My Rating: 5 stars
I enjoy reading stories about characters who go on some type of personal journey of self-discovery and eventually they come into their own, where they either realize their full potential or recognize something about themselves that they were previously unaware of (or had been suppressing to the point that they don't remember its existence). This was certainly the case for this story's main character Casey Peabody, a thirty-one year old aspiring writer struggling through the many challenges of her life, including (but not limited to): a writing career that might be over before it ever officially takes off, a waitressing job that enables her to pay the rent on the moldy little shed that she lives in but sucks the life and joy out of her, mountains of debt from student loans that have rendered her poor and broke, potential health issues from not being able to afford to see a doctor in years, etc (yes, that's not even all of it). Emotionally, she is a wreck, as she's not only reeling from a recent failed relationship and breakup, she is also grieving for her mother, who died suddenly and unexpectedly while on a trip. Aside from her brother Caleb, who lives thousands of miles away, Casey only has 2 friends left: Muriel, a fellow writer who stuck with the profession and actually became successful, and Harry, her eccentric co-worker at the restaurant she waitresses for — having these two friends to confide in seems to be the only "positive" thing that Casey has got going for her at the moment. Lost and trying to find herself, Casey meets two fellow writers — Silas, a young, poor, struggling writer just like herself, and Oscar, an older, much more accomplished writer who was recently widowed, left to raise 2 charming little boys on his own — and finds herself torn between the two men, which only adds more stress to her life.
Casey is a character whom I connected with on so many levels, even though our lives and backgrounds couldn't be more different. For me, the part I was able to relate to the most was Casey's determination in continuing to pursue her writing despite the odds, and even with everything seemingly working against her. As a once-aspiring writer myself who got sidelined by the realities of life (not to mention also buried under mountains of debt) and has since given up all hope of pursuing a writing career, I admire Casey's persistence as well as her ability to stay true to herself despite everything she is up against. I wish I'd had the fortitude and the drive she did when faced with so many challenges all at the same time. One of the scenes from the book that resonated most with me was when Casey is sitting at her desk staring at what she's written so far and reflecting on the encounter she just had with her jerk of a landlord Adam, who had insulted her with "I just find it extraordinary that you think you have something to say"...though she doesn't respond to his face, she tells us (the readers) this: "I don't write because I think I have something to say. I write because if I don't, everything feels even worse." Reading this line brought tears to my eyes because it summed up so perfectly my own personal writing journey — for me, writing is therapy of sorts, it's a way for me to cope with difficult situations and an outlet that helps me "deal with" some of the real-life issues bogging me down physically, mentally, and emotionally. So many of the struggles that Casey experiences on her writing journey, I've also experienced at some point in my own life. The connection I felt to Casey definitely made her an easy character to root for, even during the moments when I disagreed with some of the decisions she made.
One of the other things I loved about this book was the writing, which I found to be exquisite and beautiful in the way it brought forth Casey's voice and personality. The book's jacket summary states that Lily King wrote this story with her "trademark humor, heart, and intelligence" which perfectly describes how I feel about what King was able to accomplish here. Having Casey narrate the story from her own first person perspective was very fitting and worked so well here. I loved Casey's "voice" in this story, specifically the way she would never be afraid to admit her own vulnerabilities, but most of all, how she was still able to maintain her sense of humor even when so many things were going wrong in her life.
It's not often that I read a book where I had too many favorite scenes to count — this book was definitely one of them! In addition to all the scenes where Casey interacts with Oscar's two boys (both of whom were super-cute!), I also loved all the scenes that showed Casey's thought process while writing, but my most favorite of all was about a third of the way into the book when Casey interviews for a writing job at a charity organization and they have her write a thank you letter to one of the donors — it was a brief scene, only a few short paragraphs, but it made me laugh so hard because Casey's thought process as she was composing and typing that letter mirrors my own process whenever I sit down to a writing project (it can literally take me hours to write one paragraph because I keep deleting and re-writing in order to get the wording perfect).
In reading through the reviews, it looks like the reactions to this book have been a mixed bag — some readers loved it, some hated it, and a few fell somewhere in between. I obviously fall into the "love it" category, but of course, that's based on my personal experiences and resonance to the story as well as the characters. If you're interested in this one, I would suggest checking out both the positive and negative reviews to get a better sense of whether this one would work for you. (As for me, I definitely just added another "favorite author" to my list! Now to go back and read King's previous works, especially the much acclaimed Euphoria, which I already have a copy of on my bookshelf).
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