What a Time to Be Alive: A Novel

by Jade Chang

A deeply moving and often hilarious novel that follows a woman who becomes an internet folk hero in the most unexpected way, catapulting her to fame and influence just as she’s finally beginning to reckon with her complicated past 

Lola Treasure Gold can’t figure out her life. She’s broke, she’s unemployed, she’s back in her childhood home, a crumbling cottage in the Hollywood Hills. Worse, unspeakably worse, one of her closest friends has just died. So, nobody is more surprised than Lola when a jackpot falls in her she stars in a Very Viral Video, opening a surprising path for her to become a self-help guru. 

With the encouragement of her other best friend, Celi—still alive, thank god—Lola embraces the public interest in her perceived message. But is she a scammer or a sage? Just as Lola is telling others to be their own guiding lights, she can’t seem to find she’s grieving, she’s accused of using the notoriety of her friend’s death to fuel her rise, and she’s full of questions about the fate of her mother, who came to America pregnant, fleeing China’s one-child policy, got deported when Lola was eight, and has now totally disappeared. 

Driven by an exuberant, searching spirit, Jade Chang’s kaleidoscopic new novel is a deep examination of the ways we commodify belief, the power and precarity of fame, and the delicious terror of being truly seen. What a Time to Be Alive asks if we can look honestly at the world and still love  the answer is a brilliant, resounding yes. 

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Adult, Death, LGBT

304 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2025

About the author

Jade Chang's debut novel, The Wangs vs. the World, is being published on October 4, 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. She is a journalist who has covered arts, culture, and cities and a recipient of the Sundance Fellowship for Arts Journalism, the AIGA/Winterhouse Award for Design Criticism, and the James D. Houston Memorial scholarship from the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.

She was recently a member of the Goodreads editorial team, where she worked on newsletters, author interviews, blog posts, infographics, and the quote of the day!

Reviews

[nestle • whatnestleread · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one started off so strong. I was really into Lola’s messy, grifty energy and thought I was in for a wild ride. But the second half kind of lost its spark. The influencer stuff especially just didn’t work for me. It felt like there was an idea there, but the execution never really clicked, and honestly, I think the story would’ve been fine without it.

Still, the writing is easy to read and there are plenty of moments that land, especially around grief and identity. Fun enough, but not one I’ll be thinking about for long.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Ellen Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. This was a hilarious and entertaining read. So perfect for the times we live in where you can practically become a viral sensation overnight, I was rooting for Lola but then wanting to warn her along the way. This book actually helps to give us all a look at the other side of the screen and the pressure it can put on these individuals who suddenly sky rocket to social media fame. There is plenty of entertaining drama in this novel, but the undertones of how we view and judge these famed folks is a great lesson to everyone whether it’s us who go viral overnight or if we just stay the ones on the other side of the screen that judge.

[Celine · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 !

The first half of this was stronger than the second. I love a good grifter, I love someone torn apart by grief. And if that was all the book was about, I would have appreciated it more. I think the book shines when the passages are centered around navigating grief, the complex truths between her and her friend Celi, and missing her mother.

But a big part of the story is also tied up in the narrator, Lola, capitalizing on an accidentally viral moment, trying to become an influencer. I think the reasoning behind why she decides to pursue the lifestyle is understandable - but the execution was poor. It didn't feel grounded in an internet that was real, or maybe like that part of the plot wasn't thought about all the way through.

I would read more from this author because their prose is lovely. I was thoroughly gripped by the initial 150 or so pages!

[Joy D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lola Gold is grieving and dealing with unemployment and family issues. She returns to her childhood home when an unexpected viral video makes her into an internet folk hero and self-help guru. This is very much a novel of today, and depicts our digital world realistically, with social media influencers, memes, hashtags, viral videos, and the often-toxic online environment. It appears to be intended as social satire. I think Millennials or older Gen Zs (or those comfortable with the constant churn of social media) will enjoy this book more than I did. It made me nostalgic to return to the days before social media turned into a beehive of discontent.

3.5

[Tell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved. Need to sit with the themes of spirituality, scamming, grifting, and what it means to be a person, but ultimately this is a book about honesty: being honest with what you want, not knowing how to get it, saying the hard things, and how to be a person- even a floundering, messy person in their thirties- in the world.

[Laurel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wait, is this pithy and irreverent story about an up-and-coming influencer… an atheist manifesto?

OK, this is going to sound like I’m trying to start a cult right now, but I swear I am not! The opposite, honestly. I feel like we should each be our own cult. In fact, I think that might be all life is. Trying to get to a place where we truly, wholeheartedly believe in how life should be lived…I want to take all the good things we’ve ceded to religion and find a way to bring them into our secular, spiritual lives: community, gratitude, transcendence.

Just really a sense of high stakes in regular life. I mean, when eternal damnation is on the table, when your soul might wander in purgatory or be struck from the book of life, the stakes are undeniably high — but all our lives are high stakes all the time, because of the fallibility of our crude matter. We are all always going to die. This is always going to be the last time we are in any particular moment. How is that not the highest of stakes? And we are always living in a time of miracles. The Earth spins, and you do not fall off: this is a miracle! You sleep, and your cells repair themselves: this is a miracle!

Mainly, it’s a book about a group of friends losing and finding themselves amid grief, after a loss. Through an interesting, likable first person narrator.

Was I also an undeserving weirdo with survivors guilt and an absurd life? Yes, and some day I would eat the rich. But until that last feast, I will keep [feeding] people what they want to hear. I will rip my heart open. Conveniently, it happens to be behind my boobs.

This a witty, insightful book with a fantastic audiobook narrator. Grabbed me from the beginning.

We’re on the 3rd or 4th or 5th wave of feminism. We’ve survived pickup artists and hook up culture… but it’s still true that if you want a guy to stick around, it helps if you tell him you’re not ready to have sex yet. Among the things I hate myself for doing, this is the most reliable. I’ve developed a whole social theory to justify the deception to myself: boys are conditioned to believe that they are gross creatures who want to befoul everything, but that girls are pristine and without urge. This becomes a foundational truth, and to uphold it the existence of female is denied.

Thanks to NetGalley for an opportunity to read this advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review. 4.5 stars. Highly recommend!

[Sam Cheng · Rating 1 out of 5]

Lola’s in her early 30s (b. 1986), living in LA. On top of accruing financial debt, she must manage processing her absent mom, who was deported to China when Lola was 9 years old, and grieve Alex’s sudden death. Her dear friend dies from a skateboarding accident at 32, and Lola never got to tell Alex her true feelings for him. What a Time to be Alive follows Lola’s messy year of wandering and squandering after losing Alex. In her search for personal meaning and belonging, she gains fame as a self-styled influencer, helping others experience transformation—true freedom and self-love—by orienting them to the moon, incorporating Chinese lore to buttress her teaching.

Unfortunately, Lola’s grief is unbelievable in its hollowness, and the character’s simplistically irreverent attitude presents her all the more uncompellingly. All of the characters bear a quickly sketched quality—even Lola lacks dimensionality because her relationships with her biological mom, biological older brother, and Denise lack meaningful saturation. Certainly, there’s a way to increase saturation even when depth is absent from relationships. I want to round up for Chang’s debut; alas, the length requires significant editing, too.

My thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for an ARC.

[Traci Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book overall. I think it is smart and has a big heart. It was a lot less about influencing and much more about grief than I had anticipated. The pace felt a bit slow for me. There were scenes I really loved and then parts that I thought could've been cut completely.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This ambitious novel starts with the accidental death of a young man. Lola is a close friend left behind to grieve. As she struggles to deal with his absence, a video of her someone posts goes viral. Since she’s broke (and broken), she reluctantly accepts the opportunity to monetize her status as a social media influencer and grief guru. Yet, with her scarcity mindset, she still stuffs her backpack with all the “free” conference swag she can get her hands on. Friendships and relationships are tested, including some very complicated ones that are familial and familial-like. It’s a bit messy, but exuberantly so. Well-narrated and well-observed.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @HarperAudioAdult, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook #WhataTimetobeAlive for review purposes. Publication date: 30 September 2025.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lola is in her 30s and has lost her best friend. His death has shook her and while she’s never been particularly organized, his death has left her lost. When a rant during a game is taped without her knowledge and goes viral, she leans into the exposure and decides to profit off it by becoming a self-help guru.

An interesting dive into the problematic nature of influencers, and social media. I lost a friend in my late 20s and the reflections surrounding grief was spot on. Chang captures all the different emotions and thoughts beautifully. Lola is very self centred and not particularly likeable but I was captivated by her journey and wanted to see whether she would grow up and take responsibility or continue to flounder.

I found myself annoyed with Lola and her entitlement but I couldn’t put the book down which is always a good sign.

I loved the narrator and found the audiobook easy to listen to.

Thank you to Ecco books for the physical copy and harpermuse / NetGalley for the audio book.

[Mai H.]

ANHPI TBR

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Ecco

[Violet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy a somewhat messy heroine, so it was easy to get into this book about a 30-something, Lola, who becomes viral after a drunk speech at her best friend's funeral and decides to milk it to become a self-help influencer. She's also trying to trace her mother, who disappeared when she was 9 and may have gone back to her native China, and navigating friendships and fame.

I loved the character's cynicism and her focus into turning her viral video into basically a cult, studying other influencers and trying to turn everything into content, and I enjoyed her grappling with the morality of it.

After a while though I thought it was maybe too messy, and a tad repetitive - the novel is organised chronologically, month after month over a year and a bit, and it could have been... cleaner. Some of the sub plots felt unnecessary.

But overall it was a fun, easy to read novel and I enjoyed it.

Free ARC sent by Netgalley.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio Adult for this ARC!

A messy and explorative look at personality, grief, online presence, and identity. This was funny and moving, small cult vibes. An introspective character study of someone creating an online presence after going viral from a video speaking about their friend’s death and an unflinching look at what it means to have a “following”. Family dynamics and relationships explored, how we show up for others, and how we ultimately all hold the power to hurt one another.

The narration was excellent, I really enjoyed the cadence of the story and the quality of the performance. If you like unwavering mirrors held up to the ambiguous world of social media alongside existential crises and group think, this is the book for you!

[Suz · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to like this book. The main character, Lola, was just unrelatable. The story bounced all over the place for me, and was too hard to follow. I felt like her thought process had ADD, and never fully finished. It seems that every time she started something new, the story started, but then moved onto something else, and later came back to what she was talking about but the thoughts or stories were never fully complete. Too inconsistent for me.

I received this book as an ARC.

[Mylissa B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lola is struggling to find her identity in life and her passion for her future. After losing a close friend in a tragic accident her life is thrust into the limelight after a post goes viral. While I had empathy for Lola's character giving her background and upbringing (mother deported and raised by a woman who adopted her), I struggled to form an emotional connection to the MFC. She seemed more focused on partying with her friends than finding herself at times. I also found the number of side characters who were not well developed to be distracting from the story.

[Leslee Hale · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang was a unique and powerful read that left a lasting impression on me. The story follows Lola Treasure Gold, a woman grappling with grief, unemployment, and the return to her crumbling childhood home—until an unexpected viral video turns her into an internet folk hero and accidental self-help guru. As she navigates sudden fame, she also confronts questions about her identity, the commodification of belief, and her painful past, including the mysterious disappearance of her deported mother.
Chang masterfully balances humor and heartbreak, creating a kaleidoscopic narrative that explores grief, identity, fame, and the often blurry line between authenticity and performance. I felt a full spectrum of emotions while reading—it’s both deeply moving and sharply observant. This book is absolutely worth the read.

[Audrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lola Treasure Gold is definitely lost. She's in deep grief at losing a close friend from a stupid social media stunt and she's struggling with her mom abandoning her, 20 years ago. After drunkenly and randomly being posted in a viral video, she tries to lean into it despite having huge imposter syndrome. This sharply, and is often quite funny, interrogates grief and how people totally fall under the spell of randos on the internet.

I received an arc from the publisher but all opinions are my own.

[emily *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Lola's best friend passes away she is torn by grief and has found herself broke and very lost in life. when an embarrassing video surfaces of her she becomes an internet sensation overnight. We follow her journey of fame and finding herself all while navigating grief. I found this book extremely intriguing and found Lola to be hilarious & easy to relate to. I overall really enjoyed this book.

thank you to the publishers and netgalley for the ARC!

[Maxine Springer · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 | This just wasn’t for me - it started off so strong, but I probably should have DNF’d at a certain point when it just wasn’t really going anywhere particularly interesting. None of the characters were very developed, and none of the storylines really seemed to pay off.

[Book Mitch · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished it, but had to power through. Didn’t buy either the main characters arc or why people around her acted like they did.

[Eliza Pillsbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

themes were interesting even if the narrative was highly disorganized

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a Time to be Alive. I would not recommend using this time to read this book. If you love reading books about nascent influencers living in the celebrity adjacent world of Los Angeles please disregard the previous recommendation.

The book opens with Lola Treasure Gold in shock and grieving the loss of her friend Alex, who at the age of 32 has killed himself trying to do a stunt for a social media video.

Lola, in her grief, goes on a drunken rant about scams that gets sanitized and goes viral itself, drawing attention to Lola. And naturally she decides to capitalize on it and become an influencer.

The reader is then subjected to her rhapsodizing on transcendence and waxing and waning on about the moon and taking full advantage of her increasing follower count to live a high life at TED talks, fashion shows and parties. At this point if I hadn’t been reading this for review I would have called it a day and the end of my journey with this book.

I’m neither cut out to be an influencer or the follower of one, and my common sense brain struggles to comprehend how people get so wrapped up in things that may originally have had authentic intent, but have evolved into something that serves as clickbait and is completely artificial. Most of what Lola serves up in this book falls into the latter category. Ironically, when she does try and be authentic the followers she has and the agent she’s acquired think it’s all part of some plan she has to “connect” and build her marketability even more.

This all gets incredibly dull for me. The moments she spends authentically grieving and processing the loss of her friend are rare.

Chang gives her a great backstory of a mother that came to the US from China to give birth to her and then abandoned her when she was nine years old. This could be a much bigger part of the story and create a much more emotional storyline that readers could connect to, but it also gets relegated to the background, with few exceptions when Denise, who took over caring for Lola, pops into the story to do something kooky and weird that will make most people want to bang their head against the wall.

The book isn’t written badly, and it covers a deep friendship between Lola and Celi. I feel a little too old to appreciate it, despite only being a decade older than the characters. But maybe that’s because I grew up in Kansas and not LA?

I’m not a fan of books about influencers and social media, so it has to be really well done for me to enjoy it, and this just didn’t hit the mark for me.

A complimentary copy of this book was provided by the publisher. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[JULIA · Rating 2 out of 5]

Won this on goodreads! DNF. Thank you for the free copy from goodread, but I just couldn't complete reading this book. I'm sorry the character died and the way he died, but to keep rehashing it over and over, I am just so over it. And the word-salad was over the top. I was forcing myself to sit down and read what little I did read and then didn't really like what I had read. So with great sadness I am throwing in the proverbial towel and tossing the book into the give-away zone at the local library. Maybe someone else will have better luck with the content than me. Sorry, but only worth a two-star rating.

[Brittany]

Thank you to Ecco Books for the print advanced reader copy (:

"Here's what I could be, what I actually was: a person who asks questions; a person going through something emotionally destabilizing who wants nothing more than to understand the world; a person who has been knocked off their axis, and in that fall realizes that nothing is fixed.

We are obsessed with seeming sure of ourselves, but maybe uncertainty can feel like a balm.

And a balm was something you could package and sell.”


This story follows Lola, who is navigating so much uncertainty and defeat when we meet her: her mom was deported when she was eight, she doesn't have an income, her best friend Alex just passed away, and she inadvertently created an online persona for herself, due to a video edit gone viral. When she realizes she built a following, she capitalizes on it and uses it to her advantage in becoming the age-old profession of being a snake oil salesman, which in the modern era is called an influencer (heeeey, no shade - I am literally posting this on a public platform and am somewhat "performing" as I write/post this too!)

Though this is a character-based novel, there are a few subplot narratives that follow Lola's investigation of her mother's and possible sibling's whereabouts, which cause Lola to ruminate on life even more than she already does. Lola must then reckon with and unpack her feelings around this abandonment, loneliness, and exhaustion in relation to community building and what family means to her.

While I appreciated these elements of the story, what stood out most to me were Lola's examinations of social media, parasocial relationships, and integrity and authenticity as an influencer. I think a lot of earthlings, specifically those who are deeply entrenched in virtual spaces like bookstagram or booktok, will relate to Lola's rollercoaster of emotions: scintillating but fleeting (and yet, constantly yearning for) dopamine hits of validation, as well as visceral anxiety and devastation over the moment you publicly fumble.

I found Lola's voice and motivations to be endearing and authentic, and appreciated that she was at some points, strategic and *knew exactly what she was doing,* yet at other times, she was just this fellow human who was desperate to be held, to be cared about, to be valued, to be loved the way she wanted. I subscribe to the belief that we are all worthy of redemption, of love, of hope regardless of how many times we stumble. We all have the capacity to make mistakes, to intentionally cause harm, to be selfish as FUCK. However, I don't think that makes someone a "bad" person who is then deemed incapable of growth or beyond repair.

The best parts of this book were the moments that Lola admitted her desire to be taken care of, and to not have to do it all alone. The candor and vulnerability around that conversation is so important. It feels almost primal, that desire to belong and to be accepted. I definitely did not cry reading this (lol this is sarcasm babyyy!). Anyone who knows me, knows I love a character who overthinks, is self-deprecating, but most importantly, is just trying their best, which sometimes isn't that great!

This is the first book I've read by Jade Chang, and I'm excited to read more from her in the future. <3

[Biena Magbitang]

A sharp, funny, and emotionally honest novel about grief, identity, and the strange pressures of being seen.

What a Time to Be Alive follows Lola Treasure Gold, who accidentally becomes viral and is thrust into the world of internet “authenticity” while she’s broke, grieving the loss of the “most alive person” she knew, and completely unsure of her next step.

As Lola stumbles through clout, community, and self-invention, the story explores how we cope, how we perform, and how we try to rebuild when life refuses to pause for us.

Reading this book felt like getting pulled into the life of a friend I adore… but also want to gently shake because she is in her thirties and still does not know what she’s doing. That was my whole dynamic with Lola: I like her, I root for her, I understand her - but oh my God, sometimes I wanted to tug her hair a little and say, “Please decide on something.”

But that’s exactly why the book worked for me. Lola is messy, stuck, grieving, broke, confused - but never immature. Her heart is in the right place. And Jade Chang writes with such clarity and compassion that even in the moments I found Lola frustrating, I still wanted to follow her. That takes craft.

The book jumps confidently between humor and heartbreak. One page gives you laugh-out-loud satire on internet clout chasers; the next gives you a line that suddenly tightens your chest.

I read it while grieving my grandfather, and it hit me in a place I wasn’t expecting. The grief in this book isn’t performative; it’s weird and contradictory and honest. Chang captures grief with such sharp clarity - that strange corner where pain and pleasure mingle, where the world refuses to end just because yours did.

I also loved how this book made me think and reflect on my own work. As someone who works in social media and journalism, the novel’s exploration of fame, self-help culture, and “authenticity as currency” felt painfully true. Lola’s rise as a reluctant self-help figure is both hilarious and uncomfortable, especially when the internet molds her into something she barely recognizes.

Lola and Celi’s friendship was one of the highlights for me. Their bond reminded me so much of my own friendships - the quiet loyalty, the banter, the way someone can both ground you and push you forward.

Some parts dragged a little, but the emotional payoff was worth it.
Someone once said the truth about your thirties is this:
Your 30s don’t give you new problems - they reveal the consequences of your 20s.
That is Lola. And in a way… that is a lot of us.

I loved this. It made me want to read more in this lane.

Content warnings: drugs, mental health, death, grief.

Thank you to HarperCollins for the advance copy. This did not affect my review.

[Michelle (shareorshelve) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t quite know what to make of What a Time to Be Alive by Jade Chang. Honestly, I kind of love-hated it.

It felt like reading an LA stereotype, but maybe that was the point? The absurdity of Lola going from broke and grieving to viral fame after her best friend’s sudden death. The thirst traps she posts analyzed and constructed for maximum engagement, the moon talks she gives to rich people and spitting her gum into a one dollar bill before discarding it??

At first, she plays influencer ironically, scamming her way into “stardom”. She gains followers willing to tattoo her words “be your own beacon” on their bodies and to cancel her harasser all while being afraid they’ll find her out. At first she questions if it’s wrong to use her best friend Alex’s death for personal gain until she doesn’t. Somewhere along the line, she starts believing in her words too and in herself.

This book is chaotic, hilarious, and sad just like Lola. I can’t say I loved her, but I did understand her (kind of). And the subplots? Numerous, messy, complicated, and totally captivating. She searches for her missing mom, tries to fix her strained friendship with Celi, Zach, and Levi, her awkward situationship with Vikash, her complicated relationship with her fill-in guardian Denise. All of these characters are trying to make their lives mean something and I get it because, same.

But is Lola a scammer or is she genuine? Do we believe in her, her change of heart or are we just entertained, maybe even fooled, by the spectacle of her life? By the end, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to take any of it seriously, but I didn’t mind.

I had a good time reading this and I need more people to pick it up when it comes out (30 Sept) so we can talk about it!!

Thank you, harper collins & eccobooks for the ARC!

[K.C. Norton · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5* rounded up. What a rollercoaster.

On one hand:

"What a Time to Be Alive" examines, and also depicts, this tension my generation and the ones below me have with what it means to be an adult in a time when the world is on fire and oppressive systems are collapsing. The plot hinges on the narrow tension between the desire to be seen as "authentic," and cringe-inducing discomfort of being too sincere. I thought most of the book effectively poked fun at these ideas while also acknowledging that most of us use social media to curate an image and try to control how our friends and followers see us. While the plot is very different, I kept thinking of "Margo's Got Money Troubles," because these is a fair bit of overlap in the general themes and offbeat energy.

On the other hand:

Lola, our MC, is chronically online. As a result, the plot hinges so much on social media, and the end *buys in* to the role of social media, that I got to the end and went, "That's it?" So, while I really enjoyed many of Chang's characterizations and observations, I was left a bit nonplussed.

I did find it a bit odd that Lola was 31/32 (I kept thinking of her as being in her late twenties) perhaps because her outlook felt very familiar to me based on that era of my life. The end left me tepid, but I still enjoyed this enough that would recommend it if you're in a messy, chaotic place in your life, or you want to high-five yourself for escaping part of your life that WAS messy and surreal. I can see why some folks rated it lower, but I think it deserves more love than it's getting, especially in audiobook form, which was a delight. I suspect that younger readers who have dealt with their own chronically online problems will enjoy this more than older/less internet-obsessed folks, generally speaking.

[mostlybookstuff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lola Treasure Gold and I share the same middle name. We also both love scams! While I enjoy being selectively scammed, Lola has always believed that she had it in her to be a cult leader. #WHATATIMETOBEALIVE by #jadechang chronicles one transformative year of an aimless young woman who loses her best friend and then becomes internet famous. Even in her grief, Lola capitalizes on the moment; her words resonate with people who want to give her money, and Lola needs to pay off the debt she accrued when she was still looking for her mother, whom she last saw when she was eight years old.

Lola does her research and crafts an empowered persona that embraces uncertainty; to be your own beacon means to shine a light in the dark for yourself. She organizes her own speaking engagements and finds it all so very effortless. She loves being in front of people, radiating love and feeling it in return. We realize, then, that the title of the book is a reprimand. Lola sure took her sweet time to start living. If only she didn’t wait until her best friend was dead to finally have some direction in life. Maybe they would have eventually gotten together too.

This novel was pure escapism; I never knew what Lola was going to do next and found every decision she made completely dazzling and terrifying. It’s one thing to grapple with the perception of others, but to truly perceive yourself - to learn how to live an honest life - is a step towards an entirely different journey. Thanks so much to @eccobooks for sending me this ARC. #WHATATIMETOBEALIVE is available TODAY. Happy #pubday to this bittersweet and very entertaining read of how to navigate being viral and sad.