I’ve actually had a copy of Emma Straub’s latest release since it came out in April, but I really wanted to listen to the audio version narrated by the fantastic Marin Ireland, so I waited until my library hold came through this weekend to read this. I’m actually glad I did because I don’t think I would’ve enjoyed this as much otherwise, seeing that I was never really into boy bands growing up (though I was surely familiar enough with them due to one of my childhood friends being obsessed with her favorite band NKOTB back in the day). With that said, I do understand what diehard fandom looks like, since I’ve worshipped my fair share of entertainers over the years (and admittedly there are a few celebrities whose careers I still closely follow) – but even so, in the event of a celebrity meet-and-greet, I’ve never been the “screaming fan” type, preferring instead to hang back and bask in the feelings of awe and wonder at being in the presence of someone I admire. It’s no wonder, then, that the part of the story I related to most is the idea that how we approach fandom can change in complex ways as we grow older. Despite being obsessed with the 90s boyband Boy Talk when she was a teenager, the story’s main protagonist Annie, now a woman in her fifties, can’t help but feel like “a fish out of water” on this cruise where she gets to be in close proximity to all 5 members of the band for 4 days. The main reason for her unease is the simple fact of her tastes having matured and so she is no longer the fan that she once was. In fact, she only agreed to go on the cruise to appease her sister Katherine (still a die-hard fan of the band) who originally signed them up but had to pull out last minute due to an injury. The constant thought that runs through Annie’s mind is “What am I doing here?” – yet as she becomes more immersed in the environment around her, the long-buried feelings of nostalgia slowly re-emerge, culminating in the unexpected happiness of being able to reconnect with the youthful part of herself, even if only briefly.
Through a structure that alternates between the perspectives of Annie (a guest on the cruise ship), Sarah (who works for the company organizing the cruise), and Keith (one of the boyband members), we get to see the same event sometimes experienced from different viewpoints, which I found interesting. Having come off a cruise myself last year (family vacation), I was able to appreciate the various details that Straub included in the story – the familiarity of the environment (minus the boy band of course) made the story feel particularly atmospheric for me.
Overall, this was a fun, light read that I found entertaining and enjoyable (and I was able to finish quickly, which is always a plus when I already have an insanely long TBR to get through). Even though this is the first Straub book I’ve read, it certainly won’t be the last, as I have several of her backlist titles on my TBR that I’m hoping to get to at some point. If you’re a fan of boy bands or cruises (or perhaps both?), or just want a feel-good read that recalls the nostalgic feelings of youth, I definitely recommend picking this one up.
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