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A review by bookishrealm
You Only Call When You're in Trouble by Stephen McCauley
3.0
I've been reading more adult releases this year and this one was on my radar. While it wasn't the best book, I found the characters to be intriguing.
You Only Call When You're in Trouble follows family members Tom, Cecily, and Dorothy. Tom has been a support system for Cecily and Dorothy for years and desperately wants to be able to do something for himself. Just when he's in a place where he can focus on his major architectural project, he finds out that Cecily is under Title IX investigation with her university and Dorothy suddenly wants to reveal to Cecily the true identity of her father.
What Worked: I love a book about family mess, and this definitely has plenty of it. From the relationship that Tom has with his sister and niece to the dynamics they all share with their friends, the reveals in this book left my jaw unhinged. I also think that McCauley did a wonderful job addressing the complexity of academia. Cecily is under a Title IX investigation for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student. The investigation is, in a lot of ways flawed, but pushes Cecily to recognize what would most benefit her in her career. There were also some hilarious moments. I'm not sure if that was the intention of McCauley, but there were moments where I found myself chuckling at the characters especially those that included Dorothy.
What Didn't Work: Like other reviewers have stated before me, I felt like there was a gap in character development. While a lot of the personality traits that we find in each character are realistic, I feel like there were some full circle moments that were missing. The book also has some pacing issues. While I was ultimately intrigued by Cecily's narrative, Tom and Dorothy fell apart for me as I got closer to the end of the novel. It's almost as if the reveal of Cecily's father slowed down the potential development of them as characters. The dynamic between Cecily and Tom is endearing and I loved how much he cared for his niece; however, he's a piece of work and is probably the least likable character out of the three of them.
Overall, a solid read and I'll be checking out more from McCauley in the future.
You Only Call When You're in Trouble follows family members Tom, Cecily, and Dorothy. Tom has been a support system for Cecily and Dorothy for years and desperately wants to be able to do something for himself. Just when he's in a place where he can focus on his major architectural project, he finds out that Cecily is under Title IX investigation with her university and Dorothy suddenly wants to reveal to Cecily the true identity of her father.
What Worked: I love a book about family mess, and this definitely has plenty of it. From the relationship that Tom has with his sister and niece to the dynamics they all share with their friends, the reveals in this book left my jaw unhinged. I also think that McCauley did a wonderful job addressing the complexity of academia. Cecily is under a Title IX investigation for an alleged inappropriate relationship with a student. The investigation is, in a lot of ways flawed, but pushes Cecily to recognize what would most benefit her in her career. There were also some hilarious moments. I'm not sure if that was the intention of McCauley, but there were moments where I found myself chuckling at the characters especially those that included Dorothy.
What Didn't Work: Like other reviewers have stated before me, I felt like there was a gap in character development. While a lot of the personality traits that we find in each character are realistic, I feel like there were some full circle moments that were missing. The book also has some pacing issues. While I was ultimately intrigued by Cecily's narrative, Tom and Dorothy fell apart for me as I got closer to the end of the novel. It's almost as if the reveal of Cecily's father slowed down the potential development of them as characters. The dynamic between Cecily and Tom is endearing and I loved how much he cared for his niece; however, he's a piece of work and is probably the least likable character out of the three of them.
Overall, a solid read and I'll be checking out more from McCauley in the future.