A review by looney_moons
Vladimir by Julia May Jonas

challenging dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

When I saw that an upcoming book had the title Vladimir​ and that the blurb on the back was 'When I was a child, I loved old men, and I could tell that they also loved me,' I was hooked. I was sure it would give me the Nabokov-esque experience I've wanted desperately to relive since I first read Lolita in 2020. I was both weary and ecstatic when I was approved for the eArc on NetGalley. After all, I have yet to read a book with this type of subject matter that lives up to the critique that Lolita accomplished. And maybe it's the title of the book, but I was absolutely certain that this book would deal a lot more with age difference and power imbalanced relationships. What I got was wholly different from what I expected and, surprisingly to me, I kind of loved it? I've spent the last 12 hours since I finished the book trying to gather my thoughts about what it is about this story that works and what doesn't. Now, don't get me wrong - this book is absolutely about inappropriate relationships, but it is much more about a woman figuring out how to deal with her husband's affairs with younger women. It was an incredibly - I think - nuanced book on a terribly complex topic. More than anything, I was blown away at the journey the protagonist went through and how much I desperately wanted to know what would come next. Jonas managed to write an engaging story with a cast of extremely unlikable characters that still somehow got some of my sympathy. As a person who primarily connects with characters in literature, and someone who seeks out character-driven arcs it is with the highest compliment that I say that Jonas' characters is what kept me reading. A stunning debut from an author I cannot wait to read more from. I'm excited to tell you all that Vladimir gets its UK release on the 26th of May 2022. 4/5 stars.
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