Thanks to Catapult for the free advance copy of this book.

YOU EXIST TOO MUCH's unnamed narrator struggles with a lifetime of self-destructive relationships, beginning with her abusive mother. After yet another relationship implodes, she checks into an alternative therapy retreat to seek treatment for what's been labeled her "love addiction."

I have rather mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it's quite readable - I found myself drawn in to the story even when I wasn't sure I liked the book. The protagonist is a fascinating character, dealing with a soup of trauma and bad decisions that she desperately wants to fix, even though she has no idea how.

I enjoyed that while the narrator's identities - bisexual, Palestinian American, writer, etc. - are key to who she is but it isn't necessarily a story about her identities. Certainly the book wouldn't exist without the tension her identities create, but she feels like a whole person rather than a set of lessons.

YOU EXIST TOO MUCH walks riiight up to the trope of the cheating, voracious bisexual. It's about half a step from being a real negative stereotype. However, she's got just enough backstory that her actions feel true to what we know of her, though I felt a bit on edge about it for a lot of the book.

I do feel like this book wrapped up too quickly.

Her retreat experience was lacking in any actual effective therapies, and then she just continued on as before for awhile until she was suddenly just dating the right person who made it all stop. I didn't really get the sense that she'd learned anything about herself, just that it was time for the book to be over.