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Love Orange: a vivid, comic cocktail about a modern American family
A disturbing portrait of a modern American family
'Imagine Richard Yates becoming fascinated by Donald Antrim before writing Revolutionary Road and you'll have some idea of Love Orange. One of the most satisfying novels you will read this year. This book rules' Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms
'I enjoyed every minute of it' Chris Power, author of Mothers
'A stunningly accurate portrayal . . . shining with vivid dialogue and observation' Chloe Aridjis, author of Sea Monsters
'[A]n exuberant, comic, irresistibly dark examination of contemporary anxieties' Vanity Fair
'An exquisite balance of humour and pathos' Lunate
An extraordinary debut novel by Natasha Randall, exposing the seam of secrets within an American family, from beneath the plastic surfaces of their new 'smart' home. Love Orange charts the gentle absurdities of their lives, and the devastating consequences of casual choices.
While Hank struggles with his lack of professional success, his wife Jenny, feeling stuck and beset by an urge to do good, becomes ensnared in a dangerous correspondence with a prison inmate called John. Letter by letter, John pinches Jenny awake from the "marshmallow numbness" of her life. The children, meanwhile, unwittingly disturb the foundations of their home life with forays into the dark net and strange geological experiments.
Jenny's bid for freedom takes a sour turn when she becomes the go-between for John and his wife, and develops an unnatural obsession for the orange glue that seals his letters...
Love Orange throws open the blinds of American life, showing a family facing up to the modern age, from the ascendancy of technology, the predicaments of masculinity, the pathologising of children, the epidemic of opioid addiction and the tyranny of the WhatsApp Gods. The first novel by the acclaimed translator is a comic cocktail, an exuberant skewering of contemporary anxieties and prejudices.
'Imagine Richard Yates becoming fascinated by Donald Antrim before writing Revolutionary Road and you'll have some idea of Love Orange. One of the most satisfying novels you will read this year. This book rules' Christian Kiefer, author of Phantoms
'I enjoyed every minute of it' Chris Power, author of Mothers
'A stunningly accurate portrayal . . . shining with vivid dialogue and observation' Chloe Aridjis, author of Sea Monsters
'[A]n exuberant, comic, irresistibly dark examination of contemporary anxieties' Vanity Fair
'An exquisite balance of humour and pathos' Lunate
An extraordinary debut novel by Natasha Randall, exposing the seam of secrets within an American family, from beneath the plastic surfaces of their new 'smart' home. Love Orange charts the gentle absurdities of their lives, and the devastating consequences of casual choices.
While Hank struggles with his lack of professional success, his wife Jenny, feeling stuck and beset by an urge to do good, becomes ensnared in a dangerous correspondence with a prison inmate called John. Letter by letter, John pinches Jenny awake from the "marshmallow numbness" of her life. The children, meanwhile, unwittingly disturb the foundations of their home life with forays into the dark net and strange geological experiments.
Jenny's bid for freedom takes a sour turn when she becomes the go-between for John and his wife, and develops an unnatural obsession for the orange glue that seals his letters...
Love Orange throws open the blinds of American life, showing a family facing up to the modern age, from the ascendancy of technology, the predicaments of masculinity, the pathologising of children, the epidemic of opioid addiction and the tyranny of the WhatsApp Gods. The first novel by the acclaimed translator is a comic cocktail, an exuberant skewering of contemporary anxieties and prejudices.
- GenresContemporaryFiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published September 3, 2020
10 people are currently reading
370 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 75 reviews
March 28, 2021
4 stars
It's like American Beauty but for the 21st century; Love Orange is a piercing drama (with a dash of sarcasm) focusing on the undercurrent of a 'normal' American nuclear family.
There are memorable moments offering intelligent and profound commentary regarding gender role, tech, gun violence, drug use, religion, beauty standard, and criminal justice. But the novel's wide-reaching ambition does hinder the depth and uniqueness of its remarks—some of them feel a little 'been there, done that', checking off timely topics without contributing anything new (such as the son's obsession with violent video games, and the mention of high school shooting). Personally, I feel Love Orange really hits its stride in its third act, when the plot involves more non-family members, deviates from the expected framework, and doesn't hold back on its absurdity.
Overall I really enjoyed this read; yes, there are elements that feel more like rehash rather than reinterpretation, but Natasha Randall managed to put the pieces together differently enough that ultimately led Love Orange beyond just another domestic story about an unhappy modern family. A solid debut!
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
It's like American Beauty but for the 21st century; Love Orange is a piercing drama (with a dash of sarcasm) focusing on the undercurrent of a 'normal' American nuclear family.
There are memorable moments offering intelligent and profound commentary regarding gender role, tech, gun violence, drug use, religion, beauty standard, and criminal justice. But the novel's wide-reaching ambition does hinder the depth and uniqueness of its remarks—some of them feel a little 'been there, done that', checking off timely topics without contributing anything new (such as the son's obsession with violent video games, and the mention of high school shooting). Personally, I feel Love Orange really hits its stride in its third act, when the plot involves more non-family members, deviates from the expected framework, and doesn't hold back on its absurdity.
Overall I really enjoyed this read; yes, there are elements that feel more like rehash rather than reinterpretation, but Natasha Randall managed to put the pieces together differently enough that ultimately led Love Orange beyond just another domestic story about an unhappy modern family. A solid debut!
**This ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Much appreciated!**
September 23, 2020
“The thing about pain pills is that they take away pain. Any kind of pain. It gets so that people can’t even get out of bed for the pain that life becomes…..compared to the high.”
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.
.
I spent the first part of Love Orange feeling irritated with Hank. His insistence on drinking water mindfully before meals, his constant espousing of his Viking heritage, his creation of the ultimate Smart home, his ring-fenced yoga time…..shall I go on? And then I thought, if this is how I feel about his fragile male ego in print, imagine what it must be like for his wife Jenny? No wonder that Jenny becomes embroiled in a correspondence with a prisoner called John. His sweet-smelling orange envelopes give Jenny a pleasurable numbness when licked. Gradually the pain of two sons she no longer understands, a husband who prefers his home to his wife, in-laws who dislike her and a job that she doesn’t care about fades away into the distance.
In the story of one family, @natasha_randall_ draws out a multitude of issues
~ Technology as a barrier to real connection: Video games, onion routers, internet porn and smart homes. Even the church confessional is now a text service so the congregation don’t have to talk to one another
~ The opioid crisis: The ease with which Jenny falls into her addiction and the lack of medical care available is terrifying
~ Gender roles: What does it mean to be a man when you are no longer the head of the household or the provider? There is a discussion towards the end of the book about the name Mary in the Bible. The numerous women called Mary, Miriam or versions of this, all blurred by history. It feels a little like this for Jenny. She’s a wife, a mother, a daughter-in-law, a co-worker, an employee and a friend, but you rarely get a deeper sense of who she really is, as if her character has been eroded by drudgery
If you enjoyed Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation then Love Orange may well be a book for you with it’s dark humour and sense of bored frustration. Huge thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for my ARC
.
.
.
I spent the first part of Love Orange feeling irritated with Hank. His insistence on drinking water mindfully before meals, his constant espousing of his Viking heritage, his creation of the ultimate Smart home, his ring-fenced yoga time…..shall I go on? And then I thought, if this is how I feel about his fragile male ego in print, imagine what it must be like for his wife Jenny? No wonder that Jenny becomes embroiled in a correspondence with a prisoner called John. His sweet-smelling orange envelopes give Jenny a pleasurable numbness when licked. Gradually the pain of two sons she no longer understands, a husband who prefers his home to his wife, in-laws who dislike her and a job that she doesn’t care about fades away into the distance.
In the story of one family, @natasha_randall_ draws out a multitude of issues
~ Technology as a barrier to real connection: Video games, onion routers, internet porn and smart homes. Even the church confessional is now a text service so the congregation don’t have to talk to one another
~ The opioid crisis: The ease with which Jenny falls into her addiction and the lack of medical care available is terrifying
~ Gender roles: What does it mean to be a man when you are no longer the head of the household or the provider? There is a discussion towards the end of the book about the name Mary in the Bible. The numerous women called Mary, Miriam or versions of this, all blurred by history. It feels a little like this for Jenny. She’s a wife, a mother, a daughter-in-law, a co-worker, an employee and a friend, but you rarely get a deeper sense of who she really is, as if her character has been eroded by drudgery
If you enjoyed Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation then Love Orange may well be a book for you with it’s dark humour and sense of bored frustration. Huge thanks to Netgalley and Quercus books for my ARC
December 8, 2025
Ouch! really really enjoyed this! surprised I haven't heard more about it actually, this was a brilliant little dark American novel, I would recommend to basically everyone - nothing to dislike here.
October 5, 2020
I have absolutely loved participating in the Buddy Read for 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝗢𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘 🧡🍊 by Natasha Randall. Thank you so much to Riverrun Books for sending me a proof copy for the readalong, and for hosting all of the virtual discussions. I'd love to be able to do this with more books as it was so much fun and I've made some new bookish friends!
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
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This was such an interesting book to read. On the surface it is a story about a modern day, suburban, privileged family. But there are so many themes and reflections and nuances running through the story. It definitely gives you food for thought, and it was good to really consider these topics and discuss them with the buddy read group.
Our main character Jenny is reduced to being a Wife and Mother, and doesn't seem to feel much purpose outside of these roles that she hasn’t really chosen, but have been defined for her. The domesticity of her life, coupled with her seeming lack of purpose due to the smart house and appliances that are supposed to make her life easier, take her down a rabbit hole.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 ... ‘𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻,’ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺. ‘𝗜'𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆.’
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One key theme running through the book is gender, and the differences in generational understanding of the gender spectrum. I don't want to give too many spoilers, but the characters very much conform to societal gender roles, and it is clear that conforming to these proposed expectations leads to unhappiness and anxieties for the characters. The ignorance of Hank and his perception of what his sons should be is clear throughout, but it feels as though it comes from a place of his own insecurities.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.
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The theme of heritage and race is also touched upon throughout the book, both from a perspective of lineage and our lack of understanding of our own ancestry, but also in relation to our ignorance of relating to each other as humans through the lens of racial biases.
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𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗼 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲? 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆.
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I also like the comments on humanity, and Father Brian reflected this well in his own internal thoughts and in administering to his congregation, as well as John, the inmate at Flainton Correctional Facility. I think there were important reminders through the story that bad decisions or mistakes that we make don't define us, and we can learn from them but it is human nature that things shouldn't conform to the perfect facade that we often try to show to the world.
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𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼. 𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳. 𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀.
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There is so much more I could say about this book, but overall I would highly recommend Love Orange, and would definitely read more from Natasha Randall.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗽𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀, 𝗝𝗲𝗻𝗻𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺 𝗰𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘄𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.
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This was such an interesting book to read. On the surface it is a story about a modern day, suburban, privileged family. But there are so many themes and reflections and nuances running through the story. It definitely gives you food for thought, and it was good to really consider these topics and discuss them with the buddy read group.
Our main character Jenny is reduced to being a Wife and Mother, and doesn't seem to feel much purpose outside of these roles that she hasn’t really chosen, but have been defined for her. The domesticity of her life, coupled with her seeming lack of purpose due to the smart house and appliances that are supposed to make her life easier, take her down a rabbit hole.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗺𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝘄𝗻. 𝗛𝗲𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝗼 𝗳𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 ... ‘𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻,’ 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗵𝗶𝗺. ‘𝗜'𝗺 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗹𝘂𝗰𝗸𝘆.’
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One key theme running through the book is gender, and the differences in generational understanding of the gender spectrum. I don't want to give too many spoilers, but the characters very much conform to societal gender roles, and it is clear that conforming to these proposed expectations leads to unhappiness and anxieties for the characters. The ignorance of Hank and his perception of what his sons should be is clear throughout, but it feels as though it comes from a place of his own insecurities.
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𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗼𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘀. 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘃𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. 𝗕𝗼𝘆𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼𝘆 𝗴𝘂𝗻𝘀, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻'𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲.
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The theme of heritage and race is also touched upon throughout the book, both from a perspective of lineage and our lack of understanding of our own ancestry, but also in relation to our ignorance of relating to each other as humans through the lens of racial biases.
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𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹 𝘀𝗼 𝗴𝘂𝗶𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗲? 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗲, 𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗳 𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝘆.
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I also like the comments on humanity, and Father Brian reflected this well in his own internal thoughts and in administering to his congregation, as well as John, the inmate at Flainton Correctional Facility. I think there were important reminders through the story that bad decisions or mistakes that we make don't define us, and we can learn from them but it is human nature that things shouldn't conform to the perfect facade that we often try to show to the world.
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𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗼. 𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝗳. 𝗔 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗹𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗿. 𝗪𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝘆 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗿𝗲𝘀.
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There is so much more I could say about this book, but overall I would highly recommend Love Orange, and would definitely read more from Natasha Randall.
October 27, 2020
Great Themes, but I struggled to stay engaged
This book is packed with discussions of gender, the prison system, interpersonal relationships, and technology. On their own these are all interesting topics. Combined well these could make for a great read. However, I found myself losing focus.
The primary issue I had with the book was that so much of the information and emotions that defined each character was told to us rather than shown through character actions. I felt that each chapter involved much more information dumping than character action. I think that Jenny and Hank could have been great characters, but I couldn’t fully appreciate them since so much of their personalities were told to us. I found their children to be full, sadly. The supporting cast was alright, but I didn’t feel connected to the dialog.
I can’t go into as much detail as I’d like because I found my attention slipping. When I’d pick the book back up I found that I’d forgotten a good amount. I will certainly read more by Natasha Randall as I found her choice of themes to be excellent. Sadly, I didn’t connect with this book
Disclaimer: I received an ARC for this book via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
This book is packed with discussions of gender, the prison system, interpersonal relationships, and technology. On their own these are all interesting topics. Combined well these could make for a great read. However, I found myself losing focus.
The primary issue I had with the book was that so much of the information and emotions that defined each character was told to us rather than shown through character actions. I felt that each chapter involved much more information dumping than character action. I think that Jenny and Hank could have been great characters, but I couldn’t fully appreciate them since so much of their personalities were told to us. I found their children to be full, sadly. The supporting cast was alright, but I didn’t feel connected to the dialog.
I can’t go into as much detail as I’d like because I found my attention slipping. When I’d pick the book back up I found that I’d forgotten a good amount. I will certainly read more by Natasha Randall as I found her choice of themes to be excellent. Sadly, I didn’t connect with this book
Disclaimer: I received an ARC for this book via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
October 13, 2020
Love Orange has a cast of characters that really do drive this story; and there is one in particular that I REALLY loved to hate! Hank, the head of the Tinkley family is an uptight, controlling misogynist, BUT his scenes are so brilliant that I just could not get enough of him! Jenny, his wife, is also fascinating - her peculiar behaviour and increasingly strange mannerisms make for some hilarious reading; I just could not tear myself away!
🍊
There are a number of important themes and aspects running through this book, the first being that the Tinkleys live in a “smart house”, something which affects them all to a varying degree, and really made me stop and think about the control of technology on our lives. The lack of communication between the members of the family adds to their dysfunctional aura and brings into sharp focus their somewhat irrational thoughts on gender and descendancy.
🍊
Randall’s clean and fresh prose made this a quick and enjoyable read and really highlighted the dark humour within.
🍊
With a fiercely compelling narrative, Love Orange is a veritable soap opera of a novel and I truly felt like a fly on the wall; listening in on the Tinkley’s, utterly paralysed by how their lives unravelled before me!
🍊
There are a number of important themes and aspects running through this book, the first being that the Tinkleys live in a “smart house”, something which affects them all to a varying degree, and really made me stop and think about the control of technology on our lives. The lack of communication between the members of the family adds to their dysfunctional aura and brings into sharp focus their somewhat irrational thoughts on gender and descendancy.
🍊
Randall’s clean and fresh prose made this a quick and enjoyable read and really highlighted the dark humour within.
🍊
With a fiercely compelling narrative, Love Orange is a veritable soap opera of a novel and I truly felt like a fly on the wall; listening in on the Tinkley’s, utterly paralysed by how their lives unravelled before me!
August 18, 2020
I really enjoyed this book, thank you Netgalley. The everyday life of modern middle America described here is believable and the characters are likeable enough for you to want to root for them. The notion of wife versus smart home was intriguing and the church's answer to modern technology was a fun idea.
September 2, 2020
American Life in the Smart Era
Jenny sleepwalks through life, dancing around husband Hank’s fragile ego while nurturing sons, Jesse and Luke. Meanwhile, Hank flounders as the All-American Male. The skills of bushcraft and prospecting evade him, conspiracy theories bombard him, and foreign influences are just one step away from invading his home.
Desperate for change, Jenny starts a correspondence with a prison inmate, bringing about a transformation no one could have foreseen.
Love Orange sheds uncanny light on motherhood, the unequal division of labour between parents, and America’s self-view.
Randall’s writing is assured, sharply observant, and comes with a well-tuned sense of the absurd.
The first third of the novel sets the reader at a remove, as though we are experiencing the same flattening of emotion as Jenny. Thereon in, it picks up pace and comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Strong satirical debut.
My thanks to NetGalley and Riverrun/Quercus Books for the ARC.
Jenny sleepwalks through life, dancing around husband Hank’s fragile ego while nurturing sons, Jesse and Luke. Meanwhile, Hank flounders as the All-American Male. The skills of bushcraft and prospecting evade him, conspiracy theories bombard him, and foreign influences are just one step away from invading his home.
Desperate for change, Jenny starts a correspondence with a prison inmate, bringing about a transformation no one could have foreseen.
Love Orange sheds uncanny light on motherhood, the unequal division of labour between parents, and America’s self-view.
Randall’s writing is assured, sharply observant, and comes with a well-tuned sense of the absurd.
The first third of the novel sets the reader at a remove, as though we are experiencing the same flattening of emotion as Jenny. Thereon in, it picks up pace and comes to a satisfying conclusion.
Strong satirical debut.
My thanks to NetGalley and Riverrun/Quercus Books for the ARC.
November 12, 2020
I absolutely loved this book! I was laughing throughout at Randall's deft touches of humour, and fascinated by the complexities of each character. The writing is so mature and accomplished, and Randall's exploration of character, family and modern life is so acutely-observed. I loved some of the more 'out there' elements of the story: the orange glue, the hole in the wall... For me, this is a perfect type of literary fiction: thoughtful, incisive, witty and entertaining. One of my favourite books of the year. I am in awe.
September 3, 2020
That was a wonderful novel to read. I loved the characters - little Luke especially, there was something endearing about him - and I loved not liking all of them. The writing felt quite impersonal at times but I enjoyed that - it worked well with the banality of a lot of the scenes, how ordinary they felt, how touching a times their little aches were.
(Free ARC from Netgalley)
(Free ARC from Netgalley)
October 5, 2020
Welcome to Love Orange - Natasha Randall's State of the Union address about the reality of life in modern day USA!
This is the story of the Tinkley family: to all intents and purposes a typical white, American middle class Mom, Pop and two children set-up, and a shining example of the ideal cutesy apple-pie image that harkens back to the 1950's nostalgia they all hold so dear. But practically everything we see on the surface is as artificial as the plastic beams that make up their "Arts and Crafts Style" home, and it is not long before the cracks start to show.
Our pop, Hank Tinkley, is struggling with the role he feels he should be projecting as the head of the household, and his need to be true to the Viking blood that runs in his veins, but he is floundering, even if he cannot admit this to his wife. He feels that the only way to be a strong father and husband is to stamp his authority on his family, save them from the dark underbelly of real life, and force his boys to develop the manly side of their characters at the expense of any softer feelings, although he likes to kid himself that he is really a 'modern man' with new age ideas. His brand of masculinity is misguided and toxic and his insistence that weakness, and "wrong behaviours" are unacceptable is causing his wife and children much unhappiness - as is his smug concept of a smart home that will surely take the strain off his wife, despite her feelings in the matter.
Our mom, of the piece, Jenny Tinkley has fallen into marriage with a man she hoped would be a good provider for her and their children, but she is disenchanted with her lot, lonely and torn between the fierce protectiveness she feels for her boys and a yearning for something more. Her husband takes her for granted, assuming that the home he has provided is everything she needs to make her life easier, but in reality she feels like she has lost control of her own domain. She feels, worthless and disconnected, like an empty shell and has resorted to finding comfort, quite literally, in a correspondence with a prison inmate, who she feels will be sympathetic to her feeling of being trapped.
Then we have out two boys: Jesse the burgeoning teenager, full of angst and conflicting emotions with no idea of how to balance these emerging sides of himself - and without the kind of role model of a father he really needs; and lovely, sweet, inquisitive Luke, with his quirky ways and total bewilderment at what is expected of him - and his need to hide away somewhere safe.
This is a family tearing itself apart at the seams, with a total inability to sit down and really talk to each other, and as the book progresses Natasha Randall takes us cleverly into their heads so we feel like voyeurs watching on as their family unit disintegrates. Hank can't seem to stop himself from doing wrong in failing to understand his family, especially with his boys, who end up feeling inadequate and not quite up to the mark, and Jenny becomes more and more isolated and dependent on the mysterious sweet orange glue that seals the envelopes of her prison pen pal.
This may sound like pretty heavy stuff that will break your heart, and you would be right, especially when it comes to Jesse and Luke, but it is also the warts and all picture of the kind of dysfunctional family that I fear is all too common. However, there is also a lot of humour to be found in these pages from the absurd situations that arise and some of it is totally laugh out loud funny, and this serves to break up the novel nicely and make it surprisingly easy to read.
There are some complex themes here that are artfully explored by Natasha Randall, which is very impressive for a debut author. Obviously, the most apparent ones are social disconnection and isolation, brought on by the stresses and strains of modern life. Our author does not really offer up any answers to the questions she poses, other than the implicit suggestion that communication is to be advised, and it is easy to conclude that humans are in need of some form of "pain relief" to get through it - whether this be chemical, or technological. This makes this book an absolute corker of a choice for a book club read, or in my own case, as a buddy read, because there is so much to discuss.
One of my favourite take aways from this book is that technology has a lot to answer for in terms of removing the face-to-face contact, and sense of purpose that humans need to function, and proving an appropriate outlet for working out our emotions, and Natasha Randall works this theme all the way through the novel to great effect.
This is a book that provokes strong emotions in its reader and I found this highly enjoyable - although perhaps enjoyable is not the right word to describe many of the feelings it elicits - in any case, this is an experience of a book that will set you thinking some deep, deep thoughts. It's brilliant.... read it!
This is the story of the Tinkley family: to all intents and purposes a typical white, American middle class Mom, Pop and two children set-up, and a shining example of the ideal cutesy apple-pie image that harkens back to the 1950's nostalgia they all hold so dear. But practically everything we see on the surface is as artificial as the plastic beams that make up their "Arts and Crafts Style" home, and it is not long before the cracks start to show.
Our pop, Hank Tinkley, is struggling with the role he feels he should be projecting as the head of the household, and his need to be true to the Viking blood that runs in his veins, but he is floundering, even if he cannot admit this to his wife. He feels that the only way to be a strong father and husband is to stamp his authority on his family, save them from the dark underbelly of real life, and force his boys to develop the manly side of their characters at the expense of any softer feelings, although he likes to kid himself that he is really a 'modern man' with new age ideas. His brand of masculinity is misguided and toxic and his insistence that weakness, and "wrong behaviours" are unacceptable is causing his wife and children much unhappiness - as is his smug concept of a smart home that will surely take the strain off his wife, despite her feelings in the matter.
Our mom, of the piece, Jenny Tinkley has fallen into marriage with a man she hoped would be a good provider for her and their children, but she is disenchanted with her lot, lonely and torn between the fierce protectiveness she feels for her boys and a yearning for something more. Her husband takes her for granted, assuming that the home he has provided is everything she needs to make her life easier, but in reality she feels like she has lost control of her own domain. She feels, worthless and disconnected, like an empty shell and has resorted to finding comfort, quite literally, in a correspondence with a prison inmate, who she feels will be sympathetic to her feeling of being trapped.
Then we have out two boys: Jesse the burgeoning teenager, full of angst and conflicting emotions with no idea of how to balance these emerging sides of himself - and without the kind of role model of a father he really needs; and lovely, sweet, inquisitive Luke, with his quirky ways and total bewilderment at what is expected of him - and his need to hide away somewhere safe.
This is a family tearing itself apart at the seams, with a total inability to sit down and really talk to each other, and as the book progresses Natasha Randall takes us cleverly into their heads so we feel like voyeurs watching on as their family unit disintegrates. Hank can't seem to stop himself from doing wrong in failing to understand his family, especially with his boys, who end up feeling inadequate and not quite up to the mark, and Jenny becomes more and more isolated and dependent on the mysterious sweet orange glue that seals the envelopes of her prison pen pal.
This may sound like pretty heavy stuff that will break your heart, and you would be right, especially when it comes to Jesse and Luke, but it is also the warts and all picture of the kind of dysfunctional family that I fear is all too common. However, there is also a lot of humour to be found in these pages from the absurd situations that arise and some of it is totally laugh out loud funny, and this serves to break up the novel nicely and make it surprisingly easy to read.
There are some complex themes here that are artfully explored by Natasha Randall, which is very impressive for a debut author. Obviously, the most apparent ones are social disconnection and isolation, brought on by the stresses and strains of modern life. Our author does not really offer up any answers to the questions she poses, other than the implicit suggestion that communication is to be advised, and it is easy to conclude that humans are in need of some form of "pain relief" to get through it - whether this be chemical, or technological. This makes this book an absolute corker of a choice for a book club read, or in my own case, as a buddy read, because there is so much to discuss.
One of my favourite take aways from this book is that technology has a lot to answer for in terms of removing the face-to-face contact, and sense of purpose that humans need to function, and proving an appropriate outlet for working out our emotions, and Natasha Randall works this theme all the way through the novel to great effect.
This is a book that provokes strong emotions in its reader and I found this highly enjoyable - although perhaps enjoyable is not the right word to describe many of the feelings it elicits - in any case, this is an experience of a book that will set you thinking some deep, deep thoughts. It's brilliant.... read it!
August 22, 2020
Natasha Randall’s debut novel Love Orange tackles offers an uncanny take on the perceived banality of family life. Armed with modern insight, Randall sets her fictional family unit under the microscope in order to probe the odd rituals and relationships we make to survive the toil of the 21st century.
While I was initially unsure as to the longevity of my time with this novel (it all seemed a bit too normal) I began to detect an undercurrent of the uncanny. On the surface, the Tinkley’s fall bang smack on the boring side of average, yet Randall begins to introduce their individual quirks which set the All American happy family tone of the novel slightly off kilter.
Set in the shadow of a nuclear power station building site, Randall’s novel encourages us to consider western societies’ obsession with its untouchable nuclear forms. The ‘nuclear family’ is a prime example of this tired expectation, which Randall handles through her female protagonist, Jenny.
It’s true that Jenny is pretty plugged into the 21st century. She is aware of her status as a middle class white lady in a fancy home. She laments the ironies of her laid back lifestyle as wife, mum and ‘occasionally useful’ cog in the wheel while delving into topical matters such as her predisposition for underlying prejudice (that much of the western world is guilty of). But she is actively checking her privilege and bringing up her boys to do the same. Her husband Hank, on the other hand, is an actual shit. He refuses to validate Jenny’s attempts at a holistic approach to life and hates the thought of his boys being anything but macho. He doesn’t get the bad vibe around ignorant white males… he’s too tied up in being one himself.
We understand the trials of Jenny’s emotional existence in a way that even her own family don’t. Letter writing to an unlikely friend allows her to express her distaste for the fact she traded her identity to become a wife and mother. She yearns to feel the tingles of life’s little secrets and uncertainties, something that feels impossible living in her husband’s stupidly clever ‘smart home’ where she is constantly under surveillance. Until one day, when she intercepts a sweet little orange note which reads ‘Taste me’. Her world becomes a blur in which the 21st century mindset is replaced by a subversive taste that sees her spiralling out of control.
From women’s rights, privilege, racial awareness and America’s prescription drug crisis, Randall has her finger firmly on the pulse of modern society and the many problems that centuries of expectation have created for it’s current occupants. The breakdown of happy little nuclear families begins to uncover secrets and the paradigm shifts, scattering many fragmented versions of the once familiar model out into society. The effect of this is uncanny. It even surprised me to hear descriptions of the ‘smart home’ which I read as some futuristic invention, before realising that this invasive lifestyle technology actually exists and is welcomed into our homes.
This novel asks us to question the state of affairs in which we find ourselves, and to consider how a toxic atmosphere in the home is tantamount to sending your family into the toxic nuclear fog that is slowly enveloping our way of life. It was an interesting read. While I wasn’t initially enamoured, Randall brings awareness to topical issues through her relatable characters who teach us how (or not) to navigate the world in which we live. I think this novel is the mark of a promising writer for the modern generation.
While I was initially unsure as to the longevity of my time with this novel (it all seemed a bit too normal) I began to detect an undercurrent of the uncanny. On the surface, the Tinkley’s fall bang smack on the boring side of average, yet Randall begins to introduce their individual quirks which set the All American happy family tone of the novel slightly off kilter.
Set in the shadow of a nuclear power station building site, Randall’s novel encourages us to consider western societies’ obsession with its untouchable nuclear forms. The ‘nuclear family’ is a prime example of this tired expectation, which Randall handles through her female protagonist, Jenny.
It’s true that Jenny is pretty plugged into the 21st century. She is aware of her status as a middle class white lady in a fancy home. She laments the ironies of her laid back lifestyle as wife, mum and ‘occasionally useful’ cog in the wheel while delving into topical matters such as her predisposition for underlying prejudice (that much of the western world is guilty of). But she is actively checking her privilege and bringing up her boys to do the same. Her husband Hank, on the other hand, is an actual shit. He refuses to validate Jenny’s attempts at a holistic approach to life and hates the thought of his boys being anything but macho. He doesn’t get the bad vibe around ignorant white males… he’s too tied up in being one himself.
We understand the trials of Jenny’s emotional existence in a way that even her own family don’t. Letter writing to an unlikely friend allows her to express her distaste for the fact she traded her identity to become a wife and mother. She yearns to feel the tingles of life’s little secrets and uncertainties, something that feels impossible living in her husband’s stupidly clever ‘smart home’ where she is constantly under surveillance. Until one day, when she intercepts a sweet little orange note which reads ‘Taste me’. Her world becomes a blur in which the 21st century mindset is replaced by a subversive taste that sees her spiralling out of control.
From women’s rights, privilege, racial awareness and America’s prescription drug crisis, Randall has her finger firmly on the pulse of modern society and the many problems that centuries of expectation have created for it’s current occupants. The breakdown of happy little nuclear families begins to uncover secrets and the paradigm shifts, scattering many fragmented versions of the once familiar model out into society. The effect of this is uncanny. It even surprised me to hear descriptions of the ‘smart home’ which I read as some futuristic invention, before realising that this invasive lifestyle technology actually exists and is welcomed into our homes.
This novel asks us to question the state of affairs in which we find ourselves, and to consider how a toxic atmosphere in the home is tantamount to sending your family into the toxic nuclear fog that is slowly enveloping our way of life. It was an interesting read. While I wasn’t initially enamoured, Randall brings awareness to topical issues through her relatable characters who teach us how (or not) to navigate the world in which we live. I think this novel is the mark of a promising writer for the modern generation.
October 27, 2020
Natasha Randall’s debut novel, Love Orange, tackles a magnitude of issues surrounding modern day life as an American.
Jenny and Hank live with their two sons Jesse and Luke. Hank is technology obsessed. He has turned their house into a ‘smart home’ which is listening into their every conversation and monitoring their every move. The house is able to order the family groceries by them just saying ‘house, order milk’. This smart home, which Hank so much adores, is much less liked by the rest of his household. Hank is very much infatuated with protecting his family from things like the dark web and his sons from porn on the internet. The boys don’t enjoy their lack of privacy and Jenny just hates the smart house. Everything in their world seems to rotate around technology, even the priest at their church has turned to the congregation texting their anonymous sins to the God Phone so that people don’t actually have to speak to one another and have proper conversations. This was a concept I found rather amusing.
Jenny is a little bit fed up with her life; she is unfulfilled by the way her life has turned out and is annoyed at the existence of her smart home. As a way to take her mind off her reality, she starts writing letters to prison inmates which is her little secret from her family. Letters to and from her prison pen pal, John, become frequent and Jenny notices that John’s letters are always sealed with a sweet-smelling orange substance. Jenny couldn’t help but try the substance, and noticed that it numbed some of her pain. Jenny searches high and low for whatever this orange substance could be, but is unsuccessful. She is also in contact with John’s husband, Shona, who is also locked up but coming close to the end of her time in prison. At first Shona wants nothing to do with Jenny through fear that her time in prison might get increased, but once she’s released the two start to get along. It transpires that this sweet-smelling orange substance is an opiate drug called Suboxone, which is used to treat chronic pain conditions (and is just generally pretty good at numbing people).
All in all I thought this book was an interesting snippet of modern day family life and it shows just how bleak and dissatisfying life can be, especially for Jenny. Hank and Jenny were pretty dead-set on gender stereotype roles and I did honestly feel a bit for Jenny.. She must be so bored in her life. My main issue with the book was that it’s written in quite a smart way in which the author didn’t draw up any opinions of the characters, this meant that I really struggled to engage with any of them.
I did like that the opioid crisis was a topic brought up though as it is something I can massively resonate with. As a sufferer of chronic pain, I basically depend on pain relief in order to have some quality to my life. I spent quite a while on various opioids in the last few years, and I know all too well how much they can destroy people’s lives. It is so easy to become addicted, and for me, they numbed everything except the pain I am in. As someone from the UK, opioid drugs can only be prescribed by GPs, but I remember so well when I was in Mexico last year, and they had opioid drugs for sale in gift shops.
Overall, I think that Love Orange brought up many important topics which are quite often overshadowed by other things in today’s life. It brings up the American opioid crisis and drug abuse and addiction, but also things like gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity and the book as a whole was something completely different to anything I’ve ever read. I found the book a little bit hard to follow along with at times, I don’t know if this was a problem with me, or with the book itself, but I felt like it was jumping back and forth between points a lot and I kept feeling a little bit lost as to where we were and what was going on.
Thank you to Natasha Randall and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to seeing what Natasha will bring out next!
Jenny and Hank live with their two sons Jesse and Luke. Hank is technology obsessed. He has turned their house into a ‘smart home’ which is listening into their every conversation and monitoring their every move. The house is able to order the family groceries by them just saying ‘house, order milk’. This smart home, which Hank so much adores, is much less liked by the rest of his household. Hank is very much infatuated with protecting his family from things like the dark web and his sons from porn on the internet. The boys don’t enjoy their lack of privacy and Jenny just hates the smart house. Everything in their world seems to rotate around technology, even the priest at their church has turned to the congregation texting their anonymous sins to the God Phone so that people don’t actually have to speak to one another and have proper conversations. This was a concept I found rather amusing.
Jenny is a little bit fed up with her life; she is unfulfilled by the way her life has turned out and is annoyed at the existence of her smart home. As a way to take her mind off her reality, she starts writing letters to prison inmates which is her little secret from her family. Letters to and from her prison pen pal, John, become frequent and Jenny notices that John’s letters are always sealed with a sweet-smelling orange substance. Jenny couldn’t help but try the substance, and noticed that it numbed some of her pain. Jenny searches high and low for whatever this orange substance could be, but is unsuccessful. She is also in contact with John’s husband, Shona, who is also locked up but coming close to the end of her time in prison. At first Shona wants nothing to do with Jenny through fear that her time in prison might get increased, but once she’s released the two start to get along. It transpires that this sweet-smelling orange substance is an opiate drug called Suboxone, which is used to treat chronic pain conditions (and is just generally pretty good at numbing people).
All in all I thought this book was an interesting snippet of modern day family life and it shows just how bleak and dissatisfying life can be, especially for Jenny. Hank and Jenny were pretty dead-set on gender stereotype roles and I did honestly feel a bit for Jenny.. She must be so bored in her life. My main issue with the book was that it’s written in quite a smart way in which the author didn’t draw up any opinions of the characters, this meant that I really struggled to engage with any of them.
I did like that the opioid crisis was a topic brought up though as it is something I can massively resonate with. As a sufferer of chronic pain, I basically depend on pain relief in order to have some quality to my life. I spent quite a while on various opioids in the last few years, and I know all too well how much they can destroy people’s lives. It is so easy to become addicted, and for me, they numbed everything except the pain I am in. As someone from the UK, opioid drugs can only be prescribed by GPs, but I remember so well when I was in Mexico last year, and they had opioid drugs for sale in gift shops.
Overall, I think that Love Orange brought up many important topics which are quite often overshadowed by other things in today’s life. It brings up the American opioid crisis and drug abuse and addiction, but also things like gender stereotypes and toxic masculinity and the book as a whole was something completely different to anything I’ve ever read. I found the book a little bit hard to follow along with at times, I don’t know if this was a problem with me, or with the book itself, but I felt like it was jumping back and forth between points a lot and I kept feeling a little bit lost as to where we were and what was going on.
Thank you to Natasha Randall and NetGalley for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I look forward to seeing what Natasha will bring out next!
October 12, 2020
Love Orange is startlingly different. A dark, mischievous sense of humour pervades the novel: as I read it, I had the thrilling sense that the author was revelling in wrong-footing us, hitting us with the unexpected, refusing to conform to what we might expect to happen in a conventional family-set novel. Natasha Randall’s prose is sharp-edged, witty, and at times delightfully uncomfortable. I really felt the sense of something new and exciting while reading this brilliant debut. It is also a very visual novel: the set pieces or episodes which make it so ripe for book club discussion are almost cinematic in their self-contained detail. I could see the boys in the cave on the camping trip, the younger son, Luke’s, carefully organised and catalogued collection in the basement; Jenny in the kitchen of the ‘smart’ home, surrounded by appliances that seem to control her more than help her. I really felt as if I watched a lot of this book rather than read it, which is testament to the author’s skill in transferring her imagination to the page.
As for the characters, they are the core of this book. The quirks and surprises of the plot are wonderfully intriguing, but it is the Tinkleys themselves that fascinate. Hank provoked such strong reactions among our chat group – he is exasperating, infuriating, conflicted, complicated, and above all, absolutely real. We all felt so strongly, it was as if we were discussing an actual person, and not one we were very fond of! Jenny evoked more sympathy; her story is just so unexpected and borderline bizarre – I would love to know how the author came up with it! Their sons, Jesse and Luke, are the most sympathetic characters, particularly Luke – my heart ached for him watching his parents’ fumbled attempts to label him rather than just accept him for the marvellous, original boy he is. I was #TeamLuke all the way!
The themes of Love Orange are myriad: technology and its effects on our lives, religion, relationships, parenting, freedom, the prison system, masculinity, addiction… there is barely an aspect of modern life that the novel does not probe. It is an outstanding achievement for a novel to cover so much ground and yet remain cohesive and focused. There is something about Randall’s writing which feels like an evolution, a step forward, something truly modern. It is exciting and slightly dangerous, always pushing the reader out of their comfort zone, right until the very end. I absolutely cannot wait to see what she writes next.
As for the characters, they are the core of this book. The quirks and surprises of the plot are wonderfully intriguing, but it is the Tinkleys themselves that fascinate. Hank provoked such strong reactions among our chat group – he is exasperating, infuriating, conflicted, complicated, and above all, absolutely real. We all felt so strongly, it was as if we were discussing an actual person, and not one we were very fond of! Jenny evoked more sympathy; her story is just so unexpected and borderline bizarre – I would love to know how the author came up with it! Their sons, Jesse and Luke, are the most sympathetic characters, particularly Luke – my heart ached for him watching his parents’ fumbled attempts to label him rather than just accept him for the marvellous, original boy he is. I was #TeamLuke all the way!
The themes of Love Orange are myriad: technology and its effects on our lives, religion, relationships, parenting, freedom, the prison system, masculinity, addiction… there is barely an aspect of modern life that the novel does not probe. It is an outstanding achievement for a novel to cover so much ground and yet remain cohesive and focused. There is something about Randall’s writing which feels like an evolution, a step forward, something truly modern. It is exciting and slightly dangerous, always pushing the reader out of their comfort zone, right until the very end. I absolutely cannot wait to see what she writes next.
October 21, 2020
// Love Orange 🍊 // Natasha Randall // Book Review 4✨//
•
A huge thanks to @riverrun_books @anabooks & @natasha_randall_ for the #gifted ARC of Love Orange to join in the buddy read. 🍊
•
“When I was young, I thought the whole man-woman problem, I thought it was done. We were equal. I had no work, nobody telling me that I couldn’t do stuff. I really had no idea that getting married was, for women, not a good thing.” Jenny.
•
Jenny, to take her mind off the pressure of being a better mother and housewife, joins her church’s outreach programme. She starts writing to John an inmate, to offer kindness and a lifeline for her loneliness. Hank, her husband doesn’t know. Each letter provides Jenny with an awakening of senses to her monotonous life. With two complicated sons, Jenny longs for freedom from her life. Slowly she starts to become dependent on the sweet orange glue that seals John’s envelopes, as their lives start to implode.
•
Smart, witty tale about a suburban housewife and her dysfunctional family life. Her husband Hank is so focused on being ‘a real manly man’, pushing his gender issues onto his two sons, trying to find answers to his youngest’s strange ways. It reeks of toxic masculinity, easily masqueraded as ‘Viking blood’. Jesse is surfing the dark web, that Hank had installed with the smart house. Luke is trying to find order in the chaos of his family, his mind wired differently to most.
It’s infuriating and addictive at the same time, a bit like John’s letters. Jenny, as much as I sympathise with her, is sleepwalking through motherhood and her life, I suppose we all feel like that sometimes.
It highlights just how much Hank is a chauvinistic male, how the gender roles in his house are very much adhered to. At the same time I wanted to shake Jenny into taking rein of her own life, to not just adhering to Hank’s whims. The ending leaves the story, wide open to interpretation, hinting at the wider issue surrounding opioids in society at present. They are everywhere.
•
Hope to hear more from Randall in the future, it was a refreshing novel. Thanks to the buddy read participants, it was lovely to hear your thoughts on Twitter every Monday
•
A huge thanks to @riverrun_books @anabooks & @natasha_randall_ for the #gifted ARC of Love Orange to join in the buddy read. 🍊
•
“When I was young, I thought the whole man-woman problem, I thought it was done. We were equal. I had no work, nobody telling me that I couldn’t do stuff. I really had no idea that getting married was, for women, not a good thing.” Jenny.
•
Jenny, to take her mind off the pressure of being a better mother and housewife, joins her church’s outreach programme. She starts writing to John an inmate, to offer kindness and a lifeline for her loneliness. Hank, her husband doesn’t know. Each letter provides Jenny with an awakening of senses to her monotonous life. With two complicated sons, Jenny longs for freedom from her life. Slowly she starts to become dependent on the sweet orange glue that seals John’s envelopes, as their lives start to implode.
•
Smart, witty tale about a suburban housewife and her dysfunctional family life. Her husband Hank is so focused on being ‘a real manly man’, pushing his gender issues onto his two sons, trying to find answers to his youngest’s strange ways. It reeks of toxic masculinity, easily masqueraded as ‘Viking blood’. Jesse is surfing the dark web, that Hank had installed with the smart house. Luke is trying to find order in the chaos of his family, his mind wired differently to most.
It’s infuriating and addictive at the same time, a bit like John’s letters. Jenny, as much as I sympathise with her, is sleepwalking through motherhood and her life, I suppose we all feel like that sometimes.
It highlights just how much Hank is a chauvinistic male, how the gender roles in his house are very much adhered to. At the same time I wanted to shake Jenny into taking rein of her own life, to not just adhering to Hank’s whims. The ending leaves the story, wide open to interpretation, hinting at the wider issue surrounding opioids in society at present. They are everywhere.
•
Hope to hear more from Randall in the future, it was a refreshing novel. Thanks to the buddy read participants, it was lovely to hear your thoughts on Twitter every Monday
September 3, 2020
This is unlike anything I’ve read before - unique, smart and a little bit twisted!
This story holds a microscope to an American family and their life under the watchful gaze of their smart home. There’s Hank, the father who is feeling dissatisfied with his career and his sons who he doesn’t feel are “manly” enough, Jenny, the mother who hates how much technology has taken over their lives and resents just being thought of as a mother, and then there are the boys, Jesse and Luke, both dealing with their own questions about life. The twist is that Jenny has a secret prison pen pal, John, who inadvertently gets her hooked on his ‘Orange Love’, which finally allows her to break free and be honest about how she struggles.
I’m not sure how much that will all make sense as this is a difficult book to explain covering such a wide range of topics, from technology, to religion, to the expectations of masculinity, to motherhood, and to addiction in different formats - from the opioids Jenny gets hooked on, to the violent computer games Jesse can’t get enough of. Then there is Luke, a boy so sensitive and inquisitive that he is struggling to cope with the lack of answers for him, and his father’s expectations.
There were so many relatable elements to this story, especially in the way Randall describes motherhood and losing your identity as an individual when you become a mother, which I loved. Hank’s character development was brilliant - easy to hate at first, but as Jenny took less responsibility he has to step up.
I also loved the way this story eases you into its weirdness - it begins as a very normal look at family life, but by the end you are left wondering what you just read, and having to go back to fully understand the extent of Randall’s genius (some of which may have been too much for my lack of genius!). Definitely the quirkiest story I have read in a long time! Actual rating 3.5.
This story holds a microscope to an American family and their life under the watchful gaze of their smart home. There’s Hank, the father who is feeling dissatisfied with his career and his sons who he doesn’t feel are “manly” enough, Jenny, the mother who hates how much technology has taken over their lives and resents just being thought of as a mother, and then there are the boys, Jesse and Luke, both dealing with their own questions about life. The twist is that Jenny has a secret prison pen pal, John, who inadvertently gets her hooked on his ‘Orange Love’, which finally allows her to break free and be honest about how she struggles.
I’m not sure how much that will all make sense as this is a difficult book to explain covering such a wide range of topics, from technology, to religion, to the expectations of masculinity, to motherhood, and to addiction in different formats - from the opioids Jenny gets hooked on, to the violent computer games Jesse can’t get enough of. Then there is Luke, a boy so sensitive and inquisitive that he is struggling to cope with the lack of answers for him, and his father’s expectations.
There were so many relatable elements to this story, especially in the way Randall describes motherhood and losing your identity as an individual when you become a mother, which I loved. Hank’s character development was brilliant - easy to hate at first, but as Jenny took less responsibility he has to step up.
I also loved the way this story eases you into its weirdness - it begins as a very normal look at family life, but by the end you are left wondering what you just read, and having to go back to fully understand the extent of Randall’s genius (some of which may have been too much for my lack of genius!). Definitely the quirkiest story I have read in a long time! Actual rating 3.5.
January 31, 2021
In Love Orange we are introduced to the dysfunctional and fascinating Tinkley family; Jenny, Hank and their sons, Jesse and Luke and I enjoyed getting to know all about them enormously.
Hank is a brilliant character even though most of his actions and opinions infuriated me. He’s a paranoid, anxious technophile who, emboldened by his viking heritage, is obsessed with his masculinity and teaching his boys how to be ‘real men’ whether they like it or not.
Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Jesse’s use of technology is becoming problematic, whilst the youngest of the family, inquisitive and misunderstood, eight-year-old Luke, is left to his own devices in his basement play room.
Jenny is lonely, frustrated and disconnected from her husband. It speaks volumes about her relationship with him that she gains more comfort and understanding from her correspondence with John, her prisoner penpal, than she does from Hank. She feels trapped and undermined by the ‘smart home’ that Hank has created and she resents the way that technology has taken over their lives – even their church has a smartphone. That is until she becomes curious about the sweet orange substance that John has used to seal his envelopes, whereupon her life takes a drastic change in direction and the story delves deeper into themes of addiction and imprisonment.
It is testament to the author’s incredible talent that she has produced a work of literary fiction covering many complex issues, that is not only highly readable and relatable, but also very amusing. So many of Jenny’s feelings and fears resonated with me as a mother, and the descriptions of the minutiae of family life and the characters’ inner ponderings were brilliant.
Love Orange is a modern, original, powerful and thought provoking story that I didn’t want to end and I already want to read it all over again – I loved every page!
Hank is a brilliant character even though most of his actions and opinions infuriated me. He’s a paranoid, anxious technophile who, emboldened by his viking heritage, is obsessed with his masculinity and teaching his boys how to be ‘real men’ whether they like it or not.
Meanwhile, thirteen-year-old Jesse’s use of technology is becoming problematic, whilst the youngest of the family, inquisitive and misunderstood, eight-year-old Luke, is left to his own devices in his basement play room.
Jenny is lonely, frustrated and disconnected from her husband. It speaks volumes about her relationship with him that she gains more comfort and understanding from her correspondence with John, her prisoner penpal, than she does from Hank. She feels trapped and undermined by the ‘smart home’ that Hank has created and she resents the way that technology has taken over their lives – even their church has a smartphone. That is until she becomes curious about the sweet orange substance that John has used to seal his envelopes, whereupon her life takes a drastic change in direction and the story delves deeper into themes of addiction and imprisonment.
It is testament to the author’s incredible talent that she has produced a work of literary fiction covering many complex issues, that is not only highly readable and relatable, but also very amusing. So many of Jenny’s feelings and fears resonated with me as a mother, and the descriptions of the minutiae of family life and the characters’ inner ponderings were brilliant.
Love Orange is a modern, original, powerful and thought provoking story that I didn’t want to end and I already want to read it all over again – I loved every page!
March 15, 2021
Love Orange is a quirky, unusual book that surprised me with how well it drew me into the seemingly mundane lives of the characters. Set in an ordinary American family, this was slow to start and took me a little while to get into, but as it takes apart the expected roles of each member of the family I found myself drawn into the day-to-day drama.
I admit, none of the characters are particularly likable, with perhaps the exception of the priest and the youngest son, Luke. Randall's writing is fairly minimalist, yet still manages to portray the thoughts and emotions of the characters well. From Hank with his obsession about masculinity, Luke's collections and his need to find answers and Jenny's struggle to find an identity over than wife and mother, the dysfunctional family is almost of a miniature for society as a whole.
There are a lot of themes here and mostly it works, but sometimes Randall loses sight of the narrative and it becomes a bit jumbled, particularly when she tries to flit between the present and the past. Some narrative threads feel like loose ends, particularly Shona, the wife of the prisoner Jenny is exchanging letters with. There were moments where I was jarred out of the narrative as I tried to place exactly when and where Randall had shifted to, but these were thankfully few and far between.
All in all, this is a well written depiction of the standard nuclear family gone wrong. It's a slow burn novel and I'd have liked the ending to have felt more complete, but it's wry with a dark humour that appealed to me and shines a light on some topical issues. An enjoyable read and I'll look forward to seeing what the author does next.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.
I admit, none of the characters are particularly likable, with perhaps the exception of the priest and the youngest son, Luke. Randall's writing is fairly minimalist, yet still manages to portray the thoughts and emotions of the characters well. From Hank with his obsession about masculinity, Luke's collections and his need to find answers and Jenny's struggle to find an identity over than wife and mother, the dysfunctional family is almost of a miniature for society as a whole.
There are a lot of themes here and mostly it works, but sometimes Randall loses sight of the narrative and it becomes a bit jumbled, particularly when she tries to flit between the present and the past. Some narrative threads feel like loose ends, particularly Shona, the wife of the prisoner Jenny is exchanging letters with. There were moments where I was jarred out of the narrative as I tried to place exactly when and where Randall had shifted to, but these were thankfully few and far between.
All in all, this is a well written depiction of the standard nuclear family gone wrong. It's a slow burn novel and I'd have liked the ending to have felt more complete, but it's wry with a dark humour that appealed to me and shines a light on some topical issues. An enjoyable read and I'll look forward to seeing what the author does next.
Many thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my free review copy of this title.
September 20, 2020
I got this book via Netgalley so thank you for this ARC.
"If someone tells a lie, they're a liar. If someone takes something, they're a thief. If someone kills, they're a killer. That's what happens."
This domestic tale follows a seemingly typical white American middle class family living in a house made to seem up to date with plastic and smart technology. The story covers a lot but the main theme I got from this was that of identity. The one inside and the one that suits the needs of society. In this story, nothing is quite as it seems and not everything orange is not fruit. 🧡🍊
The story is a slow starter as we journey with Jenny and experience the frustration she experiences in her everyday life. It begins to pick up just after half way and is even quite funny in places, but sadly I didn't particularly gel with any of the main characters and it's a character driven plot. Jenny seemed a little self indulgent and unaware of her own privilege in places, though in fairness she actively tried to combat her own bias. Hank had a weird obsession with masculinity, which I found bizarre because he wasn't my idea of a typical alpha male at all. Jesse was as you would expect for someone addicted to the computer. The only one I liked really was Luke who I found endearing.
In this book I found it easy to read. There was a certain simplicity and matter-of- factness to the narrative tone that made it easy to digest. I wasn't a huge fan of the multiple POV's and found most of them largely unnecessary outside of Jenny. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about Shona's role in the book at first but I received the symbolism. A solid literary read and a strong debut.
"If someone tells a lie, they're a liar. If someone takes something, they're a thief. If someone kills, they're a killer. That's what happens."
This domestic tale follows a seemingly typical white American middle class family living in a house made to seem up to date with plastic and smart technology. The story covers a lot but the main theme I got from this was that of identity. The one inside and the one that suits the needs of society. In this story, nothing is quite as it seems and not everything orange is not fruit. 🧡🍊
The story is a slow starter as we journey with Jenny and experience the frustration she experiences in her everyday life. It begins to pick up just after half way and is even quite funny in places, but sadly I didn't particularly gel with any of the main characters and it's a character driven plot. Jenny seemed a little self indulgent and unaware of her own privilege in places, though in fairness she actively tried to combat her own bias. Hank had a weird obsession with masculinity, which I found bizarre because he wasn't my idea of a typical alpha male at all. Jesse was as you would expect for someone addicted to the computer. The only one I liked really was Luke who I found endearing.
In this book I found it easy to read. There was a certain simplicity and matter-of- factness to the narrative tone that made it easy to digest. I wasn't a huge fan of the multiple POV's and found most of them largely unnecessary outside of Jenny. I wasn't entirely sure how I felt about Shona's role in the book at first but I received the symbolism. A solid literary read and a strong debut.
October 4, 2020
Based on an American family this book is unique and gritty and although I didn't care much for any of the characters least of all Hank the egotistical, control freak husband of Jenny I really did enjoy the book.
Love Orange explores the perception of what its like to be a perfect family, almost a look at what happens behind closed doors and what we perceive as people who have it all or living the American dream and what life is actually like.
Its eccentric and unlike anything I've read before. The characters are so well developed and real to life that its quite disturbing.
I felt the claustrophobia that Jenny feels trapped in a smart house with a husband that isn't either emotionally available or present.
I felt the pain and confusion of Luke and Jesse, their sons and the need to feel accepted or validation.
I would liked a little more of the relationship between John and Jenny though. I feel like there wasn't really enough going on there. Like it was a big build up to Jenny writing to this prisoner as a sort of comfort or escape from the humdrum of life but it didn't really go anywhere. I didn't really understand her becoming to addicted to a substance like why? And John seemed a little blasé about it all.
Overall all I really enjoyed this book. It left me with a lot of questions which I quite like in a book but completely understand that's a personal thing 😊
This is defintely character driven rather than plot driven so if thats your Jam then I defintely recommend this one.
The highlight for me was reading this as part of a readalong with Riverun and lots of great bookworms over on Twitter!
Love Orange explores the perception of what its like to be a perfect family, almost a look at what happens behind closed doors and what we perceive as people who have it all or living the American dream and what life is actually like.
Its eccentric and unlike anything I've read before. The characters are so well developed and real to life that its quite disturbing.
I felt the claustrophobia that Jenny feels trapped in a smart house with a husband that isn't either emotionally available or present.
I felt the pain and confusion of Luke and Jesse, their sons and the need to feel accepted or validation.
I would liked a little more of the relationship between John and Jenny though. I feel like there wasn't really enough going on there. Like it was a big build up to Jenny writing to this prisoner as a sort of comfort or escape from the humdrum of life but it didn't really go anywhere. I didn't really understand her becoming to addicted to a substance like why? And John seemed a little blasé about it all.
Overall all I really enjoyed this book. It left me with a lot of questions which I quite like in a book but completely understand that's a personal thing 😊
This is defintely character driven rather than plot driven so if thats your Jam then I defintely recommend this one.
The highlight for me was reading this as part of a readalong with Riverun and lots of great bookworms over on Twitter!
October 5, 2020
Thank you to the author @natasha_randall_ publishers @riverrun_books @quercusbooks and @netgalley for an arc of this debut book.
Meet The Tinkley's. Jenny and Hank with their smart house filled with technology, look like they've got it all. But scratch beneath the surface and you see that not all is as it seems. With Hank obsessing over his Viking heritage, Jenny secretly writing to an imprisoned convict named John and two sons, one in therapy and one surfing the dark web, things are most definitely dsyfunctional.
A book that also highlights the danger and dependence on technology. Written before lockdown, but eerily predicting what the near future may hold. Have a confession to make at church? Just text it into the God Phone.
The Tinkley family are put under the microscope in this unpredictable, modern look at gender roles. A Stepford Wives for the millennium generation. Hank is annoyingly chauvinistic, but because he does breathing exercises and yoga, thinks that he's in touch with his softer side. And we see Jenny slowly unravel as she loses control and becomes dependent on the orange flavour paper John sends her. Sharp and witty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And was Team Jenny all the way (especially after you find out how they met) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Out now #loveorange 🧡🍊
"She had once asked Hank, 'Is there anything hard about being a man?' She knew it was an odd question so she explained herself. 'I mean, I can tell you what's hard about being a woman... there are body issues, age issues, the periods, childbirth, the problem of being taken seriously, glass ceilings - you know that sort of thing. But, I'm just thinking, what about for men?'"
Meet The Tinkley's. Jenny and Hank with their smart house filled with technology, look like they've got it all. But scratch beneath the surface and you see that not all is as it seems. With Hank obsessing over his Viking heritage, Jenny secretly writing to an imprisoned convict named John and two sons, one in therapy and one surfing the dark web, things are most definitely dsyfunctional.
A book that also highlights the danger and dependence on technology. Written before lockdown, but eerily predicting what the near future may hold. Have a confession to make at church? Just text it into the God Phone.
The Tinkley family are put under the microscope in this unpredictable, modern look at gender roles. A Stepford Wives for the millennium generation. Hank is annoyingly chauvinistic, but because he does breathing exercises and yoga, thinks that he's in touch with his softer side. And we see Jenny slowly unravel as she loses control and becomes dependent on the orange flavour paper John sends her. Sharp and witty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And was Team Jenny all the way (especially after you find out how they met) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Out now #loveorange 🧡🍊
"She had once asked Hank, 'Is there anything hard about being a man?' She knew it was an odd question so she explained herself. 'I mean, I can tell you what's hard about being a woman... there are body issues, age issues, the periods, childbirth, the problem of being taken seriously, glass ceilings - you know that sort of thing. But, I'm just thinking, what about for men?'"
October 5, 2020
In some books you know what to expect from the beginning, others, are a total surprise from the beginning till the end. You don’t know what the book will bring you but you can’t stop reading and wondering what will happen next. This is the case of “Love Orange”, an American family portrait, with humor, reality doses and technology in which any reader will feel a little bit represented on the story.
The Tinkley’s are the typical American family, they have their marital problems, the children spend more time playing games than talking and they live in a smart house. But hey, they all go together to the church every Sunday where they send their sins to a mobile!
This is a slow burning story, everything will start when Jenny will start writing letters to a prison inmate, she will start facing the reality of her life and will share her inner thoughts and dreams with him. This is not a romantic story, this is a way to show the reader the emptiness that we sometimes feel as technology addiction grows and lets us to missing the social communication we are used to without even noticing.
I loved this story; the author, Natasha Randall, has done an amazing job to share the reader the fears we have sometimes as a family; not being good parents, the relation between all the members of the family, eating too healthy… A curious reflection of our society and how technology is leading our self isolation.
This is a dazzling read, addictive and real, let yourself fall in love with orange, you’ll get addicted! 😉
The Tinkley’s are the typical American family, they have their marital problems, the children spend more time playing games than talking and they live in a smart house. But hey, they all go together to the church every Sunday where they send their sins to a mobile!
This is a slow burning story, everything will start when Jenny will start writing letters to a prison inmate, she will start facing the reality of her life and will share her inner thoughts and dreams with him. This is not a romantic story, this is a way to show the reader the emptiness that we sometimes feel as technology addiction grows and lets us to missing the social communication we are used to without even noticing.
I loved this story; the author, Natasha Randall, has done an amazing job to share the reader the fears we have sometimes as a family; not being good parents, the relation between all the members of the family, eating too healthy… A curious reflection of our society and how technology is leading our self isolation.
This is a dazzling read, addictive and real, let yourself fall in love with orange, you’ll get addicted! 😉
July 27, 2020
Love Orange is your everyday tale of average American folk: Hank, obsessed with his smart home and protecting his children – Luke and Jesse- against the powers that would take away their manhood; wife Jenny – unfulfilled by life, annoyed by their smart home, and writer of letters to prison inmates; Jesse a surfer of henti porn; and Luke a fascinated and organised child who may or may not be on a 'spectrum'. As the book progesses Hank gets more obsessed with acting manly with his kids, whilst Jenny gets more obsessed about acting as a go between for her inmate pen-pal, John, and his wife.
Whilst I polished this book off quite quickly, it didn't really deliver for me personally. On the plus side, it is funny: Hank stealing a lip stick, nylon tights and a unwrapped tampon from Luke's room "Oh god, was Luke , like, preparing to turn 'trans or something?" for example is marvellous, esp when it becomes clear that in Luke's mind what has been stole is his Cotton sample (tampon), nylon sample (a stocking) and whale blubber sample (lipstick). Also, when talking about he fears of the smart home, Jenny saying "It occurred to her that the house couldn't really read her expressions either, now that she'd had botox…", made me smile too, but laughs aside the story itself just failed to hold my attention, and without the couple of notes I made when reading it, I don't think I could have told you anything about it now. Instantly forgotten.
Whilst I polished this book off quite quickly, it didn't really deliver for me personally. On the plus side, it is funny: Hank stealing a lip stick, nylon tights and a unwrapped tampon from Luke's room "Oh god, was Luke , like, preparing to turn 'trans or something?" for example is marvellous, esp when it becomes clear that in Luke's mind what has been stole is his Cotton sample (tampon), nylon sample (a stocking) and whale blubber sample (lipstick). Also, when talking about he fears of the smart home, Jenny saying "It occurred to her that the house couldn't really read her expressions either, now that she'd had botox…", made me smile too, but laughs aside the story itself just failed to hold my attention, and without the couple of notes I made when reading it, I don't think I could have told you anything about it now. Instantly forgotten.
August 16, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Love Orange is a snapshot of American 21st century life. Literally a snapshot. Like a photograph we can see what we see in this novel but without any real depth to the lives or backstories of Jenny and Hank, and I really really liked that. The children are only this age, Jesse is not going to grow up and go to high school. Luke is not going to be diagnosed with anything. What we see is what is happening then and there.
I especially enjoyed the boys views on life and their relationships with their parents. The disastrous camping trip that actually serves to really bring the brothers together and give them some time away from technology and their own narrow interests, and the shift in the family when Jenny is absent when they create the time capsule. Randall then swiftly reminds us that this is real life and not a Hollywood movie and the next day Jesse reverts to his typical 13 year old self.
The dispassionate writing style allows us to form our own opinions on what happens throughout the book as a casual observer and not part of the family ourselves.
I thought Jenny’s naivety around the orange was a little unlikely in this day and age but I loved the change in her behaviour especially the Botox which still has me giggling now.
I hope it was deliberate that the author had a white middle class mother going to a black, younger woman and finding intelligent help, support and boundaries there.
I especially enjoyed the boys views on life and their relationships with their parents. The disastrous camping trip that actually serves to really bring the brothers together and give them some time away from technology and their own narrow interests, and the shift in the family when Jenny is absent when they create the time capsule. Randall then swiftly reminds us that this is real life and not a Hollywood movie and the next day Jesse reverts to his typical 13 year old self.
The dispassionate writing style allows us to form our own opinions on what happens throughout the book as a casual observer and not part of the family ourselves.
I thought Jenny’s naivety around the orange was a little unlikely in this day and age but I loved the change in her behaviour especially the Botox which still has me giggling now.
I hope it was deliberate that the author had a white middle class mother going to a black, younger woman and finding intelligent help, support and boundaries there.
October 31, 2020
This is a superb read about the Tinkley family who, on the surface, are living a regular, everyday, suburban life in Pennsylvania. Jenny doesn’t like the ultra-modern way her Arts and Crafts house has become... but Hank, her husband, loves the technology, the way you can order milk with a simple spoken request. Luke and Jessie, the sons, have the usual issues but nothing untoward. But all is not as it seems, which is very much the case in many people’s lives today.
Aside from Luke’s obsession with digging and archaeological exploits, he’s a good kid. Jessie gets into trouble at school for allegedly accessing the Dark Web. Jenny begins a long correspondence with a prisoner, John, and also Shona, his partner. Unbeknownst to Jenny, and anyone else in the family, the licking of the strange orange glue on John’s letters leads to much more worrying behaviour.
This debut is assured, funny, in places, and deftly written, and I really like the way Randall switches the focuses from one character to another, which shows the supposed cohesion of a family and how it can rapidly unravel. Throughout, I am on Jenny’s side - the only female in the family unit - not that one should take sides, per se.
I love books that are beautifully written and compelling - but also resonate after turning the final page, and ‘Love Orange’ ticks all of these boxes for me.
Aside from Luke’s obsession with digging and archaeological exploits, he’s a good kid. Jessie gets into trouble at school for allegedly accessing the Dark Web. Jenny begins a long correspondence with a prisoner, John, and also Shona, his partner. Unbeknownst to Jenny, and anyone else in the family, the licking of the strange orange glue on John’s letters leads to much more worrying behaviour.
This debut is assured, funny, in places, and deftly written, and I really like the way Randall switches the focuses from one character to another, which shows the supposed cohesion of a family and how it can rapidly unravel. Throughout, I am on Jenny’s side - the only female in the family unit - not that one should take sides, per se.
I love books that are beautifully written and compelling - but also resonate after turning the final page, and ‘Love Orange’ ticks all of these boxes for me.
August 15, 2020
Love Orange is a novel about a married couple, Jenny and Hank, trapped in their gender roles in suburban America while bringing up two young sons.
Hank has some weird ideas about masculinity and protecting his family, obsessing about privacy and the dark web. He’s determined to create a “smart home” where the refrigerator orders more milk when they run low, whether anyone else wants this or not.
Jenny hates the house and is mainly bored and frustrated with her life as a housewife, mother and part time receptionist for a plastic surgeon. She starts a pen-pal correspondence with a prisoner named John to try to relieve the boredom which leads to the main narrative strand of the novel.
I enjoyed the novel as a slice of life, but never really engaged with any of the characters. Hank was particularly annoying and unsympathetic. I wanted him to get his comeuppance or at least have some sort of character development, but it never happened. Jenny was trapped and miserable, but I felt she was complicit in her own misery. Three stars seems about right.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.
Hank has some weird ideas about masculinity and protecting his family, obsessing about privacy and the dark web. He’s determined to create a “smart home” where the refrigerator orders more milk when they run low, whether anyone else wants this or not.
Jenny hates the house and is mainly bored and frustrated with her life as a housewife, mother and part time receptionist for a plastic surgeon. She starts a pen-pal correspondence with a prisoner named John to try to relieve the boredom which leads to the main narrative strand of the novel.
I enjoyed the novel as a slice of life, but never really engaged with any of the characters. Hank was particularly annoying and unsympathetic. I wanted him to get his comeuppance or at least have some sort of character development, but it never happened. Jenny was trapped and miserable, but I felt she was complicit in her own misery. Three stars seems about right.
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing a review copy in exchange for honest feedback.
September 6, 2020
Love Orange is a pithy and somewhat bleak observation of a modern American family. Hank and Jenny have two boys, Jesse and Luke. They move out of the city into suburbia and Hank turns their home into a 'smart' home. Jenny hates it. She feels like motherhood is overwhelming, and feels a kind of 'marshmallow numbness'. She keeps a secret to herself - she is writing to John, a prisoner. He was found guilty of manslaughter, and his wife Shona, was found to be an accessory. John asks Jenny to pass on letters to Shona as prisoners are not able to write to one another. When Jenny notices an orange colour on the envelope, she tastes it. And it numbs her pain.
Hank is obsessing about what it means to be male in modern times, he wants to encourage his boys to be more macho. He thinks Luke might be autistic and is keen to get a diagnosis.
Jenny disappears one night, and goes to Shona who has been released from prison. She discovers that what she has been taking is suboxone - highly addictive and meant for Shona to use as currency whilst locked up.
I thought the writing was clever and a sharp insight into modern life but I didn't really feel a connection with the characters or feel invested in their story. There was just something that left me feeling a bit detached from the plot.
Hank is obsessing about what it means to be male in modern times, he wants to encourage his boys to be more macho. He thinks Luke might be autistic and is keen to get a diagnosis.
Jenny disappears one night, and goes to Shona who has been released from prison. She discovers that what she has been taking is suboxone - highly addictive and meant for Shona to use as currency whilst locked up.
I thought the writing was clever and a sharp insight into modern life but I didn't really feel a connection with the characters or feel invested in their story. There was just something that left me feeling a bit detached from the plot.
October 5, 2020
Thank you to the author @natasha_randall_ publishers @riverrun_books @quercusbooks and @netgalley for an arc of this debut book.
Meet The Tinkley's. Jenny and Hank with their smart house filled with technology, look like they've got it all. But scratch beneath the surface and you see that not all is as it seems. With Hank obsessing over his Viking heritage, Jenny secretly writing to an imprisoned convict named John and two sons, one in therapy and one surfing the dark web, things are most definitely dsyfunctional.
A book that also highlights the danger and dependence on technology. Written before lockdown, but eerily predicting what the near future may hold. Have a confession to make at church? Just text it into the God Phone.
The Tinkley family are put under the microscope in this unpredictable, modern look at gender roles. A Stepford Wives for the millennium generation. Hank is annoyingly chauvinistic, but because he does breathing exercises and yoga, thinks that he's in touch with his softer side. And we see Jenny slowly unravel as she loses control and becomes dependent on the orange flavour paper John sends her. Sharp and witty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And was Team Jenny all the way (especially after you find out how they met) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Out now #loveorange 🧡🍊
"She had once asked Hank, 'Is there anything hard about being a man?' She knew it was an odd question so she explained herself. 'I mean, I can tell you what's hard about being a woman... there are body issues, age issues, the periods, childbirth, the problem of being taken seriously, glass ceilings - you know that sort of thing. But, I'm just thinking, what about for men?'"
Meet The Tinkley's. Jenny and Hank with their smart house filled with technology, look like they've got it all. But scratch beneath the surface and you see that not all is as it seems. With Hank obsessing over his Viking heritage, Jenny secretly writing to an imprisoned convict named John and two sons, one in therapy and one surfing the dark web, things are most definitely dsyfunctional.
A book that also highlights the danger and dependence on technology. Written before lockdown, but eerily predicting what the near future may hold. Have a confession to make at church? Just text it into the God Phone.
The Tinkley family are put under the microscope in this unpredictable, modern look at gender roles. A Stepford Wives for the millennium generation. Hank is annoyingly chauvinistic, but because he does breathing exercises and yoga, thinks that he's in touch with his softer side. And we see Jenny slowly unravel as she loses control and becomes dependent on the orange flavour paper John sends her. Sharp and witty. I thoroughly enjoyed it. And was Team Jenny all the way (especially after you find out how they met) ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Out now #loveorange 🧡🍊
"She had once asked Hank, 'Is there anything hard about being a man?' She knew it was an odd question so she explained herself. 'I mean, I can tell you what's hard about being a woman... there are body issues, age issues, the periods, childbirth, the problem of being taken seriously, glass ceilings - you know that sort of thing. But, I'm just thinking, what about for men?'"
October 5, 2020
Love Orange’ is the fascinating story and a vivid portrait of an apparently normal middle class American family. But there is a lot to discover behind the facade!
Hank, a salesman is struggling with his work life and his desire to control everything. So much that he makes his family live in a modern house, where everything is controlled and regulated by technology.
Jenny, his wife, has a secret correspondence with John who is a prison inmate.
Their children, confused by their parents’ weird and controlling behaviour start to navigate the dark web and try dangerous 🧪 experiments in the basement.
In the absurd and somehow tragic life of the characters, the author brilliantly mixes themes: from the exasperated use of technology to controlling relationships, from the inability to fulfill dreams and goals to anxiety and inability to make decisions.
I truly enjoyed the book and thanks to the #buddyread I appreciated nuances and details that I did not catch when reading. I feel like this book deserves a second reading and a sequel!
Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.
Hank, a salesman is struggling with his work life and his desire to control everything. So much that he makes his family live in a modern house, where everything is controlled and regulated by technology.
Jenny, his wife, has a secret correspondence with John who is a prison inmate.
Their children, confused by their parents’ weird and controlling behaviour start to navigate the dark web and try dangerous 🧪 experiments in the basement.
In the absurd and somehow tragic life of the characters, the author brilliantly mixes themes: from the exasperated use of technology to controlling relationships, from the inability to fulfill dreams and goals to anxiety and inability to make decisions.
I truly enjoyed the book and thanks to the #buddyread I appreciated nuances and details that I did not catch when reading. I feel like this book deserves a second reading and a sequel!
Thanks to the publisher, the author and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange of my honest opinion.
August 26, 2020
Either this book is just not kind of thing or it had some deeper message that soared over my head (in which case, also not really my thing as I read for enjoyment!) I am sure that there are readers out there that will enjoy this slice of life book.
Every single character really grated on me but they very much seemed as though they were not meant to be liked. The father, Hank, is an extreme example of toxic masculinity whilst also being incredibly into conspiracy theories; I imagine that had this book been written this year he would be shouting about masks being against his human rights and a mind control tool. The mother, Jenny, seems to really hate her life but is really pathetic and doesn't take any steps to change her lot. Then there are two kids, one who may or may not be into porn and another who the book tries really hard to say is neurodivergent but for the most part is portrayed as very neurotypical.
The plot seems to just involve drugs but even that failed to capture my interest.
Every single character really grated on me but they very much seemed as though they were not meant to be liked. The father, Hank, is an extreme example of toxic masculinity whilst also being incredibly into conspiracy theories; I imagine that had this book been written this year he would be shouting about masks being against his human rights and a mind control tool. The mother, Jenny, seems to really hate her life but is really pathetic and doesn't take any steps to change her lot. Then there are two kids, one who may or may not be into porn and another who the book tries really hard to say is neurodivergent but for the most part is portrayed as very neurotypical.
The plot seems to just involve drugs but even that failed to capture my interest.
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