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Do you ever read something, hear something, see something and just think: I need to sit with this for awhile? We’re constantly consuming. Books, music, movies, tv shows, video games, advertising. We’re always consuming. Our brain stops responding because it’s so used to the stimulation. It’s rare that we’re stopped in our tracks.

Good art makes us pause.

There’s this moment whenever I experience good art where I feel totally present to my feelings and thoughts. I want to hang onto this moment. Maybe I’m resonating with it and feel totally understood in that brief connection, or maybe I’m just being forced to sit and think for once. It usually only lasts a moment. Sometimes the feeling lingers. It hangs around and waits for me to notice it again in the middle of doing the dishes or walking Millie. I like when it lingers. Like it’s begging me to ponder it, unpack it.

I read…..a lot. Like books have consumed our home. I generally read pretty fast and have a spot in my heart for page-turners. But man do I appreciate the books that make me pause. I forget the power of good words, and then I read books like Writers & Lovers by Lily King.

I’d been eyeing this book for about a year, and I’m so glad I finally got around to reading it. It’s a slow burn, definitely, but it made me stop. I actually had to wait a couple of days to write a review. I just needed to sit with it awhile. The themes resonated closely with my life and the transitional period I’ve felt trapped in since graduating college and trying to figure out adulthood. I needed to unpack everything.

Synopsis

Casey Peabody. 31, waitress, trying to make it as a writer. Her mother suddenly passed away and her heart got broken. Living in Cambridge in 1997, Casey is trying to make enough to pay rent and finish her novel while she figures out what her life is supposed to look like. Transitional periods are messy and personally harrowing, and also oddly freeing at times. This is a portrait of an artist. And it is beautiful.

What I Liked:

The way King writes is so utterly beautiful, it’s something I looked forward to every time I picked up the book. The only way to describe it is raw. It’s SO hard to articulate emotions in writing, and she does it with what seems like ease. It’s so plain and honest and cuts you to the core. As a reader, I felt what Casey Peabody was feeling, and I think that is a large reason why this book hits different.

The plot line is minuscule and I LOVE IT. Ok. There’s not a huge climax. There’s no huge conflict or plot twist, and it’s everything in this novel. It’s the moments. It’s being able to just sit in that icky and necessary transitional phase with Casey that works so well. It doesn’t need the big drama to be successful because it makes you feel. And it makes you pause. And it makes you think and think and think about your own life.

Casey is a solid character. She’s quirky. She’s 31 and doesn’t have her life figured out at all and there’s something beautiful about that. I don’t know about you, but I certainly haven’t figured life out, and I don’t expect to in the coming years. She’s so honest in her feelings, and its those feelings that we probably all have but are too afraid to acknowledge. She’s going through it guys, and it’s just this perfect portrait of what that looks like.

I’ve never been to Cambridge, but I mapped out this whole novel in my head. East coast, fall, the 90’s. I had a solid picture which I again attribute to King’s clarity with words.

Without spoiling anything, the ending was wholesome. I cried. I felt an influx of happiness for Casey, and I felt hopeful about my own life and my own transitions. Everything is solved, but not in that annoying this doesn’t actually happen in real life way. In the wow, she needed a break and she freaking got it, and life is good way.

What I Didn’t Like:

Nothing really to say here. It’s sad, but I like sad. Most of the book would probably be considered a downer, so If you like bright and shiny story lines, don’t pick this one up. Or do, because the ending will make it worth it.

Overall:

Writers & Lovers paints a portrait of a struggling artist in the middle of a transitional phase. King writes with a rawness that draws the reader in emotionally and captures the mind. The main character, Casey Peabody, is relatable and certainly does not have life figured out, which is so…real. It’s a sad, slow burn, but I was enthralled. You can grab this one from Amazon here or Bookshop here — thanks for supporting me and allowing me to continue reviewing and recommending books!

My rating: 5/5