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3.32 AVERAGE
3.32 AVERAGE
A story of a 40-something single mother suddenly in the midst of empty-nester syndrome, while her son is discovering that American college life is demanding a lot more of him as a person than high school ever did. The book is set squarely in the late 2010s - from relationships sparked from Tinder and texting to the issues of sexual consent, internet porn, and transgender characters. Chapters told from different characters' viewpoints ate effective at conveying a breadth of middle-class American experience.
I read this for Jane Green’s book club first selection. I did not like it. It was like an immature teenage boy wrote it. Writing about his fantasies. It was crude at times and none of the characters were likable.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Perrota's willing to go places in contemporary life that he should probably stay away from, but he pulls it off. The switch between the close third and first person perspectives is jarring, but as an exploration of piggishness on college campuses it's totally believable. I'm not sure about the ending but what's in between is worth it.
This is a hot pile of trendy garbage with zero point at all and characters whose only purpose is to represent an issue. Also, SO MUCH MALE FANTASY BULLSHIT coming from a female character. Should come with a warning that you will strain your eyes from rolling so much. The kind of novel Buzzfeed would write if an actual website could write novels.
I always enjoy Perrotta's novels and sense of irony. This novel's a bit mixed for me as he not only follows the point of view of the title character---Eve Fletcher, but also the perspective of her son Brendan as he navigates the sexual landscape at his university and ultimately comes to realizations about how he treats women he's intimately involved with including former high school girlfriend Becca and Amber, the current object of his affection.
Eve's point of view is the far more interesting one. She came upon her son receiving oral sex from a former girlfriend before he was about to leave for college and Eve was offended by his porn-tinged comments to his girlfriend. What's interesting about this feeling is Eve is becoming quite interested in watching porn herself and has feelings---so many feelings about what and why she's watching.
Brendan's storyline is not as engaging as the now empty nesting/divorced and more curious about sex than ever Eve's storyline is as she, too, enters college again and starts challenging her notions about sexual relationships. I wanted more of her class and classmates with the transgendered female professor, but at least her relationship with Julian, a high school classmate of her son's continues.
Looking forward to the HBO show. They seem to do well in adapting Perrotta's books.
Eve's point of view is the far more interesting one. She came upon her son receiving oral sex from a former girlfriend before he was about to leave for college and Eve was offended by his porn-tinged comments to his girlfriend. What's interesting about this feeling is Eve is becoming quite interested in watching porn herself and has feelings---so many feelings about what and why she's watching.
Brendan's storyline is not as engaging as the now empty nesting/divorced and more curious about sex than ever Eve's storyline is as she, too, enters college again and starts challenging her notions about sexual relationships. I wanted more of her class and classmates with the transgendered female professor, but at least her relationship with Julian, a high school classmate of her son's continues.
Looking forward to the HBO show. They seem to do well in adapting Perrotta's books.
eh. I think I'm missing the boat on this one. I wouldn't rate this as a "must read of 2017". It's fine as a read but bottom line it's about a mid life crisis. Nothing earth shattering there.
I got this from the library and started it one evening - and then stayed up all night to finish it.
I've always enjoyed Perrotta's novels and this one hits those same sweet spots for me of relatable, imperfect, slightly mundane and yet compelling characters with relatively minor stories; this doesn't sound like the best combination, but I love reading Perrotta's writing, even when it doesn't ring true to me (and there's plenty in this book that seemed a bit off to me).
I've always enjoyed Perrotta's novels and this one hits those same sweet spots for me of relatable, imperfect, slightly mundane and yet compelling characters with relatively minor stories; this doesn't sound like the best combination, but I love reading Perrotta's writing, even when it doesn't ring true to me (and there's plenty in this book that seemed a bit off to me).
NOPE! This book had multiple moments where it was very homophobic and the transphobic dialog is sickening!!