Sunday, August 8, 2021

Book Review: "Mona at Sea" by Elizabeth Gonzalez James

Mona at Sea is a funny and sometimes poignant story about a young woman who needs to find a new direction in life.

“I’m unemployed, I’ve never had a boyfriend, I live with my parents in the most boring town on the planet, and I hate myself. I sing myself to sleep with these facts every night.”

Mona worked hard in college. She was valedictorian, she made all the right choices and connections, and landed her dream job at a prestigious bank. But in the financial crisis of 2008, nothing works out as planned, and her job is over before it begins when the bank has to be bailed out.

Left with no other choice, she goes home to live with her parents and lick her wounds. It isn’t easy—she’s realizing her parents don’t like each other much (if at all), and she has to deal with finding a job, any job, just to get by.

How do you reconcile things when life doesn’t turn out the way you thought it would? How do you consider a relationship if you’re dissatisfied with yourself and your life?

I definitely identified with some of this book because when I graduated from college there was another financial crisis (not the Great Depression, thank you) and jobs weren’t around either. Recalibration was definitely necessary.

I thought Mona at Sea was a funny and thought-provoking book. I wasn’t immediately wild about Mona but I liked the arc her character took.

Thanks to BookSparks and Elizabeth Gonzalez James for the complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review, as part of #SRC2021!

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