What is it about?
“It’s really a very simple story. What happened was this: I met this girl and did a very stupid thing. I fell in love. Hard. I know that to some people that makes me an idiot and a loser. What can I say? They’re right. I did some extremely foolish things; I’m the first to say it. And they’ve left me in jail and alone.”
So begins one of the most compelling, emotionally charged, and affecting novels you are likely to read this year.
It is the summer of 1968 and a young man takes a job at a camp in upstate New York before starting his first semester at Columbia University. There, he meets Rachel Price, a fellow counselor who is as beautiful as she is haunted. Their romance will burn with a passion neither of them has ever known before…a passion with the power to destroy.
In the tradition of Endless Love and Gone Girl, What it was Like is an intimate, raw, and revealing journey through the landscape of all-consuming love. It announces the debut of a remarkable storyteller.
So begins one of the most compelling, emotionally charged, and affecting novels you are likely to read this year.
It is the summer of 1968 and a young man takes a job at a camp in upstate New York before starting his first semester at Columbia University. There, he meets Rachel Price, a fellow counselor who is as beautiful as she is haunted. Their romance will burn with a passion neither of them has ever known before…a passion with the power to destroy.
In the tradition of Endless Love and Gone Girl, What it was Like is an intimate, raw, and revealing journey through the landscape of all-consuming love. It announces the debut of a remarkable storyteller.
My Thoughts....
I rated this book two out of five stars.
*This book was provided by the publisher as an ARC in exchange for a honest review.*
These days, when a book is compared to being like another hit book I usually don't pick it up. But this book was provided as an ARC from Net Galley and it sounded interesting, so even though it was compared to Gone Girl in the blurb, I downloaded it anyway.
The idea of the book was good, but it seemed like there was something missing through out the entire story. I was waiting for the big reveal and there was none. I get that it was about an all consuming love, a young obsession that lead to a tragic end. There seemed to be a piece of Rachel that was left out or not fully developed. I believe this book could have been great, if only there was more of Rachel's true self in the book. Maybe having a few chapters from her point of view would have given the reader a better understanding of where exactly she was coming from. The relationship between Rachel and her parents needed more explaining, because, honestly, it didn't seem to warrant the over the top negativity described in the book.
There was also a lot left unexplained- a lot of what seemed like foreshadowing that was never followed through on. For example, at the end of camp, the narrator's friend makes a statement along the lines of "get in touch with me and I'll tell you what really happened this summer." That seemed like it was going to be a major part of the story, however that character was never mentioned again. There were also incidents where people gave vague warnings or strange comments that were never followed up on later in the book.
I found myself skimming quite a bit because there was a lot of unnecessary description and even entire scenes that were not needed. To me, it seemed like the author dwelled on the unimportant and completely left out things that were important.
Overall, it was okay. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would.
The idea of the book was good, but it seemed like there was something missing through out the entire story. I was waiting for the big reveal and there was none. I get that it was about an all consuming love, a young obsession that lead to a tragic end. There seemed to be a piece of Rachel that was left out or not fully developed. I believe this book could have been great, if only there was more of Rachel's true self in the book. Maybe having a few chapters from her point of view would have given the reader a better understanding of where exactly she was coming from. The relationship between Rachel and her parents needed more explaining, because, honestly, it didn't seem to warrant the over the top negativity described in the book.
There was also a lot left unexplained- a lot of what seemed like foreshadowing that was never followed through on. For example, at the end of camp, the narrator's friend makes a statement along the lines of "get in touch with me and I'll tell you what really happened this summer." That seemed like it was going to be a major part of the story, however that character was never mentioned again. There were also incidents where people gave vague warnings or strange comments that were never followed up on later in the book.
I found myself skimming quite a bit because there was a lot of unnecessary description and even entire scenes that were not needed. To me, it seemed like the author dwelled on the unimportant and completely left out things that were important.
Overall, it was okay. I didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped I would.
This book is due for publication on September 2, 2014.
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