Thank you to partner @bibliolifestyle & Harper Via for the gifted copy & Libro.fm for the ALC

Eli wakes up in his cramped Bulgarian apartment looking for his wife, Elizabeth, only to realize he now inhabits her body. As Eli embarks on a journey across Europe and the US to search for his own body & his missing wife, he begins to wonder how this transformation will affect their marriage.

Alternating between Eli's current POV & Elizabeth's past, PEOPLE COLLIDE is a weird, extremely out-there, but most importantly, absorbing read. I was so invested in both MC's journeys I finished the audiobook in one sitting! I love how this original story explores one's sexuality & gender identity, and how that may evolve while we're in a relationship.

PEOPLE COLLIDE will be a book that readers with different lived experiences will have wildly different takeaways. As a cis, straight reader, I loved McElroy's descriptions of how Eli experiences the world in Elizabeth's body with all its misogyny. I also appreciate how this novel makes me wonder about the separation of my own identity from my husband's. What was I like before we met? Who am I without him?

I initially wanted the book to include Elizabeth's POV, but after reading the PEN Ten Interview with McElroy, I understood their decision to construct PEOPLE COLLIDE this way. It's so interesting (& maybe a bit sad?) to realize how the most intimate person we're with in life will never fully understand us and our own insecurities about feeling vulnerable in a relationship.

I only wish PEOPLE COLLIDE were longer because I could read this story forever! McElroy explores so many fascinating concepts about our identity in a relationship that I'd love to revisit as my own marriage progresses!