Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Ex Talk

This was a lot of fun — and had a lot of promise — but I wanted more out of quite a few different plot lines.

Kudos to the author for a fairly authentic depiction of public radio and podcasting, which is surprisingly rare in fiction. It's the first time I've read a book that focuses on audio reporting and haven't wanted to shout, "That's not how that works!"

Content Warnings

coffeecass's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

4.5

Content Warnings

bootsmom3's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-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

4.0

Content Warnings

jennp28's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

3.75

I enjoyed the story, an interesting twist on the fake-dating trope. I listened to the audiobook, though, and it loses stars because I didn’t enjoy the narrator. It was a little too “acted” for me - I prefer (unless it’s a full cast) for the book to be just *read* but she got way too breathy in the steamy scenes and too sobby in the sad scenes. Instead of adding to the story it actually pulled me out of it because I found it annoying.

Content Warnings

abifoster02's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny inspiring medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

Content Warnings

readnoot's review against another edition

Go to review page

hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

This book was nice; I really enjoyed the concept and was happy to see it executed, and I loved the public radio workplace setting as I used to work at my town’s NPR & PBS affiliate station. I am glad that Shay got the ending she did, as I felt she was at her most empowered and focused by the end of the novel. Although I did like the story, it felt off balance. There seemed to be a slow build through the first two thirds of the book, then a lot of big movement in the last third, but the audience wasn’t given a lot of time to truly sit in those important moments and process them. Also, it was hard for me to root for Shay at times because 1. she could be relatively dense and 2. she continued to struggle with recurring topics without putting meaningful, active effort into resolving them. I suppose she did face said challenges in her own way, but I was not able to sympathize with her as much as I would have liked. I recognize that is just my relationship with her though, so I must acknowledge the book as sound and Solomon as a strong writer. Overall, it was pleasant but not a top read for me.

Content Warnings

chailady's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny hopeful lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

More...