What do you think?
Rate this book
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody
A moving and darkly comic debut novel about an anxious young woman who administers a self-made “placebo” treatment in a last-ditch attempt to rebuild her life
Amy Hanley has a job as a maid for the summer, but on August 25, she will take the exam to become an EMT (third time’s the charm!) and finally move on with her life. In the meantime, she doesn’t mind scrubbing toilets immaculately clean or tucking the sheet corners just so. In fact, she tells herself that her work is a noble act of service to the rich guests at the yacht club.
Amy’s profound isolation colors everything: her job, her aspirations, even her interactions with the woman at the deli counter. And as the date for the EMT exam comes closer, Amy’s anxiety ratchets up in a way that is both familiar and troubling. In desperation, she concocts a “placebo” program—a self-prescribed regimen for her confidence, devised to trick herself into succeeding.
When her landlord, Gary, starts to invite her over for dinner—to practice his cooking skills as he awaits approval of his Ukrainian fiancé’s visa—Amy makes her first friend since her mother’s passing. Alongside this unexpected connection comes a surge of hopeful obsession that Amy knows she must reckon with before the summer’s end.
Tender and laugh-out-loud funny, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody explores the shadowy corners of a young woman’s inner world of grief, delusion, and self-loathing, revealing the creeping loneliness of modern life and our endless search for connection. Kelly McClorey captures the hilarity and heartbreak of American ambition.
Amy Hanley has a job as a maid for the summer, but on August 25, she will take the exam to become an EMT (third time’s the charm!) and finally move on with her life. In the meantime, she doesn’t mind scrubbing toilets immaculately clean or tucking the sheet corners just so. In fact, she tells herself that her work is a noble act of service to the rich guests at the yacht club.
Amy’s profound isolation colors everything: her job, her aspirations, even her interactions with the woman at the deli counter. And as the date for the EMT exam comes closer, Amy’s anxiety ratchets up in a way that is both familiar and troubling. In desperation, she concocts a “placebo” program—a self-prescribed regimen for her confidence, devised to trick herself into succeeding.
When her landlord, Gary, starts to invite her over for dinner—to practice his cooking skills as he awaits approval of his Ukrainian fiancé’s visa—Amy makes her first friend since her mother’s passing. Alongside this unexpected connection comes a surge of hopeful obsession that Amy knows she must reckon with before the summer’s end.
Tender and laugh-out-loud funny, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody explores the shadowy corners of a young woman’s inner world of grief, delusion, and self-loathing, revealing the creeping loneliness of modern life and our endless search for connection. Kelly McClorey captures the hilarity and heartbreak of American ambition.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published July 6, 2021
120 people are currently reading
13851 people want to read
About the author
Kelly McClorey
1 book36 followersKelly McClorey is a graduate of the MFA program at the University of Montana. She lives in Massachusetts.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 460 reviews
April 15, 2022
4.5 stars. Deranged lonely women I love you
July 22, 2021
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is about Amy Hanley, a housekeeper at a yacht club, who has taken the job for the summer as she prepares for her EMT exam (the third time is the charm). She creates a placebo program for herself in an attempt to curb her anxiety about the exam and her future. Along the way, Amy also develops a friendship with her landlord, Gary, who is waiting for his fiancé to arrive from Ukraine. As the end of summer and the exam date approaches, Amy knows she must make some big decisions.
The description for Nobody, Somebody, Anybody mentions “profound isolation” which feels very accurate — Amy is lonely. She’s quirky and makes unusual choices in multiple aspects of her life. She falls deep and quickly into hypothetical future scenarios, and has a fixation with Florence Nightingale, referencing often how they both have a calling.
While I didn’t agree with Amy’s thoughts or behavior for most of the book, even with some subtle sadness and darker elements included, this was an entertaining read — 3.5 stars
The description for Nobody, Somebody, Anybody mentions “profound isolation” which feels very accurate — Amy is lonely. She’s quirky and makes unusual choices in multiple aspects of her life. She falls deep and quickly into hypothetical future scenarios, and has a fixation with Florence Nightingale, referencing often how they both have a calling.
While I didn’t agree with Amy’s thoughts or behavior for most of the book, even with some subtle sadness and darker elements included, this was an entertaining read — 3.5 stars
November 24, 2021
"Behind the shelter of a [shower] curtain, under the thrumming spray of water, I mourned and wailed and spoke to myself: 'You will always be a stranger, that is your destiny.' If my own mother couldn't understand me, how could I expect anyone else to?" -- protagonist Amy, on page 259
Author McClorey's debut novel belongs on a short but growing list of fiction novels also occupied by New Me by Halle Butler, Hysteria by Jessica Gross, and - my favorite of the bunch - the dark Looker by Laura Sims. The similarities? These stories center on 20-ish college-educated women who are experiencing career difficulties (often stuck in dead-end jobs), have trouble initiating / maintaining their personal relationships, and who may be delving into concerning or worsening mental health issues per their behavior throughout the plots. Yet it would be an insult to simply call them 'crazy.'
Amy is a 25 year-old New England native working as a chambermaid in a small but ritzy beachfront hotel near Cape Cod. A hardworking college dropout, she seems content with her life - repeatedly mentioning how she will be soon be testing to hopefully receive her emergency medical technician certification by the state - but once the layers of this onion are peeled back we find out that things are not okay with her. Amy had a strained relationship with her mother (who became very sick and suddenly died while Amy was away at college), an upsetting dissolution of a tight friendship with her bestie college roommate (it is a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment when Amy describes what bizarrely and ultimately led to their separation), and otherwise has only a few work acquaintances and seemingly no romantic prospects. Things began to change for Amy over the course of a few weeks during the summer - sometimes pleasingly, but more so slightly alarmingly - as she makes some odd or questionable decisions that seem to be speeding her towards a therapist's couch or worse. But I have to hand it to first-time author McClorey - she largely resisted going the obvious route through some of the plot developments, and she nailed the unique conclusion in an optimistically good way.
Author McClorey's debut novel belongs on a short but growing list of fiction novels also occupied by New Me by Halle Butler, Hysteria by Jessica Gross, and - my favorite of the bunch - the dark Looker by Laura Sims. The similarities? These stories center on 20-ish college-educated women who are experiencing career difficulties (often stuck in dead-end jobs), have trouble initiating / maintaining their personal relationships, and who may be delving into concerning or worsening mental health issues per their behavior throughout the plots. Yet it would be an insult to simply call them 'crazy.'
Amy is a 25 year-old New England native working as a chambermaid in a small but ritzy beachfront hotel near Cape Cod. A hardworking college dropout, she seems content with her life - repeatedly mentioning how she will be soon be testing to hopefully receive her emergency medical technician certification by the state - but once the layers of this onion are peeled back we find out that things are not okay with her. Amy had a strained relationship with her mother (who became very sick and suddenly died while Amy was away at college), an upsetting dissolution of a tight friendship with her bestie college roommate (it is a 'blink and you'll miss it' moment when Amy describes what bizarrely and ultimately led to their separation), and otherwise has only a few work acquaintances and seemingly no romantic prospects. Things began to change for Amy over the course of a few weeks during the summer - sometimes pleasingly, but more so slightly alarmingly - as she makes some odd or questionable decisions that seem to be speeding her towards a therapist's couch or worse. But I have to hand it to first-time author McClorey - she largely resisted going the obvious route through some of the plot developments, and she nailed the unique conclusion in an optimistically good way.
August 27, 2021
| | blog | tumblr | ko-fi | |
The cover and summary led me to believe that Nobody, Somebody, Anybody would be yet another My Year of Rest and Relaxation copycat so I was relatively surprised to discover that style and tone-wise this novel shares far more in common with Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman and Hilary Leichter’s Temporary. While by no means incompetently written Kelly McClorey's debut was a bit too vanilla for my taste, and, there were instance in which her prose brought to mind Jenny Offill's Weather (not a favourite of mine).
Amy Harney, our protagonist, is in her late twenties and working as a chambermaid at a yacht club while waiting to retake the EMT exam at the end of the summer. Still grieving her mother's death Amy avoids her father and brother. After becoming persona non grata at her university Amy has also no friends. In spite of her bizarrely positive work-attitude, which really did remind me of Murata's Keiko, her supervisor doesn't seem to like her that much.
To ward off loneliness Amy opens her landlord's post, only to one day discover that he paid a subscription to find a Ukrainian wife. As he waits for his fiancé’s visa her landlord, Gary, begins to test out recipes on Amy, in order to hone his culinary skills. Amy, who tries to be what other people want her to be, seems happy to be a sympathetic ear to him, dispensing praise and helpful advice.
Meanwhile, to guarantee her success at the exam Amy prescribes herself a placebo: she will act as if she has already passed the EMT exam, going so far as to tell others about it and to create counterfeit documents and ids.
The more time she spends with Gary, the more she likes the feeling of belonging. Alas, others do eventually begin picking up on her obsessive, and increasingly delusional, behaviour.
While at first, I found Amy's irrationally upbeat narration quirky, her story did feel relatively unremarkable. This is yet another novel starring an alienated American millennial who is disconnected from others, if not reality itself. Amy tells herself that she wants to be an EMT, but as her fixation towards Gary grows, she loses sight of what had until then motivated her. More often than in her desperate attempts at connection Amy puts people off. Because Amy lacks both social skills and self-awareness she tends to make faux pas, ignores other people's privacy, and falls prey to idiosyncratic flights of fancy. She finds some comfort in quoting or thinking about Florence Nightingale, who is her idol (I did wonder whether Amy was aware of the not-so-great things Lytton Strachey had written about Nightingale...).
In spite of her zesty narration, I never felt all that taken or enthused by Amy. She remained somewhat amorphous, which sometimes works in favour of a character but here it didn't. The mumblecoresque dialogues weren't as funny as they portended to be, and Amy's experiences working as a cleaner did not hold a candle to Mona's ones in Pretend I'm Dead. This brings me to my biggest problem with this novel: its style, tone, characters, and story bring nothing new to the self-sabotaging-maladaptive-millennial genre. Amy's placebo cure also left me somewhat wanting as I was excepting something slightly more unorthodox.
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody lacked the originality of Murata and Leichter’s novels, nor was it as darkly funny or razor-sharp as Pizza Girl, Luster, or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. The author's take on contemporary malaise didn't feel particularly insightful or clever. Still, I think that readers who haven't read all those novels that I just mentioned may find this more entertaining than I did. For me, however, this a rather unremarkable read that sits somewhere between Dolan's not-so-exciting Exciting Times and Austin's Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead. These books may have the odd funny moment but other than that...non sono un granché.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
“I dreaded spring, the harassment of a pleasant sunny day. But it came anyway, and with the trees budding outside my window, I said, Okay, time to live again.”
The cover and summary led me to believe that Nobody, Somebody, Anybody would be yet another My Year of Rest and Relaxation copycat so I was relatively surprised to discover that style and tone-wise this novel shares far more in common with Sayaka Murata's Convenience Store Woman and Hilary Leichter’s Temporary. While by no means incompetently written Kelly McClorey's debut was a bit too vanilla for my taste, and, there were instance in which her prose brought to mind Jenny Offill's Weather (not a favourite of mine).
“I would choose suffering over indifference any day. As Florence Nightingale said, out of nothing comes nothing, but out of suffering might come the cure—give me pain over paralysis!”
Amy Harney, our protagonist, is in her late twenties and working as a chambermaid at a yacht club while waiting to retake the EMT exam at the end of the summer. Still grieving her mother's death Amy avoids her father and brother. After becoming persona non grata at her university Amy has also no friends. In spite of her bizarrely positive work-attitude, which really did remind me of Murata's Keiko, her supervisor doesn't seem to like her that much.
To ward off loneliness Amy opens her landlord's post, only to one day discover that he paid a subscription to find a Ukrainian wife. As he waits for his fiancé’s visa her landlord, Gary, begins to test out recipes on Amy, in order to hone his culinary skills. Amy, who tries to be what other people want her to be, seems happy to be a sympathetic ear to him, dispensing praise and helpful advice.
Meanwhile, to guarantee her success at the exam Amy prescribes herself a placebo: she will act as if she has already passed the EMT exam, going so far as to tell others about it and to create counterfeit documents and ids.
The more time she spends with Gary, the more she likes the feeling of belonging. Alas, others do eventually begin picking up on her obsessive, and increasingly delusional, behaviour.
While at first, I found Amy's irrationally upbeat narration quirky, her story did feel relatively unremarkable. This is yet another novel starring an alienated American millennial who is disconnected from others, if not reality itself. Amy tells herself that she wants to be an EMT, but as her fixation towards Gary grows, she loses sight of what had until then motivated her. More often than in her desperate attempts at connection Amy puts people off. Because Amy lacks both social skills and self-awareness she tends to make faux pas, ignores other people's privacy, and falls prey to idiosyncratic flights of fancy. She finds some comfort in quoting or thinking about Florence Nightingale, who is her idol (I did wonder whether Amy was aware of the not-so-great things Lytton Strachey had written about Nightingale...).
In spite of her zesty narration, I never felt all that taken or enthused by Amy. She remained somewhat amorphous, which sometimes works in favour of a character but here it didn't. The mumblecoresque dialogues weren't as funny as they portended to be, and Amy's experiences working as a cleaner did not hold a candle to Mona's ones in Pretend I'm Dead. This brings me to my biggest problem with this novel: its style, tone, characters, and story bring nothing new to the self-sabotaging-maladaptive-millennial genre. Amy's placebo cure also left me somewhat wanting as I was excepting something slightly more unorthodox.
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody lacked the originality of Murata and Leichter’s novels, nor was it as darkly funny or razor-sharp as Pizza Girl, Luster, or My Year of Rest and Relaxation. The author's take on contemporary malaise didn't feel particularly insightful or clever. Still, I think that readers who haven't read all those novels that I just mentioned may find this more entertaining than I did. For me, however, this a rather unremarkable read that sits somewhere between Dolan's not-so-exciting Exciting Times and Austin's Everyone in This Room Will Someday be Dead. These books may have the odd funny moment but other than that...non sono un granché.
ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
January 15, 2021
This book captures the complexity of a guilt-ridden young woman, full of self-loathing and unworthiness, although the tone of the novel is one of quirky, irrepressible optimism, which creates an enjoyable and engaging reading experience.
Amy Harney has a job as a chambermaid for the summer, but on August 25, she will take the exam to become an EMT (third time’s the charm!) and finally move on with her life. She has a plan, a new friendship with her landlord Gary and a summer job. However, she’s haunted by the death of her mother and events that occurred in college, and beneath it all is a simmering anxiety that she won’t be able to pass the exam. Taking guidance from her studies, Amy develops her own “placebo” to engender belief in herself that will create the future she wants.
McClorey’s depiction of Amy is intelligent, nuanced and sensitive, whilst avoiding the literary pitfalls of the tragic heroine or domestic melodrama. Amy is at heart a good person, but her loneliness underpins all her interactions with others, as does her fear and self-doubt, all of which ensures that she sabotages or misreads almost every relationship in her life. As I read, I could identify with the angst and guilt and ineptitude often found in the daily relationship dynamics of young adults who have barely acquired the emotional equipment to deal with the blows of daily living. At times this novel had me heart sore.
Amy makes a truckload of poor decisions, but she does so in an effort to soothe herself, or to prop herself up. The humanness of her story touched me. The book is touted to be “funny” and “humorous”, and maybe others have found it so, but I would describe it more as light and quirky. Despite Amy’s emotional baggage, the story itself has a warmth to the narrative that makes it engaging and compelling. The characters are well-rounded and believable; every character has a human complexity that is recognisable and endearing.
McClorey is a skilled and beautiful writer, with a keen eye for place, and a deep understanding of character. I very much enjoyed this novel and would happily read another by her. Highly recommended.
Amy Harney has a job as a chambermaid for the summer, but on August 25, she will take the exam to become an EMT (third time’s the charm!) and finally move on with her life. She has a plan, a new friendship with her landlord Gary and a summer job. However, she’s haunted by the death of her mother and events that occurred in college, and beneath it all is a simmering anxiety that she won’t be able to pass the exam. Taking guidance from her studies, Amy develops her own “placebo” to engender belief in herself that will create the future she wants.
McClorey’s depiction of Amy is intelligent, nuanced and sensitive, whilst avoiding the literary pitfalls of the tragic heroine or domestic melodrama. Amy is at heart a good person, but her loneliness underpins all her interactions with others, as does her fear and self-doubt, all of which ensures that she sabotages or misreads almost every relationship in her life. As I read, I could identify with the angst and guilt and ineptitude often found in the daily relationship dynamics of young adults who have barely acquired the emotional equipment to deal with the blows of daily living. At times this novel had me heart sore.
Amy makes a truckload of poor decisions, but she does so in an effort to soothe herself, or to prop herself up. The humanness of her story touched me. The book is touted to be “funny” and “humorous”, and maybe others have found it so, but I would describe it more as light and quirky. Despite Amy’s emotional baggage, the story itself has a warmth to the narrative that makes it engaging and compelling. The characters are well-rounded and believable; every character has a human complexity that is recognisable and endearing.
McClorey is a skilled and beautiful writer, with a keen eye for place, and a deep understanding of character. I very much enjoyed this novel and would happily read another by her. Highly recommended.
August 31, 2021
Kelly McClorey's debut novel is a quirky, heartfelt story about a socially awkward, lonely young woman.
At the end of August, Amy is scheduled to take the exam to become an EMT. She’s hoping the third time taking the exam will prove successful so she can essentially start a new phase of her life. In the meantime, she works as a chambermaid at a yacht club. It’s a demeaning job, but she doesn’t mind—she sees it as a noble service she provides the guests.
Apart from Roula, the exacting head housekeeper, and her flaky boss, Amy essentially talks to no one. She has her study guide and her Florence Nightingale book for company. But when Gary, her landlord, asks if she would sample his cooking skills before his Ukrainian fiancée comes to America, she jumps at the chance for companionship.
As the summer progresses, Amy becomes increasingly nervous about the exam, so she creates a program to trick her into thinking she already passed, which blurs the lines of her reality a bit. And as she spends more time with Gary, she increasingly begins thinking in ways she shouldn’t, even though she knows everything will change when his fiancée arrives.
Have you ever read a book with a character whose behavior is so awkward it makes you cringe, and almost feel bad for them? Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is that kind of book. Amy is lonely but Amy is odd, and it’s a chicken-egg thing that made me think. I found myself reading like I was watching a horror movie, just waiting for something awful to happen.
This was a well-written book but Amy’s behavior both made her sympathetic and kept her at arm’s length. Definitely one that would be good for a book group, because you'll want to talk about it with someone!!
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
At the end of August, Amy is scheduled to take the exam to become an EMT. She’s hoping the third time taking the exam will prove successful so she can essentially start a new phase of her life. In the meantime, she works as a chambermaid at a yacht club. It’s a demeaning job, but she doesn’t mind—she sees it as a noble service she provides the guests.
Apart from Roula, the exacting head housekeeper, and her flaky boss, Amy essentially talks to no one. She has her study guide and her Florence Nightingale book for company. But when Gary, her landlord, asks if she would sample his cooking skills before his Ukrainian fiancée comes to America, she jumps at the chance for companionship.
As the summer progresses, Amy becomes increasingly nervous about the exam, so she creates a program to trick her into thinking she already passed, which blurs the lines of her reality a bit. And as she spends more time with Gary, she increasingly begins thinking in ways she shouldn’t, even though she knows everything will change when his fiancée arrives.
Have you ever read a book with a character whose behavior is so awkward it makes you cringe, and almost feel bad for them? Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is that kind of book. Amy is lonely but Amy is odd, and it’s a chicken-egg thing that made me think. I found myself reading like I was watching a horror movie, just waiting for something awful to happen.
This was a well-written book but Amy’s behavior both made her sympathetic and kept her at arm’s length. Definitely one that would be good for a book group, because you'll want to talk about it with someone!!
Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
August 28, 2021
I was really excited about the writeups and reviews, "tender and laugh-out-loud funny...revealing the creeping loneliness of modern life and our endless search for connection." However, this book is just glorified undiagnosed and untreated mental illness that never resolves. Amy never gets help, never works on the fact that she's the problem, and continues to live in her delusional world where I believe she is a danger to herself and others. I stopped reading halfway through and skimmed the rest hoping for some sort of redemption and just ended up sad for the state of the world that we live in currently where someone like Amy just doesn't get the help she needs.
September 9, 2021
Wow. What a pleasant surprise! This book was wild and unexpected. The writing was razor-sharp, witty, and hilarious. There was also a lot of tenderness in the writing as well. Beautiful story about a lonely and slightly disturbed young woman dealing with grief and repressed rage. I loved every minute of this novel. It had the right amount of quirkiness. Amy was a fascinating protagonist. She was deeply-flawed, complicated, kooky, and delusional. I thought Amy's backstory was richly rewarding; it absolutely tugged at my heartstrings. Great character study and I loved that Amy's mentor is Florence Nightingale. All the stars!
Thank you, Netgalley and Ecco for the digital ARC.
Thank you, Netgalley and Ecco for the digital ARC.
July 25, 2021
I had an eARC of this book and I can't emphasize how many books I've bailed on this week, making this one quite a triumph.
This is for readers who like Melissa Broder (I do), Otessa Moshfegh (I haven't), and other Gen Z adulting books. Amy is cleaning rooms at a resort for the summer with aspirations of becoming an EMT and that's the narrative she tells to everyone, including her ongoing obsession with Florence Nightingale. When she struggles to pass the final stage she has to figure out how to keep up appearances, and it gets dark and complex before the reader knows the entire true story.
I had a copy from the publisher (Ecco) via NetGalley. My reviews are always honest. This came out July 6th.
This is for readers who like Melissa Broder (I do), Otessa Moshfegh (I haven't), and other Gen Z adulting books. Amy is cleaning rooms at a resort for the summer with aspirations of becoming an EMT and that's the narrative she tells to everyone, including her ongoing obsession with Florence Nightingale. When she struggles to pass the final stage she has to figure out how to keep up appearances, and it gets dark and complex before the reader knows the entire true story.
I had a copy from the publisher (Ecco) via NetGalley. My reviews are always honest. This came out July 6th.
August 9, 2021
A dark, awkward comedy that people are comparing to Moshfegh, but the comparison isn't apt at all. It's more like a tamer version of Eleanor Oliphant with some 90 day fiancé thrown in. 3.5 rounded up.
July 20, 2021
while i fell in love with the cover of Nobody, Somebody, Anybody, the story itself fell completely flat for me. i found Amy to be irritatingly blank and not nearly as dark or pessimistic as i had expected going in. i couldn’t connect with her or her thought processes, and the ending left me unsatisfied. i wanted more intense emotion or humor from the story and couldn’t find any benefit from it. unfortunately just a miss for me :(
thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC!
thank you to netgalley for providing me with an ARC!
July 12, 2021
Call it Otessa Moshfegh lite.
This is a fun dark comedy that delights in its outrageousness and reminds us how fascinating it can be to be inside a character’s head, provided that the subject is a worthy one.
Protagonist Amy’s head is indeed a wild, weird place that is equal parts charmingly enthralling and also that proverbial car crash that it’s hard to look away from.
The best of this book definitely reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, with shades of Rebecca Makkai and Fiona Mozley.
Amy’s wild path to self destruction is certainly hilarious, but also leaves the reader feeling a sad kind of sympathy for her while simultaneously muttering to oneself “I wouldn’t want to know her in real life, because….Yikes.” Amy is-in other words-a magnificently complex character who we are both fond of and slightly afraid of.
The book turns a bit too deadly serious in the end, a departure from the dark comedy that dominates most of the text and feels a bit tragic and sentimental in a story that should have been more subtle in its portrayal of those things. Plot wise I liked the ending, but the change in tone was an irritant and is the book’s lone flaw.
That said, having just that one shortcoming, it’s overall an excellent piece of writing, a fantastically drawn comedy, and absolutely an endorsement of McClorey as a writer.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
This is a fun dark comedy that delights in its outrageousness and reminds us how fascinating it can be to be inside a character’s head, provided that the subject is a worthy one.
Protagonist Amy’s head is indeed a wild, weird place that is equal parts charmingly enthralling and also that proverbial car crash that it’s hard to look away from.
The best of this book definitely reminds me of My Year of Rest and Relaxation, with shades of Rebecca Makkai and Fiona Mozley.
Amy’s wild path to self destruction is certainly hilarious, but also leaves the reader feeling a sad kind of sympathy for her while simultaneously muttering to oneself “I wouldn’t want to know her in real life, because….Yikes.” Amy is-in other words-a magnificently complex character who we are both fond of and slightly afraid of.
The book turns a bit too deadly serious in the end, a departure from the dark comedy that dominates most of the text and feels a bit tragic and sentimental in a story that should have been more subtle in its portrayal of those things. Plot wise I liked the ending, but the change in tone was an irritant and is the book’s lone flaw.
That said, having just that one shortcoming, it’s overall an excellent piece of writing, a fantastically drawn comedy, and absolutely an endorsement of McClorey as a writer.
*I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*
July 1, 2021
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐈’𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲.
Amy Harney gets “dizzy with inspiration” reading Florence Nightingale’s biography. She feeds on her quotes, because Amy wants to be an EMT. Her current work as a chambermaid is only a summer job but she is resolved to do her best taking everything she learns and applying it to her future career. What better training to deal with the horrors of medical emergencies than working in an industry that deals with the everyday filth of people’s lives? Nightingale believed in cleanliness and Amy takes her current job seriously, ‘baptizing toothbrushes in hydrogen peroxide’. The wealthy clientele expect the best, and she strives to give it. August 25th marks the date of the EMT exam, and her last chance to pass. Failure is okay when you’re still young. It’s perfectly fine living alone in her apartment, she has her book to study, just the company she needs!
A professor from her past was invested in the placebo effect, one that she decides will help her see her dream become a reality. Just like expecting a pill to take effect, expectation is the key! With this in mind, she concocts her own plan. But where does hope become self-delusion? Does telling people you are living your best life, that everything is falling into place, make it reality?
Amy’s days have been solitary for too long, still carrying grief from her mother’s death, she longs for connection and hates the empty apartment that waits for her at the end of each day. Her landlord Gary has a plan of his own to cure his loneliness, a Ukrainian fiancé, Irina. With the beauty poised to come to America, he needs to polish his skills, cooking in particular. Amy is just the person to test his culinary progress. Invited for dinners, she is ecstatic to finally have made a friend, of sorts. That she already knows more than she lets on about her landlord and his relationship is just the tip of the iceberg. She is crossing lines in every corner of her life, but what is at the core of her need to get closer to Gary? Is she getting comfortable too fast in their friendship? Why is she so weird? Lost and trying to be game, she encompasses the saying ‘fake it till you make it’ but what if that whole envisioning everything is as you wish it were doesn’t work? What if instead you come off as a misunderstood, lying fool? Why is everything so hard for some people and for others it seems so easy?
What are modern people to do when every trail has already been blazed and finding your own fire is impossible? In this day and age, you can’t always muster the energy it takes to feed your ambition if you don’t really believe in the successful self you’re trying to sell. It was a decent read as you can feel the frustration of failure and the madness of self-delusion but I wanted a different ending. We can’t all shoot for the stars and skip through life. If only! There is humor and cringe moments due to overstepping boundaries but from the start the reader learns Amy doesn’t make the best choices when she is up against a wall. This book is a long suffering sigh, if only life was as easy as make believe. Amy is no Florence Nightingale, but she tries.
Publication Date: July 6, 2021
Ecco
𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬, 𝐈’𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞. 𝐈’𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐧𝐲.
Amy Harney gets “dizzy with inspiration” reading Florence Nightingale’s biography. She feeds on her quotes, because Amy wants to be an EMT. Her current work as a chambermaid is only a summer job but she is resolved to do her best taking everything she learns and applying it to her future career. What better training to deal with the horrors of medical emergencies than working in an industry that deals with the everyday filth of people’s lives? Nightingale believed in cleanliness and Amy takes her current job seriously, ‘baptizing toothbrushes in hydrogen peroxide’. The wealthy clientele expect the best, and she strives to give it. August 25th marks the date of the EMT exam, and her last chance to pass. Failure is okay when you’re still young. It’s perfectly fine living alone in her apartment, she has her book to study, just the company she needs!
A professor from her past was invested in the placebo effect, one that she decides will help her see her dream become a reality. Just like expecting a pill to take effect, expectation is the key! With this in mind, she concocts her own plan. But where does hope become self-delusion? Does telling people you are living your best life, that everything is falling into place, make it reality?
Amy’s days have been solitary for too long, still carrying grief from her mother’s death, she longs for connection and hates the empty apartment that waits for her at the end of each day. Her landlord Gary has a plan of his own to cure his loneliness, a Ukrainian fiancé, Irina. With the beauty poised to come to America, he needs to polish his skills, cooking in particular. Amy is just the person to test his culinary progress. Invited for dinners, she is ecstatic to finally have made a friend, of sorts. That she already knows more than she lets on about her landlord and his relationship is just the tip of the iceberg. She is crossing lines in every corner of her life, but what is at the core of her need to get closer to Gary? Is she getting comfortable too fast in their friendship? Why is she so weird? Lost and trying to be game, she encompasses the saying ‘fake it till you make it’ but what if that whole envisioning everything is as you wish it were doesn’t work? What if instead you come off as a misunderstood, lying fool? Why is everything so hard for some people and for others it seems so easy?
What are modern people to do when every trail has already been blazed and finding your own fire is impossible? In this day and age, you can’t always muster the energy it takes to feed your ambition if you don’t really believe in the successful self you’re trying to sell. It was a decent read as you can feel the frustration of failure and the madness of self-delusion but I wanted a different ending. We can’t all shoot for the stars and skip through life. If only! There is humor and cringe moments due to overstepping boundaries but from the start the reader learns Amy doesn’t make the best choices when she is up against a wall. This book is a long suffering sigh, if only life was as easy as make believe. Amy is no Florence Nightingale, but she tries.
Publication Date: July 6, 2021
Ecco
May 31, 2021
This book was a blend of My Year of Rest and Relaxation and Convenience Store Woman, that is to say that it was great. Kelly McClorey created a bit of a monster in Amy Hanley, who is desperate to achieve her dream of being an EMT despite her apparent social awkwardness and on/off relationship with the truth. I really enjoyed inhabiting Amy’s life with her off kilter character and unique perspective on social and romantic relationships. If you like Moshfegh and Murata, or if you enjoy other books with unreliable narrators and darkly comic themes, then you will really love this. Thanks to the publisher for the free copy.
February 2, 2021
Reading this book was a bit like watching a car crash. Amy was a hot mess and there were many times that I struggled to get through this book, especially since I found it hard to find much to like about the main character. She had her occasional moments where she could come across charming and maybe even quirky, but that never seemed to match up with the character that we got to know, especially by delving so deep into her day to day thoughts.
I honestly found the people that she interacted with far more interesting and always looked forward to those moments, especially when she spent time with Gary. However, he ended up being pretty disappointing as well. The ending was also one that didn’t leave me feeling satisfied. I wish we could have gotten a bit more closure on her story and more of a resolution.
The description of this book also mentioned this book being “darkly comic” and “tender and laugh-out-loud funny” but I noticed very few of those things. I once laughed at a story her neighbor told but beyond that, it was more dark and depressing than anything else.
I honestly found the people that she interacted with far more interesting and always looked forward to those moments, especially when she spent time with Gary. However, he ended up being pretty disappointing as well. The ending was also one that didn’t leave me feeling satisfied. I wish we could have gotten a bit more closure on her story and more of a resolution.
The description of this book also mentioned this book being “darkly comic” and “tender and laugh-out-loud funny” but I noticed very few of those things. I once laughed at a story her neighbor told but beyond that, it was more dark and depressing than anything else.
April 1, 2022
i literally just could not finish this it put me in the biggest reading slump of all time. i am gonna finish it one day but today is just not that day and i need to move on with my life lmfao
August 6, 2021
Check out my blog here
In Nobody, Somebody, Anybody, we meet Amy Harney. Amy wants to be an EMT, but she's failed the exam twice. She only has one more shot. While she works at a resort during the summer, she decides to develop her own placebo experiment to help her conquer her test anxiety. The experiment requires that she go about her summer acting as though she has already earned her certification. What ensues is a raw look into how loneliness and desperation can wreck the best-laid plans.
While hopeful, ambitious, and earnest, Amy Harney was also quite delusional. While her emotional state is perfectly understandable considering the grief she's been experiencing for the last six years, the actions she takes throughout the book were jaw-droppingly atrocious at times. The pity that it seemed the author was trying to evoke was worn entirely too thin by the end of the novel. Amy thought very highly of herself, which I normally wouldn't have a problem with, but she had no redeeming qualities to back it up. She was extremely naive as well, which again, I would have been ok with excusing had she not been so critical of others. Her thoughts and behavior bordered on psychopathic, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing (I've read and loved books where the main character is a psychopath), it is when it's not mentioned in the synopsis. Which means it was unintentional. Had the author intended to write a novel about a struggling psychopathic millennial, I would have loved this book.
The one thing that I will commend this book for doing is tackling sadness, desperation, and loneliness amazingly. The feelings were palpable and realistic. It's what brought this book's rating up to 3 stars for me. The quiet despair that was always on the cusp of graduating into something more was very well written
**eARC provided by the publisher, Ecco, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
In Nobody, Somebody, Anybody, we meet Amy Harney. Amy wants to be an EMT, but she's failed the exam twice. She only has one more shot. While she works at a resort during the summer, she decides to develop her own placebo experiment to help her conquer her test anxiety. The experiment requires that she go about her summer acting as though she has already earned her certification. What ensues is a raw look into how loneliness and desperation can wreck the best-laid plans.
While hopeful, ambitious, and earnest, Amy Harney was also quite delusional. While her emotional state is perfectly understandable considering the grief she's been experiencing for the last six years, the actions she takes throughout the book were jaw-droppingly atrocious at times. The pity that it seemed the author was trying to evoke was worn entirely too thin by the end of the novel. Amy thought very highly of herself, which I normally wouldn't have a problem with, but she had no redeeming qualities to back it up. She was extremely naive as well, which again, I would have been ok with excusing had she not been so critical of others. Her thoughts and behavior bordered on psychopathic, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing (I've read and loved books where the main character is a psychopath), it is when it's not mentioned in the synopsis. Which means it was unintentional. Had the author intended to write a novel about a struggling psychopathic millennial, I would have loved this book.
The one thing that I will commend this book for doing is tackling sadness, desperation, and loneliness amazingly. The feelings were palpable and realistic. It's what brought this book's rating up to 3 stars for me. The quiet despair that was always on the cusp of graduating into something more was very well written
**eARC provided by the publisher, Ecco, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**
February 19, 2022
There are books that I hate giving a bad review, this is one of them. It's a book with good potential but I found it boring from start to finish and nothing happens in the story. I'm not sure if that was the author's intention but Amy who definitely suffers from mental illness, in the whole story never seeks help and we are left with a bitter taste that she will continue with her delusional life perhaps forever.
Overall, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody was not what I was looking for so, I will forget that I read this and continue with another book.
Thank you so much for Edelweiss and Ecco for this digital edition in exchange for an honest review.
Overall, Nobody, Somebody, Anybody was not what I was looking for so, I will forget that I read this and continue with another book.
Thank you so much for Edelweiss and Ecco for this digital edition in exchange for an honest review.
August 4, 2021
Meh. This seemed pointless, didn't add anything to the subgenre of mentally wack (and insightful and funny) young women. It was billed as darkly comic (my favourite) but I didn't find any humour. She seemed sane half the time and pretty despicable all the time. It was well enough written that I managed to read it all despite a recurring temptation to DNF.
June 27, 2022
i rarely read a book which is the definition of a three star. entertaining enough to finish, but i am exactly the same person after finishing it. also i don't get the point of... its existence really. wasn't bored though
May 12, 2021
This striking first novel is mesmerizing. The narrator is suffering from a profound loss, which the reader discovers slowly. The writing is beautiful. The story is heartbreaking and true. Brava.
October 3, 2021
DNF: I wish this book had been as interesting as the cover
March 8, 2022
Nobody, Somebody, Anybody is about a socially anxious young woman named Amy and the bizarre ways she moves through the grief process.
After reading this lovely debut Amy has weaseled her way into my heart as one of my favorite characters of all time.
In highschool, and really still to this day, I struggle with social anxiety and this is the first time I've related to a character in that aspect. I felt seen by Amy and her intense desire for friendship, and sane in comparison to her massive social errors. Her naivety and innocence endeared her to me.
I'm really sad this has such a low average rating and even sadder because so few have read it, but I'm glad that didn't deter me. I imagined the book as a mumblecore film starring Florence Pugh as another Amy and loved every second of it.
After reading this lovely debut Amy has weaseled her way into my heart as one of my favorite characters of all time.
In highschool, and really still to this day, I struggle with social anxiety and this is the first time I've related to a character in that aspect. I felt seen by Amy and her intense desire for friendship, and sane in comparison to her massive social errors. Her naivety and innocence endeared her to me.
I'm really sad this has such a low average rating and even sadder because so few have read it, but I'm glad that didn't deter me. I imagined the book as a mumblecore film starring Florence Pugh as another Amy and loved every second of it.
January 14, 2025
A deranged lonely woman goes to extreme lengths to create the life she thinks she deserves. She is delusional, manipulative, and crazy, but she also yearns for love, validation, and companionship.
This is def a character driven story. There is not much plot beyond these snippets of time surrounding this summer but I did enjoy this book. It wasn’t particularly moving but it was entertaining and provided a little food for thought. I never knew where the main character was headed next or what she might do, and I enjoyed that anticipation. All I knew was that she was going to do some whack shit and I was still surprised by her audacity lol.
This is def a character driven story. There is not much plot beyond these snippets of time surrounding this summer but I did enjoy this book. It wasn’t particularly moving but it was entertaining and provided a little food for thought. I never knew where the main character was headed next or what she might do, and I enjoyed that anticipation. All I knew was that she was going to do some whack shit and I was still surprised by her audacity lol.
Want to read
October 31, 2025If you put a classic painting on a literary fiction book I am probably going to read it (despite the low average rating)... i am so crazy!!!
July 31, 2023
sometimes all you need to pull you out of a reading slump is the umpteenth novel about a messy, lonely woman in her 20s and that's okay
June 9, 2021
The description of this book calls it "darkly comic". I didn't find it comic in any way. I found it very sad and tragic. The main character was so isolated and suffering from depression and self delusion. Her self hatred and shame were well written and I felt very sorry for her and wished she would get some mental health help. I was interested in seeing what would happen, but the ending was a bit of a letdown. Thanks to ecco/HarperCollins for an ARC of this book won through a Goodreads giveaway.
November 5, 2021
Oh dear. This was not my cup of tea. Billed as "tender and laugh-out-loud funny," I did not find it one bit humorous. The main character is plagued with such intense anxiety that she is largely non-functional, and the situations she gets herself into are simply mortifying and cringeworthy. The arc of the story moves slowly and steadily toward train wreck -- and at book's end the only light at the end of her particular tunnel is the reflection from yet one more delusion. A painful and disturbing read.
January 23, 2023
feels like ottesa moshfegh but less dark? in a good way. i enjoyed it sm and the ending was everything 🤞
Displaying 1 - 30 of 460 reviews