A review by fuguballoon
The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

1.0

This book made me very uncomfortable. I could not believe how much casual homophobia and cringey stereotyping of LGBTQ people was in this book, most of it spoken by the main character and her friends! Also, the story is set in Los Angeles, but (IIRC) basically everyone in this book is white?? It is truly bizarre that Nina is supposed to be a millennial living in a large, diverse city, and working in a public-facing job, and that she has no close relationships with LGBTQ people or POC. Her internal thoughts were shallow and ignorant, but not in an entertaining "bad person behaving terribly" way. On top of that, the poor portrayal of Nina's anxiety disorder and the reactions of the other characters are... not great.

So bad. So, so bad.
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