Reviews

i’m sorry if this is mean but you would have to pay me an exorbitant amount of money to actually care about this book. it was so boring for me!!! i had to resort to the audiobook to finish this one. i didn’t enjoy a single one of the characters and the storyline wasn’t great. i want to hope that this is a case of this story type just not being for me because i feel mean lmao. CAWPILE says i rate this 2⭐️ but in my heart i give it 1⭐️ (

susanm_82's review against another edition

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emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

claudiabookturtle's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

jaclyncrupi's review against another edition

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3.0

This book is very clever and very busy being very clever making it tiring to read but being a millennial seems pretty exhausting so perhaps it’s captured a lived experience. The style is detached and detaching in an interesting way but if you like sinking teeth into a narrative this is not for you. I like cool detached styling, I like complex unlikeable protagonists, I like dissections of class, I like explorations of sexuality. But did I like Exciting Times? Not so much. And damn I wish I could figure out why exactly. I’ll update in the comments if I ever figure it out.

ms_jo's review against another edition

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3.0

It took me a while to get through this but I am glad I persisted.

It is quite a dry 'story' it's not a book where much happens, instead it seems the type of work where narrative voice and writing style is meant to be what draws you in. It does have a very droll tone (my kinda humour) and I did think there were some really very funny, accurate and insightful comments about privilege and class, etc. I could see how people might not warm to Ava and her slightly melancholic approach to... everything... but as someone who also has some severe feelings of ennui at the moment I could identify.

Overall - don't understand why someone would rave about it but glad to have read it so that I am able to comment when more high brow acquaintances bring it up.

kajsavi's review against another edition

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reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Semi unexciting times, to be honest.

emmabeckman's review against another edition

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4.0

I think this book ended up being like a 3.5 star read for me. It was a kind of bizarre mix of Conversations with Friends and Crazy Rich Asians (two books I loved). I think I understand why people don’t love Sally Rooney’s books now, though I will still love them with my whole heart. As a narrator, Ava was way too self-award for my liking. I would have preferred an omniscient third person narrator for that level of awareness. But I liked that Edith eventually made it very clear that that awareness really does not extend to other people around Ava, that Ava is extremely unaware of how the things she does affect people.

Spoiler

Honestly, the break up scene was kind of my favorite scene in the whole book.

I did really love all of the language/linguistics references though!

Also, I feel like Ava’s story of her life in Dublin would have been WAY MORE INTERESTING to read. I feel like this book could have been shorter as it was, and even better if it were longer and included her past in real time rather than as reflection. But I did appreciate the discussion of sexuality in this book!

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