I liked this book! I liked the subtlety of the toxicity that felt very true to life. Adelaide was easy to root for, and her friends were well fleshed out. The audio narration was well executed. The mental health content was treated with both realism and sensitivity. I would definitely recommend this, particularly to women in their 20s struggling to make sense of the dating landscape and trying so hard to see the best in people they want to love.

Editing to add something I forgot: It’s worth noting there are multiple substantial HP references in this book. That’s definitely a disappointment at this point and I’d love to see authors slowing down that reference in light of current awareness. 

The narrative structure created such distance from the events and characters that I just never felt drawn to pick this up. 

 My Last Innocent Year is a lyrical and moving debut that perfectly captures the unique challenges of the moment right between college and true adulthood. This story follows Isabel in her final semester at a small liberal arts college in New England as she faces assault, student loans, and an affair with her writing professor. Set in the 1990s, the backdrop of the Clinton-Lewinski scandal further highlights all the progress women had not yet made by this time. As Isabel begins to come to terms with how unprepared she is for life after college, falling into the role of object of desire for an older man she admires feels natural and easy, and the temptation is strong. The writing is rich, and captures a very strong internal sense of what this moment in time was for Isabel. I highly recommend giving this a read, especially if you are a fan of sad girl lit-fic! 

I think I enjoyed this one more than the first even, probably because we got the chance to encounter more characters. I love the world and atmosphere of this duology so much, and it leaves you so many philosophical morsels to chew on. This book made me cry about a fish. I loved the themes and musings on community and communal care in this second installment in particular.

This book feels like a quiet scream, and it will certainly be sticking with me for a while. I think that Fredrik Backman's third-person omniscient narration which jumps from person to person regularly was uniquely well suited to this exploration of not just one incident of rape but of rape culture and the way the entire town is complicit in the difficulties the victim faces seeking justice. The characters in this felt very real, and Backman did an excellent job shading their conflicting motivations and morals. It is rare to find such a large cast each so individually compelling. I listened to the audiobook which I found to be excellently narrated. I look forward to the rest of the trilogy.