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Other Women
After dropping out of college, a young woman wanders through New York both invisible and vulnerable, studying the city’s strong magic and longing for a man she knows will never love her back. She thinks she finds salvation when Charlotte Herzfeld, the young wife of a successful businessman, hires her as a live-in nanny to accompany the family on their trip to Berlin. As the Herzfelds begin to crack under the weight of their secrets, she finds herself in a more precarious position than ever before. Both thoughtful and restrained, Goldberg’s prose examines the painful obsession that so often accompanies the confusing lust of youth.
- GenresFictionContemporary
168 pages, Paperback
Published November 28, 2016
5 people are currently reading
737 people want to read
About the author
Nicola Maye Goldberg
12 books160 followersNicola Maye Goldberg is the author of NOTHING CAN HURT YOU (Bloomsbury, 2020). She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
March 23, 2017
I don't really know where to begin with this review other than saying that it is amazing. Goldberg's writing style is refreshing and enticing. Her characters feel so genuine and real to me. She did an incredible job taking the reader on a journey through the chaos that is a broken heart while life carries on.
February 11, 2026
Other Women completely pulled me in with its voice. The narrator speaks directly to the man she had an affair with, and that second-person address creates this intense, intimate, almost claustrophobic feeling, like you’re trapped inside her longing with her. It’s confessional, raw, and at times painfully self-aware.
We follow a college dropout who falls deeply in love with a man who already has a girlfriend. Their affair lingers in her life long after it has effectively ended for him. What I found most compelling wasn’t the plot itself, but the interiority. The narrator is self-absorbed, but in a way that feels intentional and honest. She circles her own pain, her own desire, her own humiliation. And that self-focus is exactly what makes the story feel so original and real. She’s not trying to be likable; she’s trying to be understood.
The prose is striking and often beautiful. At times it feels almost hyper-aware of its own lyricism, but I actually loved that. It mirrors who she is in that phase of her life, someone performing her heartbreak, intellectualizing it, trying to shape it into something poetic enough to justify it. As the story progresses (especially once she leaves for Berlin to nanny), there’s a subtle shift. The narration feels less like she’s trying to prove something and more like she’s simply existing. That evolution in tone felt purposeful and emotionally resonant.
I also really appreciated that growth in this book isn’t clean or dramatic. She changes in small, uneven ways. Some parts of her soften; others remain stubbornly intact. That felt true to life.
The other stories included in the collection were excellent as well. They share a similar emotional atmosphere, characters who are uncertain about themselves, lingering in dissatisfaction, yearning, or regret. There’s a thread of lament running through all of them, this sense of people trying to make sense of who they are in relation to others.
Overall, I loved the writing style and the immersive, almost obsessive interior voice. This is a book for readers who enjoy character-driven narratives and aren’t afraid of messy, self-involved protagonists. If you gravitate toward authors who explore alienation, longing, and complicated women, this one will absolutely stay with you.
Thank you again to NetGalley and Verso Books for the opportunity to read and review this title.
We follow a college dropout who falls deeply in love with a man who already has a girlfriend. Their affair lingers in her life long after it has effectively ended for him. What I found most compelling wasn’t the plot itself, but the interiority. The narrator is self-absorbed, but in a way that feels intentional and honest. She circles her own pain, her own desire, her own humiliation. And that self-focus is exactly what makes the story feel so original and real. She’s not trying to be likable; she’s trying to be understood.
The prose is striking and often beautiful. At times it feels almost hyper-aware of its own lyricism, but I actually loved that. It mirrors who she is in that phase of her life, someone performing her heartbreak, intellectualizing it, trying to shape it into something poetic enough to justify it. As the story progresses (especially once she leaves for Berlin to nanny), there’s a subtle shift. The narration feels less like she’s trying to prove something and more like she’s simply existing. That evolution in tone felt purposeful and emotionally resonant.
I also really appreciated that growth in this book isn’t clean or dramatic. She changes in small, uneven ways. Some parts of her soften; others remain stubbornly intact. That felt true to life.
The other stories included in the collection were excellent as well. They share a similar emotional atmosphere, characters who are uncertain about themselves, lingering in dissatisfaction, yearning, or regret. There’s a thread of lament running through all of them, this sense of people trying to make sense of who they are in relation to others.
Overall, I loved the writing style and the immersive, almost obsessive interior voice. This is a book for readers who enjoy character-driven narratives and aren’t afraid of messy, self-involved protagonists. If you gravitate toward authors who explore alienation, longing, and complicated women, this one will absolutely stay with you.
Thank you again to NetGalley and Verso Books for the opportunity to read and review this title.
January 20, 2018
I enjoyed the shit out of this sad, haunting, beautiful book.
April 28, 2022
"It wasn't an unreasonable request—what's the point of studying literature if you can't even come up with a decent elegy?"
February 25, 2026
Simple Passion by Annie Ernaux x The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath x My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
“There was a point when the idea of returning home, even for a short while, would have seemed like a failure, a retreat from my real life. Now I felt that nothing could be so easily categorized, that there was no winning, and no losing, either. There was only living, and no one was going to teach me how to do it.”
“As we were leaving, Caroline said something strange.
She said: men destroy women. It's practically their job. And then she laughed, and Kayla laughed too, but I stayed up all night thinking about it.”
“There was a point when the idea of returning home, even for a short while, would have seemed like a failure, a retreat from my real life. Now I felt that nothing could be so easily categorized, that there was no winning, and no losing, either. There was only living, and no one was going to teach me how to do it.”
“As we were leaving, Caroline said something strange.
She said: men destroy women. It's practically their job. And then she laughed, and Kayla laughed too, but I stayed up all night thinking about it.”
January 31, 2026
This book was amazingly raw and beautiful. An epic look at misplaced love. So relatable in that many women will always long for someone they can never have but still the memories carry them through. The characters in the book were relatable and so unique that it makes them unforgettable. The narration POV makes this book feels like you’re literally in her shoes. Stunningly honest, this book is one I won’t forget. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
February 17, 2026
this was beautiful and incredibly insightful into the female experience. the first short story hit too close to home to little me in college and was stunning and heartbreaking and raw. the rest, particularly the final one, were also fantastic.
January 3, 2021
An instant favourite. One of the most intimate books I've ever read, though maybe only to my own life experience. Still, though, this book felt like being opened up, searched through, and kissed closed again.
January 31, 2024
i liked this so much i dmed the author on instagram. i kinda want to sit on my bedroom floor and cry now.
February 1, 2026
Nicola Maye Goldberg’s Other Women is a sly, devastating, and quietly brilliant portrait of longing — the kind that lingers long after the last page.
This novel moves with the restless energy of a young woman untethered from direction yet painfully anchored to desire. After dropping out of college, she drifts through New York — invisible, watchful, vulnerable — studying the city as if it holds some ancient spell that might explain her own hunger. The narrative choice to have her speak directly to the man she loves (and knows will never love her back) is striking and intimate. It creates the feeling of confession, of obsession, of a private reckoning unfolding in real time.
Goldberg writes with remarkable precision. The prose is spare but charged; every sentence feels intentional. There is something quietly fearless about how she captures misplaced love — not glamorized, not mocked, but examined with almost surgical tenderness. It is uncomfortable in the way truth often is.
When the protagonist accepts a position as a live-in nanny for Charlotte Herzfeld and travels to Berlin, the novel deepens into something even more precarious. The Herzfelds’ unraveling mirrors her own fragile interior world, and the tension becomes less about romance and more about identity — who we are when we orbit other people’s lives, and what it costs to disappear inside someone else’s story.
What makes this book so powerful is its emotional honesty. It resists easy redemption. It resists neat transformation. Instead, it offers a brutal, clear-eyed exploration of female longing, invisibility, and misplaced devotion. It feels both timeless and painfully current.
Goldberg’s control of voice and structure is impressive — especially the second-person narration, which never feels gimmicky but instead becomes the emotional engine of the novel. There is a confidence in the writing that suggests deep trust in the reader. That trust pays off.
This is the kind of novel that doesn’t shout for attention but instead demands it quietly — and once it has you, it does not let go. A beautifully subversive bildungsroman that cements Nicola Maye Goldberg as a writer unafraid to explore the rawest corners of womanhood.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy. This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.
This novel moves with the restless energy of a young woman untethered from direction yet painfully anchored to desire. After dropping out of college, she drifts through New York — invisible, watchful, vulnerable — studying the city as if it holds some ancient spell that might explain her own hunger. The narrative choice to have her speak directly to the man she loves (and knows will never love her back) is striking and intimate. It creates the feeling of confession, of obsession, of a private reckoning unfolding in real time.
Goldberg writes with remarkable precision. The prose is spare but charged; every sentence feels intentional. There is something quietly fearless about how she captures misplaced love — not glamorized, not mocked, but examined with almost surgical tenderness. It is uncomfortable in the way truth often is.
When the protagonist accepts a position as a live-in nanny for Charlotte Herzfeld and travels to Berlin, the novel deepens into something even more precarious. The Herzfelds’ unraveling mirrors her own fragile interior world, and the tension becomes less about romance and more about identity — who we are when we orbit other people’s lives, and what it costs to disappear inside someone else’s story.
What makes this book so powerful is its emotional honesty. It resists easy redemption. It resists neat transformation. Instead, it offers a brutal, clear-eyed exploration of female longing, invisibility, and misplaced devotion. It feels both timeless and painfully current.
Goldberg’s control of voice and structure is impressive — especially the second-person narration, which never feels gimmicky but instead becomes the emotional engine of the novel. There is a confidence in the writing that suggests deep trust in the reader. That trust pays off.
This is the kind of novel that doesn’t shout for attention but instead demands it quietly — and once it has you, it does not let go. A beautifully subversive bildungsroman that cements Nicola Maye Goldberg as a writer unafraid to explore the rawest corners of womanhood.
Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy. This is a book I will be thinking about for a long time.
February 20, 2026
Thank you to Netgalley and Verso books for this ARC!
This book contains what I would consider a novella as well as three short stories. I was so entranced by the writing of Other Women that at first I didn't realize that I had moved into the first short story, even with the time jump.
I have always enjoyed books where the main character spends the entire novel making mistake after mistake, and bad decision after bad decision. We spend this story following our Other Woman and how she can't seem to let the guy who she had an affair with go. The ghost of him follows her around and every choice she makes is an attempt to bring him back to her.
This follows the classic formula for a destructive girl litfic book. Girl makes bad choices and can't stop. Yet, girl is self aware enough to see that choices are morally wrong. Each bad choice sends her into a spiral, and eventually no choice could be the right choice. Almost every action is self destructive. But you can't help but understand... who among us hasn't pined over an unworthy boy to their own detriment?
Just when you're getting comfortable with watching our narrator ping pong to the next place, you're thrown into the first short story. 1979 in Paris, and the change in scenery is enough to jolt you out of the familiar feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Out of the three short stories, The Virgin was my personal favorite. The characters Nicola writes are intensely relatable and feel so real and fleshed out. The first short story feels the most out of place, but that could be just the fact that it was quite the switch from the main story to the short stories.
This was a quick read for me and I would recommend it to anyone who liked The Guest or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. This publishes 04/28.
This book contains what I would consider a novella as well as three short stories. I was so entranced by the writing of Other Women that at first I didn't realize that I had moved into the first short story, even with the time jump.
I have always enjoyed books where the main character spends the entire novel making mistake after mistake, and bad decision after bad decision. We spend this story following our Other Woman and how she can't seem to let the guy who she had an affair with go. The ghost of him follows her around and every choice she makes is an attempt to bring him back to her.
This follows the classic formula for a destructive girl litfic book. Girl makes bad choices and can't stop. Yet, girl is self aware enough to see that choices are morally wrong. Each bad choice sends her into a spiral, and eventually no choice could be the right choice. Almost every action is self destructive. But you can't help but understand... who among us hasn't pined over an unworthy boy to their own detriment?
Just when you're getting comfortable with watching our narrator ping pong to the next place, you're thrown into the first short story. 1979 in Paris, and the change in scenery is enough to jolt you out of the familiar feeling of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Out of the three short stories, The Virgin was my personal favorite. The characters Nicola writes are intensely relatable and feel so real and fleshed out. The first short story feels the most out of place, but that could be just the fact that it was quite the switch from the main story to the short stories.
This was a quick read for me and I would recommend it to anyone who liked The Guest or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. This publishes 04/28.
April 10, 2026
We all see ourselves through other people's eyes sometimes, unwittingly and unconsciously. We try to measure our success, our failures, our self-worth, where we are in life, our appearance, our talents, our abilities in comparison with other people without even realising that we're doing it. Other Women by Nicola May Goldberg is a beautiful book that talks about how different characters, all female protagonists, see themselves in their journey of life in relation to some or the other woman.
Every story was sad, poignant, raw, heartfelt, and emotional. It takes you on a rollercoaster of feelings. A lot of these stories haven't happened to me, so I can't relate to all of them, but it was painful to read. I loved Goldberg’s sense of writing; it was very refreshing. The first story, about a woman who ends up being the other woman in someone else's life, is written in second-person prose, which is very interesting to read. She talks directly to the man she was in love with, the man she isn't able to move on from, the man she can't get out of her head. But through a series of circumstances and her own journey, she slowly begins to see who she is to him and starts to untangle herself from him.
The other three stories were beautifully written as well, very haunting and thought-provoking. They’re about women, stories of women, the curse of being a woman, the humiliation and embarrassment that sometimes only a woman has to carry. It speaks to the reader. As a woman, there are things in the book that I felt very deeply. I’m sure every woman who reads this will find bits and pieces she can relate to.
For me, this was a deeply poetic read, and I finished it in a day. It’s a short novel, barely 250 pages. Not an easy read, but a hauntingly beautiful one.
Every story was sad, poignant, raw, heartfelt, and emotional. It takes you on a rollercoaster of feelings. A lot of these stories haven't happened to me, so I can't relate to all of them, but it was painful to read. I loved Goldberg’s sense of writing; it was very refreshing. The first story, about a woman who ends up being the other woman in someone else's life, is written in second-person prose, which is very interesting to read. She talks directly to the man she was in love with, the man she isn't able to move on from, the man she can't get out of her head. But through a series of circumstances and her own journey, she slowly begins to see who she is to him and starts to untangle herself from him.
The other three stories were beautifully written as well, very haunting and thought-provoking. They’re about women, stories of women, the curse of being a woman, the humiliation and embarrassment that sometimes only a woman has to carry. It speaks to the reader. As a woman, there are things in the book that I felt very deeply. I’m sure every woman who reads this will find bits and pieces she can relate to.
For me, this was a deeply poetic read, and I finished it in a day. It’s a short novel, barely 250 pages. Not an easy read, but a hauntingly beautiful one.
March 19, 2026
Other Women and Other Stories ended up being a pretty strange reading experience for me…
Not in a bad way, but definitely not what I expected going in, haha.
The main plot follows a young woman drifting through New York after dropping out of college while still emotionally stuck on a man who clearly doesn’t feel the same way about her. The narration feels very internal and almost diary like at times? Not against it! Def made the story feel intimate but also a little uncomfortable in places. There’s a strong sense of obsession and loneliness running through the whole book. When she later takes a job as a nanny and travels with the family to Berlin, the situation slowly becomes more tense as the cracks in that household start to show.
What worked for me was the atmosphere and the honesty of the narrator’s voice. The writing has this almost detached but observant tone that really captures that messy stage of early adulthood where people make questionable decisions and don’t fully understand why.
That said, this wasn’t a perfect read for me. The pacing can feel slow and very inward-focused, and at times I found myself wanting a little more development outside of the narrator’s thoughts. Some of the additional stories in the collection also felt uneven.
A couple stood out, while others didn’t leave much of an impression. Overall, though, I appreciated how raw and uncomfortable the book was willing to be. It’s not necessarily a warm or easy read, but it does a good job capturing the strange intensity of longing and the ways people can lose themselves.
Not in a bad way, but definitely not what I expected going in, haha.
The main plot follows a young woman drifting through New York after dropping out of college while still emotionally stuck on a man who clearly doesn’t feel the same way about her. The narration feels very internal and almost diary like at times? Not against it! Def made the story feel intimate but also a little uncomfortable in places. There’s a strong sense of obsession and loneliness running through the whole book. When she later takes a job as a nanny and travels with the family to Berlin, the situation slowly becomes more tense as the cracks in that household start to show.
What worked for me was the atmosphere and the honesty of the narrator’s voice. The writing has this almost detached but observant tone that really captures that messy stage of early adulthood where people make questionable decisions and don’t fully understand why.
That said, this wasn’t a perfect read for me. The pacing can feel slow and very inward-focused, and at times I found myself wanting a little more development outside of the narrator’s thoughts. Some of the additional stories in the collection also felt uneven.
A couple stood out, while others didn’t leave much of an impression. Overall, though, I appreciated how raw and uncomfortable the book was willing to be. It’s not necessarily a warm or easy read, but it does a good job capturing the strange intensity of longing and the ways people can lose themselves.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2026
Other Women reads like any girl entering womanhood. It's raw, intimate and occasionally feels like you should apologise for reading it.
This is a main story with short stories onto the end. The main story follows a girl who is, quite literally, the other woman. But emotionally, the only woman in her universe. She becomes completely fixated on a guy she hooked up with (who, small detail, already had a girlfriend and then goes on to get married). And yet? He remains the main character in her life, while she's stuck playing supporting role in her own. As an adult who has lived it and done it, I wanted to shake her and tell her she is more deserving. You keep waiting for her to move on, glow up, block his number... But no. We spiral. We linger. We romanticise crumbs.
To be fair, that's kinda the point. It captures that painfully specific phase of young womanhood where love takes over your entire personality. Accurate, yes. Enjoyable, debtable.
The rest of the stories circle similar themes. Messy relationships, longing, questionable men. By the time you reach the final story, things take a darker turn, and it lands with a heavy, unsettling thud. It's sad, frustrating, and it really drives home how often these women are left to deal with the fallout of men who barely register the damage they cause.
Thank you to Netgalley and Verso Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.
This is a main story with short stories onto the end. The main story follows a girl who is, quite literally, the other woman. But emotionally, the only woman in her universe. She becomes completely fixated on a guy she hooked up with (who, small detail, already had a girlfriend and then goes on to get married). And yet? He remains the main character in her life, while she's stuck playing supporting role in her own. As an adult who has lived it and done it, I wanted to shake her and tell her she is more deserving. You keep waiting for her to move on, glow up, block his number... But no. We spiral. We linger. We romanticise crumbs.
To be fair, that's kinda the point. It captures that painfully specific phase of young womanhood where love takes over your entire personality. Accurate, yes. Enjoyable, debtable.
The rest of the stories circle similar themes. Messy relationships, longing, questionable men. By the time you reach the final story, things take a darker turn, and it lands with a heavy, unsettling thud. It's sad, frustrating, and it really drives home how often these women are left to deal with the fallout of men who barely register the damage they cause.
Thank you to Netgalley and Verso Books for the ARC in exchange for my review.
March 7, 2026
“I knew, even before the moment ended, that it was one I would remember for a long time. I was nostalgic for something that hadn’t ended yet, and so I existed, for a while, within the pristine state of memory. And yet as I sat on the plane, trying to fall asleep, I recalled it as if it were a movie I’d watched without the sound, something so vague and distant it seemed impossible that I had ever really been there at all.
Who can sustain an escape from one’s self?”
This quote beautifully encapsulates how I felt while reading this story. The reader is in the pristine state of the main character’s memory as she recalls the love and heartbreak she experienced.
I loved the author’s writing style. I wish there was more to the main character’s story as I was surprised the book then pivoted to (3) other little unrelated stories. I would have loved to read more about her transition back to NYC/home.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sad Spell Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
Who can sustain an escape from one’s self?”
This quote beautifully encapsulates how I felt while reading this story. The reader is in the pristine state of the main character’s memory as she recalls the love and heartbreak she experienced.
I loved the author’s writing style. I wish there was more to the main character’s story as I was surprised the book then pivoted to (3) other little unrelated stories. I would have loved to read more about her transition back to NYC/home.
Thank you to NetGalley and Sad Spell Press for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!
February 26, 2026
Thank You to Netgalley for this ARC
Other Women completely wrecked me — in the way I love a book to do. It’s so deeply vulnerable that at times it felt almost intrusive, like I was holding something fragile and painfully honest in my hands.
The narrator’s longing, her invisibility, her willingness to orbit people who will never fully choose her. It left me feeling broken in a way that lingered long after I finished. The emotional exposure in this story is raw but never indulgent. It captures that quiet, self-destructive fixation so many of us recognize but don’t always admit to.
The writing is reflective yet propulsive, just like the synopsis promises, and I was completely absorbed by the unraveling tension, especially as the cracks in the Herzfeld family begin to show. It’s intimate, uncomfortable, and piercingly real.
I gave this 4 stars because while it hurt, it hurt beautifully. I’ll absolutely be reading more from this author.
Other Women completely wrecked me — in the way I love a book to do. It’s so deeply vulnerable that at times it felt almost intrusive, like I was holding something fragile and painfully honest in my hands.
The narrator’s longing, her invisibility, her willingness to orbit people who will never fully choose her. It left me feeling broken in a way that lingered long after I finished. The emotional exposure in this story is raw but never indulgent. It captures that quiet, self-destructive fixation so many of us recognize but don’t always admit to.
The writing is reflective yet propulsive, just like the synopsis promises, and I was completely absorbed by the unraveling tension, especially as the cracks in the Herzfeld family begin to show. It’s intimate, uncomfortable, and piercingly real.
I gave this 4 stars because while it hurt, it hurt beautifully. I’ll absolutely be reading more from this author.
February 28, 2026
3.75 stars - Although this was an unusual collection of 4 short stories with no seeming “plot” in the traditional sense, I really enjoyed reading this. The somewhat disjointed narrative portrays elements of the female experience.
The majority of the book is taken up by the first story entitled “Other Women” whereby a nameless narrator addresses a man whom she shares a short lived ill-fated relationship. She discusses not only herself and her experience but also that of other, mostly older, women.
“While I waited for my flight to board I read a magazine. Ten tips for better sex, twenty ways to get him to commit, five signs he’s cheating etc. etc. It made me exhausted to be a woman”.
Goldberg’s social commentary on the female experience is something any woman can relate to and, whilst there is no traditional plot device, the stories enable the reader to feel seen and understood. The stories are sad but, tragically, true. To be a woman can indeed be “exhausting”.
The majority of the book is taken up by the first story entitled “Other Women” whereby a nameless narrator addresses a man whom she shares a short lived ill-fated relationship. She discusses not only herself and her experience but also that of other, mostly older, women.
“While I waited for my flight to board I read a magazine. Ten tips for better sex, twenty ways to get him to commit, five signs he’s cheating etc. etc. It made me exhausted to be a woman”.
Goldberg’s social commentary on the female experience is something any woman can relate to and, whilst there is no traditional plot device, the stories enable the reader to feel seen and understood. The stories are sad but, tragically, true. To be a woman can indeed be “exhausting”.
March 13, 2026
This book reads as a personal diary of a 18- 21 year old woman. It’s so intimate and raw. And very much relatable. The first story is about a woman who is literally the other woman who obsesses over a guy she hooked up with, even though the guy was in a relationship and ended up getting married. It was sad to see how male centered this girls life was. And at every opportunity she was thinking about him which I guess is apart of loving someone. I kept hoping that she would move on but when you really love someone and the idea of them, it never really goes away.
I thought the other short stories were good too, each of them depicting similar themes. The last one was very sad and unsettling, and how this poor girl didn’t get the justice she deserved over a stupid guy.
I thought the other short stories were good too, each of them depicting similar themes. The last one was very sad and unsettling, and how this poor girl didn’t get the justice she deserved over a stupid guy.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2026
Other Women by Nicola Maye Goldberg was a book I genuinely didn’t want to put down. From the very beginning, her writing style completely pulled me in—it’s sharp, and incredibly engaging. The pacing is fast without feeling rushed, which made it so easy to keep turning the pages and say “just one more page.”
The short stories at the end just aren’t my personal reading style, and they pulled me slightly out of the experience I had with the main novel.
Overall, this was a compelling, fast-paced read with beautiful writing and memorable characters. I’m really glad i was able to give it a read and would absolutely recommend it to readers who enjoy emotionally driven fiction.
The short stories at the end just aren’t my personal reading style, and they pulled me slightly out of the experience I had with the main novel.
Overall, this was a compelling, fast-paced read with beautiful writing and memorable characters. I’m really glad i was able to give it a read and would absolutely recommend it to readers who enjoy emotionally driven fiction.
February 24, 2026
I wasn’t totally sure what to expect going into this, but it ended up being such a good read! It follows a young woman who leaves college behind and sort of drifts through New York, caught up in a guy who doesn't love her and trying to make sense of herself. When she takes a job as a live-in nanny for a wealthy family and heads to Berlin with them, it seems like a chance to start over, but instead, she gets tangled up in their unraveling lives and secrets. It’s a book that clearly outlines obsession, desire, and that messy in-between stage of youth, and it’s all told in such beautifully written language.
March 3, 2026
3.5/5
This book is the equivalent of walking around NYC in the winter on a snowy day listening to Mazzy Star into oblivion. A quick read that will leave you longing to visit NYC and perhaps more so Berlin.
Goldberg captures angst, intense sadness, and the pain of obsession in just 168 short pages. The un-named main character starts the book off as if she is reading a letter she wrote to an unrequited lover. I enjoyed this format the most, and found myself getting a bit lost with the cadence of the other stories.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the opportunity to read this ARC!
This book is the equivalent of walking around NYC in the winter on a snowy day listening to Mazzy Star into oblivion. A quick read that will leave you longing to visit NYC and perhaps more so Berlin.
Goldberg captures angst, intense sadness, and the pain of obsession in just 168 short pages. The un-named main character starts the book off as if she is reading a letter she wrote to an unrequited lover. I enjoyed this format the most, and found myself getting a bit lost with the cadence of the other stories.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the opportunity to read this ARC!
March 27, 2026
Who can sustain an escape from one's self?
This book came out in 2016 but it seems it's now being re-published along with a few short stories. The narrator of the main story is a young women who has dropped out of college and is wandering around New York when she get's asked to be a nanny for a family in Germany. It's random, and felt like a mix of "The Guest" and "My Year of Rest and Relaxation". I liked how we got small snippets of her life, and overall enjoyed the themes of what it means to be truly yourself - genuine and curious.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the advanced copy!!
This book came out in 2016 but it seems it's now being re-published along with a few short stories. The narrator of the main story is a young women who has dropped out of college and is wandering around New York when she get's asked to be a nanny for a family in Germany. It's random, and felt like a mix of "The Guest" and "My Year of Rest and Relaxation". I liked how we got small snippets of her life, and overall enjoyed the themes of what it means to be truly yourself - genuine and curious.
Thank you to NetGalley and Verso Books for the advanced copy!!
January 27, 2022
I had this book sitting in my shelf for a while, a friend gave it to me after studying abroad in 2017 in Berlin saying the main girl reminded her of me. I think the main character of this book is bravely written as relatable and pathetic in the way we all are when we are in our early twenties trying to figure things out. I appreciated the vignette style of storytelling, it was more interesting to me than the plot itself. But I think I understand what the author was going for, this a just a book about some girl!
April 2, 2026
I can see how this could appeal to some, but it's not really my cup of tea. I think it was partly because I read it on my Kindle and at times it made it harder to follow in this format since there weren't many breaks in the pages.
The stories were very sad, bleak and at times, disturbing. Even though it's a short book, it took me awhile to get through. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters, so it was harder to get me invested into the story.
Thank you to the author, Verso Books and NetGalley for this book.
The stories were very sad, bleak and at times, disturbing. Even though it's a short book, it took me awhile to get through. I didn't feel connected with any of the characters, so it was harder to get me invested into the story.
Thank you to the author, Verso Books and NetGalley for this book.
February 15, 2026
The cover drew me in and the prose made me stay. I really loved the writing in these stories. It is a great entry into the kind of sad girl literature that I love. The protagonists were complex and rich with great characterization. The use of POV in the titular story was extremely effective. I found the characters relatable even though I have had different experiences than them. The writing was so good and made me want to know more about these characters.
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!
January 9, 2023
I bought this book solely off the title without even reading any synopsis or reviews. I definitely didn’t expect to feel so heartbroken being in the position of a woman who was the third person involved in a relationship and had such intimate moments she shared with her lover but couldn’t express it as it was a secret.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 1, 2025
A melancholic, brief read that I often return to whenever I want to feel heartbroken, disappointed, wistful, yet also content. As I've reread it over the years, my response toward the characters have become a measure of my own growth through my early twenties. I enjoyed the short-form narrative and imagery from the author. 4.35/5
January 31, 2026
It's exhausting to be a woman.
This book was a wonderful and emotional experience, I couldn't stop reading it. The last part was very unique, showing womanhood and everything about it.
I gotta say, I loved how much was told with just some short chapters. I related a lot many times.
This book was a wonderful and emotional experience, I couldn't stop reading it. The last part was very unique, showing womanhood and everything about it.
I gotta say, I loved how much was told with just some short chapters. I related a lot many times.
March 27, 2018
I would give this more of a 3.5/5. The writer is talented, and I'd be very interested in reading her future works.
April 14, 2019
God I loved this. If I had a highlighter-The whole novel would have been in neon. Just so simply solidly real.
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