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readingoverbreathing's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This is a difficult one for me to rate, because as much as I disliked most of the characters and thought the plot was lacking the emotional depth it really needed to carry this story, I did find myself swept up in it all anyways. Crafting a story that takes place across decades is no easy feat, but Wolitzer's writing definitely has a seductive, thoughtfully human quality to it that really saved this book for me.
But let's first talk about the characters.
I hated Jules. As conscious as she might have been of her own envy, as much as she never truly let it get in the way of her relationships, I still could not stand her. Let's not forget that when sheaccidentally revealed her best friend's lifelong family secret to her husband , her reaction afterward was "Before we get into that, can we talk about me in all of this?". That one line elicited a rare, physical gut reaction from me. Who, in those circumstances, says something like that?
I wouldn't go as far as to characterize Jules as a pick-me girl, but there is definitely a lot of "not like the other girls" energy about her. I'm pretty sure Ethan even says something to her to that effect.
As for everyone else, the only person I really liked was Ethan. Everyone else felt either too flat or too self-absorbed for me to connect with them. I think Ash's character in particular had a lot of potential, but, despite her own staunch feminism, she becomes this stereotypical perfect woman, beautiful, talented, the perfect wife and mother. I wish Wolitzer had played with her perspective at least a little bit. I think by choosing to narrate only from Jules, Ethan, and Jonah's perspectives, the story lost a lot of the depth it could have had. It's very much skewed in favor of poor, poor Jules; even Ethan's point of view is rather disgustingly consumed by thoughts of her. We actually barely see any of Jonah, whom I think also had a lot of wasted potential. Wolitzer bases his entire character around one childhood trauma and pretty much refuses to define him otherwise aside from his token gayness.
That all brings us onto the plot itself, my other major complaint. One of the book's defining plot points,Goodman's rape of Cathy , had such a sense of unreality to it, at least for me, that it was difficult to take the rest of the book seriously. I think some of this was perhaps because we were pretty removed from the event which didn't happen on page, and that a lot of the characters refused to think too hard about what happened after the fact. But this particular case was a pretty big signifier for the rest of the book, in that, as I mentioned above, there just seemed to be a lack of emotional reality to much of the plot. So much felt so surface level, like the characters themselves were half numb.
I found the choice to end the book by literallykilling off Ethan quite frankly lazy and uninspired . It was clear that Wolitzer simply could not think of any other way to end this story, and I did not appreciate the fact that she chose to eliminate the only character that I actually truly liked to accomplish this.
The negative largely out of the way, I will admit to some positives. Usually books with fake famous people really bother me, but I think because we saw the slow steady rise of Ethan and Ash's fame, that actually turned out to be one of the most believable aspects. So that was a surprise.
As I said above, though this book is quite long, Wolitzer is an excellent writer and really does suck you into this story. There's a kind of creativity to a lot of the details she includes that I always appreciate, especially in something like this that covers so much time and where it's easy to cut more of the day-to-day.
Overall, I remain for the most part in the middle about this. It's not for everyone, but it does have a certain appeal, especially if you're a fan of a decades-long character study or anything set in the 70s/80s. I would in fact pitch this as A Little Life meets Daisy Jones & The Six, just with a lot less trauma and a little less music. Take all of that as you will.
But let's first talk about the characters.
I hated Jules. As conscious as she might have been of her own envy, as much as she never truly let it get in the way of her relationships, I still could not stand her. Let's not forget that when she
I wouldn't go as far as to characterize Jules as a pick-me girl, but there is definitely a lot of "not like the other girls" energy about her. I'm pretty sure Ethan even says something to her to that effect.
As for everyone else, the only person I really liked was Ethan. Everyone else felt either too flat or too self-absorbed for me to connect with them. I think Ash's character in particular had a lot of potential, but, despite her own staunch feminism, she becomes this stereotypical perfect woman, beautiful, talented, the perfect wife and mother. I wish Wolitzer had played with her perspective at least a little bit. I think by choosing to narrate only from Jules, Ethan, and Jonah's perspectives, the story lost a lot of the depth it could have had. It's very much skewed in favor of poor, poor Jules; even Ethan's point of view is rather disgustingly consumed by thoughts of her. We actually barely see any of Jonah, whom I think also had a lot of wasted potential. Wolitzer bases his entire character around one childhood trauma and pretty much refuses to define him otherwise aside from his token gayness.
That all brings us onto the plot itself, my other major complaint. One of the book's defining plot points,
I found the choice to end the book by literally
The negative largely out of the way, I will admit to some positives. Usually books with fake famous people really bother me, but I think because we saw the slow steady rise of Ethan and Ash's fame, that actually turned out to be one of the most believable aspects. So that was a surprise.
As I said above, though this book is quite long, Wolitzer is an excellent writer and really does suck you into this story. There's a kind of creativity to a lot of the details she includes that I always appreciate, especially in something like this that covers so much time and where it's easy to cut more of the day-to-day.
Overall, I remain for the most part in the middle about this. It's not for everyone, but it does have a certain appeal, especially if you're a fan of a decades-long character study or anything set in the 70s/80s. I would in fact pitch this as A Little Life meets Daisy Jones & The Six, just with a lot less trauma and a little less music. Take all of that as you will.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Cancer, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual content, Terminal illness, and Death of parent
Minor: Vomit
There is some mention of disordered eating, and a specific case of anorexia later in the book, that is not well handled at all. At some point at a dinner party Jules takes a smidge of satisfaction in the fact that she's the only woman at the table who's actually finished her plate — just another little dig that Wolitzer uses to make sure we know that Jules is not like the other girls. I hope that if this book were published now, a decade leader, Wolitzer and her editor might have taken a harder look at some of these passages.greenbeangal's review against another edition
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault
Moderate: Drug abuse and Mental illness
Minor: Ableism, Racism, and Antisemitism
asienerbrown's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cancer and Death of parent
Moderate: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Mental illness, and Rape
Minor: Alcohol
emmapaigereads's review against another edition
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual content, Grief, Toxic friendship, and Classism
mandeyzing's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Cancer, Chronic illness, Death, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
annacochran's review against another edition
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
sometimes you just need to read a story about the intertwined lives of fictional people, it’s as simple as that.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Mental illness and Sexual assault
Minor: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Racism, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
qi_'s review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
i think reading/listening to this at the current point in my life was interesting because i am in between both the stages that the book explores, young teenager (13-14) to adult (30+). i relate to the aspirational side of them when they were at the summer camp but still understand the realities of life (i would like to believe). i understand why people wouldn't like it (because a lot of the reviews i have seen were not favourable) since we're following pretentious, privileged, tALENTED teenagers living their best new york lives and at many points feeling sorry for themselves; i mean..wISH IT WAS ME.
yes, the characters were pety, annoying, pretentious, jealous and contradictory but, real people are assholes too. so, i think that was the whole point of it and is what made is so realistic. either way the things that it explored: dreams vs reality, the dynamics of envy in friendships, how big tragic life events can change a person and their relationships, class and just the development of life and relationships over time, were really interesting and well fleshed out.
when big events came into the plot (not saying for the sake of spoilers), i found it so interesting to see how this could change the dynamics within these relationships.
as for the audiobook, not much to say other than i liked how the narrator committed to the voices (male and female), definitely helped with distinguishing between characters.
when meg wolizter addressed ash's response to cathy's rape i was so relieved lmao. it was irking me and im glad that it was revisited at the end. she is this "feminist" character yet completely failed to consider that her brother could have actually done something. it was a really interesting element to bring into the plot and i loved seeing how everything played out. okay enough ranting
yes, the characters were pety, annoying, pretentious, jealous and contradictory but, real people are assholes too. so, i think that was the whole point of it and is what made is so realistic. either way the things that it explored: dreams vs reality, the dynamics of envy in friendships, how big tragic life events can change a person and their relationships, class and just the development of life and relationships over time, were really interesting and well fleshed out.
when big events came into the plot (not saying for the sake of spoilers), i found it so interesting to see how this could change the dynamics within these relationships.
as for the audiobook, not much to say other than i liked how the narrator committed to the voices (male and female), definitely helped with distinguishing between characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Toxic friendship
definebookish's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I was always going to love this one; that much was obvious from the start. The story of six friends who meet at a Jewish summer camp for the arts in 1974, it’s about the ways in which their destinies diverge as adults, even while individual bonds between them largely remain strong. If I had to review it in six words I’d write “For fans of The Dutch House” and leave it at that.
At the centre of the story is aspiring actress Jules Jacobsen, whose presence at camp in 1974 was made possible by a scholarship. She becomes best friends with beautiful, wealthy Ash, and soon draws the attention of homely Ethan, but can’t reciprocate his feelings for her. Later, after an initial struggle to make it as an actress in New York City, she resigns herself to a more pedestrian career path; Ethan and Ash go on to become incredibly successful.
Some of the more negative reviews I’ve read dismiss The Interestings as being about an unlikeable character’s unlikeable bitterness, but that’s not how it reads to me. To me it’s about how life happens to people – how we open and close doors and how doors are opened and closed to us by talent, perseverance, ecomics, biology, trauma. How having any kind of specific hope or dream for your life is taking an emotional risk. While this absolutely isn’t a comprehensive consideration of all of the factors that make or break artistic success, it is a nuanced and complex one.
Is it perfect? I suppose that depends on your point of view, like everything else. It’s messy, and the characters say insensitive things and behave in ways that real people behave, which won’t always equate to the reader’s own ethical or moral boundaries. Occasionally it rams a point home a little too hard. But it’s also sympathetic, and often relatable, and surprisingly epic in scope. I don’t often feel that I know fictional characters in the same way I know actual humans, but by the end of this I did.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Mental illness, and Rape
katyisreading's review
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Cancer, Death, Eating disorder, Mental illness, and Grief
unicornweasley's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism
Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Drug use, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, and Grief
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