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Mona at Sea
In this sharp, witty debut, Elizabeth Gonzalez James introduces us to Mona Mireles—observant to a fault, unflinching in her opinions, and uncompromisingly confident in her professional abilities. Mona is a Millennial perfectionist who fails upwards in the midst of the 2008 economic crisis.
Despite her potential, and her top- of-her-class college degree, Mona finds herself unemployed, living with her parents, and adrift in life and love. Mona’s the sort who says exactly the right thing at absolutely the wrong moments, seeing the world through a cynic’s eyes. In the financial and social malaise of the early 2000s, Mona walks a knife’s edge as she faces down unemployment, underemployment, the complexities of adult relationships, and the downward spiral of her parents’ shattering marriage. The more Mona craves perfection and order, the more she is forced to see that it is never attainable. Mona’s journey asks the question: When we find what gives our life meaning, will we be ready for it?
Despite her potential, and her top- of-her-class college degree, Mona finds herself unemployed, living with her parents, and adrift in life and love. Mona’s the sort who says exactly the right thing at absolutely the wrong moments, seeing the world through a cynic’s eyes. In the financial and social malaise of the early 2000s, Mona walks a knife’s edge as she faces down unemployment, underemployment, the complexities of adult relationships, and the downward spiral of her parents’ shattering marriage. The more Mona craves perfection and order, the more she is forced to see that it is never attainable. Mona’s journey asks the question: When we find what gives our life meaning, will we be ready for it?
272 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 30, 2021
57 people are currently reading
2760 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Gonzalez James
6 books510 followersElizabeth is the author of MONA AT SEA, FIVE CONVERSATIONS ABOUT PETER SELLERS, and THE BULLET SWALLOWER. Originally from South Texas, Elizabeth currently lives with her family in Massachusetts.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
April 26, 2021
I mean...I think it's pretty good
May 26, 2024
Corny in the same way a greasy boyfriend touching self harm scars saying “Will you stop? For me? 🥺”is
September 3, 2021
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2 ½ stars (rounded up as this is a debut)
heads up: in this review i will be discussing self-harm
Described as being a ‘sharp’ and ‘witty’ debut Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s Mona At Sea is neither of those things. The novel tells yet another tale about an alienated millennial woman having a quarter midlife crisis. While Mona At Sea is far from terrible it is a novel that is clearly riding the coattails of its betters (to name a few that i liked: My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Luster, Pizza Girl, Severance, You Exist Too Much, Pretend I'm Dead, books by Caroline O'Donoghue; to name a few i did not like all that much: Milk Fed, Exciting Times, Hysteria, The New Me, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Three Rooms, and Nobody, Somebody, Anybody). Not only does almost everything about Mona At Sea read like a poor imitation of these novels—from its trying but failing to be sardonic tone to its ironic characterisation (we have the ‘dudebro’, the rich friend with body image problems, the leery 'this is a boys' club' businessmen) and, the pièce de résistance, its self-sabotaging main character—and doesn’t bring anything new to this ‘alienated women’ subgenre.
Set in 2008 the story is narrated by Mona Mireles, a twenty-three-year-old who majored in finance at the University of Arizona. After the job she was promised at an investment bank in New York falls through due to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Mona, a high-achiever who has dedicated herself to her studies and future career, is unemployed and struggling to keep afloat. She sends hundreds of applications but is unwilling to look for jobs outside the finance sector as she is unwilling to compromise.
What follows is a rather typical narrative in which Mona engages in self-destructive and antisocial behaviour, pushing those close to her away, until she eventually finds herself lowering her ‘expectations’ and getting a job at a telemarketing business and re-assessing why she’s so set on getting into finance.
We don’t learn much about her relationship with her parents, other than her mother seems to have always pressured her into aiming high while her father has encouraged her to take time to ‘find herself' and pursue something that she actually likes. The two are having marriage problems but these are broached superficially, partly due to Mona’s solipsism, which leads her to ignore those around her, and partly because the narrative just doesn’t seem all that intent on giving depth to those two characters, let alone their marriage.
Her younger brother is a typical dudebro who is far more likeable than Mona herself. The men Mona begins frequenting are similar shades of dickish. Mona’s relationship with her best friend seemed a poor imitation of the toxic one from My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
A clip starring Mona goes viral and she's occasionally approached because of it (she's nicknamed 'Sad Millennial' as she was crying during this interview which occurred after she discovered that she would not be getting her 'dream' job after all).
As Mona struggles to make it through each day, she engages in self-harm. Here the novel became off-putting, especially in its sensationalist approach to this subject matter. Fyi, not that it should bear any weight on the ‘validity’ of my opinion on this (after all, this is my own personal opinion, others readers will undoubtedly feel differently and all that jazz), I used to self-harm throughout most of my teens. Mona’s self-harming is portrayed as being ‘different’, ‘artistic’ even as the scars she’s inflicting on her thigh depict Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (and yes, her second name happens to be lisa). Now, I know that there are those who carve words & probably images on themselves however here Mona’s self-harming is elevated into being an artistic expression, she who for so long had focused on engaging and pursuing those kinds of activities that will enhance her career prospects, is creative after all! Wow! Amazing. And (minor spoilers i guess), the guy she dates later in the novel (a douchebag to be honest) takes photos of her ‘Mona Lisa’, telling her the usual patronising bullshit on the lines of ‘your scars are beautiful’ and ‘they show you are survivor’ and pressures her into accepting his request to showcase these photos. When she refuses she also snaps at him for other reasons and is shown to be the unreasonable one (there she is blaming him for her parents’ troubles or her own insecurity or her not so great career prospects). In the end, guess what? She gives in! And it all works in her favor! The guy was right after all. Puah-lease. And I hated that Mona’s self-harming is portrayed as being ‘different’, Not Like Other Self-Harmers. I came across an interview with the author where she said that she had no sensitivity readers (quelle surprise) but she did a lot of research on the topic of self-harming and that anyway Mona’s self-harming is atypical. First, I’m afraid I will dislike anyone who shows too much fascination with something like self-harming. It makes me feel like a subject, a rat lab. Second, why, why, why does her self-harming need to be so on the nose? She’s called Mona Lisa and here she is carving Mona Lisa into her thigh. Like, wtf?
The narrative tries to go for this caustic tone, but I found it painfully unfunny and not particularly amusing. Its satire has no bite, its social commentary was not particularly insightful, and its depiction of unemployment, depression, self-harm were shallow indeed.
But the worst offender in this novel is Mona herself. I usually end up loving or rooting for supposedly unlikable characters (they can be vain & cruel like Emma Bovary, or assholes like Ronan Lynch, or fucked up like Moshfegh's narrator) but Mona was just so annoying. She’s a perfectionist, we get it. She’s been ‘made’ that way, it isn’t entirely her fault. Her mother and her teachers and professors have had a hand in making her so career and goal obsessed. To have a successful and prestigious career is to be happy...right? Except that things don’t go as per plan for Mona and she feels understandably lost...and yet, even bearing this in mind, I still found her insufferable. She wasn’t funny, or clever, or sympathetic. For most of the narrative she’s self-centred, ungrateful, and just painfully annoying. And yes, she does ‘grow’ (supposedly) but even so I did not feel invested in her arc. People call her out on her shit and she learns to be a better person. And could I bring myself to care? No. I did not. Part of me thinks that she had it easy all things considered (especially if we consider that she got to age 22/23 without having to work so that she could fully dedicate herself to her studies...).
Maybe if you haven’t read any of the novels I mentioned above and you are not particularly bothered by how a story handles self-harming you might find this a more rewarding read than I did.
2 ½ stars (rounded up as this is a debut)
heads up: in this review i will be discussing self-harm
Described as being a ‘sharp’ and ‘witty’ debut Elizabeth Gonzalez James’s Mona At Sea is neither of those things. The novel tells yet another tale about an alienated millennial woman having a quarter midlife crisis. While Mona At Sea is far from terrible it is a novel that is clearly riding the coattails of its betters (to name a few that i liked: My Year of Rest and Relaxation, Luster, Pizza Girl, Severance, You Exist Too Much, Pretend I'm Dead, books by Caroline O'Donoghue; to name a few i did not like all that much: Milk Fed, Exciting Times, Hysteria, The New Me, Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead, Three Rooms, and Nobody, Somebody, Anybody). Not only does almost everything about Mona At Sea read like a poor imitation of these novels—from its trying but failing to be sardonic tone to its ironic characterisation (we have the ‘dudebro’, the rich friend with body image problems, the leery 'this is a boys' club' businessmen) and, the pièce de résistance, its self-sabotaging main character—and doesn’t bring anything new to this ‘alienated women’ subgenre.
Set in 2008 the story is narrated by Mona Mireles, a twenty-three-year-old who majored in finance at the University of Arizona. After the job she was promised at an investment bank in New York falls through due to the financial crisis of 2007-2008, Mona, a high-achiever who has dedicated herself to her studies and future career, is unemployed and struggling to keep afloat. She sends hundreds of applications but is unwilling to look for jobs outside the finance sector as she is unwilling to compromise.
What follows is a rather typical narrative in which Mona engages in self-destructive and antisocial behaviour, pushing those close to her away, until she eventually finds herself lowering her ‘expectations’ and getting a job at a telemarketing business and re-assessing why she’s so set on getting into finance.
We don’t learn much about her relationship with her parents, other than her mother seems to have always pressured her into aiming high while her father has encouraged her to take time to ‘find herself' and pursue something that she actually likes. The two are having marriage problems but these are broached superficially, partly due to Mona’s solipsism, which leads her to ignore those around her, and partly because the narrative just doesn’t seem all that intent on giving depth to those two characters, let alone their marriage.
Her younger brother is a typical dudebro who is far more likeable than Mona herself. The men Mona begins frequenting are similar shades of dickish. Mona’s relationship with her best friend seemed a poor imitation of the toxic one from My Year of Rest and Relaxation.
A clip starring Mona goes viral and she's occasionally approached because of it (she's nicknamed 'Sad Millennial' as she was crying during this interview which occurred after she discovered that she would not be getting her 'dream' job after all).
As Mona struggles to make it through each day, she engages in self-harm. Here the novel became off-putting, especially in its sensationalist approach to this subject matter. Fyi, not that it should bear any weight on the ‘validity’ of my opinion on this (after all, this is my own personal opinion, others readers will undoubtedly feel differently and all that jazz), I used to self-harm throughout most of my teens. Mona’s self-harming is portrayed as being ‘different’, ‘artistic’ even as the scars she’s inflicting on her thigh depict Leonardo’s Mona Lisa (and yes, her second name happens to be lisa). Now, I know that there are those who carve words & probably images on themselves however here Mona’s self-harming is elevated into being an artistic expression, she who for so long had focused on engaging and pursuing those kinds of activities that will enhance her career prospects, is creative after all! Wow! Amazing. And (minor spoilers i guess), the guy she dates later in the novel (a douchebag to be honest) takes photos of her ‘Mona Lisa’, telling her the usual patronising bullshit on the lines of ‘your scars are beautiful’ and ‘they show you are survivor’ and pressures her into accepting his request to showcase these photos. When she refuses she also snaps at him for other reasons and is shown to be the unreasonable one (there she is blaming him for her parents’ troubles or her own insecurity or her not so great career prospects). In the end, guess what? She gives in! And it all works in her favor! The guy was right after all. Puah-lease. And I hated that Mona’s self-harming is portrayed as being ‘different’, Not Like Other Self-Harmers. I came across an interview with the author where she said that she had no sensitivity readers (quelle surprise) but she did a lot of research on the topic of self-harming and that anyway Mona’s self-harming is atypical. First, I’m afraid I will dislike anyone who shows too much fascination with something like self-harming. It makes me feel like a subject, a rat lab. Second, why, why, why does her self-harming need to be so on the nose? She’s called Mona Lisa and here she is carving Mona Lisa into her thigh. Like, wtf?
The narrative tries to go for this caustic tone, but I found it painfully unfunny and not particularly amusing. Its satire has no bite, its social commentary was not particularly insightful, and its depiction of unemployment, depression, self-harm were shallow indeed.
But the worst offender in this novel is Mona herself. I usually end up loving or rooting for supposedly unlikable characters (they can be vain & cruel like Emma Bovary, or assholes like Ronan Lynch, or fucked up like Moshfegh's narrator) but Mona was just so annoying. She’s a perfectionist, we get it. She’s been ‘made’ that way, it isn’t entirely her fault. Her mother and her teachers and professors have had a hand in making her so career and goal obsessed. To have a successful and prestigious career is to be happy...right? Except that things don’t go as per plan for Mona and she feels understandably lost...and yet, even bearing this in mind, I still found her insufferable. She wasn’t funny, or clever, or sympathetic. For most of the narrative she’s self-centred, ungrateful, and just painfully annoying. And yes, she does ‘grow’ (supposedly) but even so I did not feel invested in her arc. People call her out on her shit and she learns to be a better person. And could I bring myself to care? No. I did not. Part of me thinks that she had it easy all things considered (especially if we consider that she got to age 22/23 without having to work so that she could fully dedicate herself to her studies...).
Maybe if you haven’t read any of the novels I mentioned above and you are not particularly bothered by how a story handles self-harming you might find this a more rewarding read than I did.
August 28, 2021
Mona at Sea
is a funny and sometimes poignant story about a young woman who needs to find a new direction in life.
“I’m unemployed, I’ve never had a boyfriend, I live with my parents in the most boring town on the planet, and I hate myself. I sing myself to sleep with these facts every night.”
Mona worked hard in college. She was valedictorian, she made all the right choices and connections, and landed her dream job at a prestigious bank. But in the financial crisis of 2008, nothing works out as planned, and her job is over before it begins when the bank has to be bailed out.
Left with no other choice, she goes home to live with her parents and lick her wounds. It isn’t easy—she’s realizing her parents don’t like each other much (if at all), and she has to deal with finding a job, any job, just to get by.
How do you reconcile things when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would? How do you consider a relationship if you’re dissatisfied with yourself and your life?
I definitely identified with some of this book because when I graduated from college there was another financial crisis (not the Great Depression, thank you) and jobs weren’t around either. Recalibration was definitely necessary.
I thought Mona at Sea was a funny and thought-provoking book. I wasn’t immediately wild about Mona but I liked the arc her character took.
Thanks to BookSparks and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review, as part of #SRC2021!
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/.
“I’m unemployed, I’ve never had a boyfriend, I live with my parents in the most boring town on the planet, and I hate myself. I sing myself to sleep with these facts every night.”
Mona worked hard in college. She was valedictorian, she made all the right choices and connections, and landed her dream job at a prestigious bank. But in the financial crisis of 2008, nothing works out as planned, and her job is over before it begins when the bank has to be bailed out.
Left with no other choice, she goes home to live with her parents and lick her wounds. It isn’t easy—she’s realizing her parents don’t like each other much (if at all), and she has to deal with finding a job, any job, just to get by.
How do you reconcile things when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would? How do you consider a relationship if you’re dissatisfied with yourself and your life?
I definitely identified with some of this book because when I graduated from college there was another financial crisis (not the Great Depression, thank you) and jobs weren’t around either. Recalibration was definitely necessary.
I thought Mona at Sea was a funny and thought-provoking book. I wasn’t immediately wild about Mona but I liked the arc her character took.
Thanks to BookSparks and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review, as part of #SRC2021!
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/.
Read
July 23, 2021I'm going to leave the star rating off for now to give myself more time to examine my thoughts on this book. I do want to warn readers who are triggered by cutting that this is described in detail several times, so if Sharp Objects wasn't for you, this would probably be one to steer clear of. If you like books about dysfunctional families and characters endeavoring to find their place in the world, these are strong themes of Mona at Sea. I had a hard time connecting with or rooting for any of the characters. They all seemed extremely self-absorbed, and while I think that's intentional on the author's part, and she's a very skilled wordsmith, my feelings remained neutral from beginning to end.
June 30, 2021
Mona Mireles AKA “Sad Millennial” has a college degree, straight A’s and numerous awards. She majored in Finance and has had her dream job all lined up in NYC. Then, the economic crisis happens and her job is gone before it even begins.
Now, eight months later and hundreds of resumes sent, Mona still doesn’t have a job and is living with her parents whose marriage is falling apart. She’s stuck in this idealized vision of what her life should be like and what her perfect job should be and she just can’t get past it. She self-sabotages herself with her friends and family and self-harms her body.
It took me awhile for Mona to grow on me. I didn’t really like her or her attitude in the beginning the book. Her own attitude was her problem. I loved it when she was told that “The world doesn’t owe you anything.” It was nice to see some growth from her throughout the book.
Thank you to Booksparks and the author for my gifted copy as part of the #SRC2021.
Now, eight months later and hundreds of resumes sent, Mona still doesn’t have a job and is living with her parents whose marriage is falling apart. She’s stuck in this idealized vision of what her life should be like and what her perfect job should be and she just can’t get past it. She self-sabotages herself with her friends and family and self-harms her body.
It took me awhile for Mona to grow on me. I didn’t really like her or her attitude in the beginning the book. Her own attitude was her problem. I loved it when she was told that “The world doesn’t owe you anything.” It was nice to see some growth from her throughout the book.
Thank you to Booksparks and the author for my gifted copy as part of the #SRC2021.
August 24, 2021
I need to sleep on this review.
Some of this book worked for me but other parts did not.
Thank you so much to Libro FM, Dreamscape Media LLC and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for an ALC Copy in exchange for my honest review.
Some of this book worked for me but other parts did not.
Thank you so much to Libro FM, Dreamscape Media LLC and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for an ALC Copy in exchange for my honest review.
July 5, 2021
Okay, first off I'm just going to say, this book should come with a trigger warning for cutting. Using cutesy knife word play in the description is not cool. Having read the book all the way through I will say that given the author's treatment of cutting in the story, the cutesy word play does not surprise me. This book is not written like it comes from personal experience with cutting, but rather from a morbid fascination with the disorder.
Secondly, this book is not "sharp and witty", nor is it "darkly humorous". I laughed out loud twice and the rest of the time I was straight up bored. Mona is sadly the least interesting and least likeable character in the book. The scenes where she was with her job search support group were the most interesting parts and they were few and far between.
I was going to give this book a 3 star rating, which for me means readable but not recommendable, but the lack of trigger warnings and the way cutting was used in the story bumped it down to a 2. The character of Mona needs some serious therapy and suggesting that she could cure herself without it using just the power of love and art is ridiculous.
A Netgalley ARC
Secondly, this book is not "sharp and witty", nor is it "darkly humorous". I laughed out loud twice and the rest of the time I was straight up bored. Mona is sadly the least interesting and least likeable character in the book. The scenes where she was with her job search support group were the most interesting parts and they were few and far between.
I was going to give this book a 3 star rating, which for me means readable but not recommendable, but the lack of trigger warnings and the way cutting was used in the story bumped it down to a 2. The character of Mona needs some serious therapy and suggesting that she could cure herself without it using just the power of love and art is ridiculous.
A Netgalley ARC
September 21, 2020
Mona Mireles is known to all as "sad millennial" but Mona and the colorful cast of characters surrounding her kept me grinning throughout the tale. Touching on themes of ambition, addiction, and adulthood, Mona at Sea is a charming debut, reminding us that the best way to face an uncertain future is with grit and wit.
November 6, 2020
Mona is adrift. Up until the moment her dream job falls through and she becomes the infamous Sad Millennial, Mona has led a charmed life. She is the golden child of the family with a top of her class college degree. Mona finds herself jobless, humiliated and back in her childhood bedroom. Her family is falling apart. She has a dark secret. But Mona is funny, resilient and full of heart and grit as she tries to figure out what to do with her life. A completely enjoyable and unputdownable read.
March 1, 2024
Ein unterhaltsames, gut geschriebenes Buch, dass aber nichts neues zum "Sad-Lost-Mid-Twenties-Woman"-Genre beiträgt. Aus der Prämisse "Sad Millenial" hätte man noch viel mehr rausholen können, aber an vielen Stellen traut die Autorin sich nicht, dem ganzen einen etwas dunkleren Twist zu geben. Aber: großartiges Cover!
September 2, 2021
This book did not work for me. The coming-of-“working” age angst resonated with me and I could totally relate to Mona’s predicament. BUT I couldn’t connect with any of the characters. They all felt one dimensional and lacked emotional depth.
The story focused on a 23 year old woman, Mona, who has strived for academic perfection her whole life. After graduating from University of Arizona with top marks in finance, she becomes bitterly disappointed when she can’t land her dream job. The economy is on the brink of collapse and financial institutions are struggling to keep afloat. Mona has big dreams to get rich and successful yet is forced to continue living with her parents because she has failed to launch. Mona goes through an identity crisis as she watches her best friend achieve career success and her parents’ marriage fall apart.
We’ve all been there, trying to break into the job market and land our dream job (or at least a step towards our dream job) after graduation. This book had a fantastic plot idea but sadly wasn’t executed all that well. Readers who are okay with a shallow one note cast of characters and enjoy a light witty writing style that doesn’t delve too deeply into issues will probably enjoy this one much more than I did.
I received an advanced audio copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
The story focused on a 23 year old woman, Mona, who has strived for academic perfection her whole life. After graduating from University of Arizona with top marks in finance, she becomes bitterly disappointed when she can’t land her dream job. The economy is on the brink of collapse and financial institutions are struggling to keep afloat. Mona has big dreams to get rich and successful yet is forced to continue living with her parents because she has failed to launch. Mona goes through an identity crisis as she watches her best friend achieve career success and her parents’ marriage fall apart.
We’ve all been there, trying to break into the job market and land our dream job (or at least a step towards our dream job) after graduation. This book had a fantastic plot idea but sadly wasn’t executed all that well. Readers who are okay with a shallow one note cast of characters and enjoy a light witty writing style that doesn’t delve too deeply into issues will probably enjoy this one much more than I did.
I received an advanced audio copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
June 20, 2021
A whipsmart debut from Elizabeth Gonzalez James.
Mona is a recent grad, whose job at at investment firm disappears after the 2009 financial crisis erupts. Home in Arizona, jobless and full of ennui, Mona applies to over 500 jobs. Used to being "the golden child" of the family, Mona is rudderless without clear goals, a clear path forward, and external praise. Plus: her parents' marriage is dissolving before her eyes, her best friend has a seemingly perfect job lined up, and Mona's industry of choice (finance) is an old boy's club. Lots of drama, lots of humor, but also darker themes of self-harm throughout. The romance near the end felt a bit rushed to me/didn't see the true connection, but I really enjoyed Gonzalez James's authorial voice and this examination of the financial crisis.
Mona is a recent grad, whose job at at investment firm disappears after the 2009 financial crisis erupts. Home in Arizona, jobless and full of ennui, Mona applies to over 500 jobs. Used to being "the golden child" of the family, Mona is rudderless without clear goals, a clear path forward, and external praise. Plus: her parents' marriage is dissolving before her eyes, her best friend has a seemingly perfect job lined up, and Mona's industry of choice (finance) is an old boy's club. Lots of drama, lots of humor, but also darker themes of self-harm throughout. The romance near the end felt a bit rushed to me/didn't see the true connection, but I really enjoyed Gonzalez James's authorial voice and this examination of the financial crisis.
July 29, 2021
4.5 ⭐️
Mona is one of my new favorite characters!
Mona Mireles was an A-student, graduated valedictorian, and never had a boyfriend. She’s a perfectionist, blunt, cynical, and unemployed.
It’s the late-2000s, and the economic crisis isn’t helping her job prospects, but as her mother insists, it might be her attitude as well.
Mona is living at home seven months after college, and she feels the weight of disappointment from her parents. She loves her younger brother, one of her only friends, but resents his carefree attitude.
She takes a job at a call center, not really a job for her personality, but it’s just until a real job comes about. Meanwhile, she watches her parent’s marriage begin to fall apart. Mona slowly begins to see what life is all about as she struggles with self-control, coming to understand that things don’t have to be perfect to be good.
I loved this book - it’s a sharp, observant debut novel. Maybe it’s because I saw a little of my younger self in Mona, always speaking my mind. Or perhaps it’s because my kids are at the stage where Mona is, moving on to the next step in life.
TW: self-harm
The audiobook was fantastic! Thank you to @librofm and @dreamscape_media for this #ALC
Mona is one of my new favorite characters!
Mona Mireles was an A-student, graduated valedictorian, and never had a boyfriend. She’s a perfectionist, blunt, cynical, and unemployed.
It’s the late-2000s, and the economic crisis isn’t helping her job prospects, but as her mother insists, it might be her attitude as well.
Mona is living at home seven months after college, and she feels the weight of disappointment from her parents. She loves her younger brother, one of her only friends, but resents his carefree attitude.
She takes a job at a call center, not really a job for her personality, but it’s just until a real job comes about. Meanwhile, she watches her parent’s marriage begin to fall apart. Mona slowly begins to see what life is all about as she struggles with self-control, coming to understand that things don’t have to be perfect to be good.
I loved this book - it’s a sharp, observant debut novel. Maybe it’s because I saw a little of my younger self in Mona, always speaking my mind. Or perhaps it’s because my kids are at the stage where Mona is, moving on to the next step in life.
TW: self-harm
The audiobook was fantastic! Thank you to @librofm and @dreamscape_media for this #ALC
July 9, 2021
This was such an awesome book! Elizabeth Gonzalez James is my new favorite writer! Her story captures the struggle of the millennial generation with so much wit, imagery, and, my all time favorite, sarcasm. Her characters are well-developed, even the peripheral characters. Her writing style is fun—telling the story artfully through imagery, dialogue, and Shakespearean asides. I also hella appreciate all the art, historical, and literary references woven throughout. My southern heart was especially surprised to hear a reference to the Confederacy of Dunces. Well-worth a read…and a reread.
June 30, 2021
This book had me laughing out loud. Mona is a bit of a mess, but she’s so funny and smart and I loved watching her navigate her new/old life when her fancy post-graduation finance job falls through due to the recession. This book is charming, fun, and extremely well-crafted literary fiction. A fantastic summer read.
July 7, 2021
Gritty, witty, well-crafted tale. I was enthralled by this debut. Mona is a deeply complicated and flawed character who is just trying to figure it all out. I enjoyed following her adventure and path to self-discovery.
July 19, 2021
My review can be in the Heavy Feather Review. Link here: https://heavyfeatherreview.org/2021/0...
August 17, 2021
I got approved for the @librofm ALC program and this was one of my first selections.
Mona has just graduated from college with honors has done everything right. She had the dream job lined up and on her first day the company she was supposed to join was closing being under investigation for insider trading or something.
So now she has no job and after sending out 400 resumes is being encouraged to settle for a minimum wage job she didn't train for she is full of so much anger and confusion over what the purpose of all her hardwork was for. She sounds entitled but honestly it's hard out there when you expect that your college degree will get you a job and it doesn't always act like the ticket in that it was in the past.
Everything around her is falling apart, her friendships, parents relationships and she thinks it's her bad attitude.
This was a coming of age book which also makes you think can you have a boring job but also do what you love. Can you find your passion and do that your whole life? Can you find your purpose? What if that is ever evolving? So many thoughts not all answers are THE answer. The ideal dream may not be what you thought when you get there.
The narrator was very entertaining to listen to! I enjoyed her voice so much! @aidareluzco
Mona has just graduated from college with honors has done everything right. She had the dream job lined up and on her first day the company she was supposed to join was closing being under investigation for insider trading or something.
So now she has no job and after sending out 400 resumes is being encouraged to settle for a minimum wage job she didn't train for she is full of so much anger and confusion over what the purpose of all her hardwork was for. She sounds entitled but honestly it's hard out there when you expect that your college degree will get you a job and it doesn't always act like the ticket in that it was in the past.
Everything around her is falling apart, her friendships, parents relationships and she thinks it's her bad attitude.
This was a coming of age book which also makes you think can you have a boring job but also do what you love. Can you find your passion and do that your whole life? Can you find your purpose? What if that is ever evolving? So many thoughts not all answers are THE answer. The ideal dream may not be what you thought when you get there.
The narrator was very entertaining to listen to! I enjoyed her voice so much! @aidareluzco
June 3, 2021
With a captivating voice and sharp wit, Mona At Sea is a story of a young woman struggling to find a job after college and start the life she’s always wanted. Mona is funny, smart, and so relatable as an overachiever who has always been told she could do anything she dreamed of - and then must face the reality of what happens when that dream doesn't work out. She stumbles along the way, but so do we all, and you can’t help but root for Mona as she finds her place in the world. James writes with skillful, insightful prose, and this is an outstanding debut - I can’t wait to read what she writes next!
April 5, 2021
What a clever, sharp and witty look at a "sad millenial's" perspective on life after college. Mona has always shone and expected to be working at her high paying job, only to have her dreams come crashing down. And her fall is recorded on national TV no less. At once funny but also so raw and real, the writing really draws the reader in. You will be cheering for Mona, even as you are somewhat horrified by some of her choices. For anyone who has ever suffered from disappointment in life, this book is an inspirational read that sometimes, life turns out the way it's supposed to.
February 10, 2021
Mona at Sea is a darkly humorous and winning novel about a college graduate completely unmoored when her cushy dream job crumbles in the 2008 recession. Mortified to be unemployed and living with her parents, Mona uses barbed humor to cope with her alienation and her stinging sense of failure. By turns caustic and vulnerable, Mona is incredibly endearing as she fumbles towards a future that might be better than the one she had planned on. A truly wonderful debut.
February 18, 2021
Really great book. The writing is clever and witty. James created a complex set of characters who are all flawed in their own way, but ultimately intriguing. At times I was angry and frustrated at the main character in equal measure. But that is what creates a great character arc for Mona. Highly recommend!
September 2, 2022
An excellently written, insightful look at the struggles of unemployed millennial, Mona, whose wry sense of humour and hardened outer shell belies her innermost doubts and struggles. This book deals with dark themes in a raw and honest way. The portrayal of mental ill-health was realistic and relatable. I devoured this book in a couple of days. Highly recommended.
September 10, 2021
Probably 3 1/2 stars. The writing in this debut novel is good, with a decent enough story. I expect there will be more from this author, and I also expect her future novels will be better.
The "great [economic] recession" of 2008 fell hard on folks all 'round the world. People lost jobs, people lost their life savings, and some people fell into a deep despondency. That's the setting for this book. The narrator Mona is a 23-year-old college graduate from Tucson, Arizona -- a class A achiever who did everything right all of her young life, right up through getting her degree in finance and winning the prize of a job at the best known investment banking company in the country. On the day she is to begin work in New York, the company fails, she is left jobless, and has to return home to her childhood bedroom in her parents' house in Tucson. That's where she is when we meet her at the beginning of the story.
I wanted to like Mona. After all, there really should be rewards for working hard, and young adulthood is a very difficult time of life, and I want everyone's children to succeed. But (as the author does an excellent job of conveying) Mona feels way too sorry for herself, sanctimonious in her own brilliance and entitlement and wallowing in self-pity, and lacking in empathy for anyone else. It was not until around page 198 of this 260-page book that Mona begins to have a glimmer of adult maturity (a goal I presumed the story had to be aiming toward), and by then I was getting a little tired of her. The rest of the book took the not unexpected path of Mona achieving some degree of self-realization, becoming a nicer person, ya da ya da ya da.
I doubt I will remember this novel in a month or two. It was perfectly acceptable, yet I wouldn't have been distressed if I had misplaced the book mid-read.
The "great [economic] recession" of 2008 fell hard on folks all 'round the world. People lost jobs, people lost their life savings, and some people fell into a deep despondency. That's the setting for this book. The narrator Mona is a 23-year-old college graduate from Tucson, Arizona -- a class A achiever who did everything right all of her young life, right up through getting her degree in finance and winning the prize of a job at the best known investment banking company in the country. On the day she is to begin work in New York, the company fails, she is left jobless, and has to return home to her childhood bedroom in her parents' house in Tucson. That's where she is when we meet her at the beginning of the story.
I wanted to like Mona. After all, there really should be rewards for working hard, and young adulthood is a very difficult time of life, and I want everyone's children to succeed. But (as the author does an excellent job of conveying) Mona feels way too sorry for herself, sanctimonious in her own brilliance and entitlement and wallowing in self-pity, and lacking in empathy for anyone else. It was not until around page 198 of this 260-page book that Mona begins to have a glimmer of adult maturity (a goal I presumed the story had to be aiming toward), and by then I was getting a little tired of her. The rest of the book took the not unexpected path of Mona achieving some degree of self-realization, becoming a nicer person, ya da ya da ya da.
I doubt I will remember this novel in a month or two. It was perfectly acceptable, yet I wouldn't have been distressed if I had misplaced the book mid-read.
July 28, 2021
Trigger warning for explicit self harm.
A stereotypical, entitled millennial who’s brilliant and special and oh so selfish.
She’s also a feminist who slut shames other women.
And to top it off, her explicit and frequent self-harm was romanticised several times and by several characters. It was called beautiful, made into artwork, and even compared to cultural rituals of scarification.
It’s a no from me.
Thanks Libro.fm for the audiobook.
A stereotypical, entitled millennial who’s brilliant and special and oh so selfish.
She’s also a feminist who slut shames other women.
And to top it off, her explicit and frequent self-harm was romanticised several times and by several characters. It was called beautiful, made into artwork, and even compared to cultural rituals of scarification.
It’s a no from me.
Thanks Libro.fm for the audiobook.
July 14, 2021
This book was hard to listen to for a few reasons.
Warning - Self-harm and self-injury is featured throughout the book and is a major plot point. I would skip those parts myself and almost quit reading the book because of it.
I was the exact same age as Mona was when she graduated in the same year as the Great Recession hit and the housing market bubble burst. I had a job lined up too (thankfully not in finance) that didn’t pan out because of economic circumstances. There were many moments when I related to that frustration that she had, especially when job searching.
However, Mona’s attitude was truly heinous. She was entitled to the point I was embarrassed for her. She was mean enough to fat shame her best friend in front of everyone at a party. She argued nonstop with everyone and the thought that I could have had 5% of the attitude she had in this book when I was her age made me want to cringe FOREVER. Woof.
I almost DNF’ed a few different times but pushed through for the NetGalley review. Mona is redeemed a little towards the end of the book, but not nearly enough to warrant a satisfying read.
Warning - Self-harm and self-injury is featured throughout the book and is a major plot point. I would skip those parts myself and almost quit reading the book because of it.
I was the exact same age as Mona was when she graduated in the same year as the Great Recession hit and the housing market bubble burst. I had a job lined up too (thankfully not in finance) that didn’t pan out because of economic circumstances. There were many moments when I related to that frustration that she had, especially when job searching.
However, Mona’s attitude was truly heinous. She was entitled to the point I was embarrassed for her. She was mean enough to fat shame her best friend in front of everyone at a party. She argued nonstop with everyone and the thought that I could have had 5% of the attitude she had in this book when I was her age made me want to cringe FOREVER. Woof.
I almost DNF’ed a few different times but pushed through for the NetGalley review. Mona is redeemed a little towards the end of the book, but not nearly enough to warrant a satisfying read.
September 5, 2024
Okay character arc!!!
August 25, 2021
Mona at Sea is a great story about being adrift, feeling depressed after losing a dream job and experiencing long term joblessness. I feel that this specific topic that has not been sufficiently explored in fiction literature so far and this makes me appreciate this book even more.
Mona is labeled as a “sad millennial”, yet she is a bright young woman, a straight As student, who majored in Finance. She got a job straight out of college, yet recession hit just as she was getting ready to start her job and the job is lost before it even started. Mona is spiralling into depression, alcohol abuse, and self harm.
Mona has the support of her family, two very educated and well accomplished parents who, along with her brother, try to help Mona find direction and get back on her feet. But is this support truly helpful or does this add more pressure on Mona to succeed? Is her rejection of their help a symptom of depression or lack of gratitude which will ultimately make Mona feel even worse?
The book is beautifully written and I love how Mona’s character grows and matures. Yet there are several parts that I could not enjoy, namely the sections where Mona engages in self-harm. Any detailed description of the process brings me a lot of discomfort and I generally avoid reading these parts. Apart from this, Mona at Sea is a wonderful book that I would definitely recommend.
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Mona is labeled as a “sad millennial”, yet she is a bright young woman, a straight As student, who majored in Finance. She got a job straight out of college, yet recession hit just as she was getting ready to start her job and the job is lost before it even started. Mona is spiralling into depression, alcohol abuse, and self harm.
Mona has the support of her family, two very educated and well accomplished parents who, along with her brother, try to help Mona find direction and get back on her feet. But is this support truly helpful or does this add more pressure on Mona to succeed? Is her rejection of their help a symptom of depression or lack of gratitude which will ultimately make Mona feel even worse?
The book is beautifully written and I love how Mona’s character grows and matures. Yet there are several parts that I could not enjoy, namely the sections where Mona engages in self-harm. Any detailed description of the process brings me a lot of discomfort and I generally avoid reading these parts. Apart from this, Mona at Sea is a wonderful book that I would definitely recommend.
👍 Connect with A Bookworm's Travels blog 👍
https://abookwormstravelsblog.wordpre...
https://www.instagram.com/abookwormst...
https://www.facebook.com/abookwormstr...
https://twitter.com/bookwormstravel
July 4, 2021
FICTION: In this hilarious debut novel, a "sad millennial" is unemployed and emotionally adrift in Arizona.
By Jenny Shank, Special to the Minneapolis Star Tribune JUNE 26, 2021 — 5:57AM
Mona Mireles, the unemployed young protagonist of Elizabeth Gonzalez James' hilarious debut novel, has plenty to moan about. She'd hate the pun in the previous sentence. Her own humor is incisive and biting, as when she observes of a pale man in Tucson, Ariz.: "No tan — practically a political statement in Arizona."
Mona used to be a contender, acing school and participating in a flurry of activities. Her trophies now gather dust inside the cave of defeat her childhood bedroom has become. She studied finance at the University of Arizona, became valedictorian, and was hired by Bannerman, a top Wall Street investment firm. But Mona graduated in 2008, Bannerman tanked the day she walked in to start her job, and her outburst about her change of fortune, captured by a TV reporter, has become an internet meme known as "Sad Millennial."
So, Mona's been publicly shamed, a Great Recession has gripped the country, and as Mona's mom puts it, Mona has become "Arizona's most dissatisfied customer."
Mona explains that after losing the Bannerman job, she had little choice but to retreat "back to my parents' suburban hacienda, reattaching myself to the familial teat through which flowed food and air-conditioned shelter."
A year into her job search, Mona has submitted 400 fruitless applications and she regularly sleeps in, smokes pot, drinks tequila and eats Doritos. But her mom is a high-achieving medical researcher and she prods Mona to keep trying, urging her to attend networking events or take a job at her friend's telemarketing call center.
Gonzalez James is skilled at orchestrating hysterical scenes filled with distinctive characters, such as a networking event at a chain Italian restaurant, where Mona encounters the same people she's already met at prior hobnobs, including a man who "sells used office furniture and comes to these things looking for leads on companies that are laying off," and a woman trying to interest people in a pill-selling pyramid scheme.
"These are the remoras, siphoning off the leftovers of our crumbling economy," Mona concludes before insulting several people, pointing out the misspelled word in the banner, and storming off.
Mona's short-fused crabbiness is great fun, but it interferes with her progress as problems mount, including tensions in her parents' marriage. Mona is positive the life she once envisioned for herself as an analyst is the only one she wants, but there are plenty of signs — including her stifled artistic abilities, her parents' dissatisfaction with their own lives, and her self-destructive habits — that she needs to reconceptualize her vision.
As readers may guess, the plot of "Mona at Sea" involves Mona getting her groove back, but getting there is all the fun, as the quips mount ("A black and white jersey dress with long sleeves screams 'daughter of a televangelist' "), the Arizona setting provides a distinctive backdrop for a first date spent shooting Saguaros, and Gonzalez James offers a winsome meditation on how to carry on living in the aftermath of disrupted plans that most humans can identify with.
Jenny Shank's story collection "Mixed Company" won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and will be published by Texas Review Press in October 2021. She teaches in the Mile High MFA program at Regis University in Denver.
https://www.startribune.com/review-mo...
By Jenny Shank, Special to the Minneapolis Star Tribune JUNE 26, 2021 — 5:57AM
Mona Mireles, the unemployed young protagonist of Elizabeth Gonzalez James' hilarious debut novel, has plenty to moan about. She'd hate the pun in the previous sentence. Her own humor is incisive and biting, as when she observes of a pale man in Tucson, Ariz.: "No tan — practically a political statement in Arizona."
Mona used to be a contender, acing school and participating in a flurry of activities. Her trophies now gather dust inside the cave of defeat her childhood bedroom has become. She studied finance at the University of Arizona, became valedictorian, and was hired by Bannerman, a top Wall Street investment firm. But Mona graduated in 2008, Bannerman tanked the day she walked in to start her job, and her outburst about her change of fortune, captured by a TV reporter, has become an internet meme known as "Sad Millennial."
So, Mona's been publicly shamed, a Great Recession has gripped the country, and as Mona's mom puts it, Mona has become "Arizona's most dissatisfied customer."
Mona explains that after losing the Bannerman job, she had little choice but to retreat "back to my parents' suburban hacienda, reattaching myself to the familial teat through which flowed food and air-conditioned shelter."
A year into her job search, Mona has submitted 400 fruitless applications and she regularly sleeps in, smokes pot, drinks tequila and eats Doritos. But her mom is a high-achieving medical researcher and she prods Mona to keep trying, urging her to attend networking events or take a job at her friend's telemarketing call center.
Gonzalez James is skilled at orchestrating hysterical scenes filled with distinctive characters, such as a networking event at a chain Italian restaurant, where Mona encounters the same people she's already met at prior hobnobs, including a man who "sells used office furniture and comes to these things looking for leads on companies that are laying off," and a woman trying to interest people in a pill-selling pyramid scheme.
"These are the remoras, siphoning off the leftovers of our crumbling economy," Mona concludes before insulting several people, pointing out the misspelled word in the banner, and storming off.
Mona's short-fused crabbiness is great fun, but it interferes with her progress as problems mount, including tensions in her parents' marriage. Mona is positive the life she once envisioned for herself as an analyst is the only one she wants, but there are plenty of signs — including her stifled artistic abilities, her parents' dissatisfaction with their own lives, and her self-destructive habits — that she needs to reconceptualize her vision.
As readers may guess, the plot of "Mona at Sea" involves Mona getting her groove back, but getting there is all the fun, as the quips mount ("A black and white jersey dress with long sleeves screams 'daughter of a televangelist' "), the Arizona setting provides a distinctive backdrop for a first date spent shooting Saguaros, and Gonzalez James offers a winsome meditation on how to carry on living in the aftermath of disrupted plans that most humans can identify with.
Jenny Shank's story collection "Mixed Company" won the George Garrett Fiction Prize and will be published by Texas Review Press in October 2021. She teaches in the Mile High MFA program at Regis University in Denver.
https://www.startribune.com/review-mo...
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