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@Expectations
@expectations is a fabulous work of women's fiction by a writer who has made a career of delving deep into women's hearts and finding the truth of their feelings and their lives. Reed's fiction has always examined the female and familial conditions with a sharp eye, a truthful insight, and a unique style that leaves her readers breathless and wanting more.
Jenny is living a typical suburban life, one she's no longer sure she really wants and doesn't know how to change. When she stumbles upon an online community where people create their own lives through words, she dives in headfirst, eager for something new.
But soon Jenny becomes so far removed from her life that she can no longer even see the line between reality and fantasy; she's even got an online lover who insists that he will leave his own family, take her away from it all, and make their virtual life a reality. Eventually Jenny will have to make a choice: return to her husband, her children, her home, her "real life"--or escape into the arms of a fantasy world that may never become truly real.
Jenny is living a typical suburban life, one she's no longer sure she really wants and doesn't know how to change. When she stumbles upon an online community where people create their own lives through words, she dives in headfirst, eager for something new.
But soon Jenny becomes so far removed from her life that she can no longer even see the line between reality and fantasy; she's even got an online lover who insists that he will leave his own family, take her away from it all, and make their virtual life a reality. Eventually Jenny will have to make a choice: return to her husband, her children, her home, her "real life"--or escape into the arms of a fantasy world that may never become truly real.
- GenresFiction
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
38 people want to read
About the author
Kit Reed
192 books53 followersKit Reed was an American author of both speculative fiction and literary fiction, as well as psychological thrillers under the pseudonym Kit Craig.
Her 2013 "best-of" collection, The Story Until Now, A Great Big Book of Stories was a 2013 Shirley Jackson Award nominee. A Guggenheim fellow, she was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. She's had stories in, among others, The Yale Review, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Omni and The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Literature. Her books Weird Women, Wired Women and Little Sisters of the Apocalypse were finalists for the Tiptree Prize. A member of the board of the Authors League Fund, she served as Resident Writer at Wesleyan University.
Her 2013 "best-of" collection, The Story Until Now, A Great Big Book of Stories was a 2013 Shirley Jackson Award nominee. A Guggenheim fellow, she was the first American recipient of an international literary grant from the Abraham Woursell Foundation. She's had stories in, among others, The Yale Review, The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Omni and The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Literature. Her books Weird Women, Wired Women and Little Sisters of the Apocalypse were finalists for the Tiptree Prize. A member of the board of the Authors League Fund, she served as Resident Writer at Wesleyan University.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 18, 2009
Soooooooooo disappointed. This book totally sucked me in (even though I was lost at first since the book started mid story plot). Then I got to the end and BAM. Nada. I didn't feel like there was any resolution. Maybe a 2nd book after this?!?!?! Ugh. I did enjoy it. I didn't want to put it down but I was NOT HAPPY with the abrupt ending.
December 3, 2017
This book for me still shares the title of "THE WORST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ" it's horrible...poorly written and plain boring. I can't believe I made myself finish it. I only did so because I hate starting anything and not following through. Ugh... Please don't waste your time and read this!!
February 18, 2020
Filling in notes from my 2006 book journal:
This was also a used book I picked up at the sale. And after just reading 'As Always, Jack', oddly enough, this one is also a relationship conducted via correspondence and not in person - though this one is chat rooms and email instead of letters. After my own encounters with chat rooms, I recognized the addictive pull she felt and the closeness you develop with groups of people you've never met and will likely never meet and how real life can seem dull in comparison. I enjoyed it until the last several chapters, when the read life characters seem too extreme and the circumstances and consequences of everything are too drastic. Then the very last page leave you hanging. I'll have to look into whether or not she wrote a sequel.
This was also a used book I picked up at the sale. And after just reading 'As Always, Jack', oddly enough, this one is also a relationship conducted via correspondence and not in person - though this one is chat rooms and email instead of letters. After my own encounters with chat rooms, I recognized the addictive pull she felt and the closeness you develop with groups of people you've never met and will likely never meet and how real life can seem dull in comparison. I enjoyed it until the last several chapters, when the read life characters seem too extreme and the circumstances and consequences of everything are too drastic. Then the very last page leave you hanging. I'll have to look into whether or not she wrote a sequel.
January 3, 2022
Very enjoyable and prescient novel from the early days of cyber lives. Read in one fell swoop!
March 4, 2017
I picked up this book in the Nook store on my tablet because it seemed interesting and and it was on sale for $1.99. My personal review of the book is as follows:
I really think that this book is best experienced if you don't have any expectations about it (no pun intended) going in, I do want to say that this book kept me turning pages(and even losing some sleep) because I had to know what happened next. The ending of the book disappointed me, overall I personally rate this book a 6 and a half out 10.
I really think that this book is best experienced if you don't have any expectations about it (no pun intended) going in, I do want to say that this book kept me turning pages(and even losing some sleep) because I had to know what happened next. The ending of the book disappointed me, overall I personally rate this book a 6 and a half out 10.
April 19, 2009
This was okay. Plausible but something just didn't seem right although I can't put my finger on it.
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Love-starved Internet trawlers, beware, warns this provocative and amusing cautionary tale about chat-room romances by versatile fiction writer Reed. Stuck in sleepy Brevert, S.C., with her husband, Lt. Col. Charlie Wilder, USMC, and two hostile stepkids, Jenny Wilder becomes obsessed with life online at the imaginary offshore island StElene, "a sprawling resort... where Jenny can shed her problems and walk free." She can also shed her name (online she's Zan) and her persona as responsible wife and careerwoman. Days, Jenny is a therapist, bored by her neurotic Southern patients and homesick for her loft on lower Broadway. Nights, she's at StElene, where "you are what you type" and where she and "Reverby" are in love. They fraternize with friends in the ballroom, but disdain enemies like "Mireya," "Rev's" ex-lover, and "Azeath," a self-styled demonic figure; both try to help "Lark," a 19-year-old college dropout whose parents want to evict him. Every night, they retreat to the Dak Bungalow, their private place, where they make love by what "Reverby" calls "performative utterance." Whereas Jenny's Charlie is "relentlessly physical," "Reverby" knows "how to make love to her soul." Long nights in virtual reality begin to affect Jenny's daytime existence; her professional partner notes her distraction and warns her about the dangers of Internet obsession. But Jenny no longer sees the line between fantasy and reality. Suddenly, "Reverby" disappears from StElene and Jenny, accompanied by the desperate "Lark," goes in search of him, embarking on a disastrous real-life journey.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Love-starved Internet trawlers, beware, warns this provocative and amusing cautionary tale about chat-room romances by versatile fiction writer Reed. Stuck in sleepy Brevert, S.C., with her husband, Lt. Col. Charlie Wilder, USMC, and two hostile stepkids, Jenny Wilder becomes obsessed with life online at the imaginary offshore island StElene, "a sprawling resort... where Jenny can shed her problems and walk free." She can also shed her name (online she's Zan) and her persona as responsible wife and careerwoman. Days, Jenny is a therapist, bored by her neurotic Southern patients and homesick for her loft on lower Broadway. Nights, she's at StElene, where "you are what you type" and where she and "Reverby" are in love. They fraternize with friends in the ballroom, but disdain enemies like "Mireya," "Rev's" ex-lover, and "Azeath," a self-styled demonic figure; both try to help "Lark," a 19-year-old college dropout whose parents want to evict him. Every night, they retreat to the Dak Bungalow, their private place, where they make love by what "Reverby" calls "performative utterance." Whereas Jenny's Charlie is "relentlessly physical," "Reverby" knows "how to make love to her soul." Long nights in virtual reality begin to affect Jenny's daytime existence; her professional partner notes her distraction and warns her about the dangers of Internet obsession. But Jenny no longer sees the line between fantasy and reality. Suddenly, "Reverby" disappears from StElene and Jenny, accompanied by the desperate "Lark," goes in search of him, embarking on a disastrous real-life journey.
January 20, 2024
"Can you guess what it's like to love two men at the same time or how hard it is, shuttling between two worlds when you don't know where your heart belongs? The tension is tremendous."
Kit Reed's novel begins in medias res and pulls you into the story of Jenny, a young woman newly married to Charlie Wilder, a Marine officer. Charlie "forgot" to tell her until just before their wedding that he had two children from his previous marriage. He "forgot" to tell her how often his military career would leave her alone with the kids, who can't stand her. But she discovers a world where she can be happy: StElene, a virtual community to which she telnets daily, often leaving her sleeping husband to log on in the middle of the night. She meets someone who she thinks understands her better than her husband: a man who calls himself Reverdy. Most chapters in the book are from Jenny's point of view, but others are from Reverdy's or Lark's. Lark is a sweet, phobic 19-year-old who functions best in StElene and lives in his parents' basement. The tension in the story is generated as Jenny careens between the real world and StElene. I think there should have been a bit more backstory so we'd understand why Jenny ended up with Charlie. I think we're meant to infer that he reminds her of her father, who was in the Navy. But did she leave her psychiatric practice in New York City to marry him and move to South Carolina? Why didn't she have any friends from her former life? The ending, while plausible, seemed rushed and left some lingering questions.
Kit Reed's novel begins in medias res and pulls you into the story of Jenny, a young woman newly married to Charlie Wilder, a Marine officer. Charlie "forgot" to tell her until just before their wedding that he had two children from his previous marriage. He "forgot" to tell her how often his military career would leave her alone with the kids, who can't stand her. But she discovers a world where she can be happy: StElene, a virtual community to which she telnets daily, often leaving her sleeping husband to log on in the middle of the night. She meets someone who she thinks understands her better than her husband: a man who calls himself Reverdy. Most chapters in the book are from Jenny's point of view, but others are from Reverdy's or Lark's. Lark is a sweet, phobic 19-year-old who functions best in StElene and lives in his parents' basement. The tension in the story is generated as Jenny careens between the real world and StElene. I think there should have been a bit more backstory so we'd understand why Jenny ended up with Charlie. I think we're meant to infer that he reminds her of her father, who was in the Navy. But did she leave her psychiatric practice in New York City to marry him and move to South Carolina? Why didn't she have any friends from her former life? The ending, while plausible, seemed rushed and left some lingering questions.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 6, 2010
Premise: Jenny is in love with two men, her husband and a guy she met online in a MUD (text-based online world, more popular in the mid-90s). She sees this as a problem, but isn't sure how to resolve it.
I had a really hard time believing that Jenny was in love with either of these two guys. (I realize that people make bad choices sometimes, but I didn't think there was enough background info to make these bad choices seem plausible.) Other than that, Kit Reed managed to create a page-turner that captured the MUD environment, and the sorts of people that inhabited them, perfectly. As a result this was, for me, one of those wonderfully nostalgic books - sort of like reading a story set in your home town.
I had a really hard time believing that Jenny was in love with either of these two guys. (I realize that people make bad choices sometimes, but I didn't think there was enough background info to make these bad choices seem plausible.) Other than that, Kit Reed managed to create a page-turner that captured the MUD environment, and the sorts of people that inhabited them, perfectly. As a result this was, for me, one of those wonderfully nostalgic books - sort of like reading a story set in your home town.
December 26, 2012
I got this book on sale in a grocery store. I bought it because of the story that revolves around the age of the Internet. I took my time to read it because I wanted to know what happens in online relationships. I loved the relationships the people in the online community had. In the end, the ending was disappointing. I thought it was a waste of time.
July 21, 2012
This isn't a book for everyone, but I enjoyed it. Being of the first generation with chat rooms, I totally get how wrapped up a person can become in this alternate reality, and it's interesting to see how it all plays out when the two come together.
July 10, 2007
I read this book because I met my husband in a similar community as the one featured in the book. The book, however, is not well-written and has a disappointing and unsatisfying closure.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews