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When I started writing book reviews what feels like forever-ago in March, I started off with The Vacationers by Emma Straub (click on the link to read my full review!). The novel ended up being a 4-star read for me. Straub’s writing style is simplistic yet captures unique details that ultimately shape the story she’s telling. It’s not riveting, more like a commentary on real, normal life that feels like it’s come from experience and so many observations of human beings. I thoroughly enjoyed my first Straub experience, so I was excited to read Modern Lovers.
I’m drawn to writing that focuses on the minute and seemingly mundane details in life. Maybe it’s just like my gravitational pull towards the folk playlists on Spotify when it’s time for a long drive, craving something steady and mundane because that’s what makes life beautiful isn’t it? While plot-driven novels are fun to read, I never wish my life looked like them. I’ve always wanted my life to look like the scenes in novels where the main character is sipping on a cup of coffee, sitting on the hardwood floor and wondering how they got to that moment, observing life as it passes in front of their eyes. The scenes where the character realizes they’re in love because the person in front of them phrased something interestingly or noticed something in a unique way are a lot more fascinating than the scenes where the character falls in love because the other character made sweeping gestures and risked their life in an effort to prove their love. Simplicity is more inviting. It’s a quality of life that is overlooked and underrated, in my opinion.
Straub does a great job capturing this in her writing, so I was happy to pick up the Kindle version of Modern Lovers for a weekend camping.
This is one of the harder reviews I’ve had to write, but I’m pushing through and getting it out in the world. Sorry for the ~ mixed signals ~ that may come through. I blame that on reading many and very conflicting reviews on Goodreads and I was left struggling to pin down my own opinion on the novel.
SYNOPSIS:
Elizabeth, Andrew, and Zoe became best friends in college when they started a mediocre band that a former and deceased bandmate took and made really famous. Now, they’re adults living in Brooklyn, New York. They aren’t in a famous band like they’d hoped, but they’re still living off of the royalties of their college days. Elizabeth and Andrew are married with a teenage son who is heading into his senior year of high school. A few houses down, Zoe is (un)happily married to and contemplating a divorce from her wife. Together, Zoe and her wife have a teenage daughter graduating high school without any future prospects. This is a story about adults wrestling with the idea of their youth leaving them behind, coping with their kids becoming adults with adult experiences, young love that’s so wrong it’s right, and the reality of the divorce rate in America and that people fall out of love.
WHAT I LIKED:
I briefly dove into this above, but here it goes again: I love when writing focuses on the mundane. For all the Goodreads reviewers out there that are whining, stop it. It was good writing, but unfortunately nothing happened in this novel. 2 stars. Did you read this novel?! It’s about a whole lot more than nothing. Are there big, heartstopping events? No. Are there fireworks? No. Is there suspense? No. Is this a page turner? No. But shit surely does happen in Modern Lovers. We get to see characters reflecting on why they chose their life partner and if they should really be together. We see characters falling in love for the first time. We see parents accepting that their children are real human beings for the first time. We see people thinking about themselves and what they need in life. We see a mid-life crisis taking over someone’s life. It’s not nothing, it just takes a little searching to find. It’s like the ocean on a still day. The energy is still buzzing just beneath the surface, giving this incomprehensible body of water life. It’s the same energy on the days when the salty water is pushing towards earth in furious waves. It’s just not as visible. But it’s still there, pulsing and vibrating.
Straub connected everything in this novel. The families are long intertwined, the individual characters are long intertwined. Everything works together and yet each character has a unique story line and unique feelings and characteristics. They felt like real people, not simply characters in a novel. Each one could be my neighbor or my co-worker. They deal with real-people problems and feelings.Which, to my earlier point, is refreshing isn’t it?
This is an easy read. I found myself flipping through the pages as I relaxed in my hammock beneath two tall pines. It allowed me to read an enjoyable fictional story without taking my focus off of my weekend in the woods with friends. I don’t always need a sweep-you-off-your-feet story, and I prefer stories that are reminiscent of real life. Fiction can be an escape, but I think good writing propels us to take action in our own lives, or helps us notice something we might be missing otherwise.
WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
My biggest qualm with this novel is Andrew. Without going into too much detail (no spoilers here), Andrew is a whiny, wealthy, white man. I’m not saying his problems aren’t problems. But, well, his story line didn’t resonate and seemed pretty flat compared to the other characters. To give Straub credit, she did attempt to tackle 5 character arcs individually as well as intertwining them. That’s a lot of work, so I’m not totally upset that one fell a little bit shorter than the rest.
This isn’t necessarily a “what I didn’t like,” but I did prefer The Vacationers more than this novel. The characters aren’t as strong or developed as the previous Emma Straub novel I reviewed.
OVERALL:
Modern Lovers follows the stories of two families living in Brooklyn, New York as they come to terms with the state of their youth and learn to fall in and out of love. Written in an observatory nature, the novel gives way to the simplicity of life’s every-day details and provides a commentary on reckoning with youth, first love, and falling out of love. While this novel won’t sweep you off your feet with a loud and visible plot line, it is worth the read because of Straub’s ability to imbue her writing with humanity and a sense of real life. I struggled rating this one because I enjoyed her novel The Vacationers more than Modern Lovers. While I find it deserving of 3.5 stars, I didn’t feel right rounding up to 4 stars. I’m settling with 3 stars; it is worth the read, but didn’t knock my socks off. Grab it on Amazon or Bookshop!
MY RATING:
Kelliemarie Mash 