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True Love
One of today’s most provocative literary writers—the author of the critically acclaimed Sunshine State and the Los Angeles Times First Fiction Award finalist Binary Star—captures the confused state of modern romance and the egos that inflate it in a dark comedy about a woman's search for acceptance, identity, and financial security in the rise of Trump.
Nina is a struggling writer, a college drop-out, a liar, and a cheater. More than anything she wants love. She deserves it.
From the burned-out suburbs of Florida to the anonymous squalor of New York City, she eats through an incestuous cast of characters in search of it: her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule; Odessa, a single mom with even worse taste in men than Nina; Seth, an artist whose latest show comprises three Tupperware containers full of trash; Brian, whose roller-coaster affair with Nina is the most stable “relationship” in his life; and Aaron, an aspiring filmmaker living at home with his parents, with whom Nina begins to write her magnum opus.
Nina’s quest for fulfillment is at once darkly comedic, acerbically acute, and painfully human—a scathing critique of contemporary society, and a tender examination of our anguished yearning for connection in an era defined by detachment.
Nina is a struggling writer, a college drop-out, a liar, and a cheater. More than anything she wants love. She deserves it.
From the burned-out suburbs of Florida to the anonymous squalor of New York City, she eats through an incestuous cast of characters in search of it: her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule; Odessa, a single mom with even worse taste in men than Nina; Seth, an artist whose latest show comprises three Tupperware containers full of trash; Brian, whose roller-coaster affair with Nina is the most stable “relationship” in his life; and Aaron, an aspiring filmmaker living at home with his parents, with whom Nina begins to write her magnum opus.
Nina’s quest for fulfillment is at once darkly comedic, acerbically acute, and painfully human—a scathing critique of contemporary society, and a tender examination of our anguished yearning for connection in an era defined by detachment.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published July 7, 2020
47 people are currently reading
3368 people want to read
About the author
Sarah Gerard
20 books241 followersSarah Gerard is the author of the essay collection Sunshine State; the novel Binary Star, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times first fiction prize; and two chapbooks, most recently BFF. She teaches writing at Columbia University and for independent workshop series, including Catapult, Sackett Street, and Brooklyn Poets. Her short stories, essays, interviews, and criticism have appeared in The New York Times, Granta, The Baffler, Vice, BOMB Magazine, and other journals, as well as in anthologies. She writes a monthly column for Hazlitt and is currently at work on several books, including a novel about love and a nonfiction book about a murder.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 164 reviews
May 3, 2020
Irritating novel about irritating people. Every character in "True Love" was selfish, childish, and lacking good judgment. The writing was pretentious and over-the-top. The dialogue was laughable. It was so wooden and inane. The way mental illness was handled in this book made me cringe. It was very uncomfortable and insulting to read. Also, the subject matter of toxic/abusive relationships felt so glamorized and meaningless. The way everyone and every situation was written felt like shock value to me. No substance or sensitivity when it came to discussing important topics. Shallow is the perfect adjective to describe this train-wreck.
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins for the digital ARC.
Release date: July 7, 2020
Thank you, Netgalley and Harper Collins for the digital ARC.
Release date: July 7, 2020
September 1, 2020
I am not the target audience for this book. I didn't relate to Nina in any way. This book was vulgar at times, raunchy in others and she had no respect for the various men in her life. I didn't understand Nina, her various men, or why they put up with her.
Thank you HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
May 29, 2020
Nina is drifting through life, and choosing the worst men along the way. She becomes involved with Seth, an artist, who doesn't really do much, but also can't be bothered with her. Even if he asks her to come over, he may not answer the door when she arrives. Yet, this only heightens her ardor and when she moves to New York from Florida to attend an MFA program, Seth comes along because he wants to live in New York and she's willing to pack up his stuff, rent the moving van and make housing arrangements for them in New York. But in New York, Seth is incapable of holding a job, unwilling to do menial work, leaving Nina scrambling to support both of them. When Seth turns jealous and needy, Nina switches over to Aaron, with as much drama and conflict that she can wring out of the situation.
Nina is a lot to deal with. The friends she manages to keep are all messes themselves, as is her mother. There's a whole genre of novel of women destroying their own lives over terrible men, similar to the WMFuN,* but differing in that in these novels, selfless men don't leap out to help the women, nor is eventual forgiveness a given. But usually, and usually in most novels, there's character development, the protagonist is changed over the course of the novel, or seems like they would like to, at least. That doesn't happen here. Nina's path is a circular one, endlessly repeating the same behaviors, endlessly justifying them with the language she picked up in therapy. And since Nina's behavior is the same at the end of the book as it was at the beginning, the beginning and end are merely arbitrary. She'll switch men at some point, take advantage of different acquaintances and co-workers next time, find a new thing to be utterly irresponsible about.
Gerard can write well. And she can create scenes that are so vivid I would cringe. But the lack of an arc to this story left me feeling unmoored. What's the point of reading about a terrible person continuing to be terrible in the same way to different people? I do love an unlikeable narrator, but Nina's self pity and manipulations never led anywhere. Still, Gerard clearly has a great deal of promise as a novelist and I look forward to seeing how her writing develops.
*
Nina is a lot to deal with. The friends she manages to keep are all messes themselves, as is her mother. There's a whole genre of novel of women destroying their own lives over terrible men, similar to the WMFuN,* but differing in that in these novels, selfless men don't leap out to help the women, nor is eventual forgiveness a given. But usually, and usually in most novels, there's character development, the protagonist is changed over the course of the novel, or seems like they would like to, at least. That doesn't happen here. Nina's path is a circular one, endlessly repeating the same behaviors, endlessly justifying them with the language she picked up in therapy. And since Nina's behavior is the same at the end of the book as it was at the beginning, the beginning and end are merely arbitrary. She'll switch men at some point, take advantage of different acquaintances and co-workers next time, find a new thing to be utterly irresponsible about.
Gerard can write well. And she can create scenes that are so vivid I would cringe. But the lack of an arc to this story left me feeling unmoored. What's the point of reading about a terrible person continuing to be terrible in the same way to different people? I do love an unlikeable narrator, but Nina's self pity and manipulations never led anywhere. Still, Gerard clearly has a great deal of promise as a novelist and I look forward to seeing how her writing develops.
*
July 11, 2020
I thought I was gonna be glad I got to finish this book but I didn’t. I just felt mad because I literally couldn’t find a single reason why this story had to be told.
In the first place, I was confused by the style of writing; there were unannounced flashbacks and the lack of description and back story made it very difficult to connect with the entire book.
Secondly, Nina was extremely toxic, selfish and inmature, just like every single other character that appeared. Not to say, there wasn’t any evolution in any kind of aspect. It was like shitty decision past shitty decision.
If this was supposed to be a modern love story, I think it failed monumentally. Stop romanticizing violence and mental illnesses.
True Love was a no for me. I guess I wouldn’t recommend it either.
ps: this book should have a trigger warning.
In the first place, I was confused by the style of writing; there were unannounced flashbacks and the lack of description and back story made it very difficult to connect with the entire book.
Secondly, Nina was extremely toxic, selfish and inmature, just like every single other character that appeared. Not to say, there wasn’t any evolution in any kind of aspect. It was like shitty decision past shitty decision.
If this was supposed to be a modern love story, I think it failed monumentally. Stop romanticizing violence and mental illnesses.
True Love was a no for me. I guess I wouldn’t recommend it either.
ps: this book should have a trigger warning.
January 11, 2021
A lot of people, dull people, don’t love a nasty, razor-witted, twisted, wasted, lost and vicious young female narrator who uses glib mental illness and trashed sex to dominate a feckless outmatched husband, detests her closest friends and is a burden to and casualty of a divorced pair of parental gems. For everyone else, me for instance, Nina the college writer chick narrator of Sarah Gerard’s True Love is a festering twin-flame soul burning darkly with instant affection and lasting affinity.
June 11, 2020
I think I've lived this life before.
*
First, let's all take a moment to appreciate the beauty and sadness of that cover. Here, you really can judge a book by its cover, because that combination of art, satire, and melancholy is exactly what is delivered in Sarah Gerard's True Love.
*
This will likely be wrongly eviscerated, or at least under-appreciated, by the modern masses, who seem to only find validity in literary fiction that deals with disenfranchised people. Perhaps if the author's biography and ties to the LGBTQ community was highlighted or placed at the beginning of the novel, so that we're fully aware they have a deeper history of societal struggle than their character's, it might be considered more favorably, or at least given a chance at objectivity.
There's a certain authenticity that makes this book feel more memoir than fiction, which I quite like, as it resonated more deeply for me. Nina is exactly the kind of self-centered, self-destructive person who might spend long nights on the phone, complaining about her circumstances, while continuing the patterns, ignoring the advice of friends and her psychiatrist. She's difficult to love, but at the same time remains cognizant of the particular maze in which she has found herself/created for herself. She is a woman trapped not by an oppressive system, but rather paralyzed by the options and unable to really start living in a way that is satisfying and true to herself-- likely because she hasn't defined who she is or what she values, or figured out how to cope with the reality of herself.
True Love is a searing look at what it is to be a millennial woman in 2020, and the myriad struggles we face-- and, spoiler alert: it's bleak. Gerard demonstrates a deftness with words and an acerbic wit as she handles her characters, though rather than judging or sugarcoating them, she gives them the freedom to be dislikable and narcissistic.
*
First, let's all take a moment to appreciate the beauty and sadness of that cover. Here, you really can judge a book by its cover, because that combination of art, satire, and melancholy is exactly what is delivered in Sarah Gerard's True Love.
*
This will likely be wrongly eviscerated, or at least under-appreciated, by the modern masses, who seem to only find validity in literary fiction that deals with disenfranchised people. Perhaps if the author's biography and ties to the LGBTQ community was highlighted or placed at the beginning of the novel, so that we're fully aware they have a deeper history of societal struggle than their character's, it might be considered more favorably, or at least given a chance at objectivity.
There's a certain authenticity that makes this book feel more memoir than fiction, which I quite like, as it resonated more deeply for me. Nina is exactly the kind of self-centered, self-destructive person who might spend long nights on the phone, complaining about her circumstances, while continuing the patterns, ignoring the advice of friends and her psychiatrist. She's difficult to love, but at the same time remains cognizant of the particular maze in which she has found herself/created for herself. She is a woman trapped not by an oppressive system, but rather paralyzed by the options and unable to really start living in a way that is satisfying and true to herself-- likely because she hasn't defined who she is or what she values, or figured out how to cope with the reality of herself.
True Love is a searing look at what it is to be a millennial woman in 2020, and the myriad struggles we face-- and, spoiler alert: it's bleak. Gerard demonstrates a deftness with words and an acerbic wit as she handles her characters, though rather than judging or sugarcoating them, she gives them the freedom to be dislikable and narcissistic.
November 24, 2020
I see this in relation to Luster. Millennials trying to figure out their lives. It was fine but not great.
August 17, 2020
2.5 stars
Well, what I liked about this book is that it's really short and is very readable. And even though I hated ALL the characters, I had a great time hating a couple of them.
What I didn't like about this book was pretty much everything else. It's not something I normally would've chosen to read but the words "her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule" on the back of the galley were fascinating enough to neutralize the misgivings I had about it. My mistake! This is the fourth book I've read this year with a really fucked-up main character, and honestly I'm super tired of it! I realize that tons of people in the world make terrible decisions and do awful things and aren't obsessed with what's right and wrong, but oh my god, I caaaaaaaan't read about them anymore. I don't know these people! Or at least I don't think I do? I'm not asking for characters to be perfect, but I am asking that there be *something* there to make me give a shit about them.
Overall the book is pretty fine, like I didn't struggle through it at all, but I couldn't connect or relate to any part of it besides the part where Nina, the main character, works in a book store for minimum wage.
Idk, you just can't make your main character a white woman who is a cheater, a liar, a terrible friend, and a selfish narcissist who makes stupid decisions and ask my black ass to care about them. This book is so fucking weird too when it comes to talking about anything other than the main character's unnecessarily garage-y life. Like there's these random out-of-the-blue paragraphs every 50 pages mentioning Eric Garner and gentrification and shit and it's like???????? What the fuck? Where did that come from? What was the POINT of those passages? You could edit them out so easily and have them affect NOTHING because those are not things that affect Nina or that Nina cares about. It's just so jarring.
Idk man, Seth was the best part of this book. I wanted to slap this man upside the head so many times but at least his character was funny because he was clearly an exaggerated parody. I'm not sure WHAT Nina was supposed to be. "Deeply human" the back cover says, but all I felt while reading this book was cold. I think the author wrote the book she wanted to write, and it just wasn't for me. Not her fault.
Still, gotta give it props for not being boring or overly long.
Well, what I liked about this book is that it's really short and is very readable. And even though I hated ALL the characters, I had a great time hating a couple of them.
What I didn't like about this book was pretty much everything else. It's not something I normally would've chosen to read but the words "her mother, a narcissistic lesbian living in a nudist polycule" on the back of the galley were fascinating enough to neutralize the misgivings I had about it. My mistake! This is the fourth book I've read this year with a really fucked-up main character, and honestly I'm super tired of it! I realize that tons of people in the world make terrible decisions and do awful things and aren't obsessed with what's right and wrong, but oh my god, I caaaaaaaan't read about them anymore. I don't know these people! Or at least I don't think I do? I'm not asking for characters to be perfect, but I am asking that there be *something* there to make me give a shit about them.
Overall the book is pretty fine, like I didn't struggle through it at all, but I couldn't connect or relate to any part of it besides the part where Nina, the main character, works in a book store for minimum wage.
Idk, you just can't make your main character a white woman who is a cheater, a liar, a terrible friend, and a selfish narcissist who makes stupid decisions and ask my black ass to care about them. This book is so fucking weird too when it comes to talking about anything other than the main character's unnecessarily garage-y life. Like there's these random out-of-the-blue paragraphs every 50 pages mentioning Eric Garner and gentrification and shit and it's like???????? What the fuck? Where did that come from? What was the POINT of those passages? You could edit them out so easily and have them affect NOTHING because those are not things that affect Nina or that Nina cares about. It's just so jarring.
Idk man, Seth was the best part of this book. I wanted to slap this man upside the head so many times but at least his character was funny because he was clearly an exaggerated parody. I'm not sure WHAT Nina was supposed to be. "Deeply human" the back cover says, but all I felt while reading this book was cold. I think the author wrote the book she wanted to write, and it just wasn't for me. Not her fault.
Still, gotta give it props for not being boring or overly long.
September 8, 2020
TRUE LOVE, the latest novel by Sarah Gerard, is a tough pill to swallow. It unfortunately doesn't bring anything new to the table in the "sad girl in Brooklyn" literary tradition, though I did find the book hard to put down. Gerard's writing is singular and special, and that is the gem of this novel, but the story left much to be desired. Nina, our heroine, is complicated and crass; an unlikable writer who has too many abusive relationships with men to count. She bounces between her hometown in Florida and her college and life in Brooklyn as we watch her battle mental illness, poverty, accepting herself as an artist, and a destructive marriage. It is not a fun read, and it's not anything groundbreaking, but Gerard's writing shines.
August 24, 2021
By the end I really hated this book. I returned it to the library long enough ago that most of my gripes have slipped away. Basically, the protagonist is a lying, cheating, detestable dirtbag and the grit of Gerard's plots have never appealed to me. A fool to think that this story may have been about true love.
I also remember being constantly confused about basic white boy character names. They're introduced without introduction - like we've already met them but in fact have no back story at all. The psychic distance is close, and then the reader discovers more and more that the protagonist is an unreliable narrator in her story of domestic abuse. I felt gross and sticky reading that because we don't know the true story. The characters don't either. 2 stars.
I also remember being constantly confused about basic white boy character names. They're introduced without introduction - like we've already met them but in fact have no back story at all. The psychic distance is close, and then the reader discovers more and more that the protagonist is an unreliable narrator in her story of domestic abuse. I felt gross and sticky reading that because we don't know the true story. The characters don't either. 2 stars.
March 25, 2021
true love is a nasty and combative novel about the ways that we treat people and the ways we allow others to treat us and the ways that we treat ourselves while trying to make sense of all the direct and collateral damage that emerges because of all of those things. the narrator nina is selfish and if not malicious completely indifferent to the harm of others, she's a liar but all of these things are endemic to the novel, where everyone suffers from deep character flaws kind of the way we all do in life, tho maybe our flaws aren't these specific flaws and so we find ourselves less forgiving of these characters. but then why should we forgive ourselves?
August 25, 2021
not for everyone, but if you love those stories about people finding their place in the world and learning they’re worth love, go for it.
April 23, 2025
9/10.
Great ragebait, I guess this is why it's so hated.
The main issue is the fact that it wasn't strung together properly in the beginning.
Other than that, it feels very natural in its absurdism.
Great ragebait, I guess this is why it's so hated.
The main issue is the fact that it wasn't strung together properly in the beginning.
Other than that, it feels very natural in its absurdism.
June 10, 2022
May we all just self destruct
July 20, 2020
Similar feelings as Topics of Conversation.
It was like listening to someone (not a friend) tell you every detail of their (mostly) self-inflicted relationship problems to look for sympathy that I just cannot even feign.
At first you're like "oh hun you're a mess." and by the end its like "ok I don't trust anything you say and tbh I care even less than before you started telling me."
It was like listening to someone (not a friend) tell you every detail of their (mostly) self-inflicted relationship problems to look for sympathy that I just cannot even feign.
At first you're like "oh hun you're a mess." and by the end its like "ok I don't trust anything you say and tbh I care even less than before you started telling me."
August 2, 2020
Like a car crash you can’t look away from.
March 3, 2025
An absolute train wreck you can’t look away from.
August 1, 2024
I read this in hopes that it would be part of my "weird girls doing weird things" genre which I ADORE, but it was not that. Nina is not weird; she just sucks. And she sucks in a way that isn't fun, because honestly having characters who are not likable is definitely not a deal breaker for me. She just wasn't compelling or interesting. She's one-dimensional, and that dimension is being a cheater, which is not a cute look.
Everything about this book just felt pointless. I genuinely constantly would read something and think to myself "why was this included? what is the point of all this?" for example, Nina's mom is a lesbian in an unhappy polycule I guess, but that didn't make her mom any more interesting as a character. Her mom's role was to add an element of trauma to Nina's life, I guess, and make Nina more into a victim because she's from a broken home. But otherwise, it just seems like making her mom a polyamorous lesbian was only so that in the blurb on the inner dust jacket would seem more edgy and cool.
All the men in this book SUCKKKKK. They are truly the worst men you could think of. Seth, the narcissistic artist who uses his "sensitivity" as a manipulation weapon. Brian, the shmancy businessman who *POTENTIAL SPOILER UP NEXT* sleeps with underage girls and secretly records and then posts videos of him having sex with girls. Aaron, the loner writer who relies on his parents to pay for everything because if he gets a job that would infringe on his time to write. Out of all of these, I truly did not understand the inclusion of Brian at all. He kept coming back, too, and it never furthered the plot; it merely took us on a little side quest and I guess reminded us that Nina is incapable of not cheating.
Also this book suffers from the classic "making a character work in a bookshop and acting like that's a dream job." Working in a bookstore is full of gross, annoying incidences; it's definitely not a cure for mental illness like books always make it out to be.
This book just...... ended. I am truly so confused by the ending because nothing was concluded or brought to a climax. it was just the same thing as the rest of the book and then there just.... wan't another chapter. Seriously, what was that ending? It's like the author also just got tired about writing about these boring, insufferable people and decided to not write another chapter.
It was an easy, quick read, but I know I will instantly forget it since nothing happened and it didn't make me feel any particular way except maybe exasperated.
Everything about this book just felt pointless. I genuinely constantly would read something and think to myself "why was this included? what is the point of all this?" for example, Nina's mom is a lesbian in an unhappy polycule I guess, but that didn't make her mom any more interesting as a character. Her mom's role was to add an element of trauma to Nina's life, I guess, and make Nina more into a victim because she's from a broken home. But otherwise, it just seems like making her mom a polyamorous lesbian was only so that in the blurb on the inner dust jacket would seem more edgy and cool.
All the men in this book SUCKKKKK. They are truly the worst men you could think of. Seth, the narcissistic artist who uses his "sensitivity" as a manipulation weapon. Brian, the shmancy businessman who *POTENTIAL SPOILER UP NEXT* sleeps with underage girls and secretly records and then posts videos of him having sex with girls. Aaron, the loner writer who relies on his parents to pay for everything because if he gets a job that would infringe on his time to write. Out of all of these, I truly did not understand the inclusion of Brian at all. He kept coming back, too, and it never furthered the plot; it merely took us on a little side quest and I guess reminded us that Nina is incapable of not cheating.
Also this book suffers from the classic "making a character work in a bookshop and acting like that's a dream job." Working in a bookstore is full of gross, annoying incidences; it's definitely not a cure for mental illness like books always make it out to be.
This book just...... ended. I am truly so confused by the ending because nothing was concluded or brought to a climax. it was just the same thing as the rest of the book and then there just.... wan't another chapter. Seriously, what was that ending? It's like the author also just got tired about writing about these boring, insufferable people and decided to not write another chapter.
It was an easy, quick read, but I know I will instantly forget it since nothing happened and it didn't make me feel any particular way except maybe exasperated.
July 3, 2021
Nina is an addict who was never really an addict, simply looking for whatever would numb her out and feel the empty space inside of her. The child of divorced parents, Nina doesn’t have singular events that she can point too as a root cause of her trauma but instead, seems to be representative of Borderline Personality Disorder: desperate for connection, Nina will go to any lengths to maintain distance from the people with in her life, yet craves intimacy. It’s 2015 and Nina attempts a move to New York City to gain a MFA in creative writing, while juggling love affairs. As Nina searches for meaning amongst her life of bad decisions, she is relentless in her pursuit of what makes her happy, despite the cost to other people. You know, it’s pretty rare that I talk about the state of the world today. But you know what? This book is exactly what is wrong with the world today. Underpaid, cry-baby millennials and generation Z who whine about things that don’t matter, because they don’t really want to work or actually do anything with their lives, yet expect everything to be handed to them on a silver plate. Nina was horrendous. I’ve never wanted to fight a character so bad in my life-like a genuine, all-out fist fight. These people are so over-privileged, to the point where I just want to burn it all down. Apparently I’m too moderate to appreciate this book. I disagree with a LOT of things that are mentioned in this book and Nina is, without a doubt, a Terrible Person. This book is a joke. I hate to sound like a Boomer but come ON people, it’s called learning self-reliance. Also I hate people who lie about being addicts. Seriously, fuck you and fuck this book.
October 13, 2023
Tragic and destructive point of views from women are becoming their own subgenre of postpostpostpost modern gothic and it is beautiful; to recognize that Nina cutting herself to end an argument and being grotesquely “unladylike” is symbolic of a turning of the tides in literature about women is necessary. If it makes us uncomfortable maybe we need to examine our deepest thoughts and reservations about what a woman “should be.” Reminded me of rest and relaxation and directs readers’ eyes to the exhaustion of being a woman which leads to erratic action.
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July 10, 2020I know Sarah, so I can't write an un-biased review, but I will say that I couldn't put this down! Congrats, Sarah :)
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September 17, 2020Please check in with me before reading this book.
August 9, 2022
Train wreck that I couldn’t look away from
August 2, 2020
4 stars! This was one novel that had some really messed up characters, but I really liked it overall! It was kinda fun, using that word loosely, peeking in on these characters lives. Their lives are full of heartache, feeling powerful, yet powerless at the same time. I never wanted to comfort, nor yell at a cast of characters so much! If you are into fringe drama, without having to slog through hundreds and hundreds of pages to get to the meat of the story, then pick this one up!
April 24, 2024
Moral of the story: if you lie with dogs, you'll get fleas ... literally. Everyone in this novel was unbearable.
June 29, 2025
A real dud. But I needed some trash to break up some heavy reading so I kinda loved it?
May 19, 2020
This is definitely not a feel good read... a book that chronicles a broken story on broken people. I am giving 3 stars for the strong narrative and extreme dark humor and for calling out everything that people do or say to keep doomed relationships alive. But found Nina’s character so intense and with little development to be overwhelming to the overall plot. Maybe the author was trying to be realistic? Not all stories are happy endings. But yikes. This one definitely isn’t and felt to be going in circles.
July 6, 2020
I got such a melancholic vibe from this novel because of the imperfections of each character. The flaws and insecurities that define these characters were realistic and well written. Sarah Gerard’s writing sort of reminded me of Sally Rooney’s writing but it needed more depth. I hated the characters in this book but felt sorry for them at the same time. They were all so vulnerable and miserable in their lives. The main protagonist’s dream of being a writer kept getting sidetracked because of all the pessimistic influences of the people in her life. I didn’t love this book and I didn’t hate it. However, the main protagonist did make me feel extremely angry at times. It was a very short book with a lot of sad and messed up characters. Would I read another book by Sarah Gerard? Yeah probably. Her writing has a way of pulling you into the story no matter how dark it may be.
November 15, 2021
You definitely will hate the characters, the summary doesn’t lie. Where I feel bad for the protagonist is categorized and sympathy rather than empathy. She knows what we’d destructive behaviors she possesses and sees how to fix them, yet she doesn’t. I can understand that. However, Nina is a white woman and what she chooses— yes chooses— to wallow over is so frustrating and I’m relatable at times. Her nonchalant ness toward matters of
police brutality and her selective indignant-ness during the 2016 election about problems that she is immune to (racism). I loved the way the book was written, but the humor that the reviews spoke of was lost on me. I liked to think Nina was quick, but now in a way I would describe as witty or funny. Despite my dislike for Nina’s choices and her character, I couldn’t help but root for her.
The characters were immature and selfish; however, they were so in a way that I can see in people in real life. Her response to abuse, the struggles with Nina’s friendships and relationships, her abandonment of self in life… they all make sense given how the author describes her childhood and past. However, Nina isn’t a reliable narrator, she’s a cheater, a pathological liar, and someone who choses to stay where she is because changing is too hard. So it makes sense that she surrounds herself with these narcissistic, abusives, horrible people because she doesn’t want to be around better people that encourage and make her want to change. I think reviews that criticize the maturity of the characters are unfair because we knew from the summary that this was the case. I think expecting relatability from every character and author is unfair, but I think these characters, specifically Nina, are relatable in some sense. I really enjoyed this read: the prose was easy, the protagonist unlikeable, the supporting characters worse, and her story upsetting. Don’t wait for her triumph because it won’t arrive.
police brutality and her selective indignant-ness during the 2016 election about problems that she is immune to (racism). I loved the way the book was written, but the humor that the reviews spoke of was lost on me. I liked to think Nina was quick, but now in a way I would describe as witty or funny. Despite my dislike for Nina’s choices and her character, I couldn’t help but root for her.
The characters were immature and selfish; however, they were so in a way that I can see in people in real life. Her response to abuse, the struggles with Nina’s friendships and relationships, her abandonment of self in life… they all make sense given how the author describes her childhood and past. However, Nina isn’t a reliable narrator, she’s a cheater, a pathological liar, and someone who choses to stay where she is because changing is too hard. So it makes sense that she surrounds herself with these narcissistic, abusives, horrible people because she doesn’t want to be around better people that encourage and make her want to change. I think reviews that criticize the maturity of the characters are unfair because we knew from the summary that this was the case. I think expecting relatability from every character and author is unfair, but I think these characters, specifically Nina, are relatable in some sense. I really enjoyed this read: the prose was easy, the protagonist unlikeable, the supporting characters worse, and her story upsetting. Don’t wait for her triumph because it won’t arrive.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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