
Yes
Edith should’ve moved in :(
funny
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not very exciting
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape