A book reminiscent of diary entries and Coco Mellor, this is perfect for those looking for something quick to read but dense in material.
Structured like strewn about diary entries, this book mainly follows the main speaker as she navigates time abroad, far from America and finding herself in often strange situations that certainly feel like traveling at random abroad. She often gets into complex relationships that come and go as quickly as she changes notes, all of them punctuated by her various thoughts on the matter and a sort of stream of consciousness writing.
Something that makes this book so enjoyable (at least to an English major and media lover such as myself) is the constant references to various movies, books, musicals, and other media. Oftentimes, this in books can feel either random, misunderstanding, or even pretentious, but the way it’s done in this book feels like a language. It adds a new layer to the book that could be missed by readers, however, while it rewards those readers who do indeed understand the various references, it doesn’t penalize those who don’t. That frequency of reference also forms the fascinating main character, who speaks in references and understands her day to day life in how it relates to the media she has consumed herself. To me, it’s something rarely seen in books, and I truly wish it was done more as that’s exactly how I often navigate the world. It’s a fun character trait and style that is rare in books and yet, I feel not so rare in our own world.
In truth, I picked this book up while I was abroad as the beautiful U.K. cover caught my eye and the fact that it was only five pounds enticed me to at least try it with little stakes if I didn’t like it. I didn’t start reading till I got home, mainly picking it up out of my never ending stack of books I still need to read simply because I hoped it would take me back to my time abroad. It certainly did, almost in a way that felt uncannily similar to my own experience. The constant influx of strangers who become less than friends but no longer unknown, the need for familiarity but the craving for something new, the endless possibilities of something that could be permanent and the lack of attachment due to be away from “home” that instead makes each interaction heightened and somehow special. That is this book, captured in the speakers experiences and expressed thoughts.
Basically, this is a beautifully real feeling book that presents itself in an almost whirlwind type manner as she attempts to navigate isolation, and new experiences, all of which that, with her quippy comments, feel almost far more interesting than perhaps they should be.
To me, this book is the perfect ode to traveling or finding a new home and personhood within you while abroad. If you’re missing your home away from home, the person you became while so far from normalcy and familiarity, and the life you may have begun carving there, then I highly suggest picking up this book and attempting to extend those feelings.
Perhaps the most frustrating thing (and I’d argue, really only downside to this book besides it not fitting everyone’s personal taste) is the ending. It merely… ends. Almost as if it’s in the middle of the book. I almost wish it had chosen several other places to choose its ending. Especially considering that there is no perfect linear progression in this novel, it wouldn’t exactly be challenging to do so. Perhaps this is on purpose, to truly set the book as purely a woman recounting her journeys, but even if that were the case, I could see so many other sentences or paragraphs summarizing and driving home the many themes, thoughts, happenings, and tones of this book much more successfully than the current ending.