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A review by madlymusing
Promising Young Women by Caroline O'Donoghue
4.0
Oh man. This book is great. Solidly 4.5* - simultaneously modern, gothic, funny and shocking.
It’s hard to write characters who are genuinely messy and challenging, but Jane is it. What stops this from being condescending or irritating is that Jane is self aware: she’s very conscious that she’s making poor choices, and yet she doesn’t want to stop - much like pressing on a bruise, or picking at a scab.
What really resonated with me is that feeling of taking stock of life in your mid- to late-20s and coming up disappointed. Like Jane, I recognised that feeling of wanting to set a bomb off in your life, just to disrupt the sensation that *this is all it is*. I’m glad I didn’t go about it in the way she did, but the desire to be reckless and pursue the consequences felt so real to me; more real than many other books about women in this stage of life.
I wish I’d read this book five years ago, when I was suspended in that messy state of mind. I want to press it in the hands of other women as both a comfort and a warning. It’s that kind of read: prescient and daring, yet oddly familiar.
Also, in case you needed the reminder: call your mum!
It’s hard to write characters who are genuinely messy and challenging, but Jane is it. What stops this from being condescending or irritating is that Jane is self aware: she’s very conscious that she’s making poor choices, and yet she doesn’t want to stop - much like pressing on a bruise, or picking at a scab.
What really resonated with me is that feeling of taking stock of life in your mid- to late-20s and coming up disappointed. Like Jane, I recognised that feeling of wanting to set a bomb off in your life, just to disrupt the sensation that *this is all it is*. I’m glad I didn’t go about it in the way she did, but the desire to be reckless and pursue the consequences felt so real to me; more real than many other books about women in this stage of life.
I wish I’d read this book five years ago, when I was suspended in that messy state of mind. I want to press it in the hands of other women as both a comfort and a warning. It’s that kind of read: prescient and daring, yet oddly familiar.
Also, in case you needed the reminder: call your mum!