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Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Young Jane Young in Books

Jun 10, 2021

Young Jane Young

Gabrielle Zevin | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry

7.3

(4 Ratings)

Book Rating

An emotional, character-driven tale

This is the twenty-fifth book in my #atozchallenge! I'm challenging myself to read a book from my shelves that starts with each letter of the alphabet. Let's clear those shelves and delve into that backlist!

YOUNG JANE YOUNG weaves together the story of five women--Rachel Grossman, who worries about her college-aged daughter, Aviva and her future. Jane Young, who lives in Maine with her daughter, Ruby. Ruby Young, who has led a quiet life with her mom, until now. Embeth Levin, the wife of a famous congressman. And Aviva Grossman, who became Internet famous after a terrible scandal. These five women are bound together by this scandal and the man at its center.

This was an interesting read, told from the perspective of each of our female protagonists. Zevin is excellent at portraying different voices, from young Ruby to the older Rachel and Embeth, and I really enjoyed how strong of a storyteller she was. Some of the women's stories were told in unique formats, such as all email or a "choose your own adventure" style. It was different, took a little getting used to, but overall worked for this book.

This is less of an action packed tale than a character-driven one, focused on how Aviva's actions affect everyone going forward. It has a political bent, but centers more around emotion, relationships, and family. It does a good job portraying the double standards applied to women--in politics, in marriage, and more. My favorite character was probably Ruby, but I thought Zevin did a good job of bringing each woman to life and showing their complex feelings and flaws.

I would have liked more of an ending to this story, especially finding out what was next for Ruby and Rachel. But this was an interesting and different read, and I'm glad I picked it up. As always, as I get nearly to the end of the alphabet, I'm glad my challenge has gotten me to choose some books I might not have otherwise.

Kudos

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Deborah (162 KP) rated Lady Drusilla's Road to Ruin (Ladies in Disgrace, #2) in Books

Dec 21, 2018

This novel by Christine Merrill does feature as it's hero a character who first appeared in a previous book, but I hadn't read that and it really doesn't matter as Lady D stands quite well alone!

The Lady Driscilla of the title is the responsible older sister who is on her way to Scotland to save her flighty younger sister from a great deal om imprudence and probably a great big scandal! When Druscilla is harassed by an oily, unpleasant merchant on her journey, our hero's gentlemanly side takes over and he ends up assisting Druscilla - in more ways than one!

This was a fun romance with believable characters and understandable objections and misunderstandings to be overcome. Even getting near the end of the book I couldn't quite see how everything could be resolved satisfactorily - but of course it is! In fact I would have liked to have 'seen' a little more of our hero and heroine's adventure!